Traveling Together in Exile - Sermon from January Assembly
For those who were unable to attend and for those who would like to hear it again, please click the button below to listen to the sermon from the January Assembly Meeting, preached by Rev. John Anderson of Trinity Presbyterian Church.
gretchen's Administrative Commission:
Rev. John Anderson – Trinity, Denver Presbytery Moderator
Elder Jeanne Bacheldore – Arvada
Elder Duane Youse – Arvada (PNC rep)
Elder Pam Wineman – Central
Rev. Sheri Fry – Denver Presbytery
Rev. Bill Sanders – Denver Presbytery
Elder Larry Terrell-Providence Presbytery (SC) - Charge
Congratulations to Arvada Presbyterian Church and Rev. gretchen Sausville.
Posted by The Presbytery of Denver on Monday, January 29, 2018
A Letter from the Co-Moderators of the 222nd General Assembly
December 6, 2017 issue of Outlook
Dear Members and Friends of the Presbyterian Church USA,
We write this today as leaders of our denomination – and specifically as leaders who are women – to address the harassment and abuse stories being shared via the #MeToo and #ChurchToo hashtags. For many, this movement has been both empowering and triggering, as people find themselves reliving sexual trauma from their past. We stand with all who have been victims of assault and objectification in the Church and beyond.
While it goes without saying that healthy boundary training, child protection training and criminal background checks are the responsibility of every congregation and council, we are called in this unique time to seek a deeper cultural shift. We are called to stand up against a world that allows predators to flourish and victims to be shamed into silence. The Church is called to be what the world is not: safe, life-giving, and willing to hold people accountable.
Our denomination – through the ministry of the Advocacy Committee for Women’s Concerns and the work of the General Assembly – suggests concrete tools for addressing these issues. We strongly encourage you to use these resources in your ministry:
Resources for setting church policies:
Resources for teaching:
Resources for preaching:
Culturally, we must come to terms with the all ways we victimize and objectify people, including actions that are often less noticeable. We have to be willing to examine and confess implicit gender biases that show themselves, among other ways, in pay disparities and comments about personal appearance. While the stories being shared in the media are representative of perhaps the most egregious forms of sexual violence, gender bias must be disrupted everywhere it presents itself. We must be a church committed to gender equity in all areas of our life together.
We humbly ask that the Presbyterian Church USA continue to be a Church in prayer, asking God to bring healing to the victimized, redemption and correction to the victimizer, and a cultural shift to our denomination so that we might have the abundant life promised to us by Jesus Christ.
In Christ’s name,
The Rev. Denise Anderson & The Rev. Jan Edmiston
Co-Moderators of the 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA
On Friday, October 27, 2017 at Wellshire Presbyterian Church, we had a wonderful celebration of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Sheffield, Presbytery Pastor.
Special thanks to Wellshire Presbyterian Church for hosting this event, Bill Strickland for capturing some memories and Highlands Camp for provided wonderful food!
Thank you does not begin to express our gratitude for the past 16+ years you have given to The Presbytery of Denver. You will be missed.
After November 15th, if you would like to contact Tom for personally reasons, his home email is sheffieldtom@comcast.net.
Thank you to Central Presbyterian and our friends from Zimbabwe for this special music at our October Assembly Meeting.
Greetings from Highlands! As fall begins, we are busy thinking forward to next summerr and how we can partner in ministry together.
As you may know, Highlands has been involved in Partnership Day Camps with congregations in both Denver & Plains and Peaks Presbyteries for the past several years, working together to create Vacation Bible School programs with some added Highlands’ pizzazz. This has proved to be a successful program for both Highlands and the partner churches, encouraging the Christian partnerships that have already been established, and creating new relationships with every child that walks through the door.
In 2017, we partnered with 15 churches from Colorado to Nebraska. Each week, three Highlands staff members joined leadership and volunteers from the partner congregations to provide fun-filled weeks of learning about God for the children of the church and community. We had a great time serving churches large and small, demonstrating the love of God and having fun in Christian community!
With strong support from Denver Presbytery and our donors, we are looking forward to partnering with 16 congregations in the summer of 2018!
If your congregation might be a good fit for the Highlands Day Camp Program for Summer 2018, please fill out application below and return it to Highlands no later than January 15, 2018. You will also find information regarding the Day Camp partner requirements that outline specific details you will provide to assist in the program. You will also be able to have access to these documents online at www.highlandscamp.org.
After applications have been submitted and processed, our partner churches will be selected and a representative will be required to attend a meeting in the spring to share more specific expectations, requirements, program content information and to clearly outline how the Day Camp Program runs.
If you are interested in being a part of this program, but would still like more details, I invite you to call or email me with any questions or concerns. I look forward to hearing from you and sharing in another summer of Day Camp Partnerships!
Executive Director
303-747-2888
Application for New Partners
Applications for Returning Partners
