Mission Presbytery — 134 congregations in the southern fifth of Texas — has a lot in common with your presbytery. We’ve had some congregations merge as a way to seek survival, and others close if no other options seemed available. Also like you, we’ve lost some congregations to other denominations. We’re convinced, however, that God’s presence among us is not lessened. We believe that God still has plenty to do among the saints in South Texas. So we as a presbytery are choosing instead to “make lemonade out of our lemons” — or in more theological terms, to practice resurrection.
A decision two years ago that would have reconfigured and reduced the number of synods in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be rescinded if a recommendation from a committee at 222nd General Assembly (2016) is adopted later this week.
Recognizing that helping congregations find new pastors is one of the most important responsibilities they face, mid-council leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), gathered during the 222nd General Assembly (2016) to talk about the best ways to accomplish that task.
Preaching at the opening worship service of the 2015 Polity Conference, the Reverend Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, told several hundred church leaders to ignore the loud voices of fear and judgment and to listen instead for the quiet voices of hope.
Parson used as one of his texts 1 King 19:9–13, in which the prophet Elijah flees for his life and hides in a cave, waiting for a word from the Lord. Elijah does not find God in the wind and the fire and the earthquake, but in a quieter presence that the Scripture calls “a sound of sheer silence.”
Tensions, hurt, and unrest permeate our world and even the church, but nothing can separate us from the love of God through Jesus, Heath Rada, Moderator of the 221st General Assembly (2014) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), told worshippers gathered at First Presbyterian Church of Portland.
Tragedy is all around and “we’re also a fragile denomination,” he preached. But the table still unites us, said Rada, who hosted the Moderators’ Conference here October 9–11.
“God has a plan that we don’t fully understand,” he said. “But God does.”
“This feels like a pivotal time,” the Reverend Laurie Ferguson told a roomful of presbytery and synod leaders gathered in Portland, Oregon, for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Polity Conference and five other fall meetings.
Ferguson was referring to a recurring theme in all the meetings: how to respond to the changing landscape of the church. The plenary session she led—for the Association of Mid Council Leaders—was one event in a day chock full of opportunities for inspiration, education, and training.
“From where I sit, you have the most difficult job in the church,” Ferguson told the mid council leaders. “You …
Meeting July 29 and 30 on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, representatives of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s mid-councils—synod and presbytery executives and stated clerks—worshiped, talked, and celebrated and pondered the ongoing mission of the PC(USA).