The Sacred Calls Story

Sacred Calls is led by Rev. Bethany Benz-Whittington, a PC(USA) pastor. She serves First Presbyterian in LaFollette, Tennessee, is the Stated Clerk for the Presbytery of Genesee Valley, and is a mom to two amazing kiddos. Together with her husband, Matthew, also a PC(USA) pastor, Sacred Calls is a labor of love for all of their ministry colleagues. Their story is below.

"As the Covid-19 Pandemic was spreading across the country and churches were moving online, I began to understand the stress and burnout of my colleagues in a new way. As one who believes deeply in the vow we take to be a friend among our colleagues, I offered to teach Advent classes in 2020 via Zoom. Just to lighten the load a bit for a few friends. It was then I saw that God was opening a door to something new. My hope is to provide a space where church members can learn, pastors can rest, and we can all be moved by the Holy Spirit." - Bethany

Sacred Calls’ priorities are to be practical, faithful, and progressive.

 We are practical. Our journals, notebooks, training materials, and various curricula are geared toward making your life a little easier. We hope to provide the basics (the stuff they don’t teach in seminary) for what it takes to make your church as functional as possible so that you as the pastor or leader can focus your attention on mission and ministry. 

We are faithful. We are seminary trained with years of experience in study and in practice. We take seriously the Gospel call to love our neighbors, putting a ton of work into these resources to create meaningful faith formation among your people.

We are progressive. In all we do and create, we strive to be inclusive with our language, diverse in the voices we choose to learn from and lift up, and always listening to how the Spirit is guiding the Church today. 

Our faith formation resources for the whole year offer opportunities to dive into tough topics together, to create space to listen and learn from each other, and to fill gaps, because gaps are stressful. Advent, Lent, Summer, holy days, ordinary days - find it all with Sacred Calls.

I hope you love all of it!

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What People Are Saying

  • Drew Wilmesherr, UKirk Atlanta

    Rev. Bethany Benz-Whittington’s curriculum is well prepared, insightful, and engaging. For our campus ministry, she made the lessons accessible for our college students as well as thought-provoking. It was a huge benefit to us that we could simply enjoy the conversation without having to prepare the lessons ourselves.

  • Rachel Helgeson, Northminster Presbyterian Church

    As a solo pastor, sometimes it's hard to be able to do all the things.  I reached out to Bethany and she offered holding an Advent Christian Ed class geared towards Adults via Zoom.  The class was amazing!  I still hear from parishioners who took the class thinking and considering things that she taught about the bible, traditions, and the intersections with modern day life.  As a pastor I was grateful to be able to hand this off to someone who specializes in Christian Ed and Spiritual Formation and know that I would not have to worry about what was being taught, because Bethany brings a high level of personality, information, and accessibility to those who attend.  I would recommend her without hesitation to lead your next study and bring a new perspective to your congregation!!!

  • Elder Diane Brown, Highland Presbyterian Church

    Last Advent season, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in Rev. Bethany's class on “Mary, the Mother of God.” We explored the character of Mary in the Gospels and the various ways both believers and non-believers have viewed Mary over the years. Rev. Bethany has a tremendous knowledge base and she raises some very intriguing questions and points of view for class members to think about and discuss. I appreciated the chance to expand my understanding of my faith!

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