Presbytery Meeting

THURSDAY, June 6, 2024

Agenda

June 6th Presbytery Meeting
We are excited to welcome you to our annual in-person presbytery meeting at Calvin Presbyterian Church in Shoreline, WA on June 6th. Visitors who are not commissioners or minister members such as church members, ministry partners, church staff, etc. are also welcome to attend as guests though we do ask that you register for our planning purposes. You can do so here.

Worship
The wonderful folks of Calvin Presbyterian Church will lead us in worship and our guest, Dr. Andrew Root will preach on Mark 9:2-26 with a message titled, “How Long? Being a Faithful Church in a Secular Age”. An offering that supports the Katie Allen Scholarship Grant, dedicated to supporting seminarians of the Northwest Coast Presbytery in their pursuit of theological education, will be available for donation.
 

Guest Preacher and Workshop Leader – Dr. Andrew “Andy Root”
This year we will be welcoming Dr. Andrew “Andy” Root as our workshop leader and guest preacher (https://www.andrewroot.org/). Dr. Andrew Root (Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary) is the Carrie Olson Baalson professor of youth and family ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.
He writes and researches in areas of theology, ministry, culture and younger generations.  His most recent books are Churches and the Crisis of Decline (Baker, 2022), The Congregation in a Secular Age (Baker, 2021), The End of Youth Ministry? (Baker, 2020), The Pastor in a Secular Age: Ministry to People Who No Longer Need God (Baker, 2019), Faith Formation in a Secular Age (Baker, 2017), and Exploding Stars, Dead Dinosaurs, and Zombies: Youth Ministry in the Age of Science (Fortress Press, 2018).


Dr. Andrew Root’s Books
We highly recommend you pick up “When Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation” and “Churches and the Crisis of Decline: A Hopeful, Practical Ecclesiology for a Secular Age”.

Workshop - The Congregation in a Secular Age: When Change Hurts
It seems now nearly universally agreed on that church needs to change. Many believe local congregations need to find new models, new funding routes, new ways of connecting with neighbors and overall new visions for their future. Innovation has become a hot conception inside this agreed upon need for change.  But the more congregations recognize their need for change the harder change becomes to implement, or the more change itself opens the congregation to issues and problems it didn’t anticipate.  And worse, it appears the push for change seems to be sapping the very energy out of some of our congregations. Why? This presentation will explore how the drive for change is embedded in a certain secular conception of time which risks pushing the congregation into a funk, making the congregation too burnt out, even depressed, to meet the challenges that change demands.To live in late modernity is to live in accelerated times, in a world where time is continually sped up.  Our lives just seem to be going faster and faster. To call the congregation to change, if not very careful, hooks the congregation to the accelerating ways of late modernity, risking fatigue, burnout, and further loss of transcendence. This presentation will name these realities so we might avoid these traps, and instead live into a richer conception of the church and congregation. We’ll turn instead to a more life-giving approach to the need for change that’s before us.  

Mission Partners and Cluster Gatherings
Prior to the presbytery meeting, we will have various tables hosted by our Mission Partners and Cluster Gatherings which are self-led affinity groups including: Alaska Cluster, Korean Churches Cluster, Retired Pastors Cluster, and New Worshipping Communities Cluster.

Dinner
Our dinner will be catered by Chef Danes. We hope you will enjoy lasagna, eggplant casserole, grilled market vegetables, mixed greens salad, and assorted breads. Suggested donation is $15-20.

Schedule
12:00p.m. Check-In for Cluster Meetings     
1:00 p.m. Cluster Meetings
2:00 p.m. Check-In & Mission Partner Tables
3:00 p.m. Workshop
4:00 p.m. Worship
5:00 p.m. Dinner
6:00 p.m. Meeting
8:00 p.m. Adjourn


THE LAST PRESBYTERY MEETING

Date: February 8, 2024
Time:  4:00PM Pacific/3:00PM Alaska Workshops, 5:00PM Pacific/4:00PM Alaska, Worship and Meeting
Platform: Zoom Meeting