HIGHLIGHTS OF THE
DECEMBER, 2009 PRESBYTERY ASSEMBLY MEETING
(The minutes are available for reading upon request.)
“O Come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.” As the strains of the ancient advent hymn echoed about the sanctuary of Second Presbyterian Church, commissioners, visitors and guests all prayed for a brighter new year. Our congregations have been hit hard by the recession. Due to the economy, the presbytery passed a conservative budget. Even the turnout was smaller than usual, courtesy of darkening skies, full of sleet and snow.
“Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.” Presbytery moderator Rita Fossell, reminded us to “Fear not.” So too did our two pre-presbytery events. The Committee on Self-Development of People introduced us to the recipients of the 2009 SDOP grants. We met eleven different small community-based groups, whose ministries range from helping ex-offenders find a new life through work; community based gardens providing fresh fruit and vegetables in urban food deserts; persons with illnesses banding together to support each other and reach out to the community; and empowerment for youth and immigrants who are underserved by public resources.
The second pre-presbytery event featured the Rev. Alice Winters, who has served as a PCUSA mission worker in Colombia for thirty years. She brought us the good news of what the Presbyterian Church in Colombia has learned about what being the church in the midst of poverty, war and suffering. Her good news included greetings from the Revs. Richard Williams and Mamie Broadhurst, two of our clergy who began their call as mission workers in Colombia last summer. She also brought us a heartfelt thank you from the Revs. Milton Mejia and Adeleida Jimenez. The Mejia family lived and worked among us for two years while they studied at McCormick Seminary and found shelter from death threats they faced in Colombia. We are always welcome to come visit Colombia and walk with the church there as it works to bring God’s shalom in the midst of the world’s largest population of displaced people.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5) The future beckons. The assembly elected the Rev. Judith Watt, pastor of the Palatine Presbyterian Church, as the moderator elect. Mr. Tom Pardo, the clerk of session at the First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights, won the coveted Golden Scribe award for the year’s best minutes. (Runners up included Juli Spirios of Brookfield, First and Mike Hansche of Naperville, River Glen, who overcame massive flooding and multiple computer crashes, respectively, to get their minutes in for review.)
Four inquirers were questioned and enrolled as candidates.
· Elizabeth Dickey (Chicago, Fourth) spoke about the power of prayer as listening.
· Adam Malak (Orland Park) reminded us that our call is not to exercise power but to serve.
· Laura Lyter (Grayslake, Wildwood) talked about organizing a penny drive for homeless families when she was in fourth grade; her concerns now include ending the horror of human trafficking.
· Leslie Weir (Park Forest, Calvary United) heard God’s call to parish ministry as a member of the Roman Catholic Church. She brings to the PCUSA not only her gifts for ministry, but her deep appreciation for the spiritual disciplines that are part of our common ecumenical Christian heritage.
The True North Response Team spoke about the multiple roles that parish clergy have and the lack of accountability and oversight that characterizes many of our churches – particularly in these days where much of our communication takes place by cell phone and email. Two states have made it a criminal offense for a clergy person to have sexual contact with a congregant.
The assembly also affirmed and prayed for our newest congregation, Christ Presbyterian Church of North Riverside, a merger between the First Presbyterian Church of Brookfield and the North Riverside Community Presbyterian Church. The two congregations had worked together over the last several years. More recently, North Riverside took Brookfield in and gave them a home when the Brookfield property suffered serious floods in 2008.
The presbytery council report grounded us in practical business. Thanks to the leadership of the Budget Work Group, the assembly passed a balanced presbytery operating budget for 2010, a feat achieved without increasing per capita and while reducing our draw on investments. Funds were authorized for the Pitched Tent Commission (whose call is “to lead Chicago Presbytery … in purposeful conversations about who we believe God is calling us to be and what God is calling us to do”) and the Presbytery Reformation Task Force (PRTF). Staff salaries for 2010 were approved as were the new Presbytery Personnel Guidelines, the first revision of the guidelines since 1998. The assembly affirmed the listing price council set for the sale of the presbytery offices at 100 South Morgan, and authorized the council to provide collateral to cover any gap between the amount the building was originally appraised for and a final sales price. The assembly heard from PRTF, which has received two inquiries for the sale of the Presbyterian Camps at Saugatuck, MI. Both prospective buyers are open to purchasing only a portion of the Camps, a possibility that could open the way to continuing a vital Presbyterian camping ministry on the dunes of western Michigan. At this point, all possible courses of action remain fully open.
The assembly particularly thanked the Camp Oversight and Development Work Group. Given the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Camps, CODWG nonetheless made sure that the 2009 camping season was a success. Despite the extremely poor economy, attendance at the camps was only slightly less than last year. CODWG and the camps are already gearing up for 2010. An open house has been scheduled at the camps for January 6-9, 2010. For more information, check the presbytery’s website, www.chicagopresbytery.org.
The hush of Christmas approaches, the day when “the Word became flesh and lived among us, …* full of grace and truth.” “In him was life,* and the life was the light of all people.” (John 1:14, 4).
As Rita reminded us, “Fear not.” God is with the Presbytery of Chicago.
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