Welcome
Thank you to the Presbyterian Women of Shepherd of the Hills for providing a wonderful taco bar for our meal before our meeting and to Rev. Matt Syrdal, Jill, Heather and all the volunteers who helped host the Presbytery for our Assembly.
Rev. Paula Steinbacher opened the October 25, 2022 HYBRID Assembly with prayer. Rev. Matt Syrdal led the Assembly to a call to worship with a Land Acknowledgment.
It is important to introduce the Presbytery of Denver by recognizing those who lived here before the presbytery came to be, those who were the first stewards of the land. The first people who offered the first prayers and sang the first songs. All land has a tribal story, and so we must remember it as the home to many indigenous people. Then and today, these are diverse communities of those who have never left, those forced to relocate, those who walked on a trail of tears to a different land and those who disappeared before we could ever know their names. (adapted from the Synod of Lakes and Prairies)
Committee on Ministry
Richard Aylor is the new Pastor at Church of the Hills (PCUSA) in Evergreen. He comes to Colorado from Wilmington, North Carolina, where he served as an Associate Pastor for Congregational Care and Spiritual Formation at First Presbyterian Church since 2017. Before that, Richard was a hospital chaplain in Wilmington for 2 years, completing consecutive residencies. Originally from Roanoke, Virginia, Richard attended Emory & Henry College not too far from there. It was in college that he felt a call to ministry. Richard received his M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2015 and then moved to Wilmington. READ MORE→
Bill Johnson is serving at the Interim Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Littleton. After recommitting my life to Jesus in 1974, while a student at Oregon State University, I was actively involved in Campus Crusade For Christ. Feeling called to ministry, I left OSU to attend Bible College in Spokane WA.
I met my wife of 40 years, JoAnn, while traveling around the Pacific Northwest as part of ministry team doing VBS and leading working with youth at Church Camps. Later that year I started my fist paid ministry job… cleaning toilets at Central Baptist Church of Joy in Spokane, Washington. READ MORE→
2023 MINISTER MINIMUM SALARY
At the October 25, 2022 Assembly, Committee on Ministry recommended and the Presbytery approved an increase in the minimum salary for ministers in the Presbytery. The Minister Minimum Compensation figure is revised each year. The recommendations which are being proposed reflect a 5% increase to the Effective Salary (as defined by the Board of Pensions) for pastors. The increase is a high midpoint based on Bureau of Labor Statistics which report that the consumer price index for the Denver region increased by 8.2%. The Social Security increase is predicted as of now at 8.7%. READ MORE→
2023 Assembly Dates
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Saturday, August 12, 2023
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Locations to be determined.
ELECTION OF NEW MODERATOR and VICE MODERATOR FOR 2023
Rev. Dr. John Yu was unanimously approved as the Moderator of Presbytery for 2023. Ruling Elder, Pat Queen, was unanimously approved as the Vice-Moderator of 2023 and will both be installed at the January Assembly.
Committee on Preparation for Ministry
Examination of Ordination
Rev. Dr. Carrie Doehring introduced Joanna Douglass, candidate under care of the Committee for Preparation for Ministry and certified ready to receive a call. Joanna was hired by Genesis Presbyterian Church as their Temporary Supply Pastor.
Carried brought the motion to ordain Joanna Douglass on behalf of the committee. Joanna was examined and approved by the Assembly to be ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament. Congratulations, Joanna!
The Message
Dr. Corey Schlosser-Hall, Director of Rebuilding and Vision Implementation for the Presbyterian Mission Agency, brought the message, rooted in Acts 16:6-15.
Corey shared his understanding of vision...the capacity to "taste and see" what God is doing at the intersections between God's people and the world God loves so that others can "taste and see" it, participate in it, pray for it, be transformed by it.
As an example of how we can be a vision of God in people's lives, Corey shared a powerful video from Matthew 25 of a police officer baptized by clergy couple he used to arrest. Watch the video here.
Lead Presbyter Report
Our Lead Presbyter, Rev. Dr. Dee Cooper, spoke to Denver Presbytery’s transition, the major changes that the Presbytery has gone through, and the process of creating new things. The first step in the process of creating begins with believing and being open to new things. Dee remined the Assembly that God is calling us to create and is equipping the Presbytery to move into the next phase of becoming, living into its Mission, Vision, and Values.
The Presbytery is currently in an in between time, a preparing and planning time, not a time to become dormant and sit back and wait, but a time to actively engage. Reminding the Assembly that they are needed to serve with energy and imagination, that their gifts and passions are needed now in this period of brackish waters where we can sometime get disoriented where there are not clearly defined boundaries.
Personnel
The Assembly approved a 2023 COLA (cost of living) adjustments for the Presbytery Staff.
Finance & Property
The Assembly approved the following motions:
Motion: That Council recommend to the Assembly the approval of an additional $300,000 request from Central Presbyterian to be added to their existing PILP loan to complete their renovations.
Motion: That Council recommend to the Assembly the approval of the revised Presbytery Expense Reimbursement and Investment Policy to allow for mortgage assistance loans to churches for pastors.
Motion: That Council recommend to the Assembly the approval of the Presbytery of Denver Mortgage Assistance Investment Policy to allow for presbytery assistance with mortgages.
Racial Ethnic Diversity
Wealth Gap Simulation
Rev. Evan Amo and Tom Bacon, led the Presbytery through a wealth gap simulation put together by Bread for the World is an international organization working to reduce hunger and poverty. In their work, they have had multiple findings relating to the wealth gap that keeps many people-of-color in the U.S. in or near-poverty, in the form of policies and practices that have contributed to a wealth gap over time. The Presbytery was taken through an abridged version of a simulation of the wealth gap developed by Bread for the World. The simulation is now available to congregations or any interested small groups (it has been received favorably by groups of confirmands, youth, and others). Please contact revevanamo@gmail.com of Peoples Presbyterian Church or tom.bacon@yahoo.com at Wellshire Presbyterian Church if you have a group who would like to try the simulation.
Agency Review Task Force
The Assembly approved the extended the terms of all current agencies and members in the Presbytery through February 2023.
The Presbytery was also encouraged to complete a Passion Discovery Form to serve on a committee within the new structure.
Highlands Camp & Retreat Center
Rev. Olivia Hudson Smith gave an update on the status o fthe covenant relationship between Denver and Plains & Peaks Presbyteries. Plains and Peaks Presbytery has put an Administrative Commission in place to assume original jurisdiction over the goverance of the camp, effectively discharging the Highlands Camp Joint Committee.
The Rev. Peggy Marshall, a long standing member of the joint committee, was invited to recognize all who have been part of the ministry of Highlands and all who have had connection to the camp over the many years of Denver Presbytery's joint ministry with the camp.