Highlights - March 2007
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE STATED MEETING
OF THE PRESBYTERY OF CAYUGA-SYRACUSE
27 March 2007
Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church in Dewitt hosted the Stated Meeting of Presbytery. Moderator Tracie Martin called the meeting to order with prayer. The Rev. Peter Shidemantle welcomed presbyters to the church, which just last year celebrated its 50th anniversary.
The Presbytery:
= Commissioned fifteen young people and four adults who will be attending the Youth Triennium event this summer. A total of 33 youth from 10 churches in this Presbytery will be participating;
= Commissioned seven Korean War veterans, several of their wives, four ministers, and four other church members who will be going to Korea to visit our mission partners at Pyongyang Presbytery;
= Commissioned two members of our churches who are going with the Southern Comfort M&M Team on a work trip to the Mississippi Gulf coast;
= Was introduced to Emily Theobold, a Lutheran seminary student who has been working with Onondaga Valley and South Presbyterian churches;
= Was introduced to elder Frank McDowell (Northminster), the Presbytery's new representative to the Theological Education Fund, who recognized the Morrisville, Amboy Belle Isle and Dewitt churches for contributing to the Fund in 2006;
= Heard from the Presbyterian Youth Connection (PYC) M&M Team that 42 young people attended the PYC event at Vanderkamp January 14 - 15. A work trip by youth to the areas of New York's Southern Tier that were hit by last summer's floods is being planned. The M&M Team asked for volunteers to be leaders and planners for future presbytery-wide youth events;
= Heard a report by young adult Julianne Allman (Northminster) accompanied by a video prepared by Jordan Hayes (Baldwinsville) about the Latin America Mission Project (LAMP) M&M Team work trip by eleven people from our churches to Campeche, Mexico earlier this month;
= Received greetings from the Rev. Changman Jang, chair of the International Partnership Committee of Pyongyang Presbytery. John Barwinczok presented a plaque of appreciation to Rev. Jang from the Cayuga County Chapter of Korean War Veterans;
= Allocated $4,500 in mission funds to the International Partnership M&M Team for expenses for hosting four Korean youth who will be attending the Youth Triennium and the delegation from Pyongyang Presbytery who will be visiting in central New York in September;
= Was introduced to the Rev. Dr. Clarice Martin, a new minister member of the Presbytery who is a professor at Colgate University;
= Approved the Mission Action Plan (MAP) that had been presented to Presbytery in January, making numerous amendments. The approved PLAN includes:
o "The vision of the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse is for all of its congregations to be growing numerically and spiritually within the next five years."
o a new Mission Statement - "Our Mission is to better equip one another to be the church."
o and a three-track plan of actions aimed at DEVELOPING TRUST, DEVELOPING VITAL CONGREGATIONS, and DEVELOPING A VITAL & TRANSPARENT PRESBYTERY;
= Established an Administrative Commission to explore our churches' vision for and ability and willingness to conduct effective ministry in the City of Syracuse and to make recommendations to the churches and to the Presbytery concerning the future of Christian witness and urban ministry in the City of Syracuse;
= Received the report of the Administrative Commission for the Clay Presbyterian Church, voted to extend its work for an additional six months, and adopted several recommendations to open dialogue about churches in crisis, provide training in evangelism, help churches to change, and explore further options for ecumenical shared ministries;
= Heard that the Trustees have granted permission to the Amboy Belle Isle church to sell the former Methodist parsonage;
= Approved the Presbytery's Unified Budget for 2007; and
= Received information about the summer program at Vanderkamp, which has been mailed to every church in the Presbytery.
submitted by Earl Arnold, Stated Clerk
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