Presbytery of Santa Barbara: Your Local Mission Agency

May e-Flyer

Thu, 20 May 2010 15:24:11 -0700

Julia Leeth to run for Moderator of GA

March e-Flyer 2010

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 20:27:49 -0800

march e-flyer

February e-Flyer 2010

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 08:26:13 -0800

Presbytery met in January with a substancial agenda. Worship was outstanding, and Dr. Tod Bolsinger gave us a wonderful introduction to Adaptive Change, and the challenges of being church in the coming decades. Not just giving us a “paralysis of analysis,” but first steps to leading our congregations into the future. We spent time determining the will of the presbytery commissioners regarding overtures to the General Assembly. The remarkable personality of this Presbytery showed again. Elders and Pastors passionately and clearly articulating viewpoints on issues, all with a kindness towards one another, and a spirit of respect and collegiality. Thanks Goleta Pres. and Michelle Holmes for all the planning and coordination work.

Bree Bouma is our new IMPACT coordinator and she is looking for you. Yes you! This is the month to sign up for Impact Summer mission trips. http://www.impact-sbp.org/

Santa Paula: Don’t Have To Be Big To Be Missional.
Ronnie Urzua and Bob Ramos have been working with the elders at Santa Paula to help the church reach out. They have received almost 20+ new members in the last 6 months with worship attendance up to 100+ from 60 last summer. With a focus on their community they have been looking at community needs. Realizing there was no food bank or meals program, Kay Bolton organized an ecumenical program which has been serving 500-700 meals every Wednesday. 150 people eat on sight and the rest are meals taken to needy people off-site. Thanksgiving they served 900 meals. All this while starting a new worship service geared for the multi-cultural community. Keep praying!!

EPs Missive October 2009

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:15:04 -0700

  Executive Presbyter's Missive October 2009

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Reflection on presbytery missional and organizational work and a few resources both written and internet links that I have found helpful for ministry. Please take time to explore the Presbytery website http://www.sbpres.org where information is updated weekly. Sign up to follow SBPresbytery on twitter, and follow the daily updates and brain candy that comes from this social community. May the Lord bless you all in your ministry.

Call to Prayer:
1. IMPACT leaders, Co-Directors Sandy Dinkler and Randa Dinkler, have resigned and the Impact Board is advertising for a new executive director.

2. The missions of the Presbytery including:
Word of Life and Ronnie Urzuah, Sean Chow, Jay Licada, Cesar Perfecto,
Highlands Church and Graham Baird, Caleb, Jamie Baird (congratulations on the new marriage)
Grover Beach First: with a PNC receiving PIFs, Presbytery supports their original site purchase loan.
Goleta Community: finishing their Mission Study
Santa Maria First: Israel Gonzales,
Front Porch Cal Poly San Luis Obispo: and their new facilities,
Beau Smith: newly installed college pastor
David Berge: newly installed associate pastor-Ojai

Narrative: This September and October, apart from usual ministry with COM, CPM, other committees and Administrative/Finance tasks, the great joy has been the start up of the Venerable Company of Pastors.

Now many don't seem to want to say the word "Venerable." The word seems self-serving. Yet the pastors of the churches are expected to preach, lead, pastor and help articulate vision for the churches of the Presbytery. This is venerable or weighty work, a Godly call. Dr. Quinn Fox from the General Assembly Mission Council’s Office of Theology and Worship came to lead us in worship and outline Calvin's vision for "the Company". It is a not political, not a governing body, rather it is the worshiping community of pastors, doing Biblical study together, praying together, and seeking to be accountable with one another. At our preliminary meeting 30 pastors gathered and all elected to join in future monthly gatherings. Next one scheduled for November 18.

An additional "Company of New Pastors" gathered with our newly ordained, and some Commissioned Lay Pastors. These six younger pastors also want to meet and are considering welcoming 3rd year seminarians, individuals certified ready to receive a call and those in program work in churches such as youth workers and others. Be in prayer as we begin this foundational work of a “company of new pastors.”

I had opportunity to visit additional churches, preach for many and visit and consult with pastors. Financial issues face many churches. I am providing “Outside Leadership” for Carpinteria Community's stewardship program this year. Our new Stewardship section of the website has LOTS of resources, we also have a number of resource packs in the Presbytery Office to pick up, so make sure your people are gearing up for a quality stewardship drive. Our January Presbytery meeting’s focus will be Stewardship with a presentation by Eugenia Gamble on the heart of stewardship. Make a point of bringing your stewardship elders and committees to the January 30th meeting.

Mission giving to the Presbytery remains slow, so be in prayer for what you and your church can do to help with our anticipated shortfall. Your continued gifts and pledges to “Hearts and Hands” are needed now as in the past.

News You Can Use:

Sign Up now for Early Registration for the Santa Barbara Mission Conference January 16th.

PC(USA) World Mission Workers gathered in Cincinnati, along with CIW chair Chuck Curtis, for World Mission Celebration ’09 following the four week World Mission Challenge. During this time Esther Wakeman was recently able to travel through Southern California. Esther serves in Thailand and her husband is Rob Collins. You can read more stories from the World Mission Challenge here.

Web Site Update: The website continues to be upgraded and updated, with the idea of bringing needed resources and content to the churches. A new Stewardship page has lots of resources for your stewardship programs this year. Our smaller churches will appreciate the boiler plate materials. Check out the "Annual Campaign" section, especially the "Annual Campaign, Narrative Budget brochure", and also the newsletter articles.

Thank You for Your faithful giving to the Missions of the Presbytery
Presbytery Council approved over $100,000 in cuts to the 2009 budget, and we lost two staff positions.  Even with budget expenditure cuts we are in need of an additional $70,000-100,000 to cover our Presbytery Commitments to New Church Developments and transformational churches. Your Hearts and Hands and Mission On Our Doorstep gifts are still very much needed.

Major Dates Ahead:
• Oct 30-31: Synod Assembly ~ Newport Beach, CA 
• Nov 2-4 New Church Development Coaching/Training, San Clemente 
• Nov 10: Noon: Company of New Pastor’s-Lunch
• Nov 10 Tuesday: Presbytery-St. Andrews-Santa Barbara 
• Nov 14: Synod CCPM ~ LA 
• Nov 14: Mission Marketplace-Presbyterian Women-1st Pres Santa Barbara 
• Nov 15 Dr Armstrong preaches Carpinteria 
• Nov 18 Company of Pastors 10am 
• Nov 18 CIW 2:30 
• Nov 19 CPM and COM 
• Nov 21 St Andrews 50th Anniversary 
• Dec 9 Company of Pastors 
• Dec 17 COM 
• Jan 16, 2010 Missions Conference: Santa Barbara 
• Jan 23: MONVEE rollout-Emmanuel Pres, Thousand Oaks 
• Jan 30: Presbytery meeting-Stewardship
• Feb 28-Mar 2, 2010 Pastors’ Retreat 
• March 14-GA Moderator Bruce Reyes Chow-dinner @ First Pres Santa Barbara RSVP 
• March meeting of Presbytery, moved to May 1.2010

Resources and Ideas
An ongoing compilation of resources

Monvee goes public roll out on January 23, 2010:
http://monvee.com Monvee: Monvee is a discipleship program designed to help individuals build a discipleship program for themselves. The program is in beta testing, so check it out at:
Basically the program includes a book by John Ortberg, video curricula for small group use, and a computer dashboard for individuals to develop a personalized discipleship program. This design comes from the results of the "Reveal survey" (see link below) work, that identified that a key component of continued discipleship is for individuals become responsible and take charge of growing in faith, discipleship and mission. Monvee is designing a program to accomplish this unique task.

Enhanced Services from the Pension Benefits Program 866-640-2772
This one number gives pastors and credentialed staff access to enhanced services. These include:
financial services,
tax advice,
free legal services including a free 30-minute attorney consultation,
financial advisors,
advisors for tax planning,
debt and credit management,
budgeting cash flow analysis and
college funding.
A special area of Identity Theft Support provides consultation with fraud resolution specialists and all forms, letters and assistance in restoring your identity and good credit. All of these are free included benefits. I’m thinking you might want to write that phone number down. 866-640-2772 Also now until May 31 is an open enrollment for the Group Long-Term Care Insurance: http://www.pensions.org

Video Resources: Did you know under the video tab at http://www.sbpres.org you will find some great internet streaming resources.  A conversation between Hitchen and McGrath on atheism and religion, a video broadcast where you can click “on-demand” and get a menu of great presentations by David Hill Plenary address on stewardship, Mark Lau Branson, Philip Lotspeich, and others.

Links
http://www.missionalweb.org/
http://pgf.typepad.com/
http://www.thegreatemergence.com/
http://www.ThePresbyterianLeader.com
http://www.thoughtfulchristian.com
http://www.daveramsey.com/
http://www.revealnow.com/
Muslim group encouraging and working toward religious tolerance:
http://www.reformislam.org/

Find Your Inner Hebrew, click on the MP3 file,:
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt00.htm#mp3

Blessings, Jan

EPs Missive August 2009

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:14:21 -0700

Reflection on presbytery missional and organizational work and a few resources both written and internet links that I have found helpful for ministry. Please take time to explore the Presbytery website http://www.sbpres.org where information is updated most every week. Sign up to follow SBPresbytery on twitter, and follow the daily updates and brain candy that comes from this social community. Blessings to you all in your ministry.

Call to Prayer:
1. IMPACT Teams are back from mission field, Co-Directors Sandy Dinkler and Randa Dinkler

2. With sadness of Spirit we share with you that dear Gladys Meriwether, wife of Roger Meriwether (former pastor of Emmanuel Thousand Oaks) went to be with her Lord. Our hearts go out to their family.

3. The following from our 2009 prayer list:
Presbytery Staff, EP Jan Armstrong, Stated Clerk Michelle Holmes, EPemeritus Ken Working
Retired ministers: Robert Cleath and Richard Wardlaw
Word of Life Presbyterian, Pastor Ron Urzua, CLP Sean Chow, Ray Licata-Presbytery Moderator
First Presbyterian San Luis Obispo, Pastor James Blades, Associate Pastor Andrew Rock, Parish Associates Ann Martel and Curtis Illingworth, Retired Pastor Jack Springer.
Goleta Presbyterian Church, Interim Pastor Dale Ridenour, SLP Jeannie Cavender, Minister member at large Steve Jacobsen.
Retired Ministers Robert Wennberg and Alan Stones.

Narrative: This July, apart from usual ministry with COM, CPM, other committees and Administrative/Finance tasks, the big project has been Front Porch and the residential ministry under construction. Keep praying as we look to lease-up the residence hall and the Front Porch board works on a myriad number of details. I had opportunity to visit additional churches, preach for many and visit and consult with pastors. Financial issues face many churches. Our new Stewardship section of the website has LOTS of resources, we also have a number of resources in the Presbytery Office to pick up, so make sure your people are gearing up for a quality stewardship drive. Mission giving to the Presbytery remains slow through the summer, so be in prayer for what you and your church can do to help with our planned shortfall.

News You Can Use:

August 20-21, Presbyterian Global Fellowship: "Moving back into the neighborhood"
http://www.peachtreepres.org/pgfgathering/Default.aspx?panel=Workshops

Sabbatical Funding source for you, Deadline Sept 1 !!:
The Louisville Institute is pleased to announce our 16th annual competition for sabbatical grants for pastoral leaders. Last year we awarded 48 grants to applicants from a pool numbering nearly 400, and we anticipate a strong set of applicants again for this year’s competition, which closes on September 1. In addition to our sabbatical grants, we also offer study grants to pastoral leaders; applications for those grants are due September 15.Though we do not lack for applicants, we seek to broaden our applicant pool beyond the “usual suspects” that already know about the Institute.

Details of our grant application process and eligibility requirements are available on our website, www.louisville-institute.org. I invite you to peruse the website to familiarize yourself with our sabbatical and study programs, and to pass our website address along to your network of regional officials. By way of summary, here are some core program facts:
·         Applicants must be regularly employed in a recognized religious leadership position. Applicants may be ordained or lay, and may or may not have a formal theological degree. Eligible positions include pastors and other parish ministers, chaplains, faith-based community agency leaders, and church judicatory officials.
·         Awardees will ordinarily have been in their current place of ministry at least five years, and will plan on staying in their current place for at least a year beyond their sabbatical. They will be at least five years away from retirement. Exceptions are possible, especially in church polities built on an itinerancy model.
·         Awards are made for either eight- or twelve-week sabbaticals. Sabbaticals are taken in a continuous single period. Applicants choose whether to apply for an eight-week sabbatical, with a $10,000 award, or for a twelve-week sabbatical, which bears a $15,000 award. The size of award request has no bearing on the chances of receiving an award.
·         Applications are due no later than September 1, 2009. Award announcements will be made by December 1, and sabbaticals must be taken between March 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011.
·         For study grants, rules are somewhat different; please see our website for that program’s eligibility and project guidelines.
·         Full program information and application materials are available at our website, www.louisville-institute.org.

Available to speak at your church: Rev. Dr. Esther Wakeman, PCUSA missionary in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Hear about the new things happening in global mission in our denomination. She will be in our tri-counties Friday, Sept. 25 through Friday, Oct. 2 as part of World Mission Challenge and World Mission Celebration ’09 of the PCUSA.
Esther serves vice-president for religious affairs and community relations at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Payap was founded in 1974 as the first Christian college in Thailand, and it is now a university with nearly 6,500 students and another 700 faculty and staff. Only 3 percent of the students and 30 percent of the faculty and staff are Christian. The Department of Religious Affairs has seven on staff, and they are responsible for worship services, required chapel programs, small prayer groups, retreats, workshops, international work camps, pastoral visits at times of sickness and death, and counseling.
She is a native of North Canton, Ohio, and a graduate of Malone College in Canton, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. She went to Chiang Mai in 1979 to teach English at Prince Royal’s College and met and married PCUSA missionary Rev. Rob Collins in 1980. Together they have three children, Nathan, Paul, and Anna. From 1984 until 1993 the family commuted between Chiang Mai and Pasadena, California, while Esther earned an MDiv and PhD in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary. After her ordination they returned full-time to Chiang Mai.
World Mission is revitalized under the direction of Hunter Farrell and the administration of Exec. Director Linda Valentine. At least 150 presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be hosting mission speakers this fall through World Mission Challenge, a second of its kind effort to connect Presbyterian congregations across the country with their denomination’s mission personnel. World Mission Challenge speakers will be emphasizing the Presbyterian commitment to doing mission in partnership with churches and institutions in other countries.
Sunday morning, Sept. 27 and Wednesday evening, Sept. 30 have been booked. All other times are available. Please contact Chuck Cutis at 687-0754, x103; ccurtis@fpcsb.org. Or you may contact Michelle Holmes at 683-1548, x22; mholmes@sbpres.org. Please consider hosting Esther for a day and a night. She would love to speak to your group about her work in Chiang Mai and the exciting new developments in PCUSA World Mission.

Web Site Update: The website continues to be upgraded and updated, with the idea of bringing needed resources and content to the churches. A new Stewardship page has lots of resources for your stewardship programs this year. Our smaller churches will appreciate the boiler plate materials. Check out the "Annual Campaign" section, especially the "Annual Campaign, Narrative Budget brochure", and also the newsletter articles.

Thank You for Your faithful giving to the Missions of the Presbytery
Presbytery Council approved over $100,000 in cuts to the 2009 budget.  Even with budget expenditure cuts we are in need of an additional $70,000-100,000 to cover our Presbytery Commitments to NCDs and transformational churches. Your Hearts and Hands and Mission On Our Doorstep gifts are still very much needed.

Major Dates Ahead:
August 20-21, Presbyterian Global Fellowship: Moving back into the neighborhood:
http://www.peachtreepres.org/pgfgathering/Default.aspx?panel=Workshops
Sept 26, 2009 Next Presbytery Meeting at Moorpark: Program focus on Albania Church Partnership
2010 Missions Conference date: Saturday, January 16, 2010
2010 Pastors’ Retreat, dates: Feb 28-Mar 2, 2010 content led by Paul Ford, and time together. Make sure you put the Pastors’ Retreat, in your calendar.

Resources and Ideas
An ongoing compilation of resources

Posted Earlier in 2009:
http://monvee.com Monvee: Monvee is a discipleship program designed to help individuals build a discipleship program for themselves. The program is in beta testing, so check it out at:
Basically the program includes a book by John Ortberg, video curricula for small group use, and a computer dashboard for individuals to develop a personalized discipleship program. This design comes from the results of the "Reveal survey" (see link below) work, that identified that a key component of continued discipleship is for individuals become responsible and take charge of growing in faith, discipleship and mission. Monvee is designing a program to accomplish this unique task.

Links
http://www.missionalweb.org/
http://pgf.typepad.com/

Enhanced Services from the Pension Benefits Program 866-640-2772
This one number gives pastors and credentialed staff access to enhanced services. These include financial services, tax advice, legal services including a free 30-minute attorney consultation, financial advisors, advisors for tax planning, debt and credit management, budgeting cash flow analysis and college funding. A special area of Identity Theft Support provides consultation with fraud resolution specialists and all forms, letters and assistance in restoring your identity and good credit. All of these are free included benefits. I’m thinking you might want to write that phone number down. Also now until May 31 is an open enrollment for the Group Long-Term Care Insurance: http://www.pensions.org

Video Resources: Did you know under the video tab at http://www.sbpres.org you will find some great resources.  A conversation between Hitchen and McGrath on atheism and religion, a video broadcast where you can click “on-demand” and get a menu of great presentations by David Hill, Mark Lau Branson, Philip Lotspeich, and others.

http://www.thegreatemergence.com/
http://www.ThePresbyterianLeader.com
http://www.thoughtfulchristian.com

Stewardship Resources?
Churches in both Santa Ynez Valley and Simi Valley have had 100s of people out for David Ramsey workshop of financial planning. This budgeting and planning workshop seems very well received during these financially uncertain times, and may be a good foundation to Stewardship programs planned for the fall. Call the churches for more information.
http://www.daveramsey.com/

Greg Hawkins Reveal
http://www.revealnow.com/

Muslim group encouraging and working toward religious tolerance:
http://www.reformislam.org/

Find Your Inner Hebrew, click on the MP3 file,:
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt00.htm#mp3

Blessings, Jan