This PIF was completed in 2020 and then revised 5/2025.  It will be posted here until the Personal Discernment Profile is completed.

 

Name: Lori Christine Bass-Riley
Phone: 412-737-1412
E-Mail: bassrileylori@gmail.com
 

Ecclesiastical Status: Teaching Elder
Presbytery Membership: Pittsburgh
Ordination Date: 6/30/2001
 

 

Formal Education:

Master of Divinity, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2000.
Bachelor of Music Education, West Virginia Wesleyan College, 1995.

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Continuing Education:

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Pittsburgh Presbytery Next Generation Cohort 2022-2023 & 2024-2025

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Better Than Average Training - led by Pittsburgh Presbytery 2019

 

Safe Church - led by Samaritan Counseling Center and Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute 2015-2016

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Fresh Expressions Seminar – at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary November 2014

 

Women’s Clergy Group – led at Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute, 2012-2014

 

Using Technology in Your Church, At the Camden Community College, 2011

 

How to Get More Members for Your Church (Turn Around Boot Camp), Led by Paul Nickerson, 2011

 

Stewardship Kaleidoscope, Presbyterian Stewardship Conference, 2010

 

The Practicing Congregation, 3 Day Presbytery Conference Led By Diana Butler-Bass, 2009.

 

Becoming a Blessed Church, 3 Day Presbytery Conference Led By N. Graham Standish, 2008.

 

Auburn Coaching Institute, 2007–2008​

 

Ingle Institute for Preaching, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2006.

 

Churchwide Redevelopment Conference of the Presbyterian Church (USA), 2003.

 

Early Ministry Institute, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2002, 2003.

 

Music in Worship (led by Don Saliers), Princeton Theological Seminary, 2003.

 

​PC(USA) Small Church Conference, 2002.

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Employment Type: Interested in part-time or full-time employment

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Minimum Effective Salary: $55,000 / Year

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Position Types and Experience Level

Associate Pastor (Christian Education) 5 to 10 Years
Pastor (Transformation/Redevelopment) 10 Years or more
Pastor, yoked/parish 0 to 2 Years
Christian Educator (non-certified) 5 to 10 Years

 

Geographic Choices: Pennsylvania

 

Languages: English

 

Leadership Competencies:

Compassionate
Preaching and Worship Leadership
Spiritual Maturity
Lifelong Learner
Teacher
Media Communicator
Change Agent
Willingness to Engage Conflict
Collaboration
Bridge Builder

 

Other Training: Registered for Week 1 Interim Training 3/2020 (canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic)
Clergy Couple? No
Housing Type: Housing Allowance

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Work Experience:

 

10/2020-5/2025 - Minister of Children and Families; Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church; 384 Fox Chapel Rd; Pittsburgh PA 15238;412- 963-8243​

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4/2015 - 9/2020 - Director of Children and Family Ministries; Cross Roads Presbyterian Church; 2310 Haymaker Rd;
Monroeville PA 15146; 412-372-2226
 

7/2013 – 4/2015 – Certified Peer Specialist; Westmorland Peer Support; 145 Hartman Rd.; Greensburg PA 15601;
(724)689-1008
 

10/2012 – 4/2015 – pulpit supply/substitute moderator/guest educator for congregations in the Pittsburgh and Red Stone
Presbyteries.
 

8/2001-7/2012 – solo pastor; Christ Presbyterian Church; Gibbstown NJ 08027; membership=54; total active
participants=80–90
 

8/2001 – 2/2003 – solo pastor of shared ministry; First Presbyterian Church Swedesboro NJ and Christ Presbyterian
Church in Gibbstown; Swedesboro membership 50+
 

5/1998–9/1998 – pastoral assistant; Cross Roads Presbyterian Church; Monroeville PA 15146; membership 700+
 

6/1997–6/1998 – student intern; Fairfax Presbyterian Church; Fairfax VA ; membership 800+
 

6/1996–8/1996 – student intern of yoked parishes; Doermann Memorial Church; Blackey; KY 41824 membership 55;
Isom Presbyterian Church; Isom KY; 41824 membership 75
 

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Other Services:
2025
2025 - Leadership Team Pittsburgh Presbytery Next Gen Leaders Retreat

 

2017-2019 - Member of Presbytery Council - Presbytery of Redstone

 

2012-2015– Volunteering with children’s programs, adult education, youth ministry, and preaching at Cross Roads Presbyterian Church, Monroeville, PA
 

2017-2019 - Synod of the Trinity Commissioner
 

2011-Co-Led Small Group Leadership Training for West Jersey Presbytery
 

2006–2008 Executive Presbyter Search Committee West Jersey Presbytery
 

2001–2006 Member Committee on Preparation for Ministry West Jersey Presbytery

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Describe a moment in your recent ministry that you recognize as one of success and fulfillment.
JAM (Jesus And Me) is a 4th-6th grade monthly youth group that was waning in energy and attendance when I arrived at
Cross Roads. After several sessions, I identified a number of areas that needed modification. This included changing the
length of the program, incorporating volunteers in the planning process, adding more active play, having a specific theme
for each meeting tied to scripture, and providing large and small group time. I invited past VBS participants and utilized
social media to promote the group beyond the church. I also intentionally emphasized it was for all kids and that the goal
of the group was not to convince people to join our church, but to spiritually feed and grow children in their faiths. JAM
has truly become a community youth group with students from various churches and includes multiple ethnicities. I am
blessed to feel many moments of success as the kids engage in scripture and are able to see it working in their lives. I am
blown away by the insights and the honesty shared and am humbled when parents report that their children thrive here. A
number of parents have expressed that their children feel safe and heard in this program whereas at school, they often
reveal feeling rejected, ignored, or bullied. Knowing that God's work through us has enabled children to see the Church
as a place where they are safe and valued is one of the most fulfilling parts of any ministry of which I've been a part.
 

Describe the ministry setting to which you believe God is calling you.
I am a collaborator and a dreamer so I want to be in a place that is open to working together and is willing to take
chances with me. In this post-covid era I hope I can find a community willing to examine these times with curiosity

and a sense of holy adventure where we can embrace traditions that are life giving while trying new experiences that reflect

a changed world.  I pray for an intergenerational, collaborative community that values the experiences and insights of our

children, youth, and adults and strives for meaningful relationships between generations.  Lastly, I would like a community that

balances the need for spiritual growth in worship and study with opportunities for hands on mission and outreach to the community

outside the church's walls. 

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What areas of growth have identified in yourself?
There is a reason that the phrase, “Reformed and always reforming” resonates with so many. As a fallen person, there
are always ways in which to improve. There are several areas of growth that are reoccurring for me. As a creative person
with many interests and an abundance of hope, I sometimes have more ideas than time to carry them out. One of my
growing edges is learning to slow down and allow for congregational discernment that includes congregational
participation in the ministry. Some congregations are glad to let the pastor run a program without any input or help from
the congregation, but when that happens, prayerful reflection and assessment suffer as energy is spent solely on the
mechanics of preparation and clean up. Another area of growth tied to the first is organization. With numerous ideas and
projects in mind, I can get distracted and overloaded. I continually search for the most effective technology and processes
to keep me on track. This includes electronic calendars, putting documents and email accounts all on one phone, and
transferring notes to my computer. Another hugely important component is consistently working collaboratively with
church members on projects. Meetings and deadlines help us all with accountability and help us realize the mutuality of
ministry.
 

Describe a time when you have led change.
The world is changing and cultural priorities have shifted dramatically. Christ’s message is unchanged, but how we
function, focus, and prioritize has to be more dynamic and flexible. In my position, I have helped change the
congregation’s entire approach to children’s ministry. Upon my arrival, I examined the existing program by interviewing
families and staff. Many families were inactive due to schedule conflicts, lack of connection with other church families,
and exhaustion. With these answers in hand, I engaged our Christian Education committee in discussion about children
and family ministry development. We started by offering fellowship opportunities to foster community. We expanded our
programming in the evenings and I recruited several church members to help initiate different formats for existing programs
and new one-time events. I formed an alliance with our preschool director to invite preschool families to our ministry
offerings and began interfacing with them at preschool events. I began a targeted children’s ministry social media
presence to reach the wider community. Instead of simply recruiting member volunteers, I asked participating non-church
families to volunteer and invited their children to be in our children’s services. With a wider perspective of when ministry
takes place and who is included in it, our church is taking more risks and has become more interested in meeting families
where they are at rather than fit them into our traditional church model.

 

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Statement of Faith:

I believe in the one Triune God who created all things, brought us salvation, and reconciles us to God for all times.
God, all powerful and mighty created all things from nothing. In God’s image we were formed and given the privileged
intimacy of being God’s children. Our Sovereign Lord created the world good and entrusted us with the care and
responsibility of it. With our ability to reason and to create beyond any other life form, we are called to carry out God’s will
on earth. Though we were created good, humanity succumbed to sinful ways, severing the direct and everlasting intimacy
first granted by God.

Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine, our Incarnate Master was with God from the beginning of time. We rejoice in
God’s plan to join us in the most humble and vulnerable way, as a mortal human, prone to all the physical and emotional
suffering of our world. While he walked among us, he preached release to the captives, healed the sick, touched the
unclean, and loved the outcast. Jesus, the one truly perfect human being, denied all temptations yet when wrongly
accused, stood trial, endured degradation, suffering, and painful death so that, guiltless, he could stand in for our guilt.
Through this act, Jesus Christ, forever bridged the chasm between us and the Holy One. Christ died on the cross, rose again, presented himself to his followers, and ascended into heaven where he judges all people with just compassion.
 

As part of God’s great plan, Christ graced this world as fully human and fully divine in a select historical time. Following this, after proving once and for all that we would no longer be slaves to sin, he sent the Holy Spirit to inspire our souls to
seek out and believe the truth of God. On Pentecost, through the Spirit first alighting on the disciples and then touching
the hearts of those who heard Peter’s passionate words, the Church, the body of Christ on earth was born.
 

Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, humans recorded God’s plan in the scriptures which are our first and only true
witness to the essence and story of God. We are the doers of the Word of God, called in community to discern its
instruction and live by its loving guidance.
 

Being the body of Christ, we must cleave to our God in our worship with prayer, scripture, right preaching of the Word,
and participation in the sacraments: baptism and communion. Through our baptism we are washed clean from our sinful
humanity and engrafted to the body of Christ. Through the shared act of communion, we partake in the presence of Christ

when we take of the bread and the wine, remembering Christ’s body that was broken and blood that was poured out for
our sin. We continue as the church outside of our church walls, proclaiming God’s truth by spreading the Word to all
people and living out lives of mission, compassion, and love.
 

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References:

In order to protect the privacy of references, they are only available on Lori's formal PIF in the Church Leadership Connection and will be provided upon request.

 

Sexual Misconduct Self-Certification Statement:

I certify below that no civil, criminal, ecclesiastical complaint has ever been sustained or is
pending against me for sexual misconduct; and I have never resigned or been terminated from
a position for reasons related to sexual misconduct.

I have read this certification and release form and fully understand that the information obtained
may be used to deny my employment or any other type of position from the employing entity. I
also agree that I will hold harmless the employing or judicial authority or any other entity from
any and all claims, liabilities, and causes of action for the legitimate release of any information
related to sexual misconduct.
 

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