Lyndonville Presbyterian Church
Session’s Statement of Faith
We believe God (who is a living God and loves us) made the world and will be with us until the world comes to an end. Without God, we are not complete. We believe God guides us as we make decisions, finds friends who will help us, and communicates with us. If put first, God will live in our lives as the voice of truth. The world does not give truth.
We believe God became the Word made flesh and Christ came into the world in love to teach us how to live with love and compassion for all humanity. We believe Jesus is one with God. We believe he died on the cross so that our sins might be forgiven. The world does not give forgiveness.
We believe that even as the world drifts apart from God, God continues to bless us with grace. We believe Elders are called to be beacons, to lead and to build up the whole church, not according to our own plans but according to where the Holy Spirit is leading us. We believe we can do this with the empowerment of the Triune God who holds each of us up, who helps us respect one another, and who calls us to pray for discernment as we serve the greater church and try to walk the walk of the gospel message.
Pastor Martha Mitchell, CP
Martha is a Commissioned Pastor in the Presbytery of the Genesee Valley. After completing the three-year Christian Leadership program at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in May of 2016 and after completing internships at Batavia Presbyterian Church and Lyndonville Presbyterian Church, she was commissioned as the part time pastor at Stone Church Bergen. In October of 2018, she was commissioned to serve as full-time pastor at Lyndonville Presbyterian Church. Prior to her call to the ministry, she taught in Albion, NY; High Point, NC and Havelock, NC. She holds a BA from Bard College and an MA in English from SUNY Brockport. She lives with her husband, Jim, in Sunset Beach, Waterport, NY and has two grown children who reside in Atlanta, GA and Oxford, United Kingdom.
Secretary, Valerie Wells
Valerie has served as secretary since 2018. She is a familiar face in the area and lives with her husband, Jim, in Lyndonville, NY. She has two grown children who reside in Medina and Lyndonville. Valerie also serves as secretary on our Board of Trustees. She is a 1981 graduate of Lyndonville High School and received an Associates Degree in accounting from SUNY Canton. She served for 27 years as Executive Assistant to the Vice President in the Primary Care Unit at Unity Hospital. You may recognize her from her current volunteer work at Hospice of Orleans. We could not be the church without her expertise.
Organist and Music Director, Thomas Wenhold
Tom is married to his lovely wife Rev. Marsha and together they reside in an historic cobblestone home. Tom has lived in Lyndonville since 1980. After graduating from Daemon College, he went into a private physical therapy practice in the village. At an early age, Tom embraced his call to serve the Lord through music. While an 8th grader, he took his first job as an organist for a small Episcopalian church in PA, and the rest is history. For the remainder of his high school career he played piano, played organ, and directed choirs for a variety of churches in Tonawanda, NY. Once in Lyndonville, he subbed one Sunday for Fred Bluhm and thus began a relationship with Fred and other Lyndonville churches as well as Lyndonville Presbyterian. For several years he split time between St. Joseph Catholic Church and LPC. Tom has lost track of how long he has been the solo organist and music director at LPC. We are blessed by his talent and his love of the Lord.
The Rest of Our Team
Treasurer, Ann Sentiff
Recording Financial Secretary, Faith Bayne
Memorial Fund Chair, Sandi Southworth
Investment Committee Chair, Kay VanNostrand
Student Loan Chair, Sandi Southworth
Custodian, Sexton John Seifart
The Boards
Session
Comprised of 6 Ordained Ruling Elders : Cheryl Watson, Kyle Sentiff, Beth Smith, Sandi Southworth, and Kay VanNostrand (Clerk of Session).
Elders may serve two 3 year terms. Once they have served for 6 years, they must sit out one year before serving another term. The Presbyterian Church is governed by elders. It is their duty to “strengthen and nurture the Christian faith in congregations and to exercise spiritual oversight over the life and work of the church.”
Deacons
Deacons: JoAnn and Donald Melfi, June Seaman, DeAnn Southworth, and Bruce Sentiff.
Deacons are ordained to service. Not only do they prepare the sanctuary for worship, usher and oversee the functioning of the space on Sunday mornings, but they also are responsible for being the hands and feet of Christ in our faith community. The two boards, along with the pastor are responsible for overseeing the well-being of the congregation and are responsible for the spiritual growth of the Body of Christ, which is the church.
The Trustees
Trustees oversee the physical maintenance of the church plant and approve the usage of the church for outside groups as well as for our own ministries. They also oversee, along with session, the financial planning for the maintenance and growth of the church. Our present trustees: David Barhite, Chuck Perry, Steve Goodrich, Valerie Wells, and Thomas Wenhold.