Foothills Presbytery Stated Meeting #99

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Eastminster Presbyterian Church

2240 Woodruff Road

Simpsonville, SC 29681

864-284-0190

COMMISSIONER’S HANDBOOK

April 24, 2016 – 2:00 pm

Registration: 1:30 pm

Directions

From Spartanburg:

Take I-85 South to exit 56-57 for Hwy 14 East toward Pelham.

Turn left on Hwy 14 East for 4.5 miles.

At the intersection of Hwy 14 and Woodruff Road, turn left on Woodruff Road.

The church is a 0.5 miles on the right. 2240 Woodruff Road.

From Anderson:

Take I-85 North to exit 51 for I-385 toward Columbia.

Follow the signs for exit 51B and merge onto I-385 South and immediately get off on exit 35 for Woodruff Road.

Turn left onto Woodruff Road and drive 2.8 miles.

The church is on the right. 2240 Woodruff Road.

History of Eastminster Presbyterian Church

Eastminster Presbyterian Church was started asa new church development project of Foothills Presbytery. In our history, we have become a viable presence in the Greenville and Simpsonville area. The first service was held in the Golden Strip YMCA in March 1999 by founding pastors, David and Tandy Taylor. The church grew quickly and was chartered in September 1999. After a 1.2 million dollar capital campaign,our building on Woodruff Road was completed in 2001. Our unique multipurpose building has provided opportunities for a variety of ministries and a community partnership with the Boy Scouts, the YMCA and neighboring churches. In2005, the building was expanded to add additional classroom and office space. We provide Christian Education for preschoolers through adults and were happy to welcome our first Director of Christian Education in October 2010. We have supported many local, denominational, and global outreach projects. We nurture each other through small groups and our in-house system of support, Network 6.2. We enjoy annual traditions and many events, as we fellowship together. Our worship component has included adult and children’s choirs, hand bell choir, and the creation of a beautiful outdoor worship space.

99th Meeting of Foothills Presbytery

April 24, 2016

Eastminster Presbyterian Church, Simpsonville, SC

**ORIENTATION FOR NEW ELDER COMMISSIONERS WILL BE HELD AT 1:45 p.m.**

A. Call to Order and Establishment of a Quorum2:00 p.m.

Beverly Kelly, Teaching Elder, Moderator

Welcome the New Moderator and Moderator-Elect

B. Welcome from the Host Church: Pressley Cox, Teaching Elder

Acknowledgement of Visitors and Elders attending for the first time

C. Worship:2:15 p.m.

Preaching: Candidate Erin Foster Farry, Furman Campus Ministry

D. Break: 5 minutes2:35 p.m.

E. Presentation and Adoption of the Docket2:40 p.m.

F. Report of the Stated Clerk2:45 p.m.

1. Communications: The Report of the Discernment Task Force

G. Constitutional Committees

1. Committee on Ministry – Mike Johnston, Teaching Elder3:10 p.m.

2. Examinations Commission – Jean Weaver, Teaching Elder3:15 p.m.

3. Committee on Preparation for Ministry – Patrick Jinks, T. Elder3:30 p.m.

4. Committee on Representation

5. Nominations Committee – Tom Malone, Teaching Elder3:35 p.m.

H. Presbytery Council Report – Nancy Welch, Ruling Elder3:40 p.m.

1. Unity and Community – Amos Workman, Teaching Elder

2. Campus Ministry –

3. Equipping the Saints – Pressley Cox, Teaching Elder 3:45 p.m. 4. Governing Body – Elizabeth Jones, Ruling Elder

5. Finance and Stewardship – Catherine Stodder, Ruling Elder3:50 p.m 6. Racial Ethnic Cabinet – Belton Lane, Ruling Elder

7. Presbytery Youth Council – Donna Templeton, Presbytery Staff

I. New Business

Adjournment and Closing Prayer4:00 p.m

Action on the Minutes: That the Stated Clerk, Associate Stated Clerk and Moderator

be empowered to read and approve the Minutes

.Next Stated Meeting: August 14, 2016 @ 2 p.m @ Fourth Church, Greenville, SC

Report of the Stated Clerk

April 24, 2016

The Stated Clerk reports:

  1. The 2015 Minutes of the Meetings of Foothills Presbytery have been read and approved by the Moderator, the Associate Stated Clerk and the Stated Clerk.
  1. S. C. Flood Relief: The SC5 Executive Forum reports that the Charleston-Atlantic, New Harmony and Trinity Presbyteries are ready to receive work groups to assist with long term recovery efforts. To find out particulars please contact Eden Carroll at pda.callcenter@ pcusa.org or call 866-732-6121 to find out particulars.
  1. The Foothills Presbytery Discernment Task Force has delivered their report and rationale to the Stated and Associate Stated Clerks and to Council. With Council’s approval at their March 15, 2016 Stated Meeting, these documents were sent to all pastors, Clerk and educators (see attachment). Members of the DTF will give an oral report at today’s meeting.
  1. The paperwork to dismiss Teaching Elder Jake Young to Coastal Carolina Presbytery was completed on March 16, 2016.
  1. The appraisal for the former Pelzer Church campus has been received from the American Appraisers Corporation. The Stated Clerk and the Treasurer will consult with the Session of the Faith Church.
  1. Commissions Update:

The John Calvin Commission has transferred all the permanent records to Presbytery Office and Presbytery has taken over all utility and maintenance bills. The Commission is working to consider future options for the property.

The Chin Commission continues their work.

BOC Commission: The Commission is meeting regularly and fully investigating the three options for the future of the BOC property approved by Presbytery at the November 10, 2015 Stated Meeting.

The Stated Clerk recommends:

  1. Having received requests for excuse from the April 24, 2016 Stated Meeting of Foothills Presbytery and found these to be in order, moves their approval.

Respectfully submitted,

Gordon W. G. Raynal, Stated Clerk

DISCERNMENT TASK FORCE REPORT

FOOTHILLS PRESBYTERY MISSION AND STRUCTURE

MISSION:

The identity, mission and ministry of Foothills Presbytery is rooted in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA):

  1. G-3.03 “The presbytery is responsible for the government of the church throughout its district, and for assisting and supporting the witness of the congregations to the sovereign activity of God in the world, so that all congregations become communities of faith, hope, love and witness. As it leads and guides the witness of its congregations, the presbytery shall keep before it the marks of the Church (F-1.0302), the notes by which Presbyterian and Reformed communities have identified themselves through history (F-1.0303) and the six Great Ends of the Church (F-10304).

In light of this charge, the presbytery has responsibility and power to:

  1. provide that the Word of God may be truly preached and heard;
  2. nurture the covenant community of disciples of Christ;
  3. provide that the Sacraments may be rightly administered and received.
  1. G-2.0201 Diaconal ministry “as set forth in Scripture is one of compassion, witness, and service sharing the redeeming love of Jesus Christ for the poor, the hungry, the sick, the lost, the friendless, the oppressed, those burdened by unjust policies or structures or anyone in distress.”

As the Council of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America for the congregations in the six Upstate Counties in South Carolina, by the Grace of God we gather to joyfully celebrate this Calling.

STRUCTURE:

  • Foothills Coordinating Council (FCC):

Council serves to oversee, coordinate and review all commissions, committees and work groups in Foothills Presbytery. The FCC is composed of the FCC Chair, the Presbytery Moderator and the Moderator-elect, and the Chairs of the following committees:

Constitutional Committees

  • Committee on Ministry
  • Committee on Preparation for Ministry
  • Nominations
  • Bills and Overtures
  • Representation and Review

Non-constitutional Committees

  • Equipping the Saints
  • Finance and Stewardship
  • Personnel
  • Racial Ethnic Cabinet
  • Worship

Ex-officio: Executive Presbyter, Associate Executive Presbyter, Treasurer, Parliamentarian

STRUCTURE continued

  • The Permanent Judicial Commission
  • Three Regional Diaconal Clusters
  1. Anderson
  2. Greenville
  3. Spartanburg
  • Presbytery Staff:

$300,000: Personnel

  • Executive Presbyter
  • Associate Executive Presbyter
  • Office Administrator /Bookkeeper
  • Administrative Assistant

$100,000: Operating Expenses

  • Facility maintenance and operations
  • Day-to-day operations; office expenses
  • Operating Reserve; Contingency Fund

$100,000+: Ministry

  • Core Constitutional Committees
  • Non-constitutional committees; shared ministries
  • Regional Expenses

PLANNING RECOMMENDATIONS:

  1. Three-year plan (2017-2019) with evaluation in 2019.
  1. Executive Presbyter andAssociate Executive Presbyter Positions: 3 year term (subject to renewal) during Foothills Presbytery structure changes and development of Manual.
  2. During this three period Council will evaluate and recommend whether the Executive Presbyter and Associate Executive Presbyter positions will be called positions or positions hired by Council at the end of those three years.
  3. The Stated Clerk and Associate Stated Clerk role(s) are elected by Presbytery.
  1. Develop alternate methods of funding campus ministries and seminary scholarships.
  1. Increase marketing of PC(USA) churches in Foothills Presbytery, emphasizing our identity and message, as well as opportunities for service and personal growth.

PRESBYTERY COMMITTEES:

Committee on Ministry: The COM serves as pastor and counselor to the ministers, Commissioner Ruling Elders (CRE) and Certified Christian Educators (CCE) of Foothills Presbytery; facilitates relations between congregations, ministers and presbytery, and settles difficulties on behalf of presbytery wherever possible. The subcommittees of COM:

  1. Pastoral Concerns
  2. Triennial Visits
  3. Temporary Pastoral Relations
  4. Certified Ruling Elders (CRE)
  5. Certified Christian Educators (CCE)
  6. Work of the Minister and Terms of Call
  7. Church Relations

In addition, the Examinations Commission and the Sexual Ethics and Child Protection Committees report to COM.

Committee on Preparation for Ministry: The CPM provides direction for those who are to be ordained as Teaching Elders. The committee enters into covenant relationship with those preparing to become ministers and is engaged in such relationship through the phases of inquiry and candidacy. The subcommittees of CPM:

  1. Financial Aid
  2. Education
  3. Career and Professional Development
  4. Ordination Exam Readers

Nominations Committee: The NC nominates persons to fill all vacancies on the continuing councils, committees and working groups that require election by presbytery. It is suggested the Regional Diaconal Clusters be asked to help in filling these vacancies.

Bills and Overtures Committee: The B&O Committee receives all overtures which have been referred to Presbytery and provides advice to the Presbytery regarding the action on such overtures.

Representation and Review Committee: The R&R Committee advises Presbytery with respect to its membership and of all its bodies by making sure that the principles of participation and inclusiveness are met (see G-3.0103), and in addition, it is responsible for the review and control of Sessions and congregations.

PRESBYTERY COMMITTEES continued

Equipping the Saints Committee: The EtS Committee serves to equip, nurture and connect faithful leaders for the ministry of the church, congregations, and the Regional Diaconal of Foothills Presbyteries. EtS engages in, but is not limited to, the following:

  1. Leadership Development
  2. Shared Mission
  3. Pastoral Support and Peer Groups
  4. Technology and Communication
  5. Hospitality
  6. Curriculum and Resources
  7. Outdoor Ministry
  8. Youth Programs
  9. Campus Ministry

Finance and Stewardship Committee: The F&S Committee provides financial planning and fiscal oversight for the Presbytery. It promotes stewardship in the congregations and interprets the budgets of Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly.

Personnel Committee: The PC provides oversight, support, and recommendations to council for ordained and non-ordained personnel in regards to hiring/dismissal, annual evaluations, personnel wages and expenses.

Worship Committee: The WC provides planning and oversight of the Presbytery Worship Celebrations.

Racial Ethnic Cabinet: The REC serves as an advocate and interpreter for racial ethnic opportunities and concerns to Presbytery.

Regional Diaconal Clusters:

The Regional Diaconal Clusters are organized and gather to promote shared Diaconal Ministry between and among the congregations in their district. Possible, but not limited to, areas of focus:

  1. Children, youth and education and nurture events
  2. Family support events
  3. Worship and fellowship events
  4. Clerk, Ruling Elder, Deacon, Treasurer training events
  5. shared local, national and world missions

DISCERNMENT TASK FORCE

PROPOSAL RATIONALE – SPRING, 2016

In November of 2013, at the request of Presbytery Council, Foothills Presbytery elected a Discernment Task Force. Three factors in particular converged to lead to this action. First, there were major transitions in Presbytery staff. Executive Presbyter George Wilkes had resigned to accept a call as Interim Pastor at the Manning Presbyterian Church, Mary Morrison had resigned to join the staff at Fort Hill Presbyterian Church, and Sandy Sharpe had announced her intention to retire from her position as Office Administrator. Secondly, following actions of the General Assembly in 2012 three congregations had entered into the Gracious Dismissal process of the Presbytery and been subsequently dismissed at their request. Thirdly, finances available for the work of the Presbytery had sharply declined, by nearly 50 percent from ten years earlier, and with a schedule of declining payments from the departing congregations over a period of several years it was clear that decline would continue.

The Task Force was asked to enter into a prayerful season of discernment and make recommendations to help the Presbytery structure and staff itself in the most effective way to move forward in light of all these changing circumstances. Our current manual of operations was adopted in 2003 when much was different. Did any of you think this would be a 2 ½ year process before recommendations were presented? Surely not. Did any of us on the task force think we were committing for that long a time? Definitely not. It was certainly not a straight line process, so this introduction is intended to help you understand where the journey took us.

The first part of the task was to try to get a handle on everything the Presbytery does and how much it costs and how it all works. A review like this had probably not been done since the 2003 restructuring, so a lot of work was required to track how finances have gone over that period and even how various aspects of Presbytery are funded. In addition, we had to factor in the diminishing revenues of upcoming years due to declining payments from congregations which have been dismissed to other denominations, and establish some basic budget goals for the next few years in light of that. The help of our Presbytery staff in all of this has been invaluable.

Next we met with representatives of all Presbytery teams and committees to hear about their work, their goals and financial needs going forward, and to ask blunt questions about how necessary they thought their work was to the larger church. This exercise exposed many frustrations with the roles and expectations of our teams and committees and our ability to staff them with members who can and will actively participate. After this we were in agreement about the need to downsize the bureaucracy and simplify the structure of the Presbytery going forward.

As we were going through this part of our work, a couple of major things were going on that took the total attention of our churches and presbytery and had major implications for our work. They needed to play out in order to provide clarity. One was a result of General Assembly actions, with the marriage amendment, and the other was a result of our task force’s actions in recommending that a special task force be appointed to make recommendations about the future of the Buc Outdoor Center. The General Assembly amendments had the potential to precipitate further losses of congregations and membership and finances, or at the least to create conflict and strain within congregations.

We asked that a task force study the future of Buc Outdoor Center after difficult hours trying to sort out the finances. In addition to budgeted funds to operate, we found that staffing, accounting, and other costs were parts of other line items in the presbytery budget, and that significant over-expenditures of the budget had been occurring. This was a huge red flag as we faced declining dollars to fund the work of Presbytery and expanding expenditures at camp. Add in the confusion of cabin rentals and what the bottom line of that program was and you can begin to understand why nobody really knew the facts about Buc finances until this special task force tackled it. In order for us to make a reasonable proposal about future staffing, structure, and budget, we needed to know the will of Presbytery regarding funding Buc Outdoor Center. That was another painful process for all of us to go through and a lot of healing will need to take place. We learned, though, that full funding of a camping program will not be done through the Presbytery budget.

In addition to these large challenges, some very good and encouraging things have been happening in Foothills Presbytery, so it has been good for us to be able to see those things happen and to see how they have happened. After the last round of General Assembly amendments, a group of interested people began meeting and dreaming about reforming the way the General Assembly and the denomination do business. This group grew and gained momentum and has been helped in every way by our presbytery staff, and we have a series of amendments which are coming before this year’s General Assembly and causing much debate throughout the denomination as a result. The Small Church workgroups are functioning very well and providing much help for the leadership of our smaller churches. Collaborations of churches, colleague meetings for educators, for youth ministers, and for children’s ministries, are gaining momentum. All are being exceptionally well supported and guided by our presbytery staff, Gordon Raynal and Debbie Foster.

In our proposal you will find a streamlined committee structure and a streamlined Presbytery Council. It is our experience that it is much easier to add to a structure later than to subtract from it after it is already in place, and that ministries which are established due to grass roots motivation are much more likely to be carried out passionately.

The primary investment reflected in this proposal is in people. We strongly believe that it is important for Foothills Presbytery to have two pastoral staff members bringing their gifts to building up the body of Christ in our area. We are recommending that Gordon Raynal and Debbie Foster both be full time, elected for three year terms of service. We recommend that Gordon serve as Executive Presbyter and Stated Clerk, primarily responsible for the governmental, constitutional, and business elements of the presbytery’s business; and that Debbie serve as Associate Executive Presbyter, primarily responsible for the people and ministry side of the Presbytery’s work. We are dividing the Presbytery into three regional groups and asking Presbytery staff to take the lead in helping those groups find ways to support, encourage, and do ministry with each other. That may look very different in each region, so we have offered possibilities rather than requirements for what that might look like. After a long season which has brought antagonism and conflict within the church over issues, we believe it is necessary to rebuild relationships and trust and cooperation from the ground up. We believe our professional staff is uniquely qualified to continue leading Foothills Presbytery both in its business and in its maturing into an important and effective part of the body of Christ in this corner of the world.