THURSDAY
June 6, 2024
Announcements
June Birthdays
Video Message from the General Presbyter
The Rev. John Molina-Moore
From the Desk of Rev. David Baer, Stated Clerk
From the Desk of Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe, Dir. Congregational Dev. & Mission
DC Capital Pride
June 8
Series on: What to do with your CAT! (Congregational Assessment Tool)
June 10 – Zoom (final session)
Unleashing the Joy: Faith in Pursuit of Child Well-Being
A Presentation by Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson
June 12 – New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
Concerts from Kirkwood’s 20th Anniversary
June 15 – Kirkwood Presbyterian Church
Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
June 29 – Washington, DC
GENOUT Youth Chorus
June 29 – Sixth Presbyterian Church
Building Community, Making Peace: A Restorative Church Gathering
August 3 – The Church of the Epiphany
Save the Date! Hearts and Minds Prepared for Worship
August 17 – Union Presbyterian Seminary
Sail Away with Us! Retirement Party
September 7 – Celebrating the Rev. Bernice Parker-Jones
Stewardship Kaleidoscope – Real Tools for Real Ministry
September 23-25 –Portland, OR
SAVE THE DATE: Matthew 25 Mid-Atlantic Summit
October 26 – First Presbyterian Church of Howard County
Montgomery County Resiliency Council
Seeks community members to join a conversation about clean energy, power outages, etc.
Message from Dina Bickel, Communications Coordinator
Dear Friends,
Thank you for this opportunity to serve you as NCP’s Communications Coordinator. We have a strong communication foundation, and I bring my gifts to build upon that foundation. I look forward to working alongside you. Presbytery-wide communication will come via communications@thepresbytery.org. Send Thursday Mail announcements to me at dbickel@thepresbytery.org. Please reach out. We encourage you to promote your events through NCP’s channels.
- Dina Bickel
Pastoral Concerns:
With deep sorrow, we share the passing of Rev. Lloyd Kinzer (Retired) on May 30, 2024. Rev. Kinzer served as Parish Associate at United Christian Parish, Reston (UCP) as well as preaching regularly at Eastminster Presbyterian Church. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 1:00 PM at the United Christian Parish.
Announcements:
Celebrate Arlington Pride with Arlington, Fairlington and First Presbyterian Churches, Saturday, June 29, 2024 – Sign up HERE
SAVE THE DATE: Presbytery-Wide Installation Service, Saturday, October 19, 2024 @ 3:00 PM at Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church. More information to follow.
SAVE THE DATE: Matthew 25 MidAtlantic Summit, Saturday, October 26, 2024 at First Pres of Howard County. More infomation to follow.
Register for Bible and Church Music Conference 2024 (July 21-27, 2024) today! Come listen to leaders and speakers like Rev. Dr. Brian Blount and Rev. Shannon Johnson Kershner. For more information about BCMC 2024, please visit https://massanettasprings.org/programs/bcmc
Calling All Pastors who are interested in a Restorative Wilderness Experience - Candidate Emily Crower seeks your input! As part of her Adaptive and Innovative Ministry emphasis, Emily is designing a restorative wilderness experience for pastors that will consist of desert canoeing and camping on the Lower Canyons section of the Rio Grande from Monday, January 27th through Thursday, February 6th, 2025. The program is designed to address the challenges of sustaining ministry in our rapidly changing context through offering a restorative immersive experience for a cohort of pastors and equipping participants with tools for transferring their learnings into their home lives to cultivate sustainable ministry.
Emily seeks your valuable feedback as she designs this experience. For more information about Emily and to provide input, click the form - Restorative Wilderness Experience for Pastors (google.com)
June 6, 2024
Summary of the 319th Stated Meeting of National Capital Presbytery
National Capital Presbytery held a stated meeting at National Presbyterian Church on May 21. The Moderator, Rev. Dr. Chris Deacon, convened the meeting. The General Presbyter, the Rev. John Molina-Moore, gave the sermon during the opening service of worship, in which he focused on the dark cloud out of which God speaks to Moses in Exodus 19. Much like the Israelites during the exodus, the church finds itself in a transitional era, setting out on a journey away from old models of ministry that are no longer workable toward a destination that is yet to be fully revealed. The cloud can be a fearful and uncertain place to listen for God’s voice, and yet it is in this murky space that God begins to create and shape a people. At the same time, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses forbears in faith who placed their trust in the future God is creating, and who now look to us to run our race with perseverance. As we seek new ways of being the church today, we are not captive to the ways of our ancestors, but rather buoyed by their hope in God’s unfolding promise. At the conclusion of the sermon, those gathered were invited into a time of conversation at tables to talk about their experiences of ministry in such a cloud, with all its anxiety and promise.
During the meeting the presbytery:
• Recognized transitions and milestones in our community:
o The Rev. Allison Lundeen, who is returning to the presbytery as an at-large member.
o The Rev. Kenneth Rathje, recently ordained to service as the Stated Supply Pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church.
o The Rev. Dr. Shelly Wood, who has begun serving as the Pastor of Old Presbyterian Meeting House.
o The Rev. Dr. David Ensign, newly retired from active ministry.
o The Rev. Dr. Rob Erickson, newly retired from active ministry.
o The Rev. Neill Morgan, newly retired from active ministry.
o CRE Katherine Nichols, serving Trinity Presbyterian Church in Arlington.
• Elected Elder Lou Durden (Northminster) to serve as NCP Moderator and Elder Jesy Littlejohn (Oaklands) to serve as NCP Vice Moderator for 2024-2025.
• Approved an exemption from ordination examinations, in accordance with Book of Order G-2.0505(a)2, allowing the Rev. Robert Allman to be received from the Presbyterian Church in America. The COM had previously approved Rev. Allman’s examination for membership and validated his ministry as an Army chaplain based in Germany.
• Granted an exception under Book of Order G-2.0504(c) to allow the Rev. Rachel Pacheco, currently serving New York Avenue Presbyterian Church as Associate Pastor (Stated Supply) to be called and installed as Associate Pastor.
• Approved an amendment to the National Capital Presbytery, Inc., Bylaws permitting electronic meetings.
• Heard a presentation from the General Presbyter, the Rev. John Molina-Moore, about the Missional Incubator, a new initiative of the presbytery to assist leaders in developing new models for ministry that promote both financial stability for churches and opportunities for engagement with the community.
• Celebrated the retirement of Ms. LaJuan Quander, NCP’s Director of Communications, after more than forty years of service to the presbytery.
The NCP Leadership Council has adopted the following schedule for upcoming stated meetings:
• September 24, 2024 – in person
• November 19, 2024 – virtual, via Zoom
• January 28, 2025 – virtual, via Zoom
• March 25, 2025 – virtual, via Zoom
• May 20, 2025 – in person
Graceand Peace,
David Baer, Stated ClerkGree�ngs People,
The Landscape results are in! I know you must be an�cipa�ng the results as much as I am! You’re not? Oh, well these are the moments that get me excited in serving our commitees and congrega�ons. DATA! FEEDBACK! Collec�ve Par�cipa�on! And guess what?
The Landscape, which is just like a standard annual doctor check-up, reports that we as a Presbytery are abundantly HEALTHY! And just like annual check-ups, they add feedback. How are you taking care of your overall soul / or mental health? What do we need to “not be doing” in order to tend to our Spiritual Souls? I liken this Landscape to what would it look like if we, as a Presbytery, took our foot off the accelerator and went down from 120mph to 70mph?
BE STILL (together) and KNOW THAT I AM GOD….
I have some curious ques�ons that CDC (Church Development Commitee) and MCC (Mission Coordina�ng Commitee) are leaning into as they discern forming a collec�ve, Equipping Congrega�ons Commitee. Our curious ques�ons are:
1. What is “ac�ve” s�llness so that the lights stay on when needed but that we are holding space together to see what ac�ve rest feels like as a commitee?
2. What can s�ll space mean for us? Sure, less mee�ngs but honestly, we are not mee�ng any more or less than usual. But what about s�ll space being restora�ve?
I am curious about being together and holding s�ll space together. Not apart from one another. There is a vulnerability in this! Sharing space with one another and no�cing what is behind us (what has occurred), what is with us (who do we see and who do we not see), and what is before us (what is the Landscape response telling us)? The American Study of Religion data shows that most people in the DMV do believe in God and do not trust organized religion. AND, the direc�ve for effec�ve mission is WARM FRIENDLY ENCOUNTERS. That is super general and maybe all that simple? To rebuild trust, we must be in rela�onship with one another…holding s�ll space with one another.
Over the summer, members from Leadership Council and presbytery commitees will be ac�vely res�ng with the Landscape data. We see your responses that there is High Sa�sfac�on and Energy AND your presbytery leadership (Leadership Council, NCP Staff, Presbytery Commitees, Clerks of Sessions, Clergy) also s�ll desire a rela�onal connec�on that needs to be deeper than simply a mee�ng. So there we are, our overall health is strong and our “soul” deserves tending to, together. Not alone! More to come. Rest, restore, and enjoy together.
Peace and Courage,
Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe Director of Congrega�onal Development & Mission
