Welcome Deborah Jodrey!

Hello Hopewell friends! My name is Deborah Jodrey and I am so excited to be joining the Hopewell Presbyterian Church family and to begin working in the Hopewell community. My spouse Lindsey and I have lived in Hopewell with our three pups, Abbot, Belle, and Marvel for almost exactly one year. We moved here after I graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary and have loved taking walks with our pups through town and enjoying delicious food at Nomad Pizza and Aunt Chubby’s.

I love playing board games, music, and sports; watching the newest Marvel Universe movie and football; traveling into NYC for a musical; going on hikes; and spending time around a fire with friends and family.

I look forward to collaborating with Pastor Melissa and the other staff and leaders at HPC, and am excited to continue to care for and celebrate the youth and children who are such a vibrant part of this congregation.

I see my role in the faith formation of young people beginning by listening to young people themselves. I have already heard our young people in Hopewell articulate their desire for mental health support, relationships with a trustworthy adult s, and guidance as they navigate the pressures to achieve in school and their hope to make a difference in the community. For me, caring about the full person is vital, and faith formation begins by coming alongside each young person in the day-to-day and continues in the regular conversations that emerge, in the moments of rest and time off, and in the authentic relationships with one another, God, and the community.

When I was a teenager, I craved a space where I could bring my full self along with all my questions, doubts, and interests; a space where I was surrounding by peers that I counted on and an adult I could trust. As the Director of Youth Outreach, my hope is to cultivate a safe place where the young people in this community feel a sense of belonging, a place where they can fully be themselves—questions, answers, doubts and all—a place where they feel empowered, and a place where they feel cared for and supported. This will include a focus on developing relationships, nurturing spiritual practices and theological reflection, and creating meaningful opportunities to serve the community."

I am also really looking forward to getting to know the young people and families throughout Hopewell and to work with them to create the Hopewell Youth Collective—a space where we can ask questions about faith, find support, build relationships, serve the community, and have fun and laugh a little along the way.

Watch below to hear Josie B. interview Deborah. Click here to see Director of Youth Outreach Job Description.