103rd Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina January 31, 2015 Gaston Day School 2001 Gaston Day School Road, Gastonia, NC 28056
PAGES ARE ARRANGED IN PACKET ORDER Docket Ref Format Description Pages # PDF Contents 1-2 PDF Letter from the Stated Clerk and Directions 3-5 PDF Newcomer’s Guide to Presbytery Meetings 6-7 PDF Rules for Debate 8 PDF Presbytery Reporting Process 9 PDF Docket and Calendar of Events 10-14 A PDF Consent Agenda (1) 15 B PDF Stated Clerk’s Report (16) 16-31 -Stated Clerk Attachment 1 – Permanent Judicial Commission Roster -Stated Clerk Attachment 2– Administrative Commission Report for New Vision Church, Conover -Stated Clerk Attachment 3– Administrative Commission Report for West Asheville Presbyterian Church, and Franklin, First -Stated Clerk Attachment 4 – Administrative Commission Report for Hendersonville, First -Stated Clerk Attachment 5 – Administrative Commission Report for Swannanoa, First -Stated Clerk Attachment 6 – Cullowhee Campus Ministry Board Report -Stated Clerk Attachment 7 - 2015 Checklist for Review of Session Records C PDF Administrative Board (17) 32-48 -Administrative Board Attachment 1–Process for Voting on Proposed Amendments -Administrative Board Attachment 2 – Documents Pertaining to Camp Grier and 501c3 and Deed -Administrative Board Attachment 3 –Contract with Mr. Sam Avery, of OS Associates, LLC Administrative Board Attachment 4 – Stated Clerk Job Description
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 1 of 114 103rd Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina January 31, 2015 Gaston Day School 2001 Gaston Day School Road, Gastonia, NC 28056
D PDF Committee on Ministry (COM) (18) 49-66 -COM Attachment 1–Statement of Faith and Bio for Linda Amos -COM Attachment 2–Statement of Faith and Bio for Katherine H. Cashwell -COM Attachment 3–Statement of Faith and Bio for Caroline C. Proctor -COM Attachment 4 – Statement of Faith and Bio for Edwin Allen Proctor, Jr. -COM Attachment 5 – Statement of Faith and Bio for Steven P. Eason, Sr. -COM Attachment 6 – Letter to Non-Compliant Members -COM Attachment 7 – Letter to Honorably Retired Members I PDF Nominating Committee Report (3) 67-69 P PDF Witness Division Report (7) 70-76 W PDF Christian Education Committee (3) 77-79 Y PDF Youth Committee News (6) 80-85 BB PDF Budget and Finance Committee (12) 86-97 FF PDF Personnel Committee Report (2) 98-99 GG PDF Smaller Membership Church Committee Report (3) 100-102 GP PDF General Presbyter Report (11) 103-113 PDF HYMNS – Make A Joyful Noise Unto The Lord (1) 114
Total Pages included in this packet 114
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 2 of 114 The Presbytery of Western North Carolina 114 Silver Creek Road, Morganton, NC 28655 Phone: (828)438-4217 Fax: (828)437-8655
To: Members of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina
From: Bert Sigmon, Stated Clerk
Date: January 22, 2015
Re: One-Hundred Third Stated Meeting of Presbytery
I hope everyone had a blessed holiday and is ready for 2015.
The next meeting of Presbytery is quickly approaching! It will be held on Saturday, January 31st at e Gaston Day School in Gastonia, North Carolina. The meeting will be hosted by the Gaston Area Presbyterian Churches. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and lunch tickets will be available at this time for a cost of $8.00 per person. Prayers throughout Presbytery also begins at 8:30 a.m., along with orientation for new elders. A brief overview and an attempt to answer any questions regarding the meeting will be handled at that time. If you have prayer requests, please place them on the Clerk’s table before 11:00 a.m.
IN THE CASE OF INCLEMENT WEATHER: Due to unforeseeable bad weather, tune into WBTV, WBT Radio (1110 am), WBT-FM (99.3), WLOS, and WSOC for information. There will also be an email circulating regarding the Presbytery Meeting should we incur inclement weather. If you receive an email, you are asked to forward it to others within your church and the Presbytery. A snow date of Saturday, February 14, 2015 has been set aside should it be needed.
If you have questions concerning commissioner representation, please refer to the enclosed Stated Clerk’s report. For the 2015 year, churches A through D are entitled to an additional elder. Please note that commissioner representation is based on active membership figures taken from the 2013 Statistical Report.
Arbor Dale Brittains Cove Columbus Asheville, First Bryson City Conley Memorial Banner Elk Buladean Crossnore Belmont, First Burnsville, First Dallas, First Bessemer City First Calvary Dixon Black Mountain Canton Dorland Memorial Brevard-Davidson River Cherryville, First Dulatown Bridgewater Clinchfield Duncan's Creek Brittain
To request an excused absence, please e-mail ([email protected]), fax (828/437-8655) or phone (828/438-4217) the Presbytery Office by Monday, January 26, 2014.
Meeting Location: Gaston Day School (map included) 2001 Gaston Day School Road Gastonia, NC 28056 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 3 of 114
Traveling South on I-85: Take I-85 South towards Gastonia to Cox Road, Exit 21. Turn left at the top of the ramp and go 4.7 miles. Gaston Day School is on the left.
Traveling North on I-85: Take I-85 North towards Gastonia to Cox Road, Exit 21. Turn right at the top of the ramp and go 4.7 miles. Gaston Day School is on the left
From Carowinds/River Hills/Lake Wylie area: Take I-77 to Carowinds Boulevard exit. Follow signs to Carowinds; go past Carowinds to Highway 49 and turn left. Follow Highway 49, crossing Buster Boyd Bridge and go through Lake Wylie. Turn right on Highway 274 and follow signs to Gastonia. Turn left at the "T" intersection of Highway 274 and Union Road (Union is also called 274). Turn right at the third stoplight onto Gaston Day School Road. Gaston Day School is approximately 1 mile on the right.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 4 of 114 Presbytery meeting at Gaston Day School 2001 Gaston Day School Road, Gastonia, NC 28056 Exit 21 I-85 The easiest way to find Gaston Day School is from Interstate 85.
N e US-74 w Take Exit 21 (Cox Road) and head south. H o pe R Cox Road changes name to Armstrong Park Road, then to Gaston d Day School Road. .
The school is located 4.7 miles south of I-85 on the left side.
For more on Gaston Day School, go to www.gastonday.org. . Hudson Blvd
Roundabout Entrance Intersection
Kendrick Rd.
Gaston [ Day WARLICK School R CENTER oad Meeting location GASTON DAY SCHOOL
Soccer Field
Exit Handicapped Parking « è
è Meeting and worship will be in the audito- rium of the Pamela Kimbrell Warlick Center. The front entrance to the facility is marked Main Building with a star («) at left. è Lunch will be served in the Henry Student Center. This will involve a short walk (on flat ground) outdoors.
Morning refreshments will be available in the lobby of the Warlick Center. Henry Center Registration and displays will also be in the ä lobby of the Warlick Center. è Parking is available in several locations on campus. Watch for our parking attendants.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 5 of 114 THE PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA 114 Silver Creek Road ~ Morganton, North Carolina 28655 ~ 828 438-4217 ~ FAX 828 437-8655
NEWCOMER’S GUIDE TO PRESBYTERY MEETINGS
WELCOME! Despite rumors to the contrary, many really do enjoy the time of fellowship and sharing when our Presbytery meets. However, if you have not been to such a meeting before, it may seem a little confusing at first. It is hoped that this guide will make your participation more meaningful. For at Presbytery meetings, we have good news to share, successes to celebrate, helpful resources to publicize, important (and some not so important) decisions to make, plans to approve, and a wonderful family of 110 congregations to get to know better.
WHAT IS A PRESBYTERY? A Presbytery is the key governing body in our denomination. There are 173 Presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Ours includes all the PCUSA congregations with nearly 17,000 members in 23 counties in the western part of North Carolina. It consists of all the active Teaching Elders and at least one Ruling Elder from each congregation (larger ones have additional Ruling Elders). Various procedures ensure that there is approximately an equal number of Teaching Elders and Ruling Elders; both are known as commissioners and they have an equal vote. It is vital that each congregation be represented by its Ruling Elder(s)!
WHAT DOES A PRESBYTERY DO? A Presbytery is responsible for the mission and government of the Church throughout its area. “In partnership with Sessions, the mission of our Presbytery is to foster vital and faithful congregations to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ.” By combining resources, Presbytery can help each church improve its ministry by assisting with the calling of pastors, teacher training, grants and loans, officer development, camping, mission trips, and many other support services.
WHEN DOES PRESBYTERY MEET? There are four full-day stated (regular) meetings, generally towards the end of the months of January (Saturday), April (Tuesday at the Montreat Conference Center), July (Tuesday), and October (for either one or one-and-a-half days, sometimes at one of our churches or an appropriate conference center). Special meetings at other times can be called, and Presbytery committees meet throughout the year.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THIS MEETING? All commissioners will receive, in advance, a packet of reports, proposed actions and background information. Other papers (generally called “Addenda”) will be handed out when you register. Please read these carefully, and be prepared, since these papers will only be referred to during the meeting before a committee chair (with some explanation) moves adoption of an action.
In general, these things will occur:
1. Celebration: We will worship together with hymns, prayers, Scripture, preaching and the Lord’s Supper. We will also welcome new Teaching Elders, commission teams on mission trips (especially to Guatemala and Malawi), give thanks for special achievements, and pledge ourselves to better mission and witness. Join in the fellowship of committed Christians.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 6 of 114 2. Information: You will learn about lots of events and opportunities to share with your Session and congregation: new programs, mission plans, available resources, etc. Be a good communicator when you are back home.
3. Education: You will hear from missionaries, as well as leaders of our colleges, children’s homes, camps and other institutions; Presbytery officials and Teaching Elders joining our Presbytery. There is always much to learn.
4. Presbytery Procedures: Much is fairly routine: adoption of the docket (order of consideration), approval of minutes, receiving reports, etc. Several routine housekeeping matters are put together in a “Consent Agenda” (formerly referred to as the “Omnibus Motion”), which is voted on as a unit (but you can remove any item for later discussion). Though rather unexciting, these matters are necessary.
5. Debate and Action: At most meetings, there will be a few items that deserve extensive discussion. Though each recommendation has been reviewed by a committee or the Administrative Board, it should nevertheless be carefully considered before you decide how to vote. If you do not understand what is happening, please ask the Moderator to explain the matter currently before the Presbytery. If you want to offer a motion, the Stated Clerk would be glad to help you draft it. Don’t worry about parliamentary procedure. Your role is to listen carefully, share in the debate, if you feel led to do so, and then vote as the Holy Spirit leads you to understand what is best for Christ’s Church.
It is a privilege and responsibility to help guide this part of the Church of Jesus Christ. Be prepared. Listen. Pray. Take notes. Report back home. Remember that you are helping our Presbytery in a much valued and vital way to build up the Body of Christ, to the greater glory of our Lord.
(Prepared by James Aydelotte, former Stated Clerk, with thanks to Providence Presbytery in South Carolina.)
PRESBYTERY MEETING DATES
January 31, 2015 Gastonia Day School, Gastonia, NC April 28, 2015 Montreat Conference Center July 28, 2015 Trinity Presbyterian Church, Hendersonville October 31, 2015 TBA
January 30, 2016 TBA April 26, 2016 Montreat Conference Center July 26, 2016 Grandfather Home for Children October 25, 2016 TBA updated 1/21/2015
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 7 of 114 RULES FOR DEBATE
1. When any commissioner wishes to speak (other than to second a motion, which can be done from one’s chair), he or she shall go to one of the floor microphones and seek recognition from the Moderator.
2. When recognized, the commissioner shall state his or her name and position in Presbytery before contributing to the debate.
3. All remarks should be addressed to the Moderator, should be confined to the merits of the pending question, and must not attack a commissioner’s motives.
4. If several commissioners are standing at microphones waiting to speak to the same motion, the Moderator shall attempt to alternate pro and con speakers.
5. All proposed amendments (other than a few consecutive words) must be submitted in writing to the Stated Clerk, preferably in advance of making a motion.
6. If time for further study or consultation is desired before a vote is taken, commissioners shall ordinarily offer the motion to Postpone to a Particular Time, instead of a motion to Lay on the Table.
7. If a commissioner wishes to end an ongoing debate, a. he or she must go to a floor microphone and obtain recognition from the Moderator; b. when recognized, he or she may move the previous question; c. another commissioner must second this motion (can be done from one’s chair, without recognition); d. the Moderator shall immediately conduct a standing vote on this motion to cut off further debate; [Note: The above is Robert’s Rules as is enjoined by our constitution (Book of Order, G-3.0105). However, this Presbytery chooses to follow the Parliamentary Procedures of the General Assembly, which give the Moderator some discretion in this matter. “The Moderator is in a position to refuse premature closure of debate by a member through the use of the motion to ‘call the question.’ If, in the Moderator’s judgement, the assembly has not completed debate, the Moderator has the power to refuse the motion to close debate.”] e. if there is a two-thirds affirmative vote to end debate, the Moderator shall immediately conduct a vote on the motion before the Presbytery.
8. The substitute motion is a form of amendment applied when the desire is to amend a motion in several different, nonconsecutive places. It also is used when the text to be amended is longer than a paragraph. The following procedure may be used (at the Moderator’s discretion) after a substitute motion is made. a. The Moderator calls for perfecting (improving) amendments to the main motion. The amendments may be debated. Nothing else is in order. b. The Moderator calls for perfecting (improving) amendments to the substitute motion. The amendments may be debated. Nothing else is in order. c. The Moderator puts the question: “Shall the substitute motion replace the main motion?” At this time, the merits of both the main motion and the substitute motion may be debated, but no further amendments are in order. d. The Moderator takes vote on the above question. 1. If the question is approved, the main motion disappears and the substitute motion is before the assembly for further debate and vote. 2. If the question is defeated, the substitute motion disappears and the main motion is before the assembly for further debate and vote.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 8 of 114 PRESBYTERY REPORTING PROCESS
EVERY MEETING JULY Worship including Celebration of Lord's Supper Witness Division Administrative Board Self Development of People Stated Clerk Support Division (January Necrology of Elders and Ministers) Discipleship Division (July Summary Report of Church Membership Christian Education (Let's Celebrate) and Attendance) Youth Committee on Ministry Election of Future Moderator (July Reporting of Pastor Salaries) Reports from General Assembly Commissioners Preparation for Ministry (even years only) Budget & Finance Reports from Synod Commissioners (January - Budget Approval) Local church giving, previous years membership and (April - Report of Annual Audit) worship attendance reported Nominating Leadership Division Church Celebrations SL/CLP Recognition General Presbyter Stewardship Educational Time or Presentation Support Division CCP (Honorable Retirement, Years of JANUARY Service) Discipleship Division Christian Education (Day Retreat & Let’s Celebrate) OCTOBER Youth Operation Division Division of Operation Discipleship Division Personnel Joint Outdoors Ministries Committee Vote on Amendments to Constitution Youth (odd years only) Campus Ministry Witness Division Witness Division Hunger Committee (Souper Bowl & One Evangelism & Church Development Great Hour of Sharing) Election of Synod Commissioners Election of G.A. Commissioners (odd years only) Institutions and Agencies APRIL Grandfather Home for Children Witness Division Black Mtn Home for Children, Youth, and Mission Teams Families Operation Division Discipleship Division Joint Outdoor Ministries Committee Youth Support Division Small Membership Churches Nominating Committee Vote on Amendments to Constitution (if needed) (odd years only) Leadership Division Stewardship Presbyterian Women
Approved April 24, 2012 Presbytery Meeting at Montreat Conference Center 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 9 of 114 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
GUIDE TO WORSHIP AND WORK
ONE-HUNDRED THIRD STATED MEETING JANUARY 31, 2015
GASTON DAY SCHOOL GASTONIA AREA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES GASTONIA, NORTH CAROLINA
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 10 of 114 103rd STATED MEETING PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA January 31, 2015
DOCKET 8:30 Registration (If you do not sign in, you will not be counted as present.) Prayers throughout Presbytery (We invite you to come to pray for the Presbytery, its work, its churches and pastors.) Orientation for New Elders Barbara Ross
** 9:00 Call to Order Jim Henderson Immediate Past Moderator Installation of Moderator and Vice-Moderator
Convene with Prayer of Invocation Michael Bailey, Moderator
Welcome GAP
Good News from GAP GAP (Gaston Area Presbyterian Churches) Words from Gaston Day School Richard Rankin
Appointment of Standing Committees Moderator Tellers Bills and Overtures Rev. John Lindsay Resolution of Thanks Rev. Dwight Christenbury
Declaration of Quorum Bert Sigmon Approval of Docket Stated Clerk Consent Agenda [CA] A (Consent Agenda is a consent motion. If a commissioner wishes to pull any item from the consent agenda for any reason, simply state the item you wish to remove from the Consent Agenda and it will be dealt with as part of the committee report from which it was drawn.)
Reports Submitted for Information and/or Included in the Consent Agenda Nominating Committee I Witness Division Year-End Report P
Stated Clerk’s Report Bert Sigmon B (Introduction of any Corresponding Members; and, Reports from Administrative Commissions)
9:30 Worship, including Necrology for 2014 Preacher: Revs. James Holeman and Joseph Taber Sermon: Unity Scripture: John 13:31-36; Philippians 2:1-11 Liturgists: GAP Members
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 11 of 114 10:30 Personnel Committee ( 5 minutes) Otis Wilson FF (Work of the committee and recommendation(s) from committee.)
Budget & Finance Committee (10 minutes) Jay Crane BB (Budget for 2015)
Ministry Campaign (10 minutes) Feild Russell
General Council (75 minutes) Jim Henderson C (Amendments to the Constitution, Stated Clerk Search Committee, Signing of Camp Grier 501c3, etc)
Good News from Small Membership Churches (10 minutes) Russ Reighley GG (Report from John Hall, CLP at the Micaville Church) Dot Descieux
** 12:20 Prayers of Intercession Hal Bennett (Please submit requested prayers of intercession to the Stated Clerk’s table before 11:00 a.m.)
** 12:30 Lunch
** 1:30 Reconvene with Hymn and Prayer Moderator
1:35 Speak Out (5 minutes) (Opportunity to address the Presbytery for one minute or less, per speaker, on any suitable topic. No new business may be introduced at this point, but announcements, concerns, or opinions may be shared.)
1:40 General Presbyter’s Report (5 minutes) Bobbi White GP
Committee on Ministry (20 minutes) Cam Murchison D (Work of the Committee, Introduction of new members) Tee Gatewood (Sacred Trust Relational Boundaries Policy of Non-Compliant, Next Four Year Phase)
Grandfather Home for Children (5 minutes) Mae Weed
Christian Education (5 minutes) Kent Smith W (Spiritual Retreat)
Youth Committee (5 minutes) Beth Gunn Y Evelyn Coleman
Benediction and Adjournment Moderator
** Order of the Day
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 12 of 114 CALENDAR OF EVENTS JANUARY 31 103rd STATED MEETING OF PRESBYTERY GASTON DAY SCHOOL Gastonia, NC FEBRUARY 2 Examinations Committee Morganton, First 3 Committee on Ministry Morganton, First 7 Church Leadership School Morganton, First 9 CLS Sub-Committee Kenilworth 11 General Council Morganton, First 14 Church Leadership School Morganton, First 16 PRESBYTERY OFFICE CLOSED - PRESIDENT’S DAY 18 Committee on Preparation for Ministry Morganton, First 19 DEADLINE FOR ANNUAL STATISTICAL REPORTS 21 Small Membership Church Forum Summation - ALL DAY Morganton, First “Where Is God Leading You?” 23 Nominating Committee Morganton, First 25 Validated Ministries Task Force Black Mountain 28 Church Leadership School Morganton, First
MARCH 2 Examinations Committee Morganton, First 3 Committee on Ministry Morganton, First 7 Session Records Review Morganton, First 11 General Council and Committee Chairs - ALL DAY RETREAT Morganton, First 12 Christian Education Committee 13-14 High School Retreat Black Mtn. Home for Children 14 Church Leadership School Morganton, First 18 Committee on Preparation for Ministry Morganton, First 19 Smaller Membership Church Committee Black Mountain 21 Church Leadership School (SNOW DATE) Morganton, First 28 Church Leadership School Morganton, First
APRIL 3 PRESBYTERY OFFICE CLOSED - GOOD FRIDAY 6 DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF REPORTS FOR APRIL PRESBYTERY MEETING 13 Examinations Committee Morganton, First 14 Committee on Ministry Morganton, First 14 DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS FOR PRESBYTERY MEETING 15 General Council Morganton, First Committee on Preparation for Ministry Morganton 16 Sacred Trust Relational Boundaries (New Program) Morganton, First 17-18 Spiritual Retreat - “The Heart of Prayer” Montreat Conference Center 18 Session Records Review Lincolnton, First 19 Middle School Rally Upper Anderson, Montreat 25 Church Leadership School Morganton, First 28 104th STATED MEETING OF PRESBYTERY MONTREAT CONFERENCE CTR, MONTREAT, NC
Please note that Presbytery Standing Rules “do not” allow any distribution of materials at Presbytery meetings without prior approval from the General Council. Also, please turn off or silence cell phones during Presbytery worship times. Your cooperation is appreciated.
The General Council reaffirms its policy that there will be no photography, audio or video recording, including all electronic devices, during a Presbytery meeting without the prior approval of the Presbytery.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 13 of 114 2015 Presbytery Meetings 2016 Presbytery Meetings January 31, 2015 ~ Gastonia Day School, Gastonia January 30, 2016 ~ TBA April 28, 2015 ~ Montreat Conference Center April 26, 2016 ~Montreat Conference Center July 28, 2015 ~ Trinity Presbyterian Church, July 26, 2016 ~ Grandfather Home for Children Hendersonville October 25, 2016 ~ TBA October 31, 2015 ~ TBA
Attendance and Voting. Each teaching elder shall attend each meeting of Presbytery, and each congregation shall be represented by at least one ruling elder at each meeting. Congregations are entitled to ruling elder commissioners based on the following active membership (BO: G-1.0402), as shown on the most recent statistical report (For the 2015 year, churches A through D are entitled to an additional elder. Please note that commissioner representation is based on active membership figures taken from the 2013 Statistical Report as figures are not available for 2014.): 0 - 250 members - 1 251 - 750 members - 2 751 - 1250 members - 3 1251 - 1750 members - 4 Honorably retired teaching elders shall be welcome at all meetings, but their necessary non-attendance shall be excused.
To ensure approximate parity in numbers between ruling elder and teaching elder commissioners: 1. All members of the General Council shall have voice and vote (if ruling elders). 2. All division, committee and sub-committee chairs shall have voice and vote (if ruling elders. 3. All Commissioned Lay Pastors shall have voice and vote. 4. All Certified Christian Educators, Certified Associate Christian Educators, and, in addition, other Christian Educators who have • earned at least a bachelor's degree (or its equivalent) • served in one or more educational ministries under the jurisdiction of a Presbytery (or one of its Sessions) for a minimum of two (2) years, and • been examined and recommended to Presbytery by the Christian Education Committee shall have voice and (if ruling elders) vote, provided that these privileges shall end, pursuant to BO: G-2.1103, when such persons are no longer serving in an educational ministry under the jurisdiction of the Presbytery (or one of its Sessions). 5. All ruling elder commissioners to the Synod Assembly and to the General Assembly shall have voice and vote as long as their terms last. 6. All exempt staff of Presbytery shall have voice. 7. All racial/ethnic congregations and other congregations designated by the General Council shall elect an additional ruling elder commissioner. 8. Only teaching elders who are active members (including honorably retired teaching elders) or members-at-large of Presbytery, as defined by the Book of Order, shall have voice and vote.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 14 of 114 A CONSENT AGENDA For the purpose of expediting some of Presbytery's decisions which are routine and non- controversial, a Consent Agenda will be used. These motions are included throughout the packet.
PLEASE READ THESE MOTIONS BEFORE PRESBYTERY!
Matters may be removed from the Consent Agenda when: A. Any member of the governing body requests removal of an item included in the CA whereupon that item shall be removed and presented to the governing body as part of the report from which it originated.
B. When the Consent Agenda is presented on the floor, opportunity shall be given for members of the governing body to request, without comment or debate, for removal of specific items from the CA.
A FAVORABLE VOTE ON THE CA SHALL BE RECORDED AS A FAVORABLE VOTE ON ALL MATTERS INCLUDED IN THE MOTION. THEREFORE, PLEASE READ AND PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER ALL MOTIONS BEFORE PRESBYTERY. ***************************** THAT THE CONSENT AGENDA, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS, BE ADOPTED:
RECOMMENDATIONS 1 thru 17 FROM THE STATED CLERK'S REPORT (See Stated Clerk's Report (B) for contents of recommendations.)
RECOMMENDATIONS 1 thru 3 and 6 FROM THE GENERAL COUNCIL REPORT (See Administrative Board Report (C) for contents of recommendation.)
RECOMMENDATIONS II. A thru H FROM THE COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY’S REPORT (See Committee on Ministry’s Report (D) for contents of recommendations.)
RECOMMENDATIONS 1 thru 14 FROM THE NOMINATING AND REPRESENTATION COMMITTEE REPORT. (See Nominating and Representation Committee Report (I)for contents of recommendations.)
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 15 of 114 B-1 THE PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA STATED CLERK'S REPORT William A. (Bert) Sigmon, Stated Clerk January 31, 2015
The Stated Clerk presents the following:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
CA 1. THAT Michael Bailey, Bert Sigmon, and Robbin Buchanan be requested to prepare the minutes of this Presbytery meeting for approval at the April 28, 2015 Presbytery meeting.
CA 2. THAT the minutes of the October 25, 2014 Stated Meeting of Presbytery be approved as submitted. (The full set, including appendices, of these minutes is available for review at the Stated Clerk's table.)
CA 3. THAT the Presbytery celebrate the lives and service of the following Elders, as reported by their local congregations, who died during the year of 2014, and that their names become a part of the permanent record: Asheville, First Etowah Hickory, First Ann Hawkins Brosnan Lauren Weed Ed Bateman Carolyn E. Gray David Newton Thomas Hugh Lamb Fairview Glenn Sigmon Mary Durham Sessler James Elgie Davis Richard Thompson John Z. Siddall Fred "Buddy" Jenkins Pearce Roberts Weaver John Nicora John Knox Isabella Steele Raymond Horne Black Mountain Patsy McLeod Gastonia, First Lincolnton, First Mariella Provost Ralph Alexander Dickson, Jr. Dorothy Cornwell Kenneth Scott, Sr. Dr. Stuart Wynn Gibbs Joyce DeSpain Dellinger William Alexander Hall Brittain George Francis Henry, Jr. Love's Chapel Betty Searcy Rufus Manfred Johnston, III Bettye Grier Mary Katherine Keith James S. Miller, Sr. Canton W. Duke Kimbrell Frances Adrienne Pfaff John Will Parks, III Lowell Larry Dean Watson Dorothea Wells Wilson Frances Spencer Martha Rhyne Wilson Cherryville, First Morganton, First Norman Ryan Good Hope Pat Baily Kenneth Williams Joyce Crawford Clinchfield Jean Welter Gundrun Andres Avale
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 16 of 114 B-2
Mount Holly Southminster Tryon David Whitener Smith Calvin Harkey William Jones Ted Lewis United Newton, First Trinity Jacqueline Muldoon Jacqueline (Jackie) Smith Alice Porter Phil King Unity Northminster David Shadron Earl C. White Ann Anderson Jane Loveless Waldensian Pineola Swannanoa, First Elizabeth Bowditch Ernest Hayes Frieda Chance Edgar Winslow Lane, Jr. Carey Lynn Loven, Jr. W. Harold Mitchell Dale Thompson Sweetwater Henry Ellis Perrou Hugh Oliver Reese Shelby West Avenue Eleanor Brackett Buse Sylva, First Harry Dameron Lee Banks Shope Helen Allison Johnnie Reid
CA 4. THAT the Presbytery celebrate the lives and service of the following Ministers of the Word and Sacrament who died during the year of 2014 and that their names become a part of the permanent record. Rev. G. Thompson Brown (1/21/2014) Rev. Dr. David Charles Stover (7/29/2014) Rev. Dr. John C. Wilson (9/7/2014) Rev. James G. Stuart (12/6/2014)
CA 5. THAT any disparity in numbers between elder and minister commissioners be corrected in the following manner: Attendance and Voting. Each teaching elder shall attend each meeting of Presbytery, and each congregation shall be represented by at least one ruling elder at each meeting. Congregations are entitled to ruling elder commissioners based on the following active membership (BO: G-1.0402), as shown on the most recent statistical report (For the 2015 year, churches A through D are entitled to an additional elder. Please note that commissioner representation is based on active membership figures taken from the 2013 Statistical Report as figures are not available for 2014.): 0 - 250 members - 1 251 - 750 members - 2 751 - 1250 members - 3 1251 - 1750 members - 4 Honorably retired teaching elders shall be welcome at all meetings, but their necessary non-attendance shall be excused.
a. All members of the Administrative Board shall have voice and vote (if ruling elders). b. All division, committee and sub-committee chairs shall have voice and vote (if ruling elders). c. All Commissioned Lay Pastors shall have voice and vote. 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 17 of 114 B-3
d. All Certified Christian Educators, Certified Associate Christian Educators, and, in addition, other Christian Educators who have • earned at least a bachelor’s degree (or its equivalent) • served in one or more educational ministries under the jurisdiction of a Presbytery (or one of its Sessions) for a minimum of two (2) years, and • been examined and recommended to Presbytery by the Christian Education Committee shall have voice and (if ruling elders) vote, provided that these privileges shall end, pursuant to BO: G-2.1103, when such persons are no longer serving in an educational ministry under the jurisdiction of the Presbytery (or one of its Sessions). e. All ruling elder commissioners to the Synod Assembly and to the General Assembly shall have voice and vote as long as their terms last. f. All exempt staff of Presbytery shall have voice. g. All racial/ethnic congregations and other congregations designated by the Administrative Board shall elect an additional ruling elder commissioner. That the following churches (Churches A-D) be requested to send one additional elder commissioner for the year 2015. (In 2011, Churches A-D were given this responsibility, in 2012, Churches E - L, in 2013 Churches M-R, and in 2014 Churches S-Z.)
Arbor Dale Brittain Clinchfield Asheville, First Brittains Cove Columbus Banner Elk Bryson City Conley Memorial Belmont, First Buladean Crossnore Bessemer City First Burnsville, First Dallas, First Black Mountain Calvary Dixon Brevard-Davidson River Canton Dorland Memorial Bridgewater Cherryville, First Dulatown Duncan's Creek
h. Only teaching elders who are active members (including honorably retired teaching elders) or members-at-large of Presbytery, as defined by the Book of Order, shall have voice and vote.
CA 6. THAT the Stated Clerk be given permission to attach a current list of ministers of this Presbytery and that the list become a part of the permanent record.
CA 7. THAT the past membership roster of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina Permanent Judicial Commission, as required in BO: D-5.0206.b, be reported and become a part of the permanent record of Presbytery. (Stated Clerk Attachment 1)
CA 8. THAT the January 31, 2015 report of the Administrative Commission for the New Vision, Conover New Church Development be received and entered into the permanent record of the Presbytery. (Stated Clerk Attachment 2)
CA 9. THAT the January 31, 2015 Report of the Administrative Commission for the West 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 18 of 114 B-4 Asheville Presbyterian Church be received and entered into the permanent record of the Presbytery. (Stated Clerk Attachment 3)
CA 10. THAT the January 31, 2015 report of the Administrative Commission for the First Presbyterian Church, Franklin be received and entered into the permanent record of the Presbytery. (Stated Clerk Attachment 3)
CA 11. THAT the January 31, 2015 report of the Administrative Commission for First Presbyterian Church, Hendersonville be received and entered into the permanent record of the Presbytery. (Stated Clerk Attachment 4)
CA 12. THAT the January 31, 2015 report of the Administrative Commission for First Presbyterian Church, Swannanoa be received and entered into the permanent record of the Presbytery. (Stated Clerk Attachment 5)
CA 13. THAT the Administrative Commission for the Korean Presbyterian Church, having completed their work, be dissolved, effective Saturday, January 31, 2015, with the thanks of the Presbytery for its good work.
CA 14. THAT the Administrative Commission for the First Presbyterian Church, Lincolnton having completed their work, be dissolved, effective Saturday, January 31, 2015, with the thanks of the Presbytery for its good work.
CA 15. THAT the Administrative Commission for the Cullowhee Presbyterian Church, Cullowhee, having completed their work, be dissolved, effective Saturday, January 31, 2015, with the thanks of the Presbytery for its good work.
CA 16. THAT with the dissolution of the Administrative Commission for the Cullowhee Presbyterian Church, Cullowhee, that there be a Board established for the Cullowhee Campus Ministry. The Board is to be made up of the following members: DeAnna Booth – Bryson City PC Michael Collings – Sylva PC Ada Sloop – WCU PCM Mark Hanna – Bryson City PC Rev. Bob Tuttle – Black Mountain PC Rev. Pattie Curtis – St. John’s Episcopal, Sylva Rev. Anita Bernhardt – Presbytery WNC
THAT the Board be granted permission to begin a search for a full-time interim campus ministry leader, on the basis of offering the position under a 1 or 2 year employment contract. With the new leader permitted time to expand and develop ministry programs, provide a sense of stability, and to better connect to other campus ministry leaders and the university community as a whole.
THAT the Board be granted permission to begin to make some necessary renovations to the Cullowhee Presbyterian Church facility, up to $15,000, using the funds of the former Cullowhee Presbyterian Church.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 19 of 114 B-5 CA 17. THAT the January 31, 2015 report of the Cullowhee Campus Ministry Board be received and entered into the permanent record of the Presbytery. (Stated Clerk Attachment 6)
FOR INFORMATION: 18. THAT the deadline for the Annual Statistical Report is February 19, 2015.
19. The 104th Stated meeting of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina will be held on Tuesday, April 28, 2015, at the Montreat Conference Center, Montreat, North Carolina.
20. THAT the following dates have been set for 2015 and 2016 Presbytery Meetings: 2015 January 31, 2015 ~ Gastonia Day School, Gastonia April 28, 2015 ~ Montreat Conference Center July 28, 2015 ~ Trinity Presbyterian Church, Hendersonville October 31, 2015 ~ TBA
2016 January 30, 2016 ~ April 26, 2016 ~ Montreat Conference Center July 26, 2016 ~ Grandfather Home for Children October 25, 2016 ~
21. THAT copies of the Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), approved by the 221st General Assembly, were distributed at the October Presbytery Meeting and can also be downloaded from the PCUSA website: http://www.pcusa.org/resource/ga221-proposed-amendments-constitution/
22. THAT the following dates have been established for Sacred Trust-Relational Boundaries Training for 2015: April 16, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Morganton November 21, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Asheville The new four-year cycle of training for clergy and volunteers will focus on child safety, theological issues of sexual misconduct prevention, and issues of social media.
23. THAT the following dates have been established for Clerk of Session Training and Reviewing Church Records: March 7, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Morganton April 18, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Lincolnton May 16, 2015 Reems Creek-Beech
May 30, 2015 First Presbyterian Church,103rd Cherryville Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 20 of 114 B-6 June 6, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Morganton
24. THAT the checklist to be used for 2015 Session Records Reviews has been modified and is included with the Stated Clerk's Report. (Stated Clerk Attachment 7)
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 21 of 114 STATED CLERK ATTACHMENT 1 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA PERMANENT JUDICIAL COMMISSION ROSTER NAME AND ADDRESS CONTACT YR BEGAN TERM YRS INFORMATION SERVING EXPIRES SERVED
Rev. Ted Beasley, Jr. (Deceased) 1990 1991 1
Mr. Robert J. Robinson (o) 828/255-7641 1990 1998 8 41 Stratford Road, Asheville, NC 28804 (h) 828/252-0878
Rev. William Serjak (o) 1990 1994 4 149 Damascus Road, Sylva, NC 28779 (h) 828/586-2181
Mr. Gwyn Harper, Jr. 1990 1992 2
Mr. David Moore (h) 704/864-5850 1990 1996 7 721 Boulware Ave., Gastonia, NC 28052
Rev. Marcus Prince, III (Deceased) 1990 1996 7
Mr. Tom Arnold 1990 1993 3
Mr. Robert L. Thompson (Deceased) 1990 1993 3
Mr. Marvin Wooten (o)704/344-6169 1992 1996 4 308 Kings Grant Rd., Lincolnton, NC 28092 (h)704/735-7020
Rev. William McLean (Deceased) 1992 1993 1
Mr. Robert Weaver (Deceased) (h) 828/884-3452 1992 1994 2 6 College Row, Brevard, NC 28712
Ms. Judie Shapiro (o)828/286-5000 1992 2000 8 117 Fairforest Dr., Rutherfordton, NC 28139 (h)828/287-5378
Mr. Lloyd Hice (h)828/765-2056 1993 1998 5 P.O. Box 273, Spruce Pine, NC 28777
Rev. Brian Weger (Deceased) (h) 828/4678332 1993 1998 5 202 Amethyst St., Spruce Pine, NC 28777
Rev. Gerrit Dawson (MOVED) 1993 1994 1
Ms. Jane Holt (h)828/669-7544 1993 1996 3 P.O. Box 357, Montreat, NC 28757
Rev. J. Thomas Phillips (MOVED) 1997 2004 7
Rev. Dr. Ronald Botsford (h) 828/664-9484 1997 2000 3 106 Rainbow Lane, Blk Mountain, NC 28711
Mr. Sam Ervin, III (Deceased) 1997 2002 5
Mr. John Lafferty (o) 704/735-2542 1997 2002 5 P. O. Box 1188, Lincolnton, NC 28092 (h) 704/732-1253
1 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 22 of 114 STATED CLERK ATTACHMENT 1 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA PERMANENT JUDICIAL COMMISSION ROSTER NAME AND ADDRESS CONTACT YR BEGAN TERM YRS INFORMATION SERVING EXPIRES SERVED
Rev. Roger G. Miller (Deceased) 1998 2002 4 Ms. Carolyn Miller 1998 2002 5 Rev. Eugene Witherspoon (h) 828/669-0197 1999 2004 5 200 Tabernacle Road,G-205, Black Mtn, NC 28773 Rev. Robert E. Frost (MOVED -Deceased) 1999 2004 5 Rev. Robert Ratchford (Moved-Deceased) (o) 828/669-2725 1999 2004 5 P. O. Box 39, Blk Mtn, NC 28711 (h) 828/669-1270 Mr. Phil Cooper (Deceased) (h) 828/859-9050 2000 2006 6 447 Dogwood Trail, Tryon, NC 28782 Rev. Alan Wildsmith (MOVED EPC) (o) 828/837-6153 2000 2006 6 252 Valley River Avenue, Murphy, NC (h) 828/837-9480 28906 Mr. Tom Bowen 2000 2002 2 Rev. Hunter Coleman (o) 828/526-3175 2000 2004 4 P. O. Box 548, Highlands, NC 28741 (h) 828/526-3193 Ms. Linda Wortman Lowe (o) 828/726-2457 2001 2006 5 305 Inglewood Drive, Morganton, NC (h) 828/433-9480 28655 Ms. Johnnie Moore (Deceased) 2001 2002 1 Rev. Dr. Monty Burnham Resigned 1348 Land Harbor, Newland, NC 28657 Committee Ms. Sarah Thornburg (o) 828/254-8800 2003 2008 6 216 Robinhood Road, Asheville, NC 28804 (h) 828/236-2683 Ms. Paula Wallace (h) 704/865-3754 2003 2008 6 2341 Jefferson Lane, Gastonia, NC 28054 Rev. Dr. Luke Harkey (o) 704/487-8503 2005 2010 P. O. Box 1444, Shelby, NC 28151 (h) 704/480-7838 2011 2016 Rev. David Mulford (h) 828/669-2067 Moved 22 Timber Park Drive, Blk Mountain, NC 2006 28711
2 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 23 of 114 STATED CLERK ATTACHMENT 1 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA PERMANENT JUDICIAL COMMISSION ROSTER NAME AND ADDRESS CONTACT YR BEGAN TERM YRS INFORMATION SERVING EXPIRES SERVED
Rev. Dr. Thomas Parker (h) 828/891-8666 2005 2010 P. O. Box 779, Etowah, NC 28729 2011 2016 Rev. Riley Covin (h) 828/648-3281 1993 1998 6 29 Haywood Drive, Canton, NC 28716 2007 2012 6 Rev. Dr. William Sweetser (o) 828/765-4036 2006 2014 P. O. Box 764, Spruce Pine, NC 2877 (h) 828/766-7694 Rev. Layton Mauze (DECEASED) (h) 2006 2010 5 1532 Royalty Circle, Statesville, NC 28625 Mr. John Heilman (h) 828/879-8430 2007 2012 6 500 Campbell Ave, SE, Valdese, NC 28690 Mr. Parks Wilson (o) 704/864-5728 2007 2012 6 P. O. Box 901, Belmont, NC 28012 (h) 704/825-7071 Mr. Jim Henderson (h) 828/669-1159 2009 2014 6 P.O. Box 936, Montreat, NC 28757 Mrs. Sandy Jividen (h)828/669-4026 2009 2014 6 82 Wagon Trail, Black Mountain, NC 28711 Rev. Margaret P. Lauterer (h) 828/682-1374 2011 2012 2 20 Orchard Street, Burnsville, NC 28714 Resigned Rev. Merriam Alexander (B) (H)828/338-5050 2014 2016 94 Ledgestone Drive, Fairview, NC 28730 Mrs. Cindy Combs (E) (H)828/256-4545 2014 2016 818 45th Avenue Lane, NE, Hickory, NC 28601 Mr. Bob Forsythe (h) 828/684-0643 2013 2018 82 Wildwood Forest Lane, Mills River, NC 28759 Mr. Lacy Thornburg (h) 828/586-1166 2013 2018 P. O. Box 8, Webster, NC 28788 Rev. Carol Steele (o) 828/669-2911 2013 2018 102 Fairway Dr, Black Mountain, NC 28711 (h) 828/545-6715 Mr. John Lafferty (E) (O)704/735-2542 2015 2020 P.O. Box 1188, Lincolnton, NC 28092 (H)704/732-1253
3 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 24 of 114 STATED CLERK ATTACHMENT 1 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA PERMANENT JUDICIAL COMMISSION ROSTER NAME AND ADDRESS CONTACT YR BEGAN TERM YRS INFORMATION SERVING EXPIRES SERVED
Rev. Samuel P. Warner (D) (O)704/825-3357 2015 2020 P.O. Box 1, Belmont, NC 28012 (H)704/825-5157
4 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 25 of 114 STATED CLERK ATTACHMENT 2 Report from the New Vision Administrative Commission January 31, 2015
New Vision continues a vibrant congregational life and Christian witness in Conover, NC despite being in a pastoral transition. Having recently completed its mission study and Ministry Information Form (MIF), the church has formed a group that is functioning like a PNC (Pulpit Nominating Committee, chaired by Dianna Lee Plover) and has begun a search for their next pastor. In the meantime, CLP Dennis Stamper continues to serve them with distinction, covering most of the preaching and pastoral care needs of the congregation. CLS Graduate and church “member,” Mark Osborne, has aided significantly in ministry leadership as well, preaching 1-2 times per month and coordinating the Wednesday mid-week opportunity for Christian education and worship. Under their able leadership, attendance has stayed on an even keel with 45-55 on most Sundays, with 10-20 people attending the mid-week opportunity on Wednesdays. Other lay leaders and members of the Steering Team continue to give considerable energy and guidance to the congregation in following God’s will, normally meeting every other week.
Two members of the congregation participated in the November 2014 delegation to Guatemala and visited their new “sister church” (El Bethel) in Sur Occidente Presbytery. This was very exciting and, we believe, will strengthen the ministry with Latinos, both locally and internationally. A concerted effort to remain and grow as a multi-cultural congregation is a high priority.
One of the identified strengths of New Vision is their love and concern for each other. This congregation, though especially challenged with struggles over poor health, illness, unemployment, underemployment, and financial instability, knows how to support one another is tangible, practical, and prayerful ways! They live out the gospel of loving, faithful community relying on the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 26 of 114 STATED CLERK ATTACHMENT 3
Report From The West Asheville Administrative Commission January 31, 2015
The Commission working with the West Asheville Presbyterian Church did not meet this past quarter, but will be meeting with the Pastor and Session during the early Spring. We remain pleased with the energy and commitment of the leadership and members of this congregation. They have recently received a $25,000 grant from the Reeves Foundation for the purpose of continuing to upgrade their physical plant. They have had a successful Stewardship Campaign and remain active with the Haywood Community. This is a beacon of holy activity in this thriving community.
Mark Stanley, Chair
Report From The First Presbyterian Church, Franklin Administrative Commission January 31, 2015
The situation at Franklin First appears to be going well. The Rev. Hunter Coleman has been leading worship, bringing healing, and leading them in ministry. The church has elected, trained and installed new elders, who are looking toward the future and thinking about future leadership. The Administrative Commission will meet with the Session on January 20th. There is a positive spirit in the church.
John Lindsay, Chair
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 27 of 114 STATED CLERK ATTACHMENT 4
Report of Administrative Commission The First Presbyterian Church of Hendersonville January 5, 2015
As anticipated in the report presented at the October meeting of Presbytery, a mediation session guided by a professional mediator was held on December 16, 2014 between the Administrative Commission (augmented by its attorneys and representatives from the members continuing as the “true church” within the PCUSA) and representatives of the members seeking dismissal to the EPC. After a full day’s work with the mediator, no resolution had been reached but a decision was made to continue the mediation with both groups communicating through the mediator.
Before the January 31, 2015 meeting of Presbytery, the Administrative Commission will meet by conference call to follow up on matters unresolved at the December 16, 2014 mediation session.
The Administrative Commission asks for the prayers of Presbytery that a way may be found to reach an agreement that enables both congregations to undertake the ministries to which they believe God is calling them.
Respectfully submitted,
Cam Murchison and Bob Forsythe Co-chairs
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 28 of 114 STATED CLERK ATTACHMENT 5 Report From The First Presbyterian Church, Swannanoa Administrative Commission January 31, 2015
Since its formation at last October's Presbytery meeting, this Administrative Commission has met on several occasions. It has helped the Session at Swannanoa celebrate its 220 years of ministry and validate its decision to close the church. Several members have been transferred to other churches in the area and the Presbytery will hold the membership of the rest until they have made decisions on their own.
The Commission has contracted with Keller Williams Professional Realty and they are handling the listing of and eventual sale of the church property. They have been in touch with several groups who expressed interest in the purchase of the property. Apart from the building and grounds, church property has been inventoried and members have been contacted to allow them to claim items they would like to have. A list of the items not claimed by church members will be offered to other churches or will otherwise be left with the building at the time of the sale. Several items were designated to go to other churches that are in need of finding new worship locations and resources.
A 501c3 charter has been filed for the Piney Grove Cemetery and an independent board will soon be formed by the Commission to handle that entity.
The Commission has authorized Steve Hansel to continue handling the bill payments for the church until it is sold. All endowments, benevolences and financial accounts are also being maintained until the final dissolution of the Swannanoa church.
We ask that you continue praying for those people who have been affected by the closing of a long faithful part of the body of Christ.
Respectfully submitted, Steve Austin, Chair
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 29 of 114 STATED CLERK ATTACHMENT 6 Cullowhee Campus Ministry – Board Report January 18, 2015 Greetings from your Campus Ministry Board in Cullowhee!
It has been a very active couple of months for our group, in addition to the Christmas holiday, and we have some positive things to report. First, at the end of the Fall Term we hosted the semi-annual “Presbyterian Pancakes” event in our student center space. This event on the Sunday night of final exam week, offers free pancakes and drinks to all of the WCU students who stop by, from 9:00pm until Midnight. With help from one of the university fraternities, we served several hundred students. A great success! This is a “legacy” event that the Cullowhee Church has done for years, but a great tradition for us to continue.
The highlight of our January board meeting was that Jason Santos, the new associate for Collegiate Ministries for the PCUSA, accepted our invitation to attend. Jason arrived a few hours before the meeting, and toured that university community and our facility. Without putting words in his mouth, I think it’s fair to say that he was impressed with the opportunity we have to create something special for future WCU students. We were all very impressed with Jason, as well, and hope to bring his passion and “cutting edge” ideas into our planning process. If you have not read the impressive announcement about Jason’s appointment, from last August, I would encourage you to do so.
As we have worked on defining our mission for the Cullowhee ministry, a key component of our vision has been to create a Christian Student Center, open to all students for extended periods each week, to offer a comfortable, welcoming environment (a sanctuary) for them to meet, relax, study and enjoy. We had discussed possibly having some refreshments available, but Jason brought us an idea that has created some real excitement. He suggests that we can convert the lower, student center level of the building into a true coffeehouse, and has connected us with the leadership of a PCUSA ministry on the campus of The University of Oklahoma, where a similar coffeehouse has been in operation for 10+ years. We are all excited about the idea, and are making plans to move in that direction, while thoroughly researching the Oklahoma model, as well as one on the campus of Florida State and others. There will be some significant startup costs, in creating the coffeehouse environment, but we will endeavor to leverage our resources as much as possible. If we can get our planning completed by April, we already have a commitment from Sharon Presbyterian Church, in the Charlotte Presbytery, to send a mission, work team up to help us in early May. Other volunteers will be welcome!!!
We have also just finished formulating and drafting a position description/opportunity listing, for an interim, startup leadership position, and have begun to distribute it through various networks in the denomination. We hope to successfully call a candidate by early summer, as we gear up for the Fall 2015 term.
Lastly, we have been blessed with some new additions to our board. The current makeup of the board is as follows: Ada Sloop – WCU campus ministry Deanna Booth – Bryson City Presbyterian Michael Collings – Sylva Presbyterian Bob Tuttle – at large Anita Bernhardt – Presbytery of WNC Allen Proctor – at large Noah McIntee – at large Mark Hanna – Bryson City Presbyterian
We are making progress, but have far to go. Please offer up any ideas and help that you may be aware of, and keep our efforts in your prayers!
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 30 of 114 STATED CLERK ATTACHMENT 7 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA - SESSION RECORDS REVIEW CHECKLIST CHURCH NAME YEAR YES NO COMMENT 1 Were Session meetings opened and closed with prayer? (G-3.0105) 2 Were Session minutes read and approved? (G-3.0105) 3 Were minutes signed by Clerk? 4 Are the names of the Moderator and Elders present, absent, or excused recorded for each meeting? (G-3.0104) 5 Are date, time, and place of each meeting recorded? 6 Is the type of meeting listed for each meeting recorded, stated or called? 7 Was there a quorum each time business was transacted? 8 Was the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper recorded as observed or scheduled at least quarterly during the year? 9 Were the minutes of congregational meetings included in the records of the Session? 10 Were all meetings constitutionally moderated? (G-3.0201) 11 Did the Session meet at least quarterly? (G3.0203) 12 Was a joint meeting of the Session and Diaconate held at least once during the year? (G-2.0202) [If there is a Diaconate] 13 Was the compensation of the Pastor and other full-time employees reviewed during the year? 14 Was a commissioner (s) elected to attend meetings of Presbytery? (G-3.0202a) 15 Was a report received concerning the attended presbytery meeting? 16 Do the minutes indicate the approval of an annual budget by the Session? (G- 3.0205) 17 Is the Annual Statistical Report (approved by the Session) included in the session minutes? 18 Did the Session review the records of the Board of Deacons during the past year? (G-2.0202) [If there is a Diaconate] 19 Is the church incorporated? (G-4.0101) 20 Was an annual meeting of the corporation held, the president officiating? 21 Did the Session receive regular reports from the Church Treasurer? (G-3.0205) 22 Does the Session include women and men? 23 Did the Session have the books and records relating to finances audited during the year? (G-3.0113) 24 Has the Session developed and supervised the church school and educational program of the church? (G-3.0201) 25 Were congregational meetings properly called by the session, by the presbytery, or by the session when requested in writing by one fourth of the active members on the roll of the congregation? Adequate public notice of all congregational meetings shall be given. (G-1.0501) 26 Was an annual meeting of the congregation held? (G-1.0501) 27 Were minutes of congregational meetings properly attested by the Clerk? 28 Was a quorum present at the congregational meeting? (G-1.0501) 29 Was each meeting conducted by a properly appointed Moderator? (G-1.0504) 30 Was a representative Nominating Committee elected by the congregation? (G- 2.0401) 31 Are the following membership rolls maintained? (G-3.0204a) Baptized Active Affiliate 32 Are the following Registers maintained? (G-3.0204b) “There shall be registers of baptisms authorized by the session, of ruling elders and deacons, of installed pastors with dates of service, and such other registers as the session may deem necessary.” 33 Do the Minutes of the Session reflect membership changes, ie, baptisms, marriages, receptions, dismissals, transfers, deletions? (g-3.0204) 34 Has the session reviewed the rolls of members in the past year? CLERK OF SESSION REVIEWER DATE 103rd Stated MeetingRevised of PWNC 10- 2014 January 31, 2015 Page 31 of 114 C-1 GENERAL COUNCIL Jim Henderson, Chair January 31, 2015
The General Council of the Presbytery makes the following recommendations:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
CA 1. THAT permission be granted for the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to be celebrated at Presbytery sponsored events, mission trips, Cullowhee Campus Ministry and Wee Kirk Presbyterian Church during 2015.
CA 2. THAT permission be granted to the North Carolina Presbyterian Pilgrimage to celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper at the Pilgrimage events during 2015. (This will be administered by Presbyterian ministers for the Presbytery of WNC and surrounding Presbyteries.)
CA 3. THAT Elder Jack Suddreth be re-elected as Treasurer of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina for 2015.
4. THAT the Presbytery of Western North Carolina follow the special arrangements at this meeting of Presbytery for the discussion and action on the process for voting on the Proposed Amendments to the Constitution. (General Council Attachment 1)
5. THAT the Presbytery of Western North Carolina approve the recommended membership of the Stated Clerk Search Committee:
Rev. Terry Hanna (A) Mrs. Paula Wallace (D) Rev. Luke Harkey (C) Mrs. Helen Hall (E) Mr. Bob Forsythe (C) Rev. Tee Gatewood (F)
CA 6. THAT the Presbytery elect the following persons to serve on the Nominating and Representation Committee: Nominating: Mrs. Jane Hansel (Swannanoa, First) (B) Class of 2017 2015 Chair Mr. Dennis Godfrey (West Avenue) (D) Class of 2017 Mr. Bobby Justus (Grassy Creek/Newdale) (F) Class of 2017 Mrs. Patricia Clark (Morganton, First) (E) Class of 2017 Representation: Mrs. Esther Pardue (Asheville, First) (B) Class of 2017 Ms. Abby Kuchta (Spruce Pine, First) (F) Class of 2017 Rev. Don Cooper (F) 2015 Chair
FOR INFORMATION:
7. THAT at the Presbytery Meeting on January 25, 2014, the Presbytery approved the
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 32 of 114 C-2
Articles of Incorporation of "Camp Grier" and the Bylaws of Camp Grier, so that Camp Grier would become a 501c3 corporation. In so doing, the Presbytery committed to deeding its share of the property to Camp Grier, as did Charlotte and Salem Presbyteries in their meetings in 2014. The signing of this deed is the culmination of our action in January of 2014. The three presbyteries will hold the majority of the members of the Board of Directors. (General Council Attachment 2)
The Administrative Board/General Council reviewed the Deed and found the signing of the Deed was a completion of our approved action in January 2014.
We are excited about the direction of Camp Grier. It is strengthening its program to include adventure and learning programs and is also strengthening its Christian faith development, as it plans to have a full-time chaplain during the summer camping program. Look at its web-site. The Camp increased its campers by 17% in 2014 and is also planning to increase campers in 2015.
8. THAT the Administrative Board of the Presbytery secured the services of Mr. Sam Avery, of OS Associates, LLC to continue to his contract with the Presbytery of Western North Carolina from November 20, 2014 until October 31, 2015, said contract may be terminated by either party with a 90 day notice. Mr. Avery will continue his services during the quiet phase of Ministry Campaign of the Presbytery. (General Council Attachment 3)
9. THAT the General Council concurred with the recommendation of the Personnel Committee to extend the position of Interim Associate Presbyter for Mission, Witness, and Church Support to Rev. Anita Bernhardt for an additional two years.
10. THAT Bert Sigmon, Stated Clerk, will complete his term effective July 31, 2015 and he has decided not to continue as Stated Clerk. A job description was submitted and approved by the General Council to be forwarded to the Stated Clerk Search Committee. (General Council Attachment 4)
10. THAT the General Council reports approval of the following Nickel-A-Meal Hunger Grants: Feed-A-Kid (Columbus) $ 6,000.00 HeartLife (Morganton) $ 2,000.00 LINC Home Meals (Lincolnton) $ 5,000.00 Loving Food(Asheville) $ 5,000.00 Vets Restoration Quarters (Asheville) $ 5,000.00 Snack Sack (Weaverville) $ 2,000.00 Total $ 25,000.00
11. THAT the General Council reports approval of the following International Grants: Guatemala Partnership Health Project $ 14,160.00 Nkhoma Hospital Children’s Ward $ 26,814.00 Thandizo Orphan Care Program $ 9,453.24 Total $ 50,427.24
12. THAT the General Council approved the recommendation from the Budget and 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 33 of 114 C-3
Finance Committee that legal fees being incurred in the property settlement negotiations on behalf of the First Presbyterian Church, Hendersonville ("True Church"), be taken from the proceeds of the sale of the Riceville Presbyterian Church manse.
13. THAT the General Council approved that the Shelby Presbyterian Church be granted permission to dispose of three properties located in Shelby that have been deeded to the church by members.
14. THAT a list of upcoming events of the Presbytery can be found on the back of the Presbytery Docket.
15. THAT the following dates have been set for youth events in 2015: March 13-14, 2015 High School Mission Retreat, Black Mountain Home April 19, 2015 Middle School Rally, Montreat July 12-17, 2015 Local Summer Mission Trip
16. THAT the Smaller Membership Church Committee will hold a Small Church Forum Summation on Saturday, February 21, 2015 at the First Presbyterian Church, Morganton. The theme of the forum will be, "Where Is God Leading You?" Reservations are required and should be made no later than February 6, 2015.
16. THAT the General Council will welcome invitations from churches or institutions willing to host Presbytery meetings in 2015. The following dates have been set for Presbytery Meetings in 2015: January 31, 2015 ~ Gaston Area Presbyterians, Gastonia, NC April 28, 2015 ~ Montreat Conference Center July 28, 2015 ~ Trinity Presbyterian Church, Hendersonville, NC October 31, 2015 ~ TBA
17. THAT the following dates have been set for 2016 Presbytery Meetings: 2016 January 30, 2016 ~ TBA April 26, 2016 ~ Montreat Conference Center July 26, 2016 ~ Grandfather Home for Children October 25, 2016 ~ TBA
18. THAT the Presbyterian Women will be holding their Spring Gathering on: Saturday, April 25, 2015 - Black Mountain Presbyterian Church
19. THAT the General Council approved supporting the Reunion of Congregations in the Former Catawba Unit/Synod with an event to be held September 18-20, 2015 in Greensboro, NC. The Presbytery was asked to contribute $300 for this event.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 34 of 114 GENERAL COUNCIL ATTACHMENT 1
PROCESS FOR VOTING ON THE AMENDMENTS We ask that the members of Presbytery consider “Seeking to be Faithful Together” as they discuss, debate and vote on the amendments
CONSENT AGENDA: All the amendments, except for the marriage amendment and the Belhar Confession, are listed on the consent agenda. The Administrative Board gave different committees the responsibility for making recommendations on each amendment. Any amendment can be pulled from this consent agenda and debated on the floor. Those amendments remaining on the consent agent will be voted on together as recommended by the committee.
The Belhar Confession will be voted on at the April 28, 2015 Presbytery Meeting.
MARRIAGE AMENDMENT - Proposed Amendment to the definition of Marriage (change to the wording of section W-.9001. of the Book of Order) A. Cam Murchison introduces Report from Committee on Ministry, reports “no recommendation” from COM, and describes “What are we voting on?” B. Rev. Dr. Billy Lowe speaks in opposition to the amendment C. Rev. Margaret Torrence speaks in favor of the amendment D. Prayer E. Open Debate (up to two minutes per commissioner). The mics will be open to both pro and con. The Moderator will work for equality of voices. The speakers are asked to help when several speakers have advocated for one position to allow others advocating a different position to speak.) (45 minutes) F. Prayer G. Vote by ballot a. (The Administrative Board elected to conduct the voting on this issue by written ballot. The rationale for this decision emanated from the reality that eligible voters who would normally be ineligible because, for example, they have agreed to serve as parliamentarians, can only exercise their right to vote when a ballot is used. ) H. Vote counted by Tellers and announced by Moderator I. Prayer
AMEDMENTS THAT WERE PULLED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA 1. The chairperson or a representative of the committee that made the recommendation on the amendment will explain their rationale. The person who requested the particular amendment to be pulled from the consent agenda may begin debate by sharing the nature of their concerns and offer brief remarks. 2. The floor will be open to debate. There will be time for discussion and debate.
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AMEND- SUBJECT COMMITTEE RECOMMEN- MENT DATION 14.A Renunciation of Jurisdiction - On Amending G- COM APPROVE 2.0509 14-B Special Committee to Review the Preparation for CPM APPROVE Ministry Process and Standard Ordination Exams 14-B.1. Final Assessment- On Amending G-2.0607 CPM APPROVE 14-B.2. Accommodations - On Amending G-2.0610 CPM APPROVE 14-C Child Protection Policy - On Amending G-3.0106 COM APPROVE 14-D Minimum Composition of a Presbytery - On Administrative APPROVE Amending G-3.0301 Board 14-E Interreligious Stance - On Amending G-5.0102 Peace & APPROVE Justice
PROPOSED CONSIDERATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
I. CONSENT LIST (To be voted on as a group) (Any Commissioner may remove any item.) 14.A Renunciation of Jurisdiction 14-B Special Committee to Review the Preparation for Ministry Process and Standard Ordination Exams 14-B.1 Final Assessment 14-B.2 Accommodations 14-C Child Protection Policy 14-D Minimum Composition of a Presbytery 14-E Interreligious Stance
II. Debate and Vote on Proposed Amendment. 14-F Marriage
III. Debate and Vote on any item removed from the Consent List.
Please observe the “Seeking to be Faithful Together” and some basic parliamentary rules.
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Seeking to be Faithful Together: Guidelines for Presbyterians During Times of Disagreement In a spirit of trust and love, we promise we will…
1 Treat each other respectfully so as to build trust, believing that we all desire to be faithful to Jesus the Christ; Give them - we will keep our conversations and communications open for candid a hearing… and forthright exchange, listen before we - we will not ask questions or make statements in a way which will answer intimidate or judge others. John 7:51 and 2 Learn about various positions on the topic of disagreement. Proverbs 18:13 3 State what we think we heard and ask for clarification before responding, in an effort to be sure we understand each other.
4 Share our concerns directly with individuals or groups with whom we have disagreements in a spirit of love and respect in keeping with Jesus’ teachings. Speak the truth 5 Focus on ideas and suggestions instead of questioning people’s motives, in love intelligence or integrity; -we will not engage in name-calling or labeling of others prior to, during, or Ephesians 4:15 following the discussion. 6 Share our personal experiences about the subject of disagreement so that others may more fully understand our concerns.
7 Indicate where we agree with those of other viewpoints as well as where we disagree. 8 Seek to stay in community with each other though the discussion may be vigorous and full of tension; - we will be ready to forgive and be forgiven. Maintain the 9 Follow these additional guidelines when we meet in decision-making unity of the bodies: spirit in the - urge persons of various points of view to speak and promise to listen bond of peace to these positions seriously; - seek conclusions informed by our points of agreement; Ephesians 4:3 - be sensitive to the feelings and concerns of those who do not agree with the majority and respect their rights of conscience; - abide by the decision of the majority, and if we disagree with it and wish to change it, work for that change in ways which are consistent with these Guidelines. 10 Include our disagreement in our prayers, not praying for the triumph of our viewpoints, but seeking God’s grace to listen attentively, to speak clearly, and to remain open to the vision God holds for us all.
Adopted by the 204th General Assembly (1992) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for use by sessions and congregations
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 37 of 114 GENERAL COUNCIL ATTACHMENT 2 (approved January 25, 2014) ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OF CAMP GRIER
Pursuant to Section 55A-2-02 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, the undersigned hereby submits these Articles of Incorporation for the purpose of forming a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of North Carolina.
1. The name of the corporation is Camp Grier.
2. The corporation shall be a charitable corporation within the meaning of Section 55A-1-40(4) of the General Statutes of North Carolina. The corporation was incorporated after the effective date of Chapter 55A of the North Carolina General Statutes.
3. The corporation is organized and operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or any corresponding United States Internal Revenue Law (the “Code”), including, without limitation, to own and operate a Christian camp and retreat center in the Reformed tradition of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of these Articles of Incorporation, the corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on (i) by a corporation exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Code or (ii) by a corporation to which contributions are deductible under Section 170(c)(2) of the Code.
(b) No part of the net earnings of the corporation shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to its directors, officers or other private persons, except that the corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of its tax-exempt purposes.
(c) No substantial part of the activities of this corporation shall consist of carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the corporation shall not participate or intervene in any political campaign (including the publishing or distribution of statements) on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office.
4. The corporation shall have no members. The method of election of the directors is set forth in the bylaws of the corporation.
5. The period of existence of the corporation is unlimited.
6. The address of the initial registered office of the corporation in the State of North Carolina is P.O. Box 490, 985 Camp Grier Road, Old Fort, North Carolina 28762, which initial registered office is located in McDowell County; and the name of its initial registered agent at such address is Julian H. Wright, Jr.
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103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 38 of 114 7. The street address address of the principal office of the corporation is 985 Camp Grier Road, Old Fort, North Carolina 28762, which principal office is located in McDowell County. The mailing address of the principal office of the corporation is P.O. Box 490, 985 Camp Grier Road, Old Fort, North Carolina 28762, which principal office is located in McDowell County.
8. To the fullest extent permitted by the North Carolina Nonprofit Corporation Act as it exists or may hereafter be amended, no person who is serving or who has served as a director of the corporation shall be personally liable for monetary damages for breach of any duty as a director. No amendment or repeal of this article, nor the adoption of any other amendment to these Articles of Incorporation inconsistent with this article, shall eliminate or reduce the protection granted herein with respect to any matter that occurred prior to such amendment, repeal, or adoption.
9. In the event of the termination, dissolution or winding up of the affairs of the corporation in any manner or for any reason whatsoever, the directors shall, after paying or making provision for payment of all liabilities of the corporation, distribute all of the remaining assets and property of the corporation to the following presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): Presbytery of Charlotte (Inc.), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); The Presbytery of Western North Carolina, Inc.; and Salem Presbytery Corporation (each, a “Participating Presbytery”).
10. All property held by or for the corporation shall be held in trust for the use and benefit of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
11. The Articles of Incorporation may be amended or repealed and new or amended Articles of Incorporation may be adopted by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the directors then holding office at any regular or special meeting of the board of directors at which a quorum is present, provided that at least ten days’ written notice is given of intention to alter, amend, repeal or adopt new Articles of Incorporation at such meeting; provided, however, that Articles 3, 9, 10 and 11 of the Articles of Incorporation may not be amended or repealed without the prior written consent of each Participating Presbytery.
12. The name and address of the incorporator are Dianne Chipps Bailey, Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., 101 North Tryon Street, Suite 1900, Charlotte, North Carolina 28246.
13. These Articles of Incorporation shall be effective as of filing.
This the _____ day of December, 2013.
______Dianne Chipps Bailey Incorporator
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NORTH CAROLINA SPECIAL WARRANTY DEED Excise Tax $ 0.00
Tax Lot No Parcel Identifier No. 0750-14-0924; 0750-13-7736; 0750-11-1994 Verified by County on the day of , By
Mail after recording to Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., (JHW) 101 N. Tryon Street, Suite 1900, Charlotte, NC 28246 This instrument was prepared by Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A. (NO TITLE EXAMINATION)
Brief description for the Index
THIS DEED made this day of October , 20 14 , by and between
GRANTOR GRANTEE PRESBYTERY OF CHARLOTTE (INC.), CAMP GRIER, a North Carolina nonprofit PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.), a North Carolina corporation nonprofit corporation 5700 Executive Center Drive, Suite 200 P.O. Box 490 Charlotte, NC 28212 Old Fort, North Carolina 28762
THE PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, INC., a North Carolina nonprofit corporation 114 Silver Creek Road Morganton, NC 28655 and SALEM PRESBYTERY CORPORATION, a North Carolina nonprofit corporation P.O. Box 1763 Clemmons, NC 27012
Enter in appropriate block for each party: name, address, and, if appropriate, character of entity, e.g. corporation or partnership.
The designation Grantor and Grantee as used herein shall include said parties, their heirs, successors, and assigns, and shall include singular, plural, masculine, feminine or neuter as required by context. 5728621v1 97278.00011
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 40 of 114
WITNESSETH, that the Grantor, for a valuable consideration paid by the Grantee, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, has and by these presents does grant, bargain, sell and convey unto the Grantee in fee simple, all that certain lot or parcel of land situated in the City of ______, Old Fort Township, McDowell County, North Carolina and more particularly described as follows:
All right, title and interest in and to property conveyed to the Grantor by that deed recorded in Book 820, Page 319 in the McDowell County Public Registry. TOGETHER WITH AND SUBJECT TO Easement Agreement recorded in Book 1056, Page 563 and Declaration of Easements, Covenants, Restrictions and Purchase Right recorded in Book 1056, Page 590. The property hereinabove described was acquired by Grantor by instrument recorded Book 820, Page 319. A map showing the above described property is recorded in Plat Book , page . All or a portion of the property herein conveyed includes or does not include the primary residence of a Grantor. TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the aforesaid lot or parcel of land and all privileges and appurtenances thereto belonging to the Grantee in fee simple. And the Grantor covenants with the Grantee, that Grantor has done nothing to impair such title as Grantor received, and Grantor will warrant and defend the title against the lawful claims of all persons claiming by, under or through Grantor, except for the exceptions hereinafter stated. Title to the property hereinabove described is subject to the following exceptions:
i) The lien of ad valorem taxes not yet due and payable as of the date hereof.
(ii) Public rights-of-way.
(iii) Matters that would be disclosed by a current survey and inspection of the property.
(iv) All plats, easements, covenants, restrictions and other matters of record.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Grantors have caused this instrument to be signed in their corporate names by their duly authorized officers by authority of their Boards of Directors, the day and year first above written.
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103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 41 of 114
PRESBYTERY OF CHARLOTTE (INC.), PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.) a North Carolina nonprofit corporation
By: Name: John M. Cleghorn Title: President
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
COUNTY OF
I, ______, a Notary Public of ______County and State of North Carolina, do hereby certify that John M. Cleghorn, (“Signatory”), personally came before me this day and acknowledged that he is President of Presbytery of Charlotte (Inc.), Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a North Carolina nonprofit corporation, and that he, as President, being authorized to do so, executed the foregoing instrument on behalf of the corporation.
I certify that the Signatory personally appeared before me this day, and (check one of the following) _____ (I have personal knowledge of the identity of the Signatory); or _____ (I have seen satisfactory evidence of the Signatory’s identity, by a current state or federal identification with the Signatory’s photograph in the form of: (check one of the following) _____ a driver’s license or _____ in the form of ______); or _____ (a credible witness has sworn to the identity of the Signatory).
The Signatory acknowledged to me that he voluntarily signed the foregoing instrument for the purpose stated in the capacity indicated.
Witness my hand and official stamp or seal this ______day of ______, 2015.
Notary Public
Notary’s printed or typed name [Note: Notary Public must sign exactly as on notary seal]
My Commission Expires:
[NOTARY SEAL] (MUST BE FULLY LEGIBLE)
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THE PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, INC., a North Carolina nonprofit corporation
By: Name: Mr. William A. (Bert) Sigmon Title: Stated Clerk
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
COUNTY OF
I, ______, a Notary Public of ______County and State of North Carolina, do hereby certify that ______, (“Signatory”), personally came before me this day and acknowledged that he is ______of The Presbytery of Western North Carolina, Inc., a North Carolina nonprofit corporation, and that he, as ______, being authorized to do so, executed the foregoing instrument on behalf of the corporation.
I certify that the Signatory personally appeared before me this day, and (check one of the following) _____ (I have personal knowledge of the identity of the Signatory); or _____ (I have seen satisfactory evidence of the Signatory’s identity, by a current state or federal identification with the Signatory’s photograph in the form of: (check one of the following) _____ a driver’s license or _____ in the form of ______); or _____ (a credible witness has sworn to the identity of the Signatory).
The Signatory acknowledged to me that he voluntarily signed the foregoing instrument for the purpose stated in the capacity indicated.
Witness my hand and official stamp or seal this ______day of ______, 2015.
Notary Public
Notary’s printed or typed name [Note: Notary Public must sign exactly as on notary seal]
My Commission Expires:
[NOTARY SEAL] (MUST BE FULLY LEGIBLE)
5728621v1 97278.00011
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 43 of 114
SALEM PRESBYTERY CORPORATION a North Carolina nonprofit corporation
By: Name: Dr. David Boger Title:
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
COUNTY OF
I, ______, a Notary Public of ______County and State of North Carolina, do hereby certify that Dr. David Boger, (“Signatory”), personally came before me this day and acknowledged that he is ______of Salem Presbytery Corporation, a North Carolina nonprofit corporation, and that he, as ______, being authorized to do so, executed the foregoing instrument on behalf of the corporation.
I certify that the Signatory personally appeared before me this day, and (check one of the following) _____ (I have personal knowledge of the identity of the Signatory); or _____ (I have seen satisfactory evidence of the Signatory’s identity, by a current state or federal identification with the Signatory’s photograph in the form of: (check one of the following) _____ a driver’s license or _____ in the form of ______); or _____ (a credible witness has sworn to the identity of the Signatory).
The Signatory acknowledged to me that he voluntarily signed the foregoing instrument for the purpose stated in the capacity indicated.
Witness my hand and official stamp or seal this ______day of ______, 2015.
Notary Public
Notary’s printed or typed name [Note: Notary Public must sign exactly as on notary seal]
My Commission Expires:
[NOTARY SEAL] (MUST BE FULLY LEGIBLE)
5728621v1 97278.00011
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Nov 4, 2014 Page One of Two Pages Agreement
Presbytery of Western North Carolina (hereafter “PWNC) headquartered at 114 Silvercreek Road, Morganton, NC 28655 and OS Associates, LLC (hereafter “Consultant”) located at 115 Riverside Court, Morganton, NC 28655 agree to the following terms for fund raising consulting services related to the first phase of a $2 – 2.25 million Ministry Campaign to support local and foreign ministries of PWNC.
Statement of Purpose PWNC is a religious organization that spiritually and administratively connects 109 Presbyterian Churches having over 16,800 members covering the western part of NC.
Statement of Obligations Responsibilities and Obligations of the Consultant Consultant shall advise a Campaign Cabinet (composed of volunteers) on planning and implementing the Quiet Phase of a presbytery-wide ministry campaign by providing between 200-250 hours of services (excluding billed Travel Time) on the following:
1. Advise on structuring the Campaign Cabinet and clarifying its tasks and time tables. 2. Develop an overall strategy and detailed plan and time line for the Quiet Phase. 3. Assist in finalizing the Ministry Plans for the four ministries to be supported. 4. Advise on the development of a marketing & communications plan and assist in gaining approval of the plan. 5. Create the overall and detailed campaign budgets for Quiet Phase and assist in gaining approval of campaign budget. 6. Provide training for campaign volunteers. 7. Meet with and advise the Campaign Cabinet throughout the Quiet Phase. 8. Meet with and advise the various Planning groups of the Campaign Cabinet. 9. Meet with and advise the Area groups of the Campaign Cabinet in developing a prospect list and in soliciting those prospects. 10. Meet with and advise the Church Relations group in planning and implementing the church participation component of the campaign 11. Advise on concluding Quiet Phase; advise on the viability of the Public Phase 12. Create a general plan and timetable for Public Phase. 13. Maintain a time log (1/4 hour increments) and report monthly with invoice.
Exclusions 1. Consultant shall not, at any time, have control or custody of contributions. 2. Consultant shall not personally be involved in the solicitation of donor prospects. 3. Consultant shall not supervise or manage any person that actually solicits contributions. 4. Consultant shall not personally submit grant proposals on behalf of the organization.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 45 of 114 GENERAL COUNCIL ATTACHMENT 3 5. Expenses related to the creation, development and production of marketing/communications materials related to this agreement are separate from this agreement and are paid directly by the organization; payment for such expenses is not the responsibility of Consultant. Responsibilities and Obligations of Organization 1. Provide access to Consultant to all information relative to the contracted efforts such as donor lists and similar proprietary information. 2. Provide adequate administrative, clerical and budget support for this agreement including logistics and communications. 3. Pay to Consultant a total of $24,000 for 200-250 hours of service (excluding Travel Time) to be paid in equal monthly installments; service in excess of 250 hours will be invoiced at a rate of $100 per hour. 4. Pay to Consultant a Travel Time stipend of $50 per hour in Travel Time outside of Burke, Caldwell, and Catawba counties; reimburse Consultant reasonable expenses including but not limited to mileage (at IRS rate) and food/meals, lodging, non routine communications expenses. 5. Provide Form 1099 to Consultant for the applicable tax years. Effective and Termination Dates of Contract This contract shall be effective on Nov. 20, 2014 and shall terminate on Oct. 31, 2015. Either party may terminate this contract with a 90 day written notice.
Authorization and Signatures We, the undersigned (2 signatures required), represent PWNC and are authorized to execute agreements on its behalf and by doing so herein enter PWNC into a binding agreement with Consultant.
______Name, Title Date Name, Title Date
I, Samuel J. Avery, authorized officer of OS Associates, LLC, execute this contract and enter into a binding agreement with PWNC.
______OS Associates, LLC Date Samuel J. Avery, President
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Presbytery of Western North Carolina STATED CLERK Position Description
DEFINITION The Stated Clerk is an officer of the Presbytery who performs the duties and responsibilities as directed in the Book of Order and the Handbook for Stated Clerks of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and in this position description.
ACCOUNTABILITY The Stated Clerk is accountable to the Presbytery through its General Council. The Stated Clerk shall work closely and cooperatively with the General Presbyter and other members of the Presbytery staff in support of Presbytery’s mission. The Stated Clerk’s performance shall be annually evaluated by a committee appointed by the General Council (normally the Personnel Committee).
QUALIFICATIONS The Stated Clerk Is committed to the Lord Jesus Christ and confirms the constitutional vows taken at ordination (elder or minister); Has demonstrated the cooperative, flexible spirit of a team player; Has an in-depth knowledge of the connectional workings of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the requirements of its Constitution, and the provisions of the current edition of Roberts Rules of Order, Newly Revised; Generally has a university degree and good administrative experience; Has a creative, knowledgeable and positive approach to problem-solving; Has good written and verbal communication skills; Has demonstrated discretion with confidential information; and Is a person of integrity and humility, and a strong pastoral concern for all with a good sense of humor. Has prior experience with Presbytery Committee and Presbytery structure.
RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Fulfill the duties set forth in the Book of Order, especially those in the Form of Government and the Rules of Discipline. 2. Serve as the official correspondent for receiving and sending communications on behalf of the Presbytery. 3. Oversee the recording and editing of the minutes of all Presbytery meetings, and preserve all official minutes, statistics, records and rolls of Presbytery. 4. Serve as the constitutional advisor to the Presbytery, its committees and staff in offering interpretations of the Book of Order and Roberts Rules of Order, Newly Revised, particularly as the parliamentarian at Presbytery meetings. 5. Meet with and assist the following: a. General Council,
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 47 of 114 GENERAL COUNCIL ATTACHMENT 4 b. Committee on Ministry, including its task force on Valdidated Ministry c. Permanent Judicial Commission. d. Sessional Records e. Sacred Trust Relational Boundaries Task Force 6. Meet with and assist the following (on an as needed/as available basis): a. Sub-Committees of Committee on Ministry b. Committee on Preparation for Ministry c. Examinations Committee 7. Work with churches in transition and conflict, as needed, as reconciliation resource. 8. Plan, with the Moderator and the General Presbyter, the meetings of Presbytery for approval by the General Council. 9. Support in an impartial manner all judicial proceedings, investigating committees, and administrative commissions of Presbytery.. 10. Monitor and support, in cooperation with the General Presbyter, any legal matters involving Presbytery. 11. Prepare and conduct annual educational events for all Clerks of Session that involve a review of all Session/Congregation minutes 12. Attend staff meetings.
TERM OF OFFICE The Stated Clerk is elected by the Presbytery of Western North Carolina for a term of three years, and is eligible for re-election.
Approved by Administrative Board December 9, 2014
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THE PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY REV. CAMERON MURCHISON, JR., CHAIR JANUARY 31, 2015
FIRST SECTION
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY, AN ADMINISTRATIVE COMMISSION, OR A TASK FORCE THAT REQUIRE ACTION BY PRESBYTERY:
I. RECOMMEND FOR COMMISSIONING BY THE PRESBYTERY AS LAY PASTOR: A. LINDA AMOS From: Elder, United Presbyterian Church, Lenoir Commissioned Lay Pastor Graduate As: Commissioned Lay Pastor, Bridgewater Presbyterian Church Effective: January 31, 2015 (The re-commissioning is to include permission to celebrate the Sacraments, moderate the Session and officiate at weddings.) (See COM Attachment 1 for Biography and Statement of Faith.)
CA II. RECOMMEND TO PRESBYTERY THE VALIDATION OF MINISTRY FOR: A. Katherine H. Cashwell, as Associate Director for Conferencing, Montreat Conference Center, through January 31, 2016. B. Steven P. Eason, Sr., as Director of Consulting Services, Macedonian Ministry, through January 31, 2016. C. Ed Brenegar, as Consultant/Coach, Community of Leadership, LLC, through January 31, 2016. D. Beverly Brock, as Executive Director, The Community Kitchen, Inc., through January 31, 2016. E. Joey Byrd, as Chaplain, U.S. Army, through January 31, 2016. F. Marshall Nord, as President/CEO, Reverence Pictures Media, through January 31, 2016. G. Evelyn Coleman, as Director of Programs, Montreat Conference Center, through January 31, 2016. H. Kathleen Rankin, as Pastor to Seniors, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Gastonia, through January 31, 2016.
SECOND SECTION
The Book of Order provides that the Committee on Ministry may be given authority by the Presbytery to find in order calls issued by churches, to approve and present calls for service of ministers, to approve the examination of ministers transferring from other Presbyteries, required by G-11.0402 and G11.0502g, to dissolve the pastoral relationship in cases where the congregation and pastor concur, to dismiss ministers to other Presbyteries, and to approve administrative commissions to ordain/install with the provision that such actions be reported at the next stated meeting of the Presbytery. (G-11.0502h) This permission was granted to our Committee on Ministry; therefore, the following actions are to be simply admitted to the record.
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I. APPROVED THE EXAMINATION AND TRANSFER OF MEMBERSHIP TO THE PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: A. KATHERINE H. CASHWELL From: National Capital Presbytery As: Associate Director for Conferencing, Montreat Conference Center Effective: November 4, 2014 (See COM Attachment 2 for Biography and Statement of Faith.) B. CAROLINE C. PROCTOR From: New Hope Presbytery As: Member-at-Large Effective: December 2, 2014 (See COM Attachment 3 for Biography and Statement of Faith.) C. EDWIN ALLEN PROCTOR, JR. From: New Hope Presbytery As: Honorably Retired Effective: December 2, 2014 (See COM Attachment 4 for Biography and Statement of Faith.) D. STEVEN P. EASON, SR. From: Charlotte Presbytery As: Director of Consulting Services, Macedonian Ministry Effective: May 1, 2015 (See COM Attachment 5 for Biography and Statement of Faith.)
II. APPROVED TRANSITIONAL PASTOR RELATIONSHIPS: A. Veronica Cannon and Lincolnton First Presbyterian Church Extended: January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015 B. Grace Boyer and Hendersonville First Presbyterian Church Effective: January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015 C Jay Rabuck and Reems Creek-Beech Presbyterian Church Extended: January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015 D John Pruitt and New Hope Presbyterian Church, Gastonia Effective: February 1, 2015 - January 31, 2016
III. APPROVED STATED PASTOR RELATIONSHIPS: A. Susan Balfour and Saluda Presbyterian Church Extended: October 26, 2014 - October 25, 2015 B. James Cockerham and Sweetwater Presbyterian Church Extended: January 1, 2015 - May 31, 2015 C. Theodore Grant and Brittain Presbyterian Church Extended: January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015 D. George Hutchins and Brittain’s Cove Presbyterian Church Extended: January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015 E. Curtis Crowther and Buladean Presbyterian Church Extended: October 12, 2014 - October 11, 2015 F. Howard Doerle and Glen Alpine Presbyterian Church Extended: January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015 G. Kent Smith and West Asheville Presbyterian Church Extended: January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015
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H. Keith Freeman and Pineola Presbyterian Church Extended: January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015 I. Robert Abel and Hayesville Presbyterian Church Extended: January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015
IV. APPROVED COMMISSIONED LAY PASTOR RELATIONSHIP: A. Linda Abel and Hayesville Presbyterian Church Extended: January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015
V. APPROVED INTERIM VISITATION PASTOR RELATIONSHIP: A. Lynn Bledsoe and Asheville First Presbyterian Church Effective: January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2015
VI. APPROVED AS MODERATORS: A. Mark Ramsey/Cam Murchison and Asheville First Presbyterian Church B. William Heck and Korean Presbyterian Church of Asheville C. Bob Ayala and Siloam Presbyterian Church
VII. APPROVED THE DISSOLUTION OF PASTORAL RELATIONSHIPS: A. Michael Sears and Waldensian Presbyterian Church Effective: December 31, 2014 B. Anne Morgan and New Hope Presbyterian Church, Asheville Effective: February 28, 2015
VIII. APPROVED PASTOR NOMINATING COMMITTEES: A. Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church B. Waynesville First Presbyterian Church C. Reems Creek-Beech Presbyterian Church
IX. APPROVED MINISTRY INFORMATION FORMS: A. Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church B. Sweetwater Presbyterian Church C. New Vision New Church Development
X. APPROVED THE REQUEST FOR HONORABLE RETIREMENT: A. Paul Edward Forsyth Effective: December 31, 2014 B. Anne C. Morgan Effective: February 28, 2015 C. Albert G. Peery, Jr. Effective: December 31, 2014
XI. APPROVED TRANSFER OF MEMBERSHIP: A. Michael Sears To: Trinity Presbytery As: Pastor, New Kirk Presbyterian Church, Blythewood, SC Effective: January 1, 2015
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B. Calvin Lewers To: Charlotte Presbytery As: Honorably Retired Effective: October 28, 2014
XII. The Committee on Ministry reviewed and approved the guidelines for non-compliant members in regard to the Sacred Trust/Relational Boundaries training and sent letters to those not in compliance. (See COM Attachments 6 and 7)
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 52 of 114 COM ATTACHMENT 1 My Biography – Linda Amos
Childhood for me was the best of times and the worst of times as the saying goes. My family unit was my stay at home mother, father and one sister four years younger than me. To say I was raised in a dysfunctional family would be an understatement and my sister or I neither one speak of it much except to each other, we joke that no one would really believe our stories anyway. Amidst the difficulties came many blessings. For a short while my parents went to church and long after they had quit attending people in my church continued to nurture me and see to my spiritual and emotional well being. We lived within an easy walk of our church so I could continue to go alone and take my sister with me. I credit that church with my faith formation from an early age. Wanting to escape my situation gave me a drive and determination that I might not have had otherwise. I got a job a nearby restaurant that I could walk to when I was fourteen because fortunately I matured early and did not look my age. Once again the owners of the small family business took me under their wing and even helped me with my math homework, drove me home when I worked late and invited me to their home. I worked there until I was old enough to get a job in a department store and a second job cleaning a complex of offices to put myself through college. My parents didn’t offer to pay for my education and they made too much money for me to qualify for financial aid. All along the way God provided people to help me. I took some wrong turns and made some poor choices along the way but learned from each one. Things took a turn for the better when I met my husband and his family. Today I have a daughter, son, daughter-in-law 5 grandchildren, and always a succession of pets ( I love animals). I worked as a nurse for 25 years until a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis curtained my career for a time. Thankfully I have learned to manage my symptoms with diet, exercise, and acupuncture treatments and of coarse plenty of prayer. When I quit working as a nurse I had plenty of time to attend the Commissioned Lay Pastor classes spend time with my grandchildren and pursue my hobbies so it has all worked out well and I’m sure according to plan. My husband and I have traveled extensively and continue to do so, to date we have visited about 40 countries. We have both done some short-term foreign mission work and hope one day to do a longer stint in Eastern Europe. Life is not always easy but when you rest in your faith it is a wonderful adventure. I wake up each day and make sure I say to myself this is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it and then I try my best to do it. So many times our best blessings come wrapped in what appear at first glance to be trials and tribulations.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 53 of 114 COM ATTACHMENT 1 Statement of Faith- Linda Amos
I believe in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, God the Father, Jesus Christ his only Son and the Holy Spirit, three in one. A sovereign God who is the creator of all that is, was and will be, God without beginning or end I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born into this world as fully human and fully divine. I believe he lived a life without sin serving as an example for all humankind to learn from, and emulate. I believe he died on the cross for the redemption of all God’s creation, was buried and resurrected by God and then returned to heaven to be our advocate for grace and mercy until the time he is called by God to return for his church at the end of this age. I believe Jesus Christ is the head of the church universal, and the church is his body. A church where we were meant to live as a community of unified believers and followers of Jesus that has been fractured into denominations and within denominations by human sin and pride. I believe in the Holy Spirit that moves among us, working individually and corporately through Christ’s church, speaking through scripture and in all sorts of other creative ways. I believe the Holy Spirit calls us and leads us. I believe the Bible is the holy living Word of God. I believe God has spoken and still speaks to us through scripture. It leads us in the way we are to live on the path of salvation through Jesus Christ. I feel we are to read it and study it individually and as a faith community constantly being open to new insights and revelations, faithful to what we feel it is saying to our faith community while respectful of other points of view and interpretations. In the reformed tradition I believe the Book of Confessions is a wonderful adjunct to scripture that helps us in our understanding and interpretation of scripture. The sacraments are a sacred entry into and participation in the body of Christ. Baptism signifies being sealed by God’s Spirit into the covenant family of the church. It is a beginning, a renewal that testifies to the faithfulness of our God. When we take communion we are uniting with Christ remembering his life, work and sacrifice on our behalf. Each time I experience communion I feel a renewal, a meeting of my spirit with Christ’s Holy Spirit, living and working within me. Being Presbyterian for me means I have found my niche within the Church Universal. The tenets of the reformed faith speak to me in a way no other does. I love the unity even in the midst of disunity. I love the respect for God’s creation and the way the Presbyterian Church seeks justice and emphasizes the importance of mission on a local and world scale. We are a community connected and chosen by God.
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103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 54 of 114 COM ATTACHMENT 2 Biography for Katie Cashwell
The oldest of two children, I was raised in Greensboro, North Carolina at First Presbyterian Church. I was born and raised Presbyterian. As a young person I served as the youth representative on the church’s Pastor Nominating Committee. That position gave me a close look at ordained ministry and the work of the denomination. It also provided me with many adult mentors in the church and is where I first sensed God calling me to ordained ministry.
I attended Davidson College where I received a B.A. in Anthropology. During my undergraduate studies I had the opportunity to study abroad in Ghana, Africa for a summer. Immediately after college I served for a year as an environmental educator at The Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset, Maine. I led students on camping trips, ropes courses, and taught them about Maine’s ecosystems.
My time in Maine ended and Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Louisiana. I found myself called to this city shortly after the storm to serve as the Field Coordinator for the RHINO Program (Rebuilding Hope In New Orleans) of Saint Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church. I provided support and resources to homeowners who had literally lost all of their material possessions. RHINO was a ministry like that which is described in Jeremiah: “seek the welfare of the city and pray on its behalf.” It was in the wake of this horrible natural disaster, among the rubble of destroyed homes and shattered lives that I felt God calling me to seminary, and decided to enroll at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia.
During seminary I had the unique opportunity to live and work away from the classroom for a year while I served as the Seminary Intern at First Presbyterian Church in Annapolis, Maryland. In that position I grew the young adult ministry program of the church, assisted with worship leadership and pastoral care. It was a very rich experience for me and I am thankful that I had the unique opportunity to fully immerse myself in the life of a church for an entire year during seminary.
I graduated from Union Presbyterian Seminary in 2011. That summer I completed CPE at the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C and got engaged to my now husband, Sean Eggleston. I also began serving as the Stated Supply Associate Pastor of The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. For two years I led the congregation in Christian Education, mission outreach, and nurture. While in this position I also served as Head of Staff for three months while the Senior Pastor was on sabbatical for three months.
In July I began serving as Associate Director for Conferencing at the Montreat Conference Center. I serve and staff four main conferences there: Women’s Connection, Worship & Arts, College Conference, and the Youth Conferences. The conferences and programs I am responsible for inspire, equip, and enable the people of God for their tasks within the Church and their mission in the world. In Scripture we never read of Jesus staying on the mountaintop, but he always returned to his life and ministry. In the same way, Montreat’s ministry is at its most effective when men, women, children, and youth leave Montreat and return to their lives and ministry feeling empowered to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
I am thrilled to be living in my home state again. The mountains have always nourished my spirit and are a place where I feel rooted as a child of God. No matter what role I have served God in-environmental educator, seminary intern, community outreach coordinator, conference programmer-I have been assured by the Reformed tradition that a sovereign God has sustained, ruled, and redeemed my life. The God that cares for the entire universe also knows every hair on my head. It is this supreme God who sees me know in to my next call at Montreat.
I enjoy Mary Oliver poetry, hiking, yoga, horses, entertaining friends, and baking bread.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 55 of 114 COM ATTACHMENT 2 Statement of Faith for Katie Cashwell I believe, as stated in the Westminster Confession, that “in the unity of the Godhead there be three persons of one substance, power, and eternity.” I believe in the three identities of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. I believe in the distinctiveness of all three, but also that they flow in and out of each other. As John Calvin put it: “I can’t think on the one without quickly being encircled by the three; nor can I discern the three without being straightaway carried back to the one” (Institute Volume 1, 141). In each identity of the Holy Trinity the whole Divine Nature is understood, but each has its own particular quality. I believe that God is the Maker of the universe. Nature writer, Annie Dillard, observes that “the universe was not made in jest but in solemn, incomprehensible earnest by a power that is unfathomably secret, and holy, and fleet.” God’s Creaion is an intentional demonstration of God’s loving and concerned nature. The clearest demonstration of God’s concern for humanity is in the life of Jesus Christ. God’s willingness to become truly human is a powerful demonstration of God’s affirming love (Nicene Creed). The angel that was sent to Joseph’s dream put it best: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall name him Emmanuel” (MT 1: 23). Emmanuel, “God with us,” captures the essence of the Incarnation as God chose to come and be among people, to indeed be with us. Jesus’ life was characterized by perfect love and obedience to God. He ministered to the outcasts and healed the sick. This often brought him in to conflict with His people. His life and teachings criticized and disrupted people. Jesus was unjustly condemned but His life of obedience to God led him inexorably to the cross. Christ’s perfect obedience and submission to God stands in stark contrast to our disobedience and sin. Our sins were attributed to Christ on the cross, so that they would no longer count against us. God then raised Christ from the dead. In Christ’s resurrection God destroyed the power of sin and evil, saved us from death, giving us everlasting life. I believe that we are God’s children, through our blood kinship with Christ. We are also the children of Adam and Eve, with, “a hereditary craving for forbidden fruit salad” (Barbara Brown Taylor). We are broken and beloved; sinful and sacred. I believe that we have been made in the image of God and have been created good, but the goodness has been contorted and marred by sin. In Christ we will be healed and have already been healed-even if we cannot feel it yet. We have been, are being, and will be made whole in Christ. Scripture is the Living Word of God. God wants us to be part of it. God wants us to weep, rejoice, hope, act- to be part of The Great Story. Rooted in history, the Scriptures are more than history. If we open ourselves up to the stories of Scripture they can transform us by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God working in our church and world. The Holy Spirit is the Giver and Re-newer of life. The Spirit gives us courage to pray, to witness to Christ, to hear others, to unmask idolatries, and to work for justice, freedom, and peace (Brief Statement of Faith). The PCUSA denomination is my home base. No other organization or denomination has ever tugged at my soul as much. I believe that God has used my gifts and talents in a variety of ways and places, but that the PCUSA is where God is calling me to invest my time and gifts. I am part of the Church, which is not a building or a set of doctrines but the Body of Christ – people working together to love God and one another. We understand and embrace this identity through regular worship and celebration of the sacraments. The sacraments are both a gift and a call to respond to that gift. In baptism, God summons us and claims us for a life of repentance and faithfulness. It is a sign and seal of God’s promises. Baptism is a time for the church to celebrate and remember that we are all children of God and that in Christ we are claimed and have new life. Infant baptism especially reminds us that God chooses us first. In the Lord’s Supper, we are nourished for spiritual growth in relationship with God and one another. The Lord’s Supper is a celebration and a reminder of Christ’s death, which unites all believers, not only with Christ, but with each other. We enact at the table what we will go out in to the world and do-practice justice, reconciliation, and obedience to Christ. I hope that one day all peoples will be reconciled to God and that our Christian mission and calling is to live lives that show compassion and love to all of Creation.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 56 of 114 COM ATTACHMENT 3 Biography Caroline Craig Proctor
Salient themes in my personal biography include narrative, curiosity, exploration, and endeavor. As I sit squarely in middle life, I notice that my goals have changed and my aspirations shifted. I had the good fortune to be cradled in the faith, the first born only daughter of professional, earnest, dutiful and loving parents and found my dearest friends, greatest passion, and happiest days in the halls of the Church where I was raised. After considering a career in social work, I opted to attend seminary. At the age of 23 I was eager to bring to a flourishing finish the work that Jesus had begun and I preferred to do it within the narrative of faith and to work for the Church rather than the “Government”. I was long on passion and righteousness and believed that if I could tell the story of faith, explain the Gospel adequately, then all wrongs would be righted, all sinfulness rectified. The story I believed about myself as I headed off to seminary was that I would work in San Francisco helping people with AIDS. I chose to attend Duke Divinity School after visiting the Presbyterian seminary in San Francisco. I felt truly called to that seminary training. Studying among Methodists informed me of how Presbyterian I really am. While in Seminary, I noted the expressed needs of migrant laborers. I felt called to learn Spanish and was intrigued and moved by Liberation Theology and the writings of Carlo Carretto and Gustavo Gutierrez as conversation partners with Reformed theologians. I chose to take a leave of absence and moved to Mexico to attend a language immersion program and join a Base Christian Community. This became one of the most influential parts of my educational career. My semester there gave me a profound appreciation for the immediacy of Scripture, the expansion of thought entering another culture and language can bring, and the complexities of the geopolitical situation between our country and theirs began to trouble my simplistic world view. Loving people in Mexico did force me to read the newspapers differently, to look for the stories not told, and to remember that a community of very hungry people took up collections for the Christians in Bosnia because they saw suffering that was greater than their own. After seminary, I moved to Charlotte for two years of Chaplain residency work. It was there that I learned to pray out loud, even for things I didn’t think God would do. I often felt like Moses, wandering through the desert with people and then not getting to the promised land of acceptance and peace with them. My theological bones were strengthened on the work of Wendy Farley, Elizabeth Johnson, and the Ulanovs among others. Collegial community and studying relationship between our bodies and our spirits refined my future path in ministry. I served three congregations. At Amity Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, I developed my sense of self as pastor. At Selwyn Avenue (also in Charlotte) my creativity was welcomed and my voice claimed. I enjoyed leading them into international mission, learning the profound theology of children, and participating in funerals (which turns out to be one of my favorite things) and weddings. At University Presbyterian Church, I focused on mission to the world and to the UNC campus. I loved creating programs, inspiring students to ministry, and bearing witness to all the struggles and joys of growing up independently. It was during this work that I met and came to love my husband, Allen. Our partnership has been, and continues to be, fulfilling, nurturing, challenging, and joyful. After we married, I moved from parish ministry to prison ministry; full steam into the fire of justice ministry I’d so boldly and passionately proclaimed. The women’s stories and sufferings moved me beyond words. I also came face to face with my idealization of poverty and the hard truth that no matter how brilliant the narrative, the problems and issues faced by those locked away from our daily lives are recalcitrant. I became discouraged and wearied by the immense suffering and my limitations to fix or change much of any of it. I realized I’m not constitutionally suited to that ministry; I lack the capacity to accompany that kind of suffering. I prayed for new guidance. Guidance came in the form of a memory that needled me (pun intended) for months. It was a memory of a friend studying Acupuncture. I discovered that I was being called to study Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. I learned the medicine that has been handed down since the time of the Hebrew prophets. Learning another medical system with much of another language is harder at 45 than it was at 25. I found new depths of determination and curiosity. Daoist Chinese Medicine education has helped make me an appreciative Presbyterian and kindled new inspiration in the reading of Scripture and the narratives we have of healings. There are surprising parallels between Chinese medicine and Presbyterian beliefs and mission, which I’d welcome a chance to share with you at some juncture. In this introduction, I’ll share that its study has changed my attention. I find now that I’m less interested in being a good person than I am in finding joy. I’m curious about how people tell their story and how that story affects their daily life. I want to listen into their hopes, their capacity for connection with themselves, what is holy to them, and with the rest of God’s creatures. I once endeavored to finish Jesus’s work of saving all the world. Now I’m endeavoring more and more to laugh often, witness healing in broken places, and sit a bit longer and more gently with my own story. I have missed collegiality and bringing my gifts to service. I hope to join you in the good work of Western North Carolina Presbytery with humor, joy, and abundant grace.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 57 of 114 COM ATTACHMENT 3 Statement of Faith Caroline Craig Proctor
I believe God gathers the Church for the worship of God and for the sustenance and nurture of God's people. God calls us through Christ's Spirit to be faithful members of this community. We prayerfully seek to understand and to conform to God's will. In this community of persons, we celebrate the speaking and hearing of Scripture, which unfolds for us stories of God's revelation to and relationship with people before us. We celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism, proclaiming God's grace offered to all born into this world and welcoming the baptized into Christian community. We celebrate the Lord's Supper, a sacrament which reminds us whose we are and of our call to abundant life. It is in this community that we learn who God is and who we are as God's people, and that we celebrate God's victory over sin, estrangement, and death.
I believe in God, whose majesty and grace surpasses even our most ingenious imaginations of splendor and pardon. I marvel at God, who creates all that is, and whose creation continues to flourish and astonish the creatures therein. I believe that God beckons; God yearns for communion with us, wounded people that we are. I believe God continues to reconcile all persons, regardless of the forces that crush us: forces of rebellion, estrangement, and injustice. This reconciliation comes to us through revelations of mercy, forgiveness, and redemption known through Jesus Christ as told in Scripture and through our lived experience.
I believe in God the Spirit, promised and sent to us by Christ: the breath of life that moves in us and through us. The Spirit calls us to an abundant life of freedom, service, joy, and hopefulness. The Spirit inspires and informs our interpretation of Holy Scripture and God's revelation to us. God's Spirit consoles the inconsolable. This Spirit comforts, challenges, sustains, encourages, and nurtures us in our most profound humanness: our vulnerabilities to loves and to losses, and our vulnerability to the mortality of our bodies and of our lives as we know them. The Spirit teaches us to tender our broken places and the brokenness in one another. This Spirit moves us toward reconciliation with one another and with God, overcoming the reality of our alienation.
I believe in Jesus Christ, fully human and fully divine. I understand him to have lived in the line of those prophets before him, proclaiming the freedom and justice of God's reign. His vision of the reign of God was one in which all persons were treated with human dignity as children of God. His living is an example of one full of compassion; free to touch the untouchable, to commune with the outcasts, to count women and men and children among his faithful. He lived able to struggle with God he called Abba, and with his own suffering, and he offered the possibility of healing and wholeness to others who knew suffering. He was greatest through his vulnerabilities and compassion, and profound enough in his truth telling that he was executed for calling people to reconciliation and justice.
I believe God raised Jesus from the dead as Lord and Christ, thereby breaking the power of sinfulness and death. Our story has become one in which life moves into life, and our challenge is to continue to live with faith in this gift of resurrection.
I believe in the mysteries of faith: the mystery of communion of saints, the mystery of God who is greater than I and whose wisdom is beyond my grasp. I believe in the mystery that God can awaken in even the most troubled and trodden of spirits: that the dead do live again.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 58 of 114 COM ATTACHMENT 4 PERSONAL STATEMENT Allen Proctor November 12, 2014
As a senior at Davidson College I first seriously considered going to seminary following a horrifying discussion with first year law students about their immediate experiences and probable futures, abruptly terminating my fantasies about a fulfilling legal career. Since my involvement in campus ministry at Davidson had been very meaningful to me (in ways that my years of growing up in Hudson Memorial Presbyterian Church had not), I decided to explore my sense of call to ministry in the PCUS by taking a youth director job with Milner Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh where, in 1976, there were 65 energetic kids in my youth groups and where, for 15 months, Rev. W.R. Smith III mentored me in the joys and struggles of parish ministry. After being accepted as a Candidate in Orange Presbytery I joined others of my idealistic Davidson classmates and ventured off to Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, where I believed that an education in Reformed theology from an evangelical perspective would place us in the vanguard of the revolution to fix all the problems in the church. I was wrong. It wouldn’t be the last time. And yet I benefited greatly from that seminary education, as, after ordination, I also benefited from theological education at Union Seminary in NY and Columbia Seminary in GA. One benefit from those seminaries was the privilege of getting to think about God with some very bright and devoted people. Another benefit was the forced humility of discovering I had been wrong, repeatedly and profoundly, about God, the church, and a lot of other things as well. In spite of these hard-learned lessons, my arrogance yet lives, and I am expecting more humbling growth experiences ahead. But so far this theological journey has shaped me as a post-evangelical (Wallis), post-neo-orthodox (Barth), post-liberal (Tillich), liberation theologian (Bonheoffer, Gutierrez, Cone, Reuther, Brown) who is guided by theological ethics (Niebuhr and Niebuhr) and inspired by the spirituality of the contemplatives (Merton). I continue to aspire to be a disciple of Jesus, who modeled compassion, justice, love, courage, freedom and responsibility. And I continue to hold a deep appreciation for and a vocation in the Reformed tradition, which I believe provides me with the most helpful theological paradigm for Christian faith and practice. I was Honorably Retired in 2009 and have lived in Asheville since 2010. I served churches in Raleigh and Cary as parish associate, solo pastor, and organizing minister. I served as the Presbyterian Campus Minister at NC State University for the nineteen years preceding retirement. Since moving to Asheville I have been involved and volunteered with Asheville Youth Mission, First Presbyterian Asheville, The Haywood St Congregation and Habitat for Humanity. I also have been trained and certified as a spiritual director. I meet with spiritual direction clients and serve as a mentor to spiritual direction students through the Haden Institute. In September I began serving as the Assistant Director of the Haden Institute in order to prepare to become the Director when the current Director retires. I hope to contribute to this presbytery as a colleague and friend to those in ministry. I am interested in spiritual formation using the resources of the Christian mystical tradition and of depth psychology. I am interested in offering retreats and classes in spiritual formation, Christian mysticism, depth psychology and dream work. I also have a deep and abiding love for young adults and for the opportunities the church offers them through campus ministry. I hope to bring these gifts and interests to this presbytery.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 59 of 114 COM ATTACHMENT 4 STATEMENT OF FAITH Allen Proctor November 12, 2014
We trust in Jesus Christ, fully human, fully God. Jesus proclaimed the reign of God; preaching good news to the poor and release to the captives. Jesus was crucified. God raised Jesus, breaking the power of sin and evil, delivering us from death to life eternal. Jesus continues to challenge me through his example to live with authenticity and courage, naming the brokenness and fear in my own life and in persons and institutions. His example of compassion, sacrifice, and solidarity with the most vulnerable as the path to wholeness, inspires me to follow him and trust his understanding of a life well lived.
We trust in God. In sovereign love God created the world good. But we rebel against God; we hide from our creator. Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation. Like a mother who will not forsake her nursing child, like a father who runs to welcome the prodigal home, God is faithful still. This divine essence permeates every particle of matter and wave of energy. This God of human history also is sovereign over all that has been and will be. The opportunity to awaken to God’s presence in everyone and everything is God’s gift to every human. “We are the universe become conscious of itself.” Curiosity, wonder and awe are our spontaneous responses to our expanding knowledge of the universe. Our deepening understanding of the physical universe deepens our understanding of its Creator and Sustainer. Yet ultimately, God is Mystery and our best theological attempts are simply metaphors and symbols for the Divine Reality.
We trust in God the Holy Spirit, everywhere the giver and renewer of life. The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith and sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor. The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture, engages us through the Word proclaimed, claims us in the waters of baptism, feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation, and calls men and women to all ministries of the Church. In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom and peace. We rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Spirit enables us to discover who we are and whose we are. The universal human search for meaning finds a deep satisfaction in the particular vocation given to each by the Spirit. That vocation is guided and shaped by the ritual community of the Church, which in turn is formed by scripture, tradition and the sacraments. In their search for and practice of their vocation, the Church community offers each person an extended family of acceptance, support and accountability. Yet the Spirit is not defined by or contained in the Church, but is at work in every human culture and religion, in every discipline of inquiry and exploration, in every nook and cranny of the Creation. Thus the process of creation and revelation continues and intertwines with our individual and corporate vocations. The Mystery of who God is and who we are continues to unfold. We do not know where this process will lead us as individuals or as a planet, and our fears of self-destruction are justified. But this adventure can be lived with joy and confidence when we trust that nothing, within or beyond time and space, can separate us from God’s love.
Words in italics are quotations from A Brief Statement of Faith; The Book of Confessions.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 60 of 114 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 61 of 114 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 62 of 114 COM ATTACHMENT 6
January 7, 2015
FIELD(Name) FIELD(Address) FIELD(City, State Zip)
Dear Rev. FIELD(Last Name):
At its meeting on December 2, 2014, the Committee on Ministry addressed the need to attain full compliance with the Presbytery’s Sexual Misconduct Response Policy that requires members to take prescribed workshops. The issue for the COM is the health of our community of churches and the viability of insurance coverage for churches, agencies and the Presbytery itself. We are writing to advise you of the action taken as it applies to you:
1. Regarding members of Presbytery (who are not officially exempt) and who have not taken the required training as of December 2, 2014, the COM declares that they are out of compliance and thus in violation of the requirement for members “to carry on their ministry in accountability to Presbytery (G-2,0503, a, 4).” a. Any members with an extraordinary reason may write a formal appeal to the COM requesting either a temporary or permanent exemption from the required training. All such requests will be dealt with on a case by case basis, subject to the sole judgment of the COM. Failure to do so will leave that member in noncompliant status subject to the actions delineated in item 2. d. below. Further, if a request for exemption is denied by COM, that member will be governed by the provisions of item 2. c. below. b. Any members laboring outside the bounds of the Presbytery may furnish evidence of having completed comparable training (or ask for an exemption as provided in 1.a. above) by April 16, 2015. Failure to do so will leave them in noncompliant status subject to the actions delineated in item 2. d. below. c. All other members of Presbytery who have not taken the required training as of December 2, 2014, have until April 16, 2015 to rectify their noncompliance by taking the training scheduled on April 16, 2015. Failure to do so will leave them in noncompliant status subject to the actions delineated in item 2. d. below. d. Members who are still in noncompliant status as of April 17, 2015 should expect that one or more of the following actions will be taken: i. Their names listed on each subsequent Presbytery Docket until they are in compliance. ii. Their Session or other employing agency will be advised that they are out of compliance with possible impact on the insurance coverage for that church or employing agency.
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FIELD(Name) January 6, 2015 Page 2
iii. Initiation of disciplinary charges for lack of accountability to Presbytery in order to protect Presbytery from negative impact on its insurance coverage. iv. Initiation of procedures to remove them from their status as “Validated Minister,” “Member at Large” or “Commissioned Lay Pastor/Commissioned Ruling Elder.”
We hope you will find it possible to utilize the means specified to bring yourself into compliance with the policy by April 16, 2015. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely, Mark Ramsey Mark Ramsey, 2014 Chair of COM Cam Murchison Cam Murchison, 2015 Chair of COM
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 64 of 114 COM ATTACHMENT 7
January 6, 2015
The Rev. address city, state, zip
Dear Rev. :
We are writing to let you know about a decision made by the Committee on Ministry of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina related to the Presbytery’s Sexual Misconduct Response Policy as it relates to Honorably Retired members who are not actively exercising functions of ministry. Whereas the policy has heretofore required HR members to “opt out” by requesting an exemption, it has become apparent that this is not the best way for us to proceed.
Therefore, the COM has established an “opt in” policy instead. This means that any HR member who has not taken the training workshop required by our Sexual Misconduct Response Policy as of December 2, 2014 is presumed to be in exempt status, i.e. not to have “opted in.” Nothing further is required if you are satisfied with the exempt status, with its attendant limitations (of not serving on Presbytery Committees, preaching in local churches, leading workshops or retreats, or exercising other pastoral functions such as celebrating the sacraments, or conducting weddings and/or funerals), unless a “Single Event” exception has been requested.
Our existing policy allows for “Single Event” exceptions this way:
Single Event exceptions may be granted by telephone, email or USPS. All that is required is that the request be delivered to the Presbytery not less than seven days prior to the event, specifying the reason for the exception, including the date and time of the event, and the name and signature of the Honorably Retired minister.
However, COM recognizes that emergency requests/opportunities do arise for pastoral services from HR members. Therefore, it has added the following to the ways in which a “Single Event” exception may be requested:
In the event of emergency circumstances, the exception may be requested any time prior to the event.
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The Rev. January 6, 2015 Page 2
Finally, if at any time HR members desire to “opt in” to avoid the foregoing limitations, they can do so by taking a regularly scheduled workshop arranged by the Sexual Misconduct Prevention Team of the Presbytery.
While it is important for the health of our community of churches and the viability of their insurance coverage that we have compliance with the Presbytery’s Sexual Misconduct Response Policy, we hope that you will find these modifications to be a reasonable accommodation to the special needs of HR members. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Sincerely, Mark Ramsey Mark Ramsey, 2014 Chair of COM Cam Murchison Cam Murchison, 2015 Chair of COM
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 66 of 114 I-1 NOMINATING COMMITTEE Jane Hansel, Chair January 31, 2015
The Nominating Committee presents the following nominations to fill the year of 2017 and other class vacancies. The next meeting of the committee will be Monday, February 23, 2015.
We are asking you to discern your wishes in regard to a Presbytery committee on which you would like to serve or suggest someone for a committee of Presbytery.
It is important to note Presbytery by-laws which state, “Terms of committee members shall be for three (3) years, in equal classes, and no committee member shall serve more than two (2) consecutive terms. Ordinarily, a person may serve on only one Presbytery committee at any time.”
The Nominating Committee invites you to take a moment to fill out the attached form and return the form to the Stated Clerk’s Table prior to leaving the meeting today. We hope that you will consider serving on a committee in which you are interested or recommending others for committees. To all of you, we give praise to God and our heartfelt thanks for your faithful service.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
CA 1. Administrative Board Rev. Keith Grogg (Montreat) (B) Class of 2017
CA 2. Committee on Ministry Mrs. Paula Wallace (West Avenue) (D) Class of 2017
CA 3. Preparation for Ministry Rev. Emily Wilmarth (Highlands, First) (A) Class of 2017
CA 4. Peace and Justice Committee Rev. Stephen Elderbrock (Burnsville, First) (F) Chair 2015
CA 5. Hunger Committee Ms. Jan Duncan (Lincolnton, First) (E) Chair 2015 Ms. Katie Adams (Kenilworth) (B) Class of 2017
CA 6. Missions Committee Rev. Ed Forsyth (D) Class of 2017 Ms. Sue Johnson (D) Class of 2017
CA 7. Campus Ministry Rev. Steven Runholt (Warren Wilson) (B) Chair 2015 Mr. Mark Hanna (Bryson City) (A) Class of 2017
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 67 of 114 I-2 CA 8. Self-Development of People Mr. Bob Porter (Sylva, First) (A) Class of 2017
CA 9. Small Membership Church Committee Mrs. Deborah Lesenger (John Knox) (C) Class of 2017
CA 10. Personnel Committee Rev. Otis Wilson (E) Class of 2015 Chair 2015
CA 11. Property and Equipment Mr. Irvin Barksdale (Spruce Pine, First) (F) Class of 2017 Mr. Doug Veazey (Morganton, First) (E) Class of 2017
CA 12. Joint Outdoor Ministries Gen. Larry Huggins (Unity) (E) Class of 2017 Mr. J. D. Waldrop (Unity) (E) Class of 2017 Rev. Dr. James Bernhardt (Northminster) (E) Chair 2015
CA 13. Leadership Team of Guatemala Partnership Dr. Doug Michael (Newton, First) (E) Class of 2016 Mrs. Mimi Michael (Newton, First) (E) Class of 2016 Ms. Susan Maveety (New Hope, Asheville) (B) Class of 2017
CA 14. The Nominating Committee places the following elder commissioner nomination to serve as a delegate for a two year term (2015-2016) for the Stated Meetings of the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic: Mrs. Sylvia Sellers (D) - West Avenue Presbyterian Church 2605 Redbud Drive Gastonia, NC 28056
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 68 of 114 I-3 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA Recommendations for Presbytery Committees
Name of Person Making Recommendation
Date Church Cluster In the chart below are five (5) general areas of categories of expertise and related names of the committees required to carry out the work of the Presbytery. The members of the Nominating Committee of the Presbytery are diligently searching for ruling elders (E), teaching elders (M) and lay persons (L) to serve on one or more of the committees listed in the chart. Non-ordained lay persons (L) may also serve on many presbytery committees. Below the chart, please fill in the name, committee, and requested information about each ruling elder (E) or teaching elder (M) you think to be qualified to serve on one or more of the committees. As we work hard to keep our committees properly balanced as to clusters, elders or lay persons to clergy, men to women and with racial/ethnic representation, your recommendations will be reviewed.
SUPPORT WITNESS DISCIPLESHIP LEADERSHIP OPERATIONS
Committee on Peace & Justice Christian Education Stewardship Cmte. Budget & Finance Ministry Missions Youth Committee Nominating & Property & Preparation Ministry Hunger Joint Outdoor Representation Cmte. Equipment Small Membership Ch Self-Development of Ministry Personnel Committee People Campus Mission Permanent Judicial Evangelism
SUB-COMMITTEES SUB-COMMITTEES SUB-COMMITTEES SUB-COMMITTEE Examinations Leadership Team Validated Ministry Guatemala Non-Installed Partnership CLS
TASK FORCES TASK FORCES TASK FORCES Malawi Task Force Let’s Celebrate Officer Training Resource Center Worship Committee: Name: M/E/L Sex Race Phone(w) (h) E-mail Additional Information About Person
Committee: Name: M/E/L Sex Race Phone(w) (h) E-mail Additional Information About Person
Committee: Name: M/E/L Sex Race Phone(w) (h) E-mail Additional Information About Person
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 69 of 114 P-1
Witness Division Report - End of Year 2014 January 31, 2015
The focus of the Peace and Justice Committee in 2014 has been on Care of Creation, environmental issues, global warming, and the Earth Care Congregations initiative. As such, we have tried to both educate ourselves around caring for the earth and encourage others, individuals and congregations, to reduce their carbon footprint. The grants provided by the 2104 Peacemaking offering have been given to facilitate this focus and have been related to environmental health. In addition, at the recommendation of the Peace and Justice Committee, our presbytery chose to endorse one of the overtures to the General Assembly in Detroit on sustainable agriculture, attempting to raise awareness within the PWNC and beyond.
The work of the Missions Committee continues to be concentrated around supporting the PCUSA mission co-workers from our presbytery, strengthening the mission and outreach of local congregations, and facilitating the teams that travel to walk with our partners in Guatemala and Malawi. 2014 has brought changes in the ministry of Becca Young at the seminary in Jakarta, Indonesia. Because Becca is now fully funded as a resident faculty member at the seminary, she is no longer officially a PCUSA mission co-worker but, now works directly and closely with seminary students and faculty colleagues. Meanwhile, Dr. Barbara Nagy, our missionary doctor in Malawi, has made the transition back to Malawi following the completion of her public health degree in Columbia, GA. while meeting a multitude of family challenges. Barbara’s sister lost her battle with cancer. Oldest daughter, Melia, joined the Navy instead of returning to Malawi. Daughter, Happiness, was not admitted to the expected school, requiring Barbara to revise her education plans for Happy significantly. Barbara has dealt with all this with an abundance of grace and resumed her important medical work in Nkhoma, Malawi. This year, the 10th year of our relationship, two mission teams from PWNC visited Malawi, working at Nkhoma Hospital, its outlying rural clinics, and the school we established in Nkhoma. In addition, 21 people went on the November delegation to Guatemala, celebrating 20 years of partnership between the PWNC and the presbyteries of Sur Occidente and Suchitepequez, as well as planning for the coming year together.
Campus Ministry attention in 2014 has been focused on the emerging new student ministry at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. The Administrative Commission for Cullowhee morphed into a new Board of Directors for the student ministry at WCU. Much prayer, consultation, and discernment as to how to develop a meaningful campus ministry has already and will continue to take place. We have met with Brian Santos of Collegiate Ministries of the PCUSA and, as a result of all these deliberations, have decided on two steps forward. One is to seek a leader for the new ministry (See the PWNC website for a position description or contact Board Chair, Mark Hanna for additional details). The other is to develop a coffeehouse on the site (a nearly ideal, central location at WCU) to use as a venue for the ministry platform.
Hunger Committee Your Hunger Committee reminds you that April 1, 2015, is the deadline for Nickel-A-Meal grant applications awarded in the Spring. If your church supports or considers initiating a hunger relief project download the grant application form from Presbytery’s website or call the Presbytery office for a mail delivery. The hunger relief projects our Presbytery supports include: community gardens, food pantries, hunger awareness events, community feeding programs, school backpack programs, delivered meals, nutritional education, etc. In addition our Presbytery supports hunger relief projects in Guatemala, Malawi, Cameroon, Haiti, etc. To all of our churches who faithfully collect the Nickel-A-
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 70 of 114 P-2
Meal offering and collectively raise over $100,000 each year for these projects we say, “THANK YOU!” To those churches not supporting this effort we ask, “WHY NOT?”
The Hunger Committee would like to extend a thank you to all of the churches who contributed to Nickel-A-Meal in 2014. Through your faithful giving to the Nickel-A-Meal program, you are helping to support the cause of hunger relief.
Churches Participating in Nickel-a-Meal (2014) Asheville, First Gastonia, First Reems Creek-Beech Banner Elk Grace Covenant Robinson Memorial Belmont, First Grassy Creek Rutherfordton Bessemer City, First Green Street Ryburn Memorial Black Mountain Hickory, First Saluda Brevard-Davidson River Jack’s Creek Shelby Brittain Kenilworth Sherrills Ford Bryson City Lincolnton, First Siloam Burnsville, First Long Creek Southminster Canton Lowell Trinity Cherryville, First Marion Tryon Clinchfield Mills River Union Columbus Montreat United Conley Memorial Morganton, First Unity Crossnore Morrison Vians Valley Dallas, First Mount Holly, First Waldensian Dulatown New Hope (Asheville) Walnut Duncan’s Creek New Hope (Gastonia) Walnut Grove Etowah Newdale Warren Wilson Fairview Newland Waynesville, First Fletcher Newton, First West Asheville Forest City, First Northminster West Avenue Franklin, First Olney Westminster
Your Hunger Committee awarded the following grants in November, 2014, from the Nickel-a- Meal fund: REGIONAL: Feed a Kid of Columbus $6,000 HeartLife of Morganton $2,000 LINC Home Meals of Lincolnton $5,000 Loving Foods of Kenilworth, Asheville $5,000 Veterans Restoration Quarters of Asheville $5,000 Snack Sak of Rheems Creek/Beech $2,000
INTERNATIONAL: Guatemala Partnership Health project $14,160 Nkhoma Hosp. Children’s Ward, Malawi $26,814 Thandizo Orphan Care Project, Malawi $9,453
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 71 of 114 P-3
THANK YOU for your faithful support of the Nickel a Meal offering which allows our Presbytery to be a strong advocate for hunger relief in Western North Carolina and on the international mission field. **************************************************************** Remember the Souper Bowl of Caring offering received on February 1. Your church will be joining thousands of other churches across our nation in this effort. Money and nonperishable food received on that Sunday may be donated to the hunger relief organization of your choice. Register your church at souperbowl.org. Click “Get Involved”, then “Hold a Collection.”
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 72 of 114 P-4
Presbytery of Western North Carolina Report of Delegation to Guatemala November 5-12, 2014
Eleven members of various churches in our presbytery left airports in Asheville and Charlotte to make the trip to Guatemala on November 5. We left with anticipation and a little anxiety. Some were anxious to practice their Spanish. Others knew their Spanish was not going to get them very far. We had met each other in meeting prior to our take off, but were looking forward to learning more about each other. We came from different backgrounds and places, but we all shared hearing a call that this was where we needed to be. We were even more certain that God was with us when in changing planes in Atlanta on our way to Guatemala City as the doors opened to let us on the train, there were our Asheville people welcoming us on. What a powerful message that we were to be together, that was.
The morning after we arrived in Antigua, Ben Hill reminded us in devotions that God is like the sun. It doesn’t move. The earth does. God doesn’t move. If we don’t see God, we need to move. We saw God over and over again in our visit. We had to only look into the faces of the people we were visiting to see God. They had a powerful faith. They had close, loving family relationships. In the interplay between members of the families, the soft loving looks they gave each other, we could see God. We began our trip after we arrived in Antigua with a tour of the city. That helped us understand the culture of the country, the attitudes of the country and the government of the country. Some of us had read Bitter Fruit before we arrived to help us also understand the role of the United States government in some of the unrest and heartbreak of what makes up Guatemala.
We took a scenic trip through the highlands on our way to the seminary. Guatemala is a beautiful country. It is a contradiction. For all the beauty of the mountains, the flowers, the statues, there is abundant poverty. There are dilapidated houses.
From the seminary, we also visited a coffee plantation. Not only did we see how coffee was made, but we learned how they have diversified. We learned more about the history of the country, how free trade helped people on Wall Street get rich, but took money from the people who actually produced the coffee. We learned how the rich in Guatemala are able to have rivers dammed and diverted, flooding other land. That would be important to our later encounters on our journey.
We then gathered for the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of our partnership with our brothers and sisters in Christ in the presbyteries of Sur Occidente and Suchitepequez. Again we saw God. About two hundred fifty people traveled for long distances to reach this celebration. The partnership is important to them. They were friendly, eager to talk with us. At the gathering, the health promoters were recognized. A large number of people are working to help educate people about things to promote better health in Guatemala. As rain poured down, we sang and worshiped together. The sermons throughout our time there talked of our call to service. We sang a song that was written specially for this service. As we said in our evening gathering to reflect on the day, they sang with gusto. They sang loudly as if they wanted to be sure God heard it. They value the partnership with Malawi and the ministry of Barbara Nagy. They took an offering at the service to send to her. They collected about $425. That is no small sum for these people.
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One of the ladies with whom we stayed collects cans and has her children and grandchildren crush them. The proceeds also go to Malawi.
The next day we went to our sister churches. Our churches included Primativa, Monte Hebon, Monte Horab, Golgotha, El Divino Salvador, Arca de Noe, and Bethel. We stayed in homes of church members. Our experiences were different. Some people had a bucket of water for bathing purposes while some had a bathroom with a shower. The shower was cold water that came straight down from a pipe. (I describe this to give you a picture of what it was like.) While visiting with our churches, we got to talk about our scholarships, clearing up any questions either side had. We met the students and talked with them. It was the time for end of year parties. We learned that some of our students were studying English at school.
We learned of some of the misery of living in Guatemala. From Primativa Church, we visited a nearby church where the minister had died about half an hour after leaving a meeting with other ministers. Bobbie White wished to call upon the family. The worship service was at the widow’s house. There was a large group of church members who joined us. Sadly the man had taken a loan for repair of his house shortly before he died. He had also taken a loan for a car to enable him to travel in his work. Now he is gone. The income is gone. The sixteen year old daughter is going to make tamales to sell on the roadside. However as sad as the situation was, I found God in their midst. Earlier the gusto with which they sang was mentioned. The same situation was occurring again. The thought came to me that we are called upon to “praise the Lord with gladness.” That is what they do. It is not how technically correct you are, but the joy with which you sing. The same story of desperation was told at other churches. At another church, the members of the delegation found a family of ten with the oldest daughter sixteen. The mother was hit by a car and killed. The sixteen year old is tending the rest of the children while preparing twenty pounds of tortillas a day to earn money for the family. These stories repeat themselves over and over. We encountered at the celebration a young woman who wanted to come to the United States. We saw her again at the widow’s house. She lost her home due to flooding. The river had been redirected. She had to leave her house. The rich can then take it as no one is living there. This story was repeated again and again.
We learned of a program to get stoves in people’s houses. Some are currently cooking on a wood stove that is not vented to outside. Thus you have harmful inhalation of smoke on the inside. They also have a lot of deaths from fires. There is a program providing stoves for people. They loan you the money. They have you pay it back for two years the money that you save in not having to buy as much wood. When the people understand that in the third year that is money in their pocket, they are quite interested in having a new stove vented to the outside.
There is so much to be done in Guatemala. Frederick Buechner said, ”If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors with our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces, but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in.” As we met with the people in our churches seeing the families interact, the children talking about their lessons and their needs at school, the proud family members encouraging them to talk, we saw the steady progress toward lives being changed in a positive way. There is much work to be done, but so much hope for what can be accomplished there.
We left the seminary early going back to Antigua because of reports of demonstrations that would be blocking the roads. We did need to be able to meet our airplane. However the 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 74 of 114 P-6 demonstrations were because the government had not paid the health care workers. That is the reality with which they live. It is easy when we return home to let the other pressing needs of our lives lead us to put the needs of our partner churches on the backburner. The faith of our partner churches is so strong that we need to remind ourselves of it and the needs of our partner churches. Their need for better education, nutrition, health care, and economic opportunities are so great that we need to look for ways to continue to work together with them. There are many opportunities in the sharing of letters, photos, and prayer requests with each other in our worship services, cards of encouragement to our students and their families, and reports to congregations on projects such as wood stoves and water filters and initiatives in health care and education. If our partnership churches in the PWNC would plan their calendars for the coming year to include items such as these on a monthly basis, whether it is a moment for mission, a visit to Sunday School classes, a fellowship luncheon program/display, or a focus of one of the groups within the church, we feel our Guatemalan partnership would benefit greatly. We could encourage our members to participate in mission trips to Guatemala and encourage our youth to take advantage of opportunities either as a group or with others in the presbytery. Ongoing emphasis such as this should improve understanding of the partnership with our congregations at home and will provide ways to be more present with our partners in Guatemala. Our communication with our partner churches is very important to them and we need to take our promises seriously and work diligently to keep them.
The delegation from our presbytery included Beth Bolin, Katie Reese, Bobbi White, Anne Evans, Ben Hill, Edwin Holcombe, Marsha Ferrell, Ginnie Stevens, Susan Maveety, Kathy Ward, and Rosalyn Barker. The leadership team consisted of Randall Boggs, Valerie Holcombe, Ellen Dozier, Barbara Hosbein, Marie Palcios, Judy Nebrig, Carole Ball, Becca Weeks, Doug Michael, and Mimi Michael. Report prepared by Beth Bolin with significant input from delegation members.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 75 of 114 P-7
Where Did You See God Today
A basic query one might think When the Word was read and people No need to study, read nor pray. murmured out A very simple question – With hands upraised. Where did you see God today? I heard God when rain beat on the roof I saw Him in smiles beamed And the wind blew ‘cross the land. From faces tired and worn. And I heard God when prayers were said I saw Him when the sun peaked out In words I did not understand. Behind a volcano in the morn. I heard God when He said be still. I saw Him in the children When He told me He was near. Who face futures yet unknown. And I heard Him in the silence I saw Him in the ancient eyes When He called me to come here. Of a life ‘twas mostly gone. And where did I feel God today? I saw God when new friends stood to pray When I saw you cared so much. In churches and in shacks. I felt God when my heart was moved And in their hands reaching out to us Because your heart was touched. And our hands reaching back. And I felt God when holding hands When strangers met as brothers Praying in silence or out loud. And new sisters hugged and kissed. In different tongues the words went up When our differences didn’t matter But it was the same prayer that went out. I knew God was in our midst. I felt God when I tried to speak When did I hear God today When I hoped they would understand. In this cacophony of sound? And I felt God when my face was cupped In every child’s peal of laughter By abuela’s withered hands. At each new joy they found. I saw and heard and I felt God I heard God in hymns sung loudly In ways both old and new. Perhaps off-key but great with praise. But where did I see God today? I saw God in you.
Author: Ben Hill, First Presbyterian Church Hickory Written in honor of The PWNC Guatemala Partnership 20th Anniversary Delegation
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 76 of 114 W-1
The Heart of Prayer… From God's heart to our prayers A Spiritual Retreat at Montreat Led by Edna Jacobs Banes & John B. Rogers
April 17-18, 2015 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 77 of 114 W-2 Cost: Single Occupancy - $100 Double Occupancy - $70.00 Includes Friday dinner, Room at Assembly Inn, Saturday breakfast & lunch, program materials Saturday only w/lunch - $30.00 RETREAT LEADERS: Edna Jacobs Banes, M.Div., D.Min. Edna has served as an educator, pastor and, most recently, as Dean of Students and Chaplain at Union Theological Seminary, Richmond and Charlotte, NC.
John B Rogers, B.Div, Hon. Ret. John has served as an instructor at Presbyterian College; Pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Durham; Davidson College Presbyterian Church; First Presbyterian Church; Shreveport, LA; and Covenant Presbyterian Church, Charlotte; and occasional Adjunct Professor at Union Presbyterian Seminary, Charlotte. He has had two books published: The Birth of God, Abingdon Press; In Him is Life, Augsburg Press. With All Our Prayers is being published by Eerdmans in February, 2015
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE: Friday, April 17, 2015 1:00-3:00 PM Optional Workshop introducing the new PC(USA) denominational Sunday School curriculum entitled: Growing in Grace & Gratitude Leader: PC(USA) national staff
Friday, April 17, 2015 4:00-6:00 PM Registration/Check-In 6:00 PM Dinner in the Galax Dining Room (Assembly Inn) 7:30-9:00 PM Opening Program
Saturday, April 18, 2015 8:00 AM Breakfast in the Galax Dining Room (Assembly Inn) 9:00-9:30 AM “Saturday-only” Registration/Check-In 9:30-11:30 AM Morning Program 12:00 PM Lunch in the Galax Dining Room (Assembly Inn) 2:00-4:00 PM Afternoon Program/Closing Worship TOPIC: How we pray … with different types of prayer … with different personal and congregational situations-- good and bad ...with different language and languages Drawing on the work of the Spirit throughout time and space
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 78 of 114 W-3 “The Heart of Prayer…” Retreat Registration April 17-18, 2015 at Montreat, NC
(Please fill out a separate registration form for each participant and return to the Presbytery office by April 1, 2015, to avoid a late fee. Rooms in Assembly Inn are limited and will be assigned as registration forms are received. No refunds are available.)
Name: ______I wish to be called: ______Gender: Male Female
Address: ______Home Phone: ______Cell Phone: ______Work Phone: ______E-mail: ______Home Church: ______
___ Member ___ C.E. Volunteer/Teacher ___ Elder ___ Deacon ___ DCE ___ Ordained Minister
Roommate Request: ______
___ $70—Full Retreat—Includes 3 meals, a “double room” in Assembly Inn, program, and materials
___ $100*—Full Retreat w/ Private Room—Includes 3 meals, a private room in Assembly Inn, program, and materials
___ $30—Saturday Only—Includes 1 meal (lunch), program, and materials
___ $10—Late Fee—If registration is received after April 1, 2015 Registration Deadline: April 1, 2015
Instructions: Please return this form to Attn: Tonya Williams, Presbytery of Western North Carolina, 114 Silver Creek Road, Morganton, NC 28655, with an enclosed check made out to “Presbytery of Western North Carolina.” Please write “C.E. Retreat” on the memo line. Call the Presbytery Office at 828-438-4217 with registration questions or e-mail Tonya Williams at [email protected].
*Limited availability—a refund of $30 will be given if we cannot accommodate a “Private Room” request
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 79 of 114 Y-1
Time to Mark Your Calendars!! Events for Spring and Summer 2015
March 13-14, 2015 High School Retreat Come for a mission focused retreat Black Mountain Home for Children Overnight retreat for high school youth groups Cost: $25 per person
April 19, 2015 Middle School Event RALLY with Keynote by Chris Lee - Avondale PC of Charlotte One day gathering of youth from across the Presbytery. 3:00-6:15 pm Upper Anderson in Montreat, NC Cost: Free and no registration required!
July 12-17, 2015 Mission Trip at Asheville Youth Mission Middle School AND High School trip Asheville, NC Begins Sunday afternoon and ends Friday morning Space for 40-50 Cost: $275 includes all housing and meals
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 80 of 114 13-14 MARCH Service Projects Small Groups FUN Fellowship Worship
HIGH SCHOOL MISSION RETREAT
What: An overnight mission opportunity and retreat for High Schoolers in Western North Carolina.
Where: Black Mountain Home for Children, a safe, supportive, Christian environment for children. www.blackmountainhome.org
Cost: $25 (includes Sat. breakfast and lunch, and a donation to the Home)
Important Note: Housing is limited so please register early.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 81 of 114 When: Friday, March 13 to Saturday, March 14. Check-in begins at 7:00 pm What: An overnight mission opportunity and retreat for High Schoolers in Western NC. Where: Black Mountain Home for Children, a safe, supportive, Christian environment for children. www.blackmountainhome.org Cost: $25/person (includes Saturday breakfast and lunch, and a donation to the Home.) Money due with registration. Make checks payable to PWNC. Important Note: Housing is limited so please register early.
WHAT TO BRING Bible Sleeping Bag/Linens Pillow Hand Towel/Washcloth Work Clothes (see Dress Code) Work Gloves Reusable Water Bottle Casual Clothes (see Dress Code) Closed Toe Shoes (tennis shoes preferred) Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, etc) Prescription Medications
Bring clothes you don’t mind getting dirty or painted!
DRESS CODE: Wear closed toe shoes at the work site Shirts: Please wear t‐shirts with sleeves. Pants: Bring at least one pair of long pants, especially for the work site. Shorts: Wear long shorts (walking shorts, soccer shorts, etc.).
Dress in layers! It will be cool in the morning, but you will warm up quickly as you work.
Each Church is asked to bring one salty and one sweet snack to share with the retreat on Friday night and Saturday break.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 82 of 114 Please return this information with payment: GROUP INFORMATION Group Name:______
Group Contact Person:______
Group Contact Personʼs Email:______
Group Contact Phone:______
Adults:______# Female______# Male Youth:______# Female______# Male Total Adults and Youth______* (1 adult per 6 youth is required. If you bring boys and girls, please bring adults of both genders)
*Attach a separate piece of paper listing ALL participants and leaders names with your registration form and check and any food allergies, dietary restrictions, or medical conditions for participants in your group. Bring your medical forms with you to the retreat!
Any Adults have special expertise (electrical, landscaping, tech, etc.)? Please List:______
______
Send completed Registration forms and check to :
Presbytery of WNC Attn: Lisa Pressley 114 Silver Creek Road Morganton, NC 28655 Fax (828) 437-8655 [email protected]
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 83 of 114 This is a Presbytery-wide mission trip for middle and high school youth.
Summer Mission Trip Dates: July 12-17, 2015
For more info, contact: Beth Gunn at [email protected]
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 84 of 114 Week of Work (WOW) Summer Mission
Sponsored by the Presbytery of Western NC
Asheville Youth Mission (AYM) was founded in 2009 by Aimee and Bill Buchanan, PC(USA) ministers. Find out more about AYM and Mission Immersion at http://ashevilleyouthmission.org/mission-immersion/.
We will do all kinds of work from physical labor to visitation to playing games with kids or simply sharing a meal with the homeless. We will all experience what it means to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world. In where mission, creativity, and the evenings, we will reconvene after showers and dinner for a program transformation are where we’ll explore and debrief our daily experiences. We will close our happening with young people time together with worship, led by AYM. The thing that makes AYM just July 12-17, 2015 in a little bit different from other mission/service providers is use of the beautiful Asheville, NC! ARTS as the main tool in mission interpretation, debriefing, and Bible Study. Rising 6th graders through Arrive Sunday evening, July 12 graduated seniors are encouraged to attend. Mon-Wed: Work at various sites during day, then evening activities Cost is $275/participant Thursday Morning: Walking $100/participant due Reflection Feb. 9, 2015 Thursday afternoon/evening: Recreation time led by Add $25/participant late fee for Presbytery coordinators deposits paid after Feb. 9, 2015 Friday: Worship and Departure Balance of $175/participant (by 10am) due no later than May 15, 2015.
Churches must have 1 adult for every 6 youth. If your church would like to work with other churches to meet this requirement, please contact Beth Gunn at [email protected].
SPACE IS LIMITED!! REGISTER NOW!!
Registration Form How many participants? Church Name: ______Early-bird deposit due Feb. 9, 2015. # Female adults ______Registration closes Mar. 2, 2015. Contact Person: ______# Female youth ______
Return this form and deposit to: Address: ______# Male adults ______# Male youth ______Presbytery of WNC ______Lisa Pressley Total: ______114 Silver Creek Road Contact Phone: ______x $100 = $ ______Total deposit Morganton, NC 28655 If after Feb. 9, 2015: Alternate Phone: ______Deposits are non-refundable. x $125 = $ ______Total deposit Contact Email: ______Balance of $175 per participant is due no later than May 15, 2015. Make checks payable to PWNC-WOW. 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 85 of 114 BB-1
Budget & Finance Committee Jay Crane- Chair January 31, 2015
The Budget and Finance Committee presents the proposed 2015 Budget, (BB-2 thru BB-9)
Unified Giving by Church 2014 (for information only) (BB-10 thru BB-12)
Therefore, the following recommendation:
Recommendation:
1. THAT Presbytery approve the proposed 2015 Budget as presented.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 86 of 114 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA DETAIL OF RECOMMENDED BUDGET FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2015 BB-2
APPROVED INCREASE/ PROPOSED BUDGET DECREASE BUDGET DESCRIPTION 2014 2015
BUDGETED REVENUES
UNDESIGNATED BENEVOLENCE GIVING (INCLUDING PER CAPITA) $830,205 ($22,265) $807,940
GENERAL FUND REVENUE INTEREST INCOME 0 $0 0 HAE SUPPORT INCOME 5,000 $0 5,000 WORK OF PRESBYTERY ONLY-CHURCHES 6,500 ($1,300) 5,200 WORK OF PRESBYTERY ONLY-INDIVIDUALS 10,000 $0 10,000 TOTAL GENERAL FUND REVENUE 21,500 (1,300) 20,200
DESIGNATED PROCEEDS FOR CONOVER NCD 6,086 $3,914 $10,000 PROCEEDS FROM BROTHERHOOD MUTUAL PRG 0 $19,222 19,222 ANTICIPATED GRANTS 5,000 ($2,500) 2,500 RECOVERY - ADMIN COMMISSION/LEGAL 25,000 ($5,000) $20,000 INCOME FROM INVESTMENT (3%) 63,917 $4,933 $68,850 ADDITIONAL 2% FROM INVESTMENT 42,612 $3,288 $45,900 TOTAL TRANSFER FROM RESERVES 142,615 23,857 166,472
PWNC OPERATING REVENUES $994,320 $292 $994,612
* Expected Synod grant for pastor's retreat - $2500
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC 1 January 31, 2015 Page 87 of 114 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA DETAIL OF RECOMMENDED BUDGET FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2015 BB-3
APPROVED INCREASE/ PROPOSED BUDGET DECREASE BUDGET DESCRIPTION 2014 2015
OUTREACH/MISSION DEVELOPMENT
PEACE AND JUSTICE COMMITTEE: 5301 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 200 $0 200 5306 - TRAVEL - TRAINING PROGRAMS 200 ($200) 0 5325 - ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION 200 $200 400 5326 - NC COUNCIL OF CHURCHES 500 $0 500 5328 - CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROGRAMS 1,250 $200 1,450 5329 - CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS 200 ($200) 0 5456 - RESOURCES 200 $0 200 TOTAL PEACE & JUSTICE COMMITTEE 2,750 0 2,750
HUNGER COMMITTEE: 5401 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 225 $0 225 5420 - RETREATS-WORKSHOPS AND TRAINING 250 $0 250 TOTAL HUNGER COMMITTEE 475 0 475
MISSIONS COMMITTEE: 5501 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 150 $0 150 5502 - MISSION INTERPRETATION 1,000 $0 1,000 5503 - PARTNERSHIP W/ GUATEMALA 11,500 $0 11,500 5504 - MALAWI MISSION TASK FORCE 1,500 $0 1,500 5510 - MISSION WORK TEAMS 2,000 $0 2,000 5514 - GUATEMALA COORDS (Personnel costs only) 6,000 $0 6,000 5516 - MISSION PERSONNEL 1,000 $0 1,000 5517 - YOUNG ADULTS IN MISSION 1,000 $0 1,000 TOTAL NATIONAL/GLOBAL MISSIONS 24,150 0 24,150
EVANGELISM COMMITTEE: 5001 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 500 $0 500 5006 - SPIRITUAL NURTURE 100 $0 100 5102 - REDEVELOPMENT GRANTS 0 $0 0 5104 - CONOVER, NEW CH DEV 10,000 $0 10,000 5104a - CONOVER, NEW CH DEV - Reserves 6,086 ($6,086) 0 5109 - RESOURCES & TRAINING 500 $0 500 5110 - HISPANIC MINISTRY 9,600 $0 9,600 5111 - REDEV CONGREGATION-3RD ST 13,000 $0 13,000 TOTAL EVANGELISM & CHURCH DEV 39,786 (6,086) 33,700
CAMPUS MINISTRIES COMMITTEE: 5601 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 100 $0 100 5603 - SCHOLARSHIPS/PROGRAM GRANTS 1,000 ($1,000) $0 5610 - WCU-CULLOWHEE 10,000 $0 10,000 TOTAL CAMPUS MINISTRIES COMMITTEE 11,100 (1,000) 10,100
SELF DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE: 5440 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 150 $0 150 TOTAL SELF DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE 150 0 150
TOTAL OUTREACH/MISSION DEVELOPMENT 78,411 (7,086) 103rd Stated Meeting71,325 of PWNC 2 January 31, 2015 Page 88 of 114 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA DETAIL OF RECOMMENDED BUDGET FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2015 BB-4
APPROVED INCREASE/ PROPOSED BUDGET DECREASE BUDGET DESCRIPTION 2014 2015
CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
SMALLER MEMBERSHIP CHURCHES CMTE: 5901 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 900 $100 1,000 5929 - MARSHALL* 4,000 $0 4,000 5945 - CANTON* 4,000 $0 4,000 5935 - GOOD HOPE 0 $0 0 5944 - SWEETWATER* 4,000 $0 4,000 xxxx - SMALL CHURCH FORUMS 0 $1,600 1,600 6012 - REDEV PROJECTS-WATER TO WINE 7,000 $0 7,000 6013 - CHURCH SUPPORT-LEADERSHIP 8,000 $0 8,000 6014 - EMERGENCY SUPPORT 7,000 ($1,700) 5,300 TOTAL SMALL MEMBERSHIP CHURCHES 34,900 0 34,900 * Funds to support Full-time pastor
TOTAL CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 34,900 0 34,900
MINISTRY
COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY: 7051 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 2,000 $0 2,000 7052 - VALIDATED MINISTRIES SUB-CMTE 0 $0 0 7053 - NON-INSTALLED PASTORS SUB-CMTE 150 $0 150 7054 - CLP SUB-COMMITTEE 250 $0 250 7059 - EXAMINATIONS COMMITTEE 225 $75 300 7060 - VISITATION OF CHURCHES 200 $0 200 7061 - BOUNDARIES TRAINING 4,000 ($1,000) 3,000 7062 - BACKGROUND CHECKS 750 $250 1,000 7070 - EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND 2,000 $0 2,000 7071 - PASTORAL & CHURCH PROF CARE 2,000 $0 2,000 TOTAL COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY 11,575 (675) 10,900
PREPARATION FOR MINISTRY COMMITTEE: 5653 - CAREER & PERSONAL COUNSELING 2,000 $0 2,000 7101 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 2,000 $0 2,000 7110 - BACKGROUND CHECKS 250 $0 250 7114 - SCHOLARSHIPS-FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE 1,250 $0 1,250 TOTAL PREPARATION FOR MINISTRY 5,500 0 5,500
TOTAL MINISTRY 51,975 (675) 51,300
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC 3 January 31, 2015 Page 89 of 114 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA DETAIL OF RECOMMENDED BUDGET FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2015 BB-5
APPROVED INCREASE/ PROPOSED BUDGET DECREASE BUDGET DESCRIPTION 2014 2015
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 6101 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 200 $0 200 6110 - EDUCATOR CONT ED ASSISTNCE 400 $500 900 6111 - CH ED FACILITATORS/CURRICULUM 3,000 ($1,000) 2,000 xxxx - PASTOR'S RETREAT 0 $3,500 3,500 6120 - TRAINING EVENT-LET'S CELEBRATE 2,500 $0 2,500 6410 - RESOURCE CTR OPERATING EXPENSES 3,700 $300 4,000 TOTAL CHRISTIAN EDUCATION COMMITTEE 9,800 3,300 13,100
SCHOOL FOR THE LAITY COMMITTEE: 6009 - SCHOOL FOR THE LAITY 500 $0 500 TOTAL SCHOOL FOR THE LAITY COMMITTEE 500 0 500
TOTAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 10,300 3,300 13,600
YOUTH
YOUTH MINISTRIES COMMITTEE: 6201 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 600 $0 600 6202 - LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT 1,750 $0 1,750 6203 - GUATEMALA YOUTH MISSION 700 $0 700 6207 - JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH RETREAT 6,000 $1,000 7,000 6208 - SUMMER MISSION/MINISTRY 4,000 $1,000 5,000 6209 - YOUTH COUNCIL 1,600 $400 2,000 TOTAL YOUTH MINISTRIES COMMITTEE 14,650 2,400 17,050
TOTAL YOUTH 14,650 2,400 17,050
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC 4 January 31, 2015 Page 90 of 114 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA DETAIL OF RECOMMENDED BUDGET FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2015 BB-6
APPROVED INCREASE/ PROPOSED BUDGET DECREASE BUDGET DESCRIPTION 2014 2015
ADMINISTRATION
BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE: 6801 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 125 $0 125 TOTAL BUDGET & FINANCE COMMITTEE 125 0 125
PERSONNEL COMMITTEE: 6851 - COMMITTEE EXPENSE 220 $0 220 PROGRAM STAFF SALARIES & HOUSING 99,418 $387 99,805 7406 - PROGRAM STAFF BOP DUES 34,796 $135 34,931 PROGRAM STAFF - OTHER BUSINESS EXPENSES 26,105 $2,693 28,798 STATED CLERK SALARY & HOUSING 20,594 $4,432 25,026 STATED CLERK - OTHER BUSINESS EXPENSES 1,788 $16 1,804 7501 - INTERIM STAFF SALARIES 13,865 $277 14,142 7501a - INTERIM STAFF SALARY-unfilled position 12,000 ($6,000) 6,000 7411 - ENTERTAINMENT EXPENSE 750 $0 750 7412 - PROGRAM STAFF DISCRETIONARY 750 $0 750 7419 - TRAVEL EXPENSE 11,500 $0 11,500 7433 - PROFESSIONAL EXPENSE 2,250 $0 2,250 6205 - ASSOC FOR YOUTH 18,321 $367 18,688 7460 - GUATEMALA PARTNERSHIP COORDINATOR 8,000 $160 8,160 ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF SALARIES 155,290 $3,105 158,395 ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF BENEFITS 66,231 $1,324 67,555 7518 - ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF CONT ED 1,000 $0 1,000 7521 - PRESBYTERY STAFF - BONUS 2,055 $0 2,055 TOTAL PERSONNEL COMMITTEE 474,933 6,896 481,829
PROPERTY & EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE: 7652 - CUSTODIAL SERVICE 5,500 $800 6,300 7653 - FACILITY USE 1,500 $0 1,500 7656 - UTILITIES 5,600 $0 5,600 7658 - BUILDING MAINTENANCE 8,500 ($1,500) 7,000 7956 - OFFICE EQUIPMENT 3,500 $1,000 4,500 TOTAL PROPERTY & EQUIP 24,600 300 24,900
STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE: 6501 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 250 $0 250 6503 - RESOURCES AND PROGRAMS 2,000 $0 2,000 TOTAL STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE 2,250 0 2,250
SEARCH COMMITTEE: 7034 - COMMITTEE EXPENSE 425 $0 425 TOTAL SEARCH COMMITTEE 425 0 425
TOTAL ADMINISTRATION 502,333 7,196 509,529
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC 5 January 31, 2015 Page 91 of 114 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA DETAIL OF RECOMMENDED BUDGET FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2015 BB-7
APPROVED INCREASE/ PROPOSED BUDGET DECREASE BUDGET DESCRIPTION 2014 2015
GENERAL COUNCIL
GENERAL COUNCIL 5654 - MONTREAT CONFERENCE CENTER 3,000 $0 3,000 7001 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 1,000 $0 1,000 7002 - CONTINGENCIES 0 $741 $741 TOTAL GENERAL COUNCIL 4,000 741 4,741
TOTAL GENERAL COUNCIL 4,000 741 4,741
OFFICE SUPPORT
SUPPLIES, EQUIPMENT & SERVICE: 6906 - PRESBYTERY DIRECTORY 400 $0 400 6909 - COMMUNICATIONS/WEB EXPENSE 6,400 $0 6,400 7522 - STAFF RETREAT 200 $0 200 7602 - TELEPHONE 8,500 $0 8,500 7603 - OFFICE TRAVEL 50 $0 50 7606 - COPY MACH-SUPPLIES-MAINT 10,800 $0 10,800 7608 - POSTAGE 3,500 $0 3,500 7610 - EQUIP MAINTENANCE W/O COPIER 2,400 $0 2,400 7614 - OFFICE SUPPLIES 7,000 $0 7,000 7616 - AUDIT/LEGAL/CONSULT FEES 7,600 $300 7,900 7618 - INSURANCE 12,000 $2,000 14,000 7622 - MISCELLANEOUS/BANK CHGS 1,600 $0 1,600 TOTAL OFFICE & COMMITTEE WORK 60,450 2,300 62,750
TOTAL OFFICE SUPPORT 60,450 2,300 62,750
STATED CLERK\
STATED CLERK EXPENSES: 6951 - SESSIONAL RECORDS REVIEW 1,000 $0 1,000 7631 - STATED CLERK TRAVEL 650 $0 650 7632 - WORK OF CLERK 6,500 ($1,500) 5,000 7633 - PRESBYTERY MEETING EXPENSES 4,000 ($1,000) 3,000 7634 - ADMINISTRATIVE COMMISSIONS 10,000 $0 10,000 7636 - LEGAL FEES 10,000 $0 10,000 TOTAL STATED CLERK EXPENSES 32,150 (2,500) 29,650
TOTAL STATED CLERK 32,150 (2,500) 29,650
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC 6 January 31, 2015 Page 92 of 114 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA DETAIL OF RECOMMENDED BUDGET FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2015 BB-8
APPROVED INCREASE/ PROPOSED BUDGET DECREASE BUDGET DESCRIPTION 2014 2015
NOMINATING/REPRESENTATION
NOMINATING/REPRESENTATION COMMITTEE: 7151 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 375 $0 375 7201 - COMMITTEE EXPENSES 100 ($100) 0 7252 - WOMEN OF COLOR 175 $0 175 7254 - AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADVISORY 250 $0 250 TOTAL NOMINATING/REPRESENTATION COMMITT 900 (100) 800
TOTAL NOMINATING/REPRESENTATION 900 (100) 800
JOINT OUTDOOR MINISTRY
JOINT OUTDOOR MINISTRY COMMITTEE 6620 - CAMP GRIER (COOPERATIVE PROGRAM) 40,000 ($5,000) 35,000 TOTAL OUTDOOR MINISTRY COMMITTEE 40,000 (5,000) 35,000
TOTAL JOINT OUTDOOR MINISTRY 40,000 (5,000) 35,000
PERMANENT JUDICIAL COMMISSION
PERMANENT JUDICAL COMMISSION 7351 - COMMISSION EXPENSES 250 $0 250 TOTAL PERMANENT JUDICIAL COMMISSION 250 0 250
TOTAL PERMANENT JUDICIAL COMMISSION 250 0 250
TOTAL EXPENDITURES FOR PRESBYTERY $795,419 $576 $795,995
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC 7 January 31, 2015 Page 93 of 114 PRESBYTERY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA DETAIL OF RECOMMENDED BUDGET FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2015 BB-9
APPROVED INCREASE/ PROPOSED BUDGET DECREASE BUDGET DESCRIPTION 2014 2015
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
PER CAPITA GIVING (16,817 x 7.07) 118,705 $191 118,896 UNIFIED GIVING 61,299 ($191) 61,108 TOTAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY 180,004 0 180,004
SYNOD OF THE MID-ATLANTIC
PER CAPITA GIVING (16,817 x 0.75) 12,897 ($284) 12,613 UNIFIED GIVING 0 $0 0 TOTAL SYNOD OF THE MID-ATLANTIC 12,897 (284) 12,613
SELECTED INSTITUTIONS & AGENCIES CHARLOTTE SEMINARY EXTENSION 1,000 $0 1,000 BLACK MTN HOME FOR CHILDREN 1,000 $0 1,000 GRANDFATHER HOME FOR CHILDREN 1,000 $0 1,000 LEES-MCRAE COLLEGE 1,000 $0 1,000 MONTREAT COLLEGE 1,000 $0 1,000 WARREN WILSON COLLEGE 1,000 $0 1,000 TOTAL INSTITUTIONS & AGENCIES SUPPORT 6,000 0 6,000
TOTAL EXPENDITURES $994,320 $292 $994,612
994,320 292 994,612 INCOME/(SHORTFALL) 00 0
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC 8 January 31, 2015 Page 94 of 114 Presbytery of Western North Carolina BB-10 Unified Giving by Church
Membership Actual Giving Giving per CHURCH NAME 1-Jan-14 2014 member ARBOR DALE 127$ - -$ ASHEVILLE FIRST 755 $ 52,500.00 $ 69.54 BANNER ELK 181 $ 12,000.00 $ 66.30 BELMONT FIRST 740 $ 30,000.00 $ 40.54 BESSEMER CITY 33 $ 206.00 $ 6.24 BLACK MOUNTAIN 679 $ 51,000.00 $ 75.11 BREVARD DAVIDSON RIVER 495 $ 1,040.00 $ 2.10 BRIDGEWATER 44 $ - -$ BRITTAIN 52 $ 500.00 $ 9.62 BRITTAIN COVE 43 -$ -$ BRYSON CITY 90 $ 2,000.00 $ 22.22 BULADEAN 18 $ 139.86 $ 7.77 BURNSVILLE FIRST 195 $ 8,122.00 $ 41.65 CALVARY 60 $ - -$ CANTON 53 $ 4,743.02 $ 89.49 CHERRYVILLE FIRST 310 $ 21,999.96 $ 70.97 CLINCHFIELD 20 $ - -$ COLUMBUS 148 $ - -$ CONLEY MEMORIAL 12 $ 450.00 $ 37.50 CROSSNORE 107 $ - -$ DALLAS FIRST 71 $ 4,100.00 $ 57.75 DIXON 76 $ 550.00 $ 7.24 DORLAND MEMORIAL 26 $ 950.00 $ 36.54 DULATOWN 125 $ 587.00 $ 4.70 DUNCAN'S CREEK 34 $ 500.00 $ 14.71 ELLENBORO 7 $ - -$ ETOWAH 55 $ 3,000.00 $ 54.55 FAIRVIEW 101 $ 3,300.00 $ 32.67 FLETCHER 68 $ 3,800.00 $ 55.88 FOREST CITY FIRST 83 $ 1,000.00 $ 12.05 FRANKLIN FIRST 138 $ 1,500.00 $ 10.87 GASTONIA FIRST 1065 $ 142,000.00 $ 133.33 GLEN ALPINE 15 $ - -$ GOOD HOPE 21 $ 1,018.04 $ 48.48 GRACE COVENANT 653 $ 21,750.00 $ 33.31 GRASSY CREEK 29 $ 2,000.00 $ 68.97 GREEN MOUNTAIN 15 $ - -$ GREEN STREET 48 $ 472.96 $ 9.85
Page 1 of 3 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 95 of 114 Presbytery of Western North Carolina BB-11 Unified Giving by Church
Membership Actual Giving Giving per CHURCH NAME 1-Jan-14 2014 member HAYESVILLE 35 $ 250.00 $ 7.14 HENDERSONVILLE 465 $ 600.00 $ 1.29 HICKORY FIRST 854 $ 119,357.00 $ 139.76 HIGHLANDS FIRST 189 $ 32,000.00 $ 169.31 IRONTON 9 $ 795.60 $ 88.40 JACK'S CREEK 27 $ - -$ JOHN KNOX 39 $ - -$ KENILWORTH 55 $ 677.14 $ 12.31 KINGS MOUNTAIN FIRST 118 $ - -$ KOREAN PRESBYTERIAN 14 $ - -$ LENOIR FIRST 437 $ - -$ LINCOLNTON FIRST 154 $ 3,375.00 $ 21.92 LONG CREEK 100 $ 3,200.00 $ 32.00 LOVE'S CHAPEL 20 $ 410.00 $ 20.50 LOWELL 97 $ - -$ MARION FIRST 138 $ - -$ MARSHALL 73 $ - -$ MICAVILLE 33 $ - -$ MILLS RIVER 119 $ 5,000.00 $ 42.02 MONTREAT 78 $ 11,500.00 $ 147.44 MORGANTON FIRST 655 $ 43,000.00 $ 65.65 MORRISON 79 $ 6,604.00 $ 83.59 MT. HOLLY FIRST 151 $ 2,250.00 $ 14.90 NEW HOPE (GASTONIA) 170 $ 1,500.00 $ 8.82 NEW HOPE (SKYLAND) 129 $ 3,900.00 $ 30.23 NEW VISION (CONOVER NCD) 58 $ 3,213.76 $ 55.41 NEWDALE 46 $ 900.00 $ 19.57 NEWLAND 57 $ 1,200.00 $ 21.05 NEWTON FIRST 393 $ 30,000.00 $ 76.34 NORTHMINSTER 312 $ 11,500.00 $ 36.86 OAK FOREST 64 $ 2,500.00 $ 39.06 OAKWOOD 60 $ - -$ OLD FORT 9 $ 250.00 $ 27.78 OLNEY 71 $ 100.00 $ 1.41 PAINT GAP 13 $ - -$ PINE STREET 31 $ - -$ PINEOLA 49 $ 1,100.00 $ 22.45 QUAKER MEADOWS 111 $ 3,500.00 $ 31.53
Page 2 of 3 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 96 of 114 Presbytery of Western North Carolina BB-12 Unified Giving by Church
Membership Actual Giving Giving per CHURCH NAME 1-Jan-14 2014 member REEMS CREEK - BEECH 106 $ 2,000.00 $ 18.87 RIDGEVIEW 18 $ 139.86 $ 7.77 ROBINSON MEMORIAL 45 $ 500.00 $ 11.11 RUTHERFORDTON 342 $ 5,000.00 $ 14.62 RYBURN MEMORIAL 32 $ 132.00 $ 4.13 SALUDA 39 $ 700.00 $ 17.95 SHELBY 511 $ 53,591.03 $ 104.87 SHERRILL'S FORD 70 $ 2,500.00 $ 35.71 SHILOH 10 $ - -$ SILOAM 6 $ 75.00 12.50$ SOUTHMINISTER 307 $ 6,000.00 $ 19.54 SPINDALE 6 $ - -$ SPRUCE PINE FIRST 119 $ 924.63 $ 7.77 SWANNANOA FIRST 40 $ - -$ SWEETWATER 74 $ 1,650.00 $ 22.30 SYLVA FIRST 163 $ 6,000.00 $ 36.81 THIRD STREET 73 $ - -$ TRINITY 356 $ 21,600.00 $ 60.67 TRYON 333 $ 24,000.00 $ 72.07 UNION MILLS 19 $ 200.00 $ 10.53 UNION 180 $ 4,800.00 $ 26.67 UNITED 102 $ 6,797.04 $ 66.64 UNITY 654 $ 12,000.00 $ 18.35 VIANS VALLEY 30 $ - -$ WALDENSIAN 379 $ 11,000.00 $ 29.02 WALNUT GROVE 51 $ - -$ WALNUT 24 $ 750.00 $ 31.25 WARREN WILSON 171 $ 6,500.00 $ 38.01 WAYNESVILLE FIRST 134 $ 3,896.00 $ 29.07 WEST ASHEVILLE 55 $ - -$ WEST AVENUE 94 $ 2,113.06 $ 22.48 WESTMINSTER 28 $ 3,000.00 107.14$ TOTALS 16875 835,779.96 $ 49.53
Page 3 of 3 103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 97 of 114 FF-1
PERSONNEL COMMITTEE REPORT OTIS WILSON-CHAIR January 31, 2015
After 5 years with no staff salary increases, a 2% increase was given effective January 1, 2014. The increase was in recognition of the staffs’ continued knowledgeable support provided to congregations and leaders of the churches in this Presbytery.
Anita Bernhardt completed her second year as Interim Associate Presbyter for Mission, Witness and Church Support. A performance review of Anita’s work was completed in October and approved by the Personnel Committee. Based on her outstanding contributions to the ministry of PWNC, the Personnel Committee recommended that her interim contract be extended through 2016. The Administrative Board approved this extension at the November meeting.
Marie Connelly de Palacios joined the staff April 1, 2014 as the Guatemalan Partnership Coordinator. The Search Committee selected her based on her extensive prior work accomplishments and fluency in Spanish. She continues to be a valued member of the Presbytery staff.
The Personnel Committee approved the creation of a new volunteer position titled Presbytery Parish Associate. The position will allow qualified volunteers to assist Presbytery staff working with churches in transition or crisis. The position is unpaid but is eligible for travel expense reimbursement as approved by the General Presbyter. Robert Ayala was approved by the Personnel Committee to serve as Parish Associate for Yancey County.
Based on the faithful service and dedication of the Presbytery staff, the Personnel Committee is recommending a 2% salary increase for 2015. The Administrative Board is in agreement with this recommendation.
An error was made in 2012. Bert’s original 2009 Stated Clerk contract began August 1, 2009 and ended July 31, 2012. When Personnel recommended that Bert’s contract be extended for another three years, we recommended that it start July 1, 2012, instead of August 1, 2012. That mistake means his contract ends on June 30, 2015 instead of July 31, 2015. The second contract should have began on August 1, 2012 to be similar to the first three years. Extending Bert’s contract one month will allow him to serve through the July 28, 2015 Presbytery meeting, as it should have done.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT Bert Sigmon’s contract as Stated Clerk be extended from June 30, 2015 to July 31, 2015, which would allow him to serve during the July presbytery meeting.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 98 of 114 FF-2
PERSONNEL COMMITTEE
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the following Salary Packages for 2015 be accepted.
Rev. Barbara (Bobbi) White Beth Gunn - Associate for Youth General Presbyter (12.5 hours/week) Salary $23,295 Salary $17,360 Housing 15,000 FICA 1,328 Deferred Compensation 17,000 TOTAL $18,688 Social Security Equivalent 4,230 Medical/Dental Reimburse 3,500 Travel/Business Expense 9,600 Professional Expense 5,000 SUBTOTAL $77,625 Medical & Pension 19,353 Charles Davenport - Associate TOTAL $96,978 (10 hours / week) Salary $13,092 Continuing Education 1,050 William A. (Bert) Sigmon TOTAL $14,142 Stated Clerk (15 hours/week) Salary $10,513 Housing 10,513 FICA 804 Professional Expense 1,000 Vacant - Associate TOTAL $22,830 (10 hours / week) Salary $6,000 TOTAL $6,000 Anita Bernhardt Interim Associate Presbyter Salary $23,338 Housing 21,200 Social Security Equivalent 3,407 Professional Expense 2,500 Guatemala Partnership Coordinator Medical/Dental Reimburse 500 (10 hours / week) SUBTOTAL $50,945 Salary $8,160 Medical & Pension 15,588 TOTAL $8,160 TOTAL $66,533
*Travel Pool for Associates - $11,500
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 99 of 114 GG-1
Smaller Membership Church Committee Dot Descieux and Russ Reighley, Co-Chairs January 31, 2015
WATER TO WINE MINISTRIES
Grants for ministries from Small Membership Church Committee
Water to Wine ministries began two years ago when some members of the Smaller Membership Church Committee realized that they were, for the most part, spending their budgeted monies for taking care of property damages resulting from severe weather events or long-neglected upkeep of aging buildings. This was a depressing revelation, and something positive needed to be done. At the end of a planning session for one of the series of Forums recently completed with the Presbyterian Foundation, an idea was born. Why not offer a few churches a small amount of money and challenge them to use it to develop something in their community that they see as a ministry into their world? Water to Wine started with four churches in 2013. A few other congregations joined in for 2014. Some were challenged to develop a cooperative ministry with a nearby congregation. Churches were able to see into something positive and uplifting and hopeful for the future. Relationships were forged and strengthened. People were able to look outside themselves where they might find others in need and be able to see ways to help, rather than continually focusing on their own shrinking numbers and aging membership. The purpose of the ministry is to reach and teach others, not to add bodies entering our buildings. The Fifties are gone; if we hope to survive, we must move into the years ahead and all that that means.
Not every congregation that was invited to accept the Water to Wine challenge was up to the task. Some no longer have the energy or interest to move into the future. But of those who have, most have found at least a spark of new life and purpose. Dulatown has been successful in ministering to children in the community in regard to being safe. Green Street focused on a GED program meeting at their church. Reems Creek-Beech has a youth music ministry in the community. Three mountain churches have gone together to serve their community in a unique way (GG-2). If you think that your church could benefit from something like this, contact someone from Small Church Committee and we will be glad to let you know how you can be part of this exciting ministry.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 100 of 114 GG-2
Feed MY Sheep
A cooperative ministry of Grassy Creek, Micaville, and Newdale Presbyterian Churches
Feed MY Sheep is a ministry designed to allow our congregations to practice discipleship in a variety of ways. It provides an opportunity to touch the lives of those in need as Christ directed us to do. From the beginning it was our intention to bring the members of our church into personal contact with the people we are helping. In order to develop personal relationships, we assign each delivery team to only one to three clients. We emphasize that the visit may well be more important than the food. We anticipate that our teams will augment the food from our pantry with treats that they know are pleasing to those they serve. Our ultimate goal is to communicate the love of Christ to our clients.
We also understand that not all our congregants may have the ability or the time to deliver meals. Still, everyone can participate in this ministry. They can donate food items or money. They can suggest names of people in need. They can help pack boxes or work in the pantry. They can pray for our teams and those we serve. Every member of our congregations can contribute to this effort to feed the sheep of our Savior. Our desire is that our churches will become the feet and the hands of God.
The ministry began on December 5, 2014. Since that date we have delivered weekend supplies of food to 30 clients for a total of 180 deliveries or visits. We began with an initial investment of $6000 from the three churches and matching funds from the Water To Wine Grant program of the Presbytery of WNC. We have received donations in the amount of $285 in checks. We have spent $908 from our checking account. We currently have a checking account balance of $5377. We have averaged spending $151 per week serving 30 people.
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 101 of 114 Don Where Is God Leading You? ’t miss this g Small Church Forum Summa on o reat pportun Saturday, February 21, 2015 ~ 10:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m. ity! First Presbyterian Church, Morganton
Join us as we discuss . . .
Who Can Help You
Deciding Where You Are
Change (not like the kind in your pocket!)
Common Issues for Small Churches
Prayer & Discernment
Come and bring a group. This will be of special interest to those who have never a ended before, AND those who were able to a end some or all of the forums hosted in 2013‐14.
Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to Tonya (828/438‐4217 or [email protected]) by Friday, February 6, 2015 so that provisions can be made for meals and materials. Thanks in advance for this courtesy!
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 102 of 114 GP-1 General Presbyter Report Bobbi White January 31, 2015
“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?(Isaiah 43:19) “Not anything will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:39)
This month, Heath Rada, Moderator of the PCUSA and elder from this Presbytery, preached at the Montreat Presbyterian Church. He reflected on his experience the first six months as moderator using Romans 8:39, that “not anything will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Heath traveled to the Middle East because Christians had asked for representatives from the Pope and PCUSA. Heath was humbled and inspired by the stories told by Christians from Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and Israel. The Christians shared that the PCUSA had built schools and hospitals and walked with them in times of trouble. One Christian drove through ISIS territory to meet with Heath. Another Christian told about a Muslim friend that helped his family escape, and his friend and family were killed because of it. Heath listened. They wanted someone to know about their struggles.
Heath described being in Washington at the signing of the latest addition of the Civil Rights Bill and the compliments and appreciation he received for the work of the PCUSA for those less fortunate. He described churches that are reaching out in new ways. He talked about our conflicts over issues, the vows we take as church members that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, discussion with people that disagreed over scriptural interpretations, and the number of new members and worshiping communities. (Attached is his sermon for your reading. GP Attachment 1)
How is God working in our midst and how often do we notice it? When I travel around the Presbytery, I see that God is at work among us in more ways than we imagine. There are visible signs and “Holy Coincidences.” God’s work often starts with the idea or call of an individual or a committee. It often means risking doing something that might fail or has never been done before. Going where God calls us can be very challenging. The world is different now.
I want to share some of the places I see God at work to encourage and challenge us to risk going with the Spirit, to give us new ideas, and to help us to see how God works in different ways with each situation. These examples are small and large membership churches, mountain and city churches, and theologically and economically different churches.
We are strengthened when we work together.
Gaston Area Presbyterians (GAP), “Working together to serve God,” are hosting our January 31st Presbytery meeting. Their mission statement is “to support and facilitate the efforts of congregations in Gaston County in their work to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Their hope is in doing so, "that we transform churches so that their members may find new life and new energy to respond to God’s call and others will be attracted to them and their work.” Formed as a result of meeting with the Evangelism Committee, the 16 GAP churches have been building Habitat Houses and raising money for Black Mountain Home for Children and Barbara Nagy. Recently, they started doing youth events together. They meet monthly at different churches, and also support Third Street’s
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backpack program for the local elementary school and the Samaritan Feet project, which gives out huge numbers of shoes.
The Mayland Fellowship (churches in Mitchell, Avery, and Yancey counties) will hold Holy Week evening worship services together from Palm Sunday through Wednesday with different preachers, choirs and hosts at the Spruce Pine First Church. They meet quarterly for worship and/or programs and provide $800 scholarships to five to ten students from their churches.
These churches are finding different ways to reach out to people in their community and provide times for neighbors and members to be together and do things together.
Three churches, Grassy Creek, Newdale and Micaville, using Water to Wine Grant money from the Small Church Committee, have started providing meals to the elderly on the weekends, as well as a friendly contact. A social service worker said that some of the senior citizens have bare shelves and no food on the weekends. Many of our churches provide back packs so children will have food on weekends, so these churches are reaching out to meet a similar need for the elderly
Trinity Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville has a wonderful music outreach in their community. The Hendersonville Community Music Center is a 501c3 that Trinity formed to bring music opportunities to the whole community. They offer about 10 courses each semester, like drumming, piano lessons, kinder music, guitars, etc., most of which is held at the church. They also offer programs at the Boys and Girls Clubs and at Carolina Village. They are particularly excited about the programs for children. Because they are reaching out in music, the Hendersonville Youth Symphony practices in their sanctuary on Tuesday nights. The building is now a much busier place. There is new energy as they reach out to others in a new way.
Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church reaches out through the “Real Life Stories,” where people share their stories with the audience. People from the community and the church come together to hear people tell real stories at Avenue M. It is a time of neighbors enjoying being with neighbors and of a church reaching out to people who may not attend church. Although the stories are not church focused, they encourage people to reflect inward and think deeply about their lives in a safe space.
Green Street in Morganton realized that they had young girls in their church that would like to be a part of scouting, so they formed a Girl Scout Troop. They worked with a school to make it available. They have about 24 girls, about half from their church and half from the community. Green Street, a small membership church, only has a sanctuary, fellowship hall and room for GED and computer training. So, they spread out their groups from the Daisies to Brownies to Girls Scouts in the spaces available. The troop continues to grow.
When the whole country is dealing with racism, Kenilworth Presbyterian Church in Asheville reached out to the community, hosting the 5th Annual Kenilworth celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 19 in their Fellowship Hall to learn about this important issue. After a dinner, two UNCA professors talked about the “History of Civil Rights in WNC” and the “Current State of Racism Affecting Black Asheville.” The evening was moderated by Kenilworth elder Marvin Chambers, an icon of the Civil Rights Movement in NC. The night included musical entertainment and crafts for children.
Westminster Presbyterian Church in Asheville made a courageous and missional decision. They decided to sell their building and use the proceeds to continue their worshiping community in a different location
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 104 of 114 GP-3 at 4:00 p.m. on Sundays. This time provided members of other churches an alternative time of worship, when needed. Westminster will continue to focus on their ministry and in addition, Michael Isaac, their minister, will be reaching out to others to form new opportunities for worship and Christian community.
We experienced the dynamic worship at Unity Presbyterian Church in Denver at the last presbytery meeting and appreciated Carol for sharing a worship workshop. Unity has one of the most welcoming websites (Unitypres.org). There is picture of the pastor, with these words.“Hi and welcome to Unity’s website. I love being the pastor here because there is so many of our congregation who love to laugh, who take care of one another and those outside the church, and who have a heart for God. We have worship services on Sunday morning at 9:30 am and 11:00 am. You can join us at home or on vacation for live worship at 11:00 a.m. I hope you will roam around our website. Take a look at the video below . . . Better yet, come and see us! You will be most welcomed. Grace to you. Carol Clark.” Not only is this a welcoming message, but they use technology providing a live feed of worship, several videos, and online giving. Take a look at your website. It is the first information many people will see.
New web sites are helping smaller membership churches to reach out. Many people go to the web to find a church and some churches do not have web sites. Through the Small Membership Committee and Foundation Forums, John Pea has offered to help smaller membership churches create and maintain up-to- date web sites and get Facebook accounts. The new web sites are spectacular. Go look at GAP, Kenilworth, Dulatown, Olney, John Knox, Etowah and Green Street. Come to the next Forum and find out more information and take advantage of this offer. We hope all churches will have web sites.
The Small Membership Church/Foundation Forums will have an all day session on Saturday, February 21st in Morganton. Those attending the quarterly Forums requested a Saturday event which would summarize the important things covered in the last eight sessions. Someone said, “We want a review so we can set up next steps.” Come with the pastor, session, treasurer, and new members for an exciting time of looking at where God is calling you as a church in this crazy time, as you seek God’s vision through prayer, listening and learning together.
Doing ministry together multiplies our impact. The Council and the Presbytery decided to be involved in a Ministry Campaign, which will include raising funds for church development and for new worshiping communities to reach more people for Christ, for Camp Grier, for Guatemalan partnership education initiative and for the hospital, school, and medical clinics in Malawi. Our impact on these projects can be huge.
Camp Grier, which was owned by the Western North Carolina, Salem and Charlotte Presbyteries, will become a 501c3 corporation this month. We will sign over the deed to them at this Presbytery meeting. The majority of the Board members will be from these three presbyteries. We demonstrate our excitement about the direction the Camp is taking by including them in our Ministry Campaign. One church’s newsletter said, “We have exciting things happening at Camp Grier, like our new MONSTER CLIMBING WALL & CHALLENGE COURSE; so come join us in Old Fort as we learn, laugh and grow together! We integrate lessons from the Bible with service to others, the arts and plenty of outdoor adventures! You'll discover many amazing things about yourself when you join us for a Summer Journey Program; so check us out at www.campgrier.org.”
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Guatemalan Partnership: We just celebrated 20 years of working with two presbyteries in Guatemala with over 30 church to church partnerships. We have been building relationships for 20 years and learning from each other. Over 800 children are going to school now because of scholarships from the churches and presbytery. We have supported child nutrition, new stoves that vent the smoke and take less wood are in homes, saving money and smoke-related illness, and water filters. While in Guatemala, I was able to preach at the 20 year celebration, visit several churches, and participate in a memorial celebration for a pastor who was active in Guatemala and had visited our presbytery. It was amazing to hear about new possibilities, like the Presbyterian Women working with micro loans, experimenting with forming a library, and plans to improve education.
Four youth went to Guatemala this summer to participate with the youth there and together led a retreat. Two of those youth have done senior projects connected with Guatemala. One raised about $1,500 at a concert for Guatemala. The other youth has produced a PowerPoint to help churches better understand the partnership, the challenges and opportunities.
Working together, we are making a difference in Nkhoma, Malawi. Almost 50% of our churches support Dr. Barbara Nagy, pediatric doctor and public health leader, who is hoping to do more preventive health in the villages now that she has a Public Health degree. We also support the hospital, rural public health initiatives, and the Ebenezer School. When the hospital first asked this presbytery to start a school so they could retain the medical staff, the community was not sure about it. The other choice was 100 children in a classroom with the teacher having the only book, or for the medical staff to move to another place. Now, the school has an excellent reputation, is attracting medical staff, and the school is looking to expand. Currently, they have classes for students pre-kindergarten through seventh grade. They are needing additional classes. I believe future leaders of Malawi will come from this school.
God is at work in our midst: As the Presbytery continues to live into SEE, the Body of Christ, build relationships, and Strengthen congregations Equip disciples Engage in mission together.
We need to listen to God, see what God is doing, celebrate and join in the work!
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 106 of 114 GP ATTACHMENT 1 Moderator’s Sermon Heath K. Rada Page 1 REFLECTIONS AND HOPE Montreat Presbyterian Church January 4, 2015 Happy New Year. The ball has dropped, the fireworks have sounded, the black eyed peas have been eaten and the resolutions have been made. It’s time for a new beginning. If we focus on the future, we can all be hopeful. Sound familiar? Well, in that vein I decided to look at the media to see what the new year is bringing. Where are the realities and hopes that surround us as we start another January with expectations of happy new year options?
Here is what I read in the paper this morning - - Rescuers recover bodies from Air Asia Flight as family members grieve. - Discrimination against young black men expands in USA - Numbers of shootings of Police officers has increased dramatically - Israel withholds $125 million from Palestinian Authority - Scholars affirm increased prejudice in US toward Jews - Schism between Democrats and Republicans expand as Congress contemplates upcoming session - Global warming effects are raven more serious than scientists once thought - Christians are continue to be murdered and forced from their homes by Isis in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon
Oh my - that isn’t what I was thinking when I said Happy New Year. So I decided I would go to one of the sources of my hope - my faith community - and read the hopeful signs in the Presbyterian News Media Here’s what I saw: - The PCUSA is dying - The Relationships between Presbyterians and Jews is at the lowest pointy in history - Additional churches are leaving the PCUSA because the denomination no longer believes in the Authority of the Scripture nor do they affirm that Salvation comes through Jesus Christ.
YIKES!!! Where is the happy in this new year? What is there that I can be happy about if everything I read says we are living in such dire straits?
Let me try something else. 2015 is a new year. As we think about 2014 we are reminded of both good and bad things. You know, “should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?” I mean that’s a real upper isn’t it? I don’t know about you, but as I age, I find it harder some years to find the highlight of the past year as easily as I can find the downers. Think about it - when you think of one event of the past year which impacted you, is it something positive or negative? How many of you thought of something good? How many thought of something sad or difficult or unhappy? Regardless of where you are on the scale of happy or unhappy reflections in your personal life, I dare say we all have a mixed bag of experiences we could share as we consider 2014.
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Most of you who know me also know that I am a pretty upbeat guy. I am usually happy, and enjoy life. And one would think that as I consider 2014, the extraordinary honor and privilege of being elected moderator of our denomination would be my highlight. It probably is, and it I do think of it positively. Yet, the complexity of it is like the complexity we all face in our lives. Joy mixed with sadness. Acceptance mixed with rejection. Life facing death. Freedom heavy with responsibility. It isn’t simple. it is complex. Thus we turn to the scriptures. And when we read Romans 8, and particularly verse 35, we do find that hope. Listen once again to that verse -
The One who died for us (meaning Christ) who was raised to life for us!! - is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ[’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins in Scripture. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing - NOTHING living or dead, angelic nor demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable - absolutely NOTHING can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.”
That my friends is what it’s all about. That’s why we are here this morning. That’s why we can read the papers and still get out of bed in the morning. I stand here today before you having had 6 of the most extraordinary months of my life. Serving as our denomination’s Moderator is at once both humbling, affirming, frightening, exciting, exhausting and fulfilling. It is my privilege, along with Peggy at my side, to see our church and our world though new eyes. And I want to share some of that with you today.
First let’s look at what we are seeing in the world? Our journey to the the Middle East in November has haunted us with visions of Christians (as well as people of other faith traditions) who are being discriminated against and killed with nary a second thought. Church grounds with tents where literally thousands of families are camped out and waiting to be able to go home, (and frankly with not much likelihood of that happening anytime soon) keep appearing in my dreams. Old women crying, young men pleading, young parents filled with panic are all part of what I saw. And why on earth was I there? Because they - the people in those countries - had asked Pope Frances for representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, and the officials of the PCUSA to send some people there to tell them that they were not forgotten - that they were in our prayers - that they mattered to us. And to be asked to share such moments of love was an overwhelming privilege.
The PCUSA was invited because in many of those countries it was through PCUSA missionaries that they had learned to have true hope. In addition to teaching about Jesus, our mission workers had built schools and hospitals. had joined hands in helping to assure a life of wholeness. And they wanted not only to have us assure them that we hadn’t forgotten them but to tell us that they hadn’t forgotten the words of Paul -
NOTHING, absolutely nothing, can separate us from the love of God.
Three weeks ago, Peggy and I returned from Peru. We met with officials of the Peruvian Churches who claim a relationship with the PCUSA and discussed those issues which unite us and others which might divide us. And we also participated in the remarkable
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Climate Conference 20 with citizens and leaders from around the world who are grossly aware that we are not doing what we need to do to take care of our environment. Did you know that in Lima Peru, a city the size of New York with 10 million people, in 15 years at the most, there will be no source of water for them to drink or use? We saw the effects of global warming where the ice caps on the majestic mountains which had been there for tens of thousands of years, had started a major meltdown in recent years and now were mere small caps on the highest mountains - and melting rapidly into oblivion. And we listened to renowned author and environmentalist Jeffrey Sachs who told us that we don’t have to sacrifice economic gain to minimize the effects of this frightening occurrence and who, in a conversation with me, accepted my invitation to work with our seminaries and colleges in the PCUSA to look at some options for curriculum changes which might help to make a difference. But most importantly, in a march for climate care, which was to have a hoped for attendance of about 2000 people, we had over 20,000 of us marching through the streets of Lima. The overwhelming number of these folk were younger people - not necessarily idealists, but realists who were changing their majors and rallying their collective strength to speak to their own native lands about ways we can make a difference. They were hopeful. They believe that neither life nor death, nor global warming, nor predictions of doom and gloom, can separate us from the love of God - but that we also have a partnership with God which must be fulfilled.
In the next several weeks of this month and next, I am scheduled to go to South Sudan and Ethiopia, where I will see more hardship and meet people whose lives are facing challenges I cannot even imagine. I will return home and go to the borders of Texas and Mexico, where I will meet with mothers who are weeping as they say good bye to their children and smuggle them illegally into the United States - praying mightily that they will be cared for by someone who can assure them a quality of life they cannot have in their own homeland - where their likelihood of survival is extremely low. And once again, I believe I will hear words of hope as they testify to their faith in our Lord.
For I believe we cannot be separated from the love of God - a love even more powerful than a Mother’s love and desire to protect her young from harm. And the mothers will cry. And so will I.
But let’s turn our attention a moment to our own country. Where I am seeing hope in God’s assuring love here in the USA? Do I see it on the streets of Ferguson Missouri or New York City? I haven’t been to Ferguson. Some have criticized me for that - but I haven’t gone because I was asked not to go at this time. You may wonder why. Let me express this using the dramatic words which were shared with me.
“Mr Moderator. Whereas we Presbyterians would always be glad to see you here, your visit would be viewed as patronizing. You would be seen as a symbol of someone who came too late. We needed the denomination here over the past two decades when our communities were fracturing. We needed help to find a focus that would allow us to find ways to live together. To come now would be viewed as a response to your own need - coming to salve the conscience of Presbyterians rather than to help us. We needed help long ago. Now we need to determine our next course of events among ourselves. We will call you when we think it would be helpful for you to come.” I didn’t hear this as a personal attack but instead a challenge. And it has helped me to look at events as they unfold and see where action is warranted now! when we can maybe make a difference!
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I was reminded of our visit to the White House a few months ago to watch President Obama sign the latest addition to the Civil Rights Bill. That morning Peggy and I had read in the newspaper that one of the main reasons this bill had passed had been through the efforts of churches and various non governmental organizations who had worked hard to lobby for its passage. And in the paper, the first organization named was the PCUSA. At the White House we were greeted by numerous people who said to us, “We are so grateful to your denomination for the ways you model what you believe. Your stand for justice, for caring “for the least of these” has allowed you to become a huge factor in impacting certain laws that have enhanced the quality of life from many who have faced hatred or discrimination.” And in fact, we had some folks tell us they were considering changing their church membership to our denomination because of how we lived out our faith. And I have to think again about the passage in Romans - NOTHING can separate us from the love of God and how critical it is that we reflect those words in both word and deed as we live out our faith. And I have been proud to be a part of our church.
So let’s look now at our PCUSA. We are a divided body in many ways. We come together as a family that is reexamining what being family means. I find this to be both difficult and challenging. When I am asked if I believe the PCUSA is dying - and I am asked that often, my answer is different now than it was when I was elected six months ago. Then I said, “Absolutely not!!!” But now I have changed my answer. Instead, I say, “Yes. The Presbyterian Church of which I am a member is dying”. But then I hasten to add - it is the church that I grew up in that is dying. It is the church of the 50’s and 60’s where everyone was a church member, and that’s how you got jobs, and how you associated with certain groups of like minded people - that’s the place that was the center of much of the social life of my growing up years - that’s the church that is dying. But the PCUSA is not dying. Indeed we lost 152,000 members last year. But in contrast to some news reports that this is due to unhappiness in the church, the vast number of those losses were due to death (because we have been a church of older people) and the removal of inactive members from our roles. These members who are being removed are similar in number or percentage figures to other mainline denomination declines and reflect, according to sociologists and religious scholars, the secularization of our society rather than the dissatisfaction with decisions being made by our denomination. Indeed some have been due to congregation leaving the denomination, and I we can’t deny that nor hide our heads in the sand. But that is not the main reason. And we don’t read about the other side of the story. Did you know that 72,000 people joined our denomination last year? Obviously that is a smaller number than the ones who were taken off the roles - but folks - in a time when being a part of a mainline church is no longer the “thing to do” and when people are joining the church because they want to live out their faith and participate in making a difference in the world rather than having a social outlet or to have a nice addition to their resume - 72,000 new members is huge. That is not indicative of a dying church. And while we are looking at statistics, let me share a few more. My “other congregation” Grace Covenant in Asheville is nearing the 900 mark in membership. It is growing dramatically. And this past year at our annual meeting the amazing fact was shared that for the first time in the history of our local congregation we had more people under the age of 45 than older!!! So we asked them why - and they said, “Because this is a safe place. This is a place where I can discover who I am in relationship to my faith. I can ask questions. I can doubt. I can find affirmation in the process of growing, and not feel judged nor put down because I do or do not think exactly the way someone else does.”
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Does that mean that people at Grace Covenant can believe anything and be a member? Emphatically the answer is no. But it does mean that the church offers people a place to discern who they are on this journey and to love and be loved in ways that builds them up. I want to tell you a few more statistics, but let me also use this time to answer the two basic questions I am asked most frequently by people who are concerned about our denomination. First - Does the PCUSA believe in the Authority of the Scriptures? Unfortunately some of our former members and associates have condemned us as no longer believing that to be true. But that is a gross misinterpretation of the truth. In this room this morning there are many of you who are elders - teaching or ruling. Some of you have been Christian educators or missionaries or worked in the church in some other fashion. And for each of us who fits in that role, we have been ordained or installed into those positions. In our ordination vows we profess that we believe the Bible to be the Authoritative word of God. Period. Pure and simple. NO ONE in our denomination can serve in these roles and not believe that. So to accuse of of doing so is false teaching. Now does that mean we all believe in the same interpretation of every verse of scripture? NO. Does that mean that we don’t read, study and discern God’s word and seek to understand that it is a living word that can take on new and greater meaning as generations unfold. Absolutely not! And let’s get to the big issue that most people are avoiding when they use this argument - Does that mean that we say that God approves of gay marriage or gay leadership in our churches. Forgive me for being so adamant in this, but I am heartsick at the misinformation I hear over and over both in our denomination and in other countries where former members of the PCUSA are telling their interpretations of what we believe. No. Our church has not said that in order to be a Presbyterian we need to believe that God has ordained a gay lifestyle as a part of our body of belief. A minister in our denomination is told that she or he is to follow one’ own conscience as they carry out their beliefs about this. If they do not see this as being part of God’s will, they do not have any demand or expectation that they should perform such a cerermony. LIkewise, if a session of a local church believes this is not a part of God’s will, they have the authority and right to say they will not allow such a marriage to take place in their house of worship - even if the minister disagrees. Friends, the Bible is an amazing document that continues to reveal God’s will and purpose for us as the years unfold. I am not here today to affirm nor to deny the Biblical authority which speaks to gay marriage. But what I can tell you is that Biblical scholars as well as Christians of deep faith disagree on the wording which refers to these matters. Recently I was talking to someone who was dealing with this issue and asked me if I believed we were changing God’s definition of marriage by allowing same sex couples to unite. I told him that I wasn’t the judge on this one - God is. But I also said that I believe that we need to be open to the fact that God might be revealing different things to us. For instance, I said that in the room where we were meeting there were likely a number of folk who were divorced. But I don’t believe that we are called to take these people out into the streets in front of the church and stone them to death just because they Bible says we should do so. I don’t believe that women are not capable nor eligible to teach and preach and lead our congregations just because the Bible says so. We see God’s word revealed to us in new and amazing ways every day. I am not going to be the judge on whether or not gay marriage is sanctioned by God. But I DO believe we need to be open to exploring whether or not God is asking us to look anew at God’s word as we live in a world that is significantly different than the one in existence when these words were written. The other issue some raise is that members of the PCUSA don’t believe that Jesus Christ is the way to salvation. Oh me.
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Let me say simply - you cannot join the PCUSA without answering the question in the affirmative that says, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior?” All of us who are members answered that question when we joined the church. It is still asked of every member today. So to twist facts and say that Presbyterians don’t believe that is another untruth. Now the rub sometimes comes when Presbyterians say, “I don’t believe that my Jewish friends, or my Muslim friends, are necessarily going to hell”. How do we reconcile that with John 3:16? Well folks, the reality in my mind is that isn’t a question we even need to raise. If I believe that Jesus is MY path to salvation, if the church I belong to says that all who are members of the church must believe the same thing, then I am very comfortable saying the rest of the flock will be judged by God.” I am glad I am not the judge. In fact the Bible says quite clearly that we are NOT to be the judges - that is God’s job. But I am very certain that for Heath Rada the way to eternal life must go through Jesus Christ. Well, I’m preaching at you folks!!! And if you can’t tell I feel passionately about these matters. And one of the reasons is the scripture passage I have read to you today - Even as I struggle to understand the issues and the complexities of the world around me I know that I love and am loved by my Savior Jesus. And I know that nothing, absolutely NOTHING, can separate me from that love - because that is what He has promised. That is why he came to earth and lived and died in our midst. And that is why we can have hope for the new year. Now let me close by sharing a few other facts about our denomination as we look toward this New Year. Did you know that there are 94 million Christians around the world today who claim that the reason they are Christians is because of the ministry of the PCUSA or its predecessors? Do you know that our form of government, which my friend Dean Thompson says is arguably the most democratic form of church government in the world - makes our decisions transparent to others in ways that other denominations are not, and therefore we do not relinquish decisions to bishops of Popes or others who some believe have special gifts to interpret God’s word. We don’t even do that for the Moderator!!! Did you know that we had hoped to have over 100 new worshipping communities in the Presbyterian Church by last June’s General Assembly and we had over 250 - now close to 300? Did you know that in spite of the fact that some say we are not doing an effective job of sending missionaries out into the world and evangelizing society, we have 180 mission coworkers in the field. And whereas that number may be smaller than the numbers we had in the 50’s and 60’s we now send thousands of people out on mission work programs to build churches, teach Bible Schools, care for children, provide medical relief, and on and on. My friends, we have more people serving Christ on the mission field today than we have ever had in our history - even if they aren’t all full time employees of the church. Its true that we have had over 350 congregations leave our family, but did you know we still have 10,000 congregations in our denomination? It is NOT wrong for people to understand how to be the church in different ways. That is why there are different denominations and faiths. We interpret and understand who we are to be differently. When someone, or some body of the church decides it is time to leave and join another fellowship, I believe we should follow the laws of the church and of the state, and then join with them, hold their hands and offer prayers for them as they seek to be faithful followers. Doing so is not sinful. Believing differently is not always an act of hostility. However, when their decision is hostile and based on misinterpretations or untruths, I believe we should be up front in being bold with our own witness. We need to tell the truth as we understand it - not in a vindictive nor angry way, but in ways that
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 112 of 114 Moderator’s Sermon model the peacemaker Jesus Christ. We are an honest, honorable and faithful body of Christ. And in spite of the many issues over which we might disagree, we are held together as we have always been, by the unity of our belief in Christ.
Thus we head into the new Year. We may be maligned, and we may be celebrated. We may be criticized and we may be praised. Our church lives and our individual lives may be filled with joy this year, or we may be facing times of grief, separation and pain. But hear me, my dear friends. And listen as I sing a song I learned at one of the Montreat Youth Conferences a number of years ago. If you know it, join with me.
“For I”m persuaded to believe that you can’t separate us from the wonderful love of God. For above us God will send us and wil come to live within us while in this sinful world we trod. NEEEEITHER life nor death nor principalities - things present nor things to come. And though the powers hate us they will never separate us from the wonderful love of God.”
Move forward Montreat Presbyterian Church knowing you have that power of God’s care and love. Carry on. Celebrate the past by laying the groundwork to be Missionaries in Montreat and outside the gate for many years to come. Your denomination salutes you. Your town celebrates you. And I am sure that God is smiling in whatever fashion God smiles as you gather to continue to serve in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen
103rd Stated Meeting of PWNC January 31, 2015 Page 113 of 114 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD! TEXT: Hal H. Hopson, 1972 MUSIC: English folk melody; adapt. Hal H. Hopson, 1972 Text and Music © 1972 Hope Publishing Company All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net S-915144. 485 1. To God be the glory, great things He hath done! 1. Though I may speak with bravest fire, 335 So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, And have the gift to all inspire, Who yielded His life an atonement for sin, And have not love, my words are vain; And opened the life-gate that all may go in. As sounding brass, and hopeless gain.
Refrain: 2. Though I may give all I possess, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, And striving so my love profess, Let the earth hear His voice! But not be given by love within, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, The profit soon turns strangely thin. Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father through Jesus the Son, 3. Come, Spirit, come, our hearts control, And give Him the glory: great things He hath Our spirits long to be made whole. done! Let inward love guide every deed; By this we worship and are freed. 2. Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done, And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son; 1. Guide my feet while I run this race, 354 But purer, and higher, and greater will be Guide my feet while I run this race, Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see. Guide my feet while I run this race, (Refrain) For I don't want to run this race in vain! (race in vain!)
2. Hold my hand while I run this race, 1. My Shepherd will supply my need; 172 Hold my hand while I run this race, Jehovah is His name: Hold my hand while I run this race, In pastures fresh He makes me feed, For I don't want to run this race in vain! (race in vain!) Beside the living stream. He brings my wandering spirit back, 3. Stand by me while I run this race, When I forsake His ways; Stand by me while I run this race, And leads me, for His mercy's sake, Stand by me while I run this race, In paths of truth and grace. For I don't want to run this race in vain! (race in vain!)
2. When I walk through the shades of death 4. I'm Your child while I run this race, You presence is my stay; I'm Your child while I run this race, One word of Your supporting breath I'm Your child while I run this race, Drives all my fears away. For I don't want to run this race in vain! (race in vain!) Your hand, in sight of all my foes, Does still my table spread; 5. Search my heart while I run this race, My cup with blessings overflows, Search my heart while I run this race, Your oil anoints my head. Search my heart while I run this race, For I don't want to run this race in vain! (race in vain!) 3. The sure provisions of my God Attend me all my days; 6. Guide my feet while I run this race, O may Your House be my abode, Guide my feet while I run this race, And all my work be praise. Guide my feet while I run this race, There would I find a settled rest, For I don't want to run this race in vain! (race in vain!) While others go and come; No more a stranger, or a guest, But like a child at home.
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