Multi-Presbytery Conversations - What is God calling us to Do and Be?


Summary and Resources from our Multi-Presbytery Conversations
 
 

WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING?

Resources from the February, 2008 Gathering

We have been asking the question - what is God calling us to do and be, as PRESBYTERIES, in this new day and age?

Six presbyteries (we're calling ourselves the 6-PAC) - Minnesota Valleys, Northern Waters, John Knox, Twin Cities Area, Mikwaukee, and Winnebego, have been in this conversation together.  It began in 2005 with executives visiting each Presbytery Council, and inviting them to participate in a larger conversation with each other that would look at the challenge we are facing as regional denominational bodies, and what might we learn or do together in order to be more effective in our mission.

We had a gathering in July, 2005, with 5 representatives from each of the presbyteries, where we began this conversation.  It was a very nebulous conversation, and while it was hard to say what was actually accomplished there, our representatives came away saying "we don't know what we did, but we at least made a start!"  While that may not sound like high praise, we recognized that we are dealing with changes in our culture that challenge us in a way the church, and thus our presbyteries, have not had to deal with in a long, long time.  Certainly not in the lifetime of any of us.  The one thing we were sure we did not want to do was simply reorganize just for the sake of doing something different. 

In February, 2008, we gathered again, this time including representatives from the Synod, and with the help of Rev. Ann Philbrick, a consultant who works with churches and presbyteries interested in transformation, these are some of the things we looked at and talked about:

  • the challenges facing denominational leaders,
  • the difference between congregations and pressbyteries that were "preserving museums" and those that were "on sacrificial journeys"
  • the fact that transformation is an individual journey, first and foremost (transformation of any body - Church or otherwise, begins ONE PERSON AT A TIME)
    • It involves each of us in knowing our own personal faith story and being able to tell it -
    • It involves each of us growing deeper as spiritual Christians
    • It involves growing spiritually mature - and realizing that spiritually maure Christians are willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of the gospel.
    • It is out of that growth, that we are able to be a part of a larger transformation in the presbytery or local church.
  • what it means to be "misisonal." 
    • We are a church SENT on a mission
    • Our focus is on BEING the Body of Christ
    • We are about MISSION, not maintenance
    • We are about ministry, which is people to people, person to person

The question that we raised, that I keep coming back to as I think about our Presbytery, is "how can Minnesota Valleys Presbytery become missional in lifestyle?"  and "what does it mean for a presbytery to be missional?"  It was suggested that a missionan presbytery:

  • Empowers the Body of Christ (which is lived out first and foremost in local congregations)
  • Supports churches that are sent out on a mission
  • Presses for deeper indicators of success than mere numbers - how deep are we growing?
  • Is focused on service, not maintenance
  • Wrestles with the question - What is the Presbytery's role in fulfilling the Great Commission?

Do we have all the answers?  Not yet!  But we did talk about ways to continue this conversation, and about some small things that we can do together to support each other in this time of seeking and change.

RESOURCES

Below are some resources that were shared at the Feb. 08 gathering.  Some we looked at in detail (marked with *), some have no relation to our conversation, but were resources that were made available to us and we had to put them somewhere so the partipants could access them! 
Feel free to download any or all of these, and use them as they are helpful. 

 

 

We welcome all your prayers as the Presbytery continues this conversation.  If you have ideas or thoughts to share as we go forward, please feel freel to share them.  If anyone would like to host a conversation about these questions and issues at your session, congregation, or cluster, let me know, and we'll see if we can't set somthing up with one or more of us who have been at the multi-presbytery conversations.
The 6-PAC participants from our presbytery are:
Sue Coller, Executive Presbyter
Steve Boots
Christina Berry
Connie Seltz
Colby Anderson