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District Superintendent

Rev. James. H. (Jay) Carey, Jr.

Welcome to the James River District!

Rev. James H. (Jay) Carey, Jr. was ordained and appointed to Bethia UMC in July 1998. Prior to coming to Bethia he served as Assistant Pastor at Discovery UMC in Richmond, VA for five years while attending seminary at The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, NC (M.Div.). Before entering the ministry, Jay graduated from Longwood College (BSBA) and worked as a sales rep in the pharmaceutical and corrugated box industries. Rev. Carey has been married to Ann for 35 years, and they have three children and two sons-in-law, Kathleen Roberts (Zach), Daniel, and Charlsley Haggerty (Matt).
 
Over the years, Rev. Carey has also served as Chair of the James River (formerly Petersburg) District Committee on Ordained Ministry; the James River District Finance Committee; the VA Conference Board of Ordained Ministry (2012-2020); VA Conference Board of Discipleship and chair of the Division of Evangelism from 2008-2010. He served on the Mid-Sized Church Task Force, a special project of the VA Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, in 2008.
 
Rev. Carey also served as a member of the International Emmaus Advisory Committee, a division of the Upper Room, and the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, TN, and is the past Richmond Emmaus Community Spiritual Director and past Richmond Chrysalis Community Spiritual Director. Rev. Carey received the Harry Denman Evangelism Award for Clergy in the VA Conference in 2003. His spiritual gifts include encouragement, faith, leadership, and teaching. His StrengthFinder gifts are positivity, developer, includer, adaptability, and harmony.
 
Jay’s interests and hobbies include reading, golf, watching sports (especially Nationals Baseball and Duke Basketball), sitting in a rocking chair on the back porch, and spending time with family and friends. Jay was appointed Staunton District Superintendent in July 2020 and then reappointed as the Farmville and James River District Superintendent in July 2021.