Pastor Joyce Smothers Bio:

The Reverend Joyce W. Smothers and her family, John and Laura

Since my ordination as Minister of Word and Sacrament in 2005, I have served the First Presbyterian Church of Atlantic Highlands as its solo pastor. The church has 100 members. During my time at Atlantic Highlands, we have doubled stewardship pledges (both in number and amount) and initiated a “Deacon of the Month” visitation program. I have baptized more than forty children and prepared thirty teenagers for confirmation. Our church has instituted a Child Safety policy, revised its Session bylaws, and created a pictorial directory of our congregation. I have initiated a puppet ministry in worship and conducted the children’s choir Christmas pageant. Although worship preparation takes most of my time, I spend several hours each week doing visitation ministry in hospitals and homes. My husband John and I sing in the church choir.

I grew up Methodist, in a town in upstate New York that had no Presbyterian church. I loved the Bible. I wanted to study for the ministry, but that career path did not seem realistic for me then. John and I met as students at Allegheny College. We both got master’s degrees at Case Western Reserve University, where I concentrated in children’s services, and we became librarians. After we moved to New Jersey from Cleveland, John and I had our daughter, Laura, baptized at the First Presbyterian Church of Freehold, NJ. I got involved with the church’s Mission Study, and found it fascinating. I later served that church as Clerk of Session, Chair of Christian Education, and a Sunday School teacher. I got involved with the church’s ministry to homeless families, and continued with this ministry during seminary. I have served the Presbytery of Monmouth as Secretary of its Committee on Preparation for Ministry since 2006. I have also co-chaired its Communications Committee.

I have two Master’s Degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary, in Divinity and in Theology. My field of concentration is Pastoral Care to Older Adults. I earned both degrees as a full-time student, commuting to campus from the New Jersey shore between 2001 and 2005. I have trained as a hospital chaplain in two medical centers in central New Jersey. Most recently, I completed a two-part Interim Pastor curriculum sponsored by the Synod of the Northeast.

I chose to take early retirement from my position as a library supervisor in 2001. For thirty years, I had worked as a management supervisor and a branch librarian in two county library systems. My participation in ministry at the Freehold church had become more satisfying to me than library work. (When I was in charge at the library’s headquarters building, I was directed by the county personnel department to dismiss an employee on Christmas Eve! I followed orders, but I vowed I never would do this again.) Over the years, I had seen the art of book selection evolve into little more than placing orders for best-sellers. I had learned to write grant applications, develop long-range plans and use computers. But the Holy Spirit seemed absent from my work. After experiencing ministry, I had begun to feel several steps removed from “real life” in my desk job at the library.

My husband of forty years, John Smothers, spent his college vacations in Bethlehem, PA. He is now retired from library management. John has been a member of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem for nineteen years. His parents, William and Marjorie Smothers, were members of the First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem for over thirty-five years. Our daughter, Laura, graduated from Lafayette College in 2006. During her years at Lafayette, she sang in the choir at the College Hill Presbyterian Church in Easton. Laura works in California as an administrative assistant for an organ donation network based at UC-San Diego’s Medical Center. She has been accepted into the Master of Public Administration program at Indiana University, Bloomington, for the fall semester, and intends to specialize in nonprofit management.

Pastor Joyce