Congregational Ministries
Mission
Membership: 18
Congregational Ministries concerns itself specifically with empowering and enlivening the ministry of every congregation of the Presbytery, whether located in an urban, town, country, or suburban environment. The membership of the Committee shall be equally represented by churches in various localities and of different sizes.
The Committee will ensure Presbytery’s support for its congregations by developing leaders who will serve the congregations and beyond. The Committee will be responsible for:
- Sponsoring programs and training events for church and Presbytery leaders.
- Facilitating the annual review of session minutes.
- Reviewing annually the use of the Committee’s funds from the Presbytery annual budget for leadership development.
The Committee will supervise the operation of the Presbytery’s Resource Center in order to support and encourage the mission and ministry of the congregations in the Presbytery. The Committee will be responsible for:
- Collecting, filing, and displaying a wide variety of materials, including a music library.
- Encouraging borrowing by it’s visitors and offering them the services of personal assistance, research, guidance, and training events.
- Reviewing annually the use of the Committee’s funds from the Presbytery annual budget for the Resource Center.
The Committee will assist all churches in the Presbytery in developing and implementing plans by which those congregations will serve as primary instruments of mission in their communities. The Committee shall:
- Assist churches to grow as communities of faith through consultation, and advocacy for congregational redevelopment. This includes analyzing social, demographic, and congregational trends in order to assess their implications for urban, suburban, town, country, and village churches.
- Administer the Westminster Redevelopment Fund.
- Encourage congregations to engage in missions studies which renew the life and ministry of those congregations and provide direction for the future.
- Provide financial support to congregations. Support will be prioritized according to mission and need among urban, suburban, town, country, and village congregations.
- Cooperate with other committees and ministry teams of Presbytery in matters of shared responsibility or interest, e.g. clearance interviews for pastors, triennial visits with sessions, community issues, mission projects, etc.
- Review annually the use of the Committee’s funds from the Presbytery annual budget for congregational development.
The Committee will assist individual congregations in demonstrating the connectedness and mutual needs of Presbyterians by:
- Encouraging trust between congregations that are detached from one another, either by geography, ethnicity, ideology, or theology by encouraging every congregation to engage in an intentional partnership with another congregation, a ministry within the Presbytery, or an ecumenical ministries.
- Initiating support groups based on common interests in order to promote the Presbytery’s broader mission.
- Assisting congregations in developing faithful giving programs which link spiritual discipline with financial discipleship.
- Working with other committees and ministry teams of Presbytery to plan social events and spiritual development opportunities for laity, elders, deacons, and clergy.
- Developing a Presbytery youth ministry in support of local congregations’ youth ministries.
- Supporting the camping program at Camp Whitman as a joint mission program with Presbytery of Geneva.