July16, 2024

Thank you to all the commissioners and ministers who attended the specially called meeting (via zoom) of the presbytery last Friday. We had well over a quorum to conduct the business at hand. The business was to authorize Westminster Presbyterian Church in Birmingham to borrow money from Presbyterian Investment and Loan to enable them to make critical mold-reduction and prevention in their facility that houses worship, feeds neighbors, offers health fairs for their community, and offers a taste of Christ’s kindom to a diverse and economically challenged part of Birmingham. Together, as a presbytery in partnership with Presbyterian Investment and Loan, we made that happen.

What does the presbytery do? You know you’ve wondered that. I use the example of the specially called presbytery meeting to lift up a key word to answer that question – partnership. The mission of the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsely is to “partner with and equip present and emerging PCUSA faith communities in Central Alabama to serve Christ and our neighbors.” A partnership is (at least) two people being in a relationship that is more than just transactional—one person cares about, supports, and provides value to the other and vice versa.

So here are just some of the ways we, as a presbytery, partner:

  • We keep our children and communities safe from misconduct through offering required background checks, child and youth protection policies, and boundary trainings.
  • We assist congregations in times of pastoral searches and celebrate with them at ordinations and installations.
  • We form commissions who guide congregations through times of merger as well as through the various physical and spiritual components of actual closure and the sale of church property. In addition, we provide a thoughtful process for distribution of the revenue from such sales to continue our commitment to Christ’s work.
  • We partner in support of Living River Camp with generous scholarships for campers as well as very generous subsidies for the camp’s operation.
  • We provide and maintain a pulpit supply list to aid congregations when their pastor is away.
  • We work with congregations in times of conflict and angst to seek healing and thriving.
  • We support the formation of new worshipping communities.
  • We support the vital work of the Ukirks throughout our presbytery (we currently have seven Ukirks from Jacksonville to Livingston, Birmingham to Auburn and parts in between).
  • We provide for four stated meetings of the presbytery a year where together we discern God’s will for our life and witness together. (And special meetings when called).
  • We partner with the Presbyterian Home for Children in its life-affirming work and currently one of their programs – The Caminos Program which reunites unaccompanied minors with family – is housed at the presbytery office.
  • We partner with churches in the Congo and have been instrumental in building several schools and hospitals.

And we equip:

  • We identify and then oversee the training of new pastoral leaders for the church through our Commission on Preparation for Ministry and through our robust Commissioned Ruler Elder program. (Currently we have nine people under care of the CPM and 17 CRE’s eight of whom eight are currently serving churches in this presbytery). Furthermore, we provide on-going training and support for the CREs and provide mentoring support for candidates who end up serving in this presbytery as their first call.
  • Through the Main Event, we offer seminars, day-long learning events, and fellowship opportunities for the pastors and CRE’s in the presbytery (and everyone else who wants to come.) Topics include preaching, stewardship, congregational vitality, creativity, and themes such as Advent or Lent.
  • We provide elder and deacon training for smaller congregations who may not have the pastoral leadership to do so.
  • We provide opportunities to engage the work of anti-racism with workshops, classes, pilgrimages, and book studies. Through our partnership with Faith in Action Alabama and Alabama Arise we coordinate our collective work and witness for justice.

In the Presbyterian Form of Government, the congregation is the basic form of the church, but it is not of itself a sufficient form of the church. Thus, congregations are bound together in communion with one another, united in relationships of accountability and responsibility, contributing their strengths to the benefit of the whole, and are called, collectively, the church. (G-1.0101)

May we, as the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley, be just that – to the glory of God and for the sake of Christ’s Kindom!

 

As ever in prayer,

Sue

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