Furkin, a lifelong member of Springdale Church in Louisville, Ky., joins PNS coordinator Jerry Van Marter on the PNS staff, which was reduced to one person by the resignation of Toya Richards Hill last May and the sudden death of Evan Silverstein on Nov. 9.
“Bethany Furkin has everything we’ve looked for in a reporter,” Van Marter said. “She’s a cradle Presbyterian so she knows the church well. She has won awards for her reporting and editing everywhere she’s worked and brings youthful enthusiasm to a job that will greatly benefit from it.”
Furkin won numerous scholarships and awards while at Ohio University. The Society of Professional Journalists named her school paper, The Post, the best college newspaper in Ohio during the time she served as assistant managing editor.
Following her 2008 graduation, Furkin served as a reporting intern last summer for the Chautauquan Daily, the newspaper of the renowned Chautauqua Institution in New York. Since October, she has been serving as a freelance reporter for Louisville’s Business First weekly newspaper.
For PNS, Furkin will be doing general assignment reporting and news features on the mission and ministry of Presbyterians throughout the denomination.
