…and the One will become Two(Building a Presbytery)

TE Tommy AllenRE Ron BengelinkRE Don Sytsma

Facts and Data(Recent Growth)

• Presbytery of the West (2006)

– AZ: 2 Churches, 200 Members

– CA: 5 Churches, 650 Members

– CO: 19 Churches, 10,800 Members

– KS: I Church, 90 Members

– TX: 1 Church, 120 Members

– WA: 4 Churches, 900 Members

• Total;

32 Churches, 12,760 Members

• Presbytery of the West (2010 est.)

– AZ: 2 Churches, 230 Members

– CA: 16 Churches, 7,000 Members

– CO: 19 Churches, 11,700 Members

– KS: 1 Church, 100 Members

– MT: 1 Church, 100 Members

– NE: 1 Church, 800 Members

– OR: 4 Churches, 2,500 Members

– TX: 1 Church, 125 Members

– WA: 4 Churches, 1,500 Members

• Total;

49 Churches, 24,000 Members

Proposed Boundaries

The new “Presbytery of the Pacific” will include:– Washington – Idaho (west of the US 93 highway) – Oregon– California– And when required;

• Nevada• Hawaii• Alaska

The new Presbytery of the West will include theremainder of the existing Presbytery of the West

Relative Size(After the Change)

• Presbytery of the West (2011 est.)

– AZ: 2 Churches, 230 Members

– CO: 19 Churches, 11,700 Members

– KS: 1 Church, 100 Members

– MT: 1 Church, 100 Members

– NE: 1 Church, 800 Members

– TX: 1 Church, 125 Members

• Total;

25 Churches, 13,000 Members

• Presbytery of the Pacific (2011 est.)

– CA: 16 Churches, 7,000 Members– OR: 4 Churches, 2,500 Members– WA: 4 Churches, 1,500 Members

• Total;

24 Churches, 11,000 Members

Planning History

• June, 2009: Lunch Meeting at the General Assembly (at Brighton, MI) to determine interest in a “Pac 10” Presbytery

• October 15, 2009: Initial One-day Planning Meeting at First Church in Fresno, CA

• January 20, 2010: One-day review of the proposed planning document at the Fair Oakes Church in Sacramento, CA

• February 5, 2010: Dinner Meeting at the Presbytery Meeting (at Denver, CO) to further discuss details

• April 30, 2010: Pre-dinner meeting at the Presbytery Meeting (at San Ramon, CA) to review the input from the PotW General Council’s review of the Planning Document

• June 25, 2010: Pre-dinner meeting at the General Assembly (at Denver, CO) to review the plan to develop key leadership for the new presbytery

Proposed Presbytery of the PacificKey Values

• This Presbytery exists to:– Enable the Ministries of its particular congregations by Connecting, Assisting,

and Resourcing both the congregations and their leaders– Complement the Ministries of its particular congregations by planting additional

ministries among them

• This will be done in alignment with the following values:– Confessional – Based on;

• Scripture,

• The Westminster Standards,

• the Essentials of the Christian Faith,

• the EPC Book of Order

– Connectional– Missional – as defined by recent decisions of the EPC

Proposed Presbytery of the PacificOrganizational Approach

• Adequately staff the key committees, e.g., the Ministerial/Care-of-Candidates Committee, to allow them to operate with regional subcommittees - thereby ensuring responsive and effective face-to-face interaction when required, as well as a breadth of input on important issues when needed

• Apply cost-effective new technology when possible to provide effective and timely communication while minimizing travel requirements

Proposed Presbytery of the PacificInitial Staffing Plan

• Stated Clerk (40% time) $35K• Moderator (stipend) 1K plus travel• Treasurer (5 hrs per week) 4K• Ministerial Comm. Chair 30K• Session Minutes Chair volunteer

Proposed Presbytery of the PacificInitial Budget

• Staff Compensation $70K• Staff Clerical Support (50%) 15K• Staff Expenses (Communications, etc) 15K• Staff Travel 20K• Committee Travel 10K

130K

Proposed Presbytery of the PacificMeeting Plan

• Key Understandings:

– “Leadership and resources are of little value if the solid commitment of Teaching and Ruling Elders of each church to the connectional form of government is absent.”

– “Mergers fail when the embedded cultures fail to assimilate. The key to assimilation is a heavy investment in face-to-face discussion time by all stakeholders.”

Proposed Presbytery of the PacificMeeting Plan cont’.

• Meetings will be configured to allow significant amount of time for discussion of selected topics designed to develop mutual understandings of strongly held positions.

• Meetings will be configured to allow a “compacting” of business into predictable time slots that will allow those unable to travel to still participate electronically

• Face-to-face meetings will be configured to allow adequate time for examinations of new candidates for ordination and transferring Teaching Elders.

• Discipline discussions will be held during face-to-face meetings whenever possible

Proposed Presbytery of the PacificMeeting Plan cont’.

• Two of the three annual meetings will be held in the San Francisco/Sacramento/Fresno area from Friday noon to Saturday noon

• One of the three meetings will be preceded by a one-day

Leadership Retreat

• One of the three meetings will alternate between a Southern California location and a Pacific Northwest location

Next Steps

• September 30, 2010: Presentation and discussion with the Teaching Elders of the existing Presbytery of the West - Completed

• February 3-4, 2011: Motion presented to the Presbytery of the West to request the 2011 General Assembly to implement the new Presbytery of the Pacific and to reconfigure the boundaries of the Presbytery of the West

• June 23-25, 2011: Approval by the General Assembly

• Sep. 30-Oct. 1, 2011: a joint meeting of the two “re-formed” presbyteries

Proposed Motion

“The Presbytery of the West requests the 31st General Assembly of the EPC to define a new Presbytery of the Pacific to include all of the EPC churches in the states of Washington, Oregon, and California, as well as any future EPC churches in Nevada, Idaho (west of Highway US-93), Alaska, and Hawaii. The Presbytery of the West will continue to include all churches in the remainder of its geographical region. This action to be effective July 1, 2011”