Brief Summary of stated meeting of the Presbytery of Donegal held at Wayside Presbyterian Church, Landisville, PA, Tuesday, January 15, 2008, 9:30 a.m.
Rev. Judd McConnell, chairperson of the Transition Team, introduced the Transition Team members and our consultant, Rev. John Sharick. Members of the presbytery were encouraged to share with the Team today and during upcoming meetings with the Team.
Worship with Communion was led by the Rev. Stephen Fritz; sermon by Moderator of Presbytery, Elder Gail Benjamin; including the Elder Necrology report and a Memorial Minute for the Rev. C. Harold Brackbill. New Officers were installed: the Rev. Raymond R. Meute, Pastor of Avondale Church as Moderator and the Rev. James B. Shuler, Pastor of the Pine Grove Church as Vice Moderator. A prayer dedicating the 2008 Mission Pledges was led by Rev. Steve Clark.
Ed Martin, chairperson of the Committee on Nominations, reported. Persons to fill vacancies in departments and committees were elected. Nominees for General Assembly Commissioners were presented and results of the election were reported after lunch to be: Principal Minister Commissioners:, Steve Fritz, Donald Hackett, and Douglas Hileman; Alternate Minister Commissioners Daniel Moore and Jay Wilkins. Principal Elder Commissioners selected on the basis of a rotation system: David Schramm (Avondale), Edwin Martin (Doe Run), John Rosecrans (Kennett Square); Alternate Elder commissioners Mary Scarborough (Slateville), Brian Bouvier (St. Johns) and Ross McGinnis (Centre).
Moderator Rev. Raymond R. Meute shared his remarks and is excited to lead this presbytery.
Report of the Associate Executive Presbyter & Acting Head of Staff , Rev. Charles W. Gross, Jr. included a “State of the Presbytery of Donegal” presentation with an emphasis on maintaining a Christlike approach in all that we do. Certificates of Appreciation were presented to outgoing members of departments and committees.
Report of the Stated Clerk, the Rev. Dr. William J. Netting, included Redress of Imbalance of Presbytery--to balance the number of ministers and elder commissioners at presbytery meetings in 2008, Nottingham, Oxford, Paoli, Penningtonville, Pequea, Pine Grove, Round Hill, Second Oxford, Second West Chester, Slate Ridge, Slateville, St. John’s, Stewartstown, Toughkenamon, Trinity, and Union churches are invited to send an extra elder commissioner. A list of elders were enrolled as members of presbytery. Reminder to Pastors & Clerks that your on-line Statistical Report for General Assembly for 2007 is due no later than February 13, 2008.
Report of Treasurer, Allan Ziegler included financial summary reports as of December 31, 2007 for Per Capita and Mission Budgets, Camp Donegal, Oromo NCD, and La Iglesia NCD. He was pleased to report that Camp Donegal finished the year with a huge improvement over last year. Because of the notification of reductions in 2008 Mission Giving from several churches, the following motion was made and approved by the Finance Division of the Administration Department and passed by Council: At the end of 2007, $65,000 will be transferred from the Per Capita Fund to a holding account as a reserve to support salaries in 2008 and beyond. The funds involved come from the salary and expenses of the executive presbyter that were not paid in 2007. The funds could also be used to cover transition consultant costs.
Elder Gail Benjamin, Moderator of Council--Elder Nancy Brown (Wayside) was elected to the Class of 2010 of the Property and Insurance Committee. First readings for changes to the MANUAL: 1) to resolve a discrepancy in the wording in the Manual, approve the following: “Both Ordained and Non-Ordained church members may be nominated to serve on Programmatic Departments”; 2) changes to stated meetings in 2009 include eliminating the April meeting, reducing the total number of meetings to 5, all starting at 9:30am with the March meeting being held on the third Saturday of the month. The May prayer meeting will continue to be held. For 2008, changes were approved by Council to start the March and September meetings at 9:30am instead of 3pm.
Rev. Pat Hartsock read the report from the Administrative Commission on Departing Churches written by Rev. Diane Burkland, chair of the Administrative Commission. Continued prayer is needed as negotiations are still in process.
Three Poster Sessions followed lunch: Church Health through Involvement in Mission led by Jim & Lois Caldwell; Creating a Safe Church led by Linda Crockett (Samaritan Center) & Janet Ressler (First, Lancaster); and Angel Food Ministry led by Pine Grove Presbyterian Church.
Outreach to the Larger Community Department report included information on Souper Bowl shared by Hunger Action Enabler Elder Rick Schmidt. Elder Leah Johnson has attended two meetings of the Israel/Palestine Mission Network. See www.israelpalestinemissionnetwork.org to learn more about their efforts.
Rev. Bob Barcus, chairperson of the Committee on Preparation for Ministry, reported reception of Matthew Randolph (Donegal) as an Inquirer and Ann Hatfield (Trinity) was received as a Candidate. Rev. Jason Link, representative for the Theological Education Fund, encouraged congregations to support this fund.
The Rev. Thomas J. McKinnon, Jr., Chairperson of the Congregational Ministries Department, introduced the new chairperson of the Christian Formation Division, Janet Ressler (First, Lancaster). Janet nominated, and the presbytery elected, Katie Barton Shuler (Pine Grove) as Youth Advisory Delegate to the 2008 General Assembly and Tara Elizabeth Kozilski (Pine Grove) as Alternate YAD.
Rev. Steve Clark, Chairperson of the Work and Witness of the Church Department, introduced Elder Nan Best, Associate for Healthy Congregations, who reported for the Vitalization Division: Synod Transformation Network is providing a training event for people willing to be trained as coaches on April 28-30; 6 people are going to NJ to dialogue on Latino ministry concerns on Jan. 18; transitional housing for immigrants is being organized; the Rev. Don Hackett, chairperson, reported for the New Church Development Division; and Rev. Tom Milligan, Chairperson of the Mission Beyond the Presbytery Division reported on two upcoming mission events, the New Wilmington Missionary Conference July 19-26 and the World Mission Initiative Conference at Pittsburgh Seminary, March 28-29. Funding is available from the committee for those who would like to attend. Elder Rick Schmidt encouraged congregations to get involved in the Congregational Connection with a church in Mthatha, South Africa by contacting him.
The Rev. Guy Dunham, chairperson of the Administration Department, reported on a change in terms of Call for the Acting Executive Presbyter, the Rev. Charles W. Gross, Jr.
The Moderator, the Rev. Raymond R. Meute, expressed thanks to the host church and adjourned the meeting with prayer at 4:05pm until the next meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at Donegal Presbyterian Church, Mount Joy, PA, beginning at 3 p.m. e.
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