Presbytery Meeting,
Saturday March 
11, 2017
at the new location of the
Taiwanese American Fellowship PresbyterianChurch (TAFPC)
and the current location of Hillsborough Presbyterian Church (HPC).
Wait, stop for a second….
Did you know that TAFPC and HPC have found a way forward together? It’s very exciting and we’re looking forward to worshiping with them and celebrating the journey they are making together!
The theme of our meeting: New Beginnings! This is our first meeting under the New Plan of Presbytery. The Nominating committee is working hard at finding the right people for the right slots of the committees that run our Presbytery. (If you haven’t reached out to our nominating committee as to how you wish to serve, check on the information here.)
And our schedule will go as:
10:00am Worship – sermon by Rev. Wendi Werner
11:00am Equip/ Encourage Segment – We’ll look at the New Directory of Worship using the discussion guide found here.
12noon Lunch – We are promised fantastic food!
1:00pm Business – We will be voting on amendments from GA.
See you on March 11!
Presbytery of New Brunswick BLOG 
Really outstanding
LikeLike
The Way Forward commission, Vision 2020, all agency review at the Louisville level. Suffice to say the denomination as far as a corporate entity is in a period of flux. I would not go as far to call it the end of ‘denominationalism’ , but the nature of the structure and how others related to it will change. For MGB (presbyteries) the challenge is for relevancy and practicality. The annual ‘Equipping the Saints’ day seems to be the paradigm of what people want and will respond too when offered. And I think if the “Milwaukee” model in form and structure bends in that general direction, so much the better. But the challenge for New Brunswick will be does a Presbytery with a 18th century geographic footprint reflecting a pre-Revolutionary society and culture defined by travel on horseback, have functionality and utility in 2017 and beyond. But that all depends as always on who at end of the day says yes, and who does not.
LikeLike
It always seemed to me that the Presbytery always wanted to be a church unto itself with virtually a worship service at the beginning. The first (and in my opinion only) priority for the Presbytery should be, “how do we help the churches in their ministry?” Yes, COM and CPM are always busy and needed. However, where is the work for consolidating resources like office equipment or purchasing heating oil as one block rather than a few individual churches? Uniting the purchasing power across several churches = savings. Grant’s committee – not needed. Rather than spending time writing a grant and being subject to just one more group – cut back on monies sent to Presbytery and fund your own missions/programs. Most of all is the human capital – RE’s have limited time and would happily do more Presbytery business if their own church saw a tangible benefit. From my years at the Presbytery and on the Mission Council I can say it was nice that my church had a ‘seat at the table’ for important discussions. But I can tell you that was about the extent of it. I ask that you think about the individual layperson in the pew – does Presbytery matter to them? How does it affect them?
LikeLike
Thanks Joe. A couple things – the grants committee is not about writing grants for churches but about giving money out that we have in certain funds. They can certainly point churches to grants and help do some research but that’s not the primary function. However, the new stewardship of resources committee (what used to be property) is about doing the very stuff you mention – working with churches to move together into the future. There are a couple great examples in the last year at our Presbytery – I helped merge two congregations, consolidating $1M in funds that are now building an amazing structure that looks unlike any sanctuary we have in our Presbytery. And this coming Saturday, we’re meeting at the new combined endeavor of Taiwanese American Fellowship PC and Hillsborough PC, who have found a way forward to consolidate and work toward mission together. If you’re interesting in figuring out how our connectional nature can aid our individual churches, I would suggest you serve on the stewardship of property team! Seriously, we could use your thoughts.
LikeLike