HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ANNUAL STATED MEETING OF

THE PRESBYTERY OF CAYUGA-SYRACUSE

26 January 2008

Park Central Presbyterian Church of Syracuse hosted the Annual Stated Meeting of Presbytery.  Former Moderator Beth DuBois called the meeting to order with prayer.  The Rev. Andrew McTyre welcomed presbyters to the church and spoke briefly about the initiatives this 160-year-old church is taking to increase its mission presence in their neighborhood.

The Presbytery:

=         Installed elder Dan DeBrucker as the new Presbytery Moderator, the Rev. Scott Cupp as Vice Moderator, and the Rev. Earl Arnold as Stated Clerk;

=          Heard the Annual Report of Presbytery Executive David Johnson, outlining some of the challenges that the Presbytery and its churches have faced over the past 10 years and the opportunities that they are preparing for in coming years; (EPReport2008)

=         Thanked the following persons who have completed their term as chair of Presbytery committees:  elder Gail Banks (Coordinating Council), elder James Palmer (Personnel Committee), elder Sharye Skinner (interim chair of Committee on Ministry) and the Rev. Craig Lindsey (Committee on Preparation for Ministry);

=          Heard that a new Confirmation Weekend M&M Team has been organized, to sponsor a program at Vanderkamp in April for young people in confirmation classes in several churches;

=         Received a preliminary Financial Report for 2007 indicating that the Presbytery is in good financial health;

=         Heard from ten youth participants in the 2007 Youth Triennium M&M Team, shared in song and movement under their direction, and viewed photos of their experience at Perdue;

=         Received a written report from the Presbyterian Youth Connection M&M Team about the overnight programs it sponsored at Vanderkamp on Columbus Day Weekend in October 2007 and Martin Luther King Weekend earlier this month;

=         Suspended the Presbytery's Standing Rules to dismiss the Personnel Committee with thanks and to allow the Coordinating Council to form a Personnel Task Force to propose a new staffing pattern for the Presbytery;

=         Received a revised Sexual and Abuse Misconduct Policy for review and comment and voted to consult with the Faith Trust Institute before approving the policy;

=         Approved new policies on Sale of a Church Manse and the new Congregational Vitality Fund;

=         Approved an overture from the sessions of South Presbyterian Church and Onondaga Valley Presbyterian Church in Syracuse, asking the General Assembly to commend and encourage churches to incorporate serious theological reflection and prayerful discernment into their examination of candidates for ordination as elders and deacons, and to provide models of such procedures for other churches to follow;

=         Concurred with an overture from the Presbytery of Newton asking General Assembly to promote further dialogue among Jews, Christians and Muslims;

=         Received for review and comment a proposed process for training and examining Commissioned Lay Pastors;

=         Celebrated the lives of the Rev. Edward Eskra and elders in churches of the Presbytery who had died in 2007;

=         Praised God in worship, with a sermon by the new Presbytery Moderator elder Dan DeBrucker.  Special music was provided by the Kirk Choir of Park Central Presbyterian Church and by violinist Emily Merchant, a young person from Park Central.  Presbyters celebrated together the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

submitted by Earl Arnold, Stated Clerk