PNC Hurricane Ike Recovery Blog

IKE Classroom Recovery Project

2008-11-07T06:17:00.000-08:00

This is about the time of year that Sunday School classes and church small groups begin to think about what to do for a group Christmas project--do I have a suggestion for you, especially if you are part of a Presbyterian congregation in the Synod of the Sun.

SCRAPCE (South Central Region of the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators) is sponsoring the IKE Classroom Recovery Project to help congregations devastated by the storm rebuild and re-equip their Christian Education space.

Remember IKE???? We sure do.

Congregations that will be assisted by the project are First Presbyterian, Galveston; Emmanuel Presbyterian, Galveston; West Isle Presbyterian, Galveston; and Hurricane Gustav-damaged Baker Presbyterian, Baker, Louisiana.

Donors can elect to fund all or part of a classroom and will be put in touch with the recipient congregation so they can share prayers and develop relationships as well as send money. SCRAPCE will match the donors with congregations to ensure that the funds are spread equitably.

For more information about the project and how to participate, go to the Hurricane Ike Recovery page on the New Covenant Presbytery website. Scroll down to the middle of the page to the Classroom Recovery Project links.

(Cross-posted from Quotidian Grace)

October 9 Hurricane Ike Recovery Update

2008-10-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

This just in from Co-ordinator Tricia Pogue:

This is a very abbreviated update but wanted to report some very important dates and processes being put into place.

Dates to remember:

SABINE PASS NEEDS OUR HELP NOW!- CLEAN UP DAY!!!
THIS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2008

More than 200 homes in Sabine Pass were either destroyed or severely damaged by Hurricane Ike. Residents are planning to live in tents, travel trailers, etc. until they can rebuild their homes. Help is needed clearing residential properties of debris.

To volunteer, please call Pam Trosclair at the
Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce at (409) 963-1107.
Check-in begins at 8 a.m. Work starts at 9 a.m.

WHERE: drive to Sabine Pass~ there is a 4 way stop. Turn right. There are only 2 structures remaining! The Sabine Pass High School and the Athletic Complex across the street. You will meet at the Athletic Complex by 8:00am and sign up your teams and they will send you out to work! Goal is to clean up properties to begin to have the community move back in with travel trailers to live and begin their long term recovery process.

Supplies needed include:
▪ Wheelbarrows ▪ Ropes ▪ Yard tools ▪ Pitch forks▪ Rakes ▪ Small BBQ pits ▪ Small bags of charcoal ▪ Charcoal lighter

To volunteer, please call Pam Trosclair at the Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce at (409) 963-1107.
Bring boots, gloves, sun screen, and bug spray.

October 13-14: Spiritual Care Training:  PDA is planning to hold a Spiritual Care Team Training in Grace Presbytery, October 13-14. Grace and Arkansas Presbyteries are planning to be partners in this venture. Pastors, Candidates for Ministry who have completed CPE, and Pastoral Counselors, in particular, are invited to participate in this training. Participants in the training will receive both PDA and American Red Cross training. They will be asked to commit to be present for the entire training which is scheduled for noon on Monday, October 13 through 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14.   Participants will be scheduled, as the needs arise, to spend 2-3 days in the Gulf Coast Region, and possibly the Rio Grande Valley, providing spiritual care to people affected by Hurricanes Ike and Dolly, including those in that region who have been the primary caregivers since the beginning of these storms.  For more information send an e-mail to RICK CARUS rick@gracepresbytery.org or call him at 214.630.4502 or 800.678.4502. Please register by Thursday, October 9. 

Just in….. News Story:
According to Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce:
The mayors of Nederland, Port Neches and Groves and the First Baptist Church Groves organized a clean up day in Bridge City last Sunday and 3000 volunteers cleaned up all day! There are also 12 18-wheelers coming to deliver an assortment of needed supplies over the coming days!

Also, Carol Flores, from the Lutheran Services reported 400 showed up in Galveston last Saturday for a clean up day!

Please send me any updates and stories of hope and encouragement you want to share.

Just a few ways to help now!

Charlotte Wells is the coordinator for St James Presbyterian Church, La Porte and she has two immediate needs for their area:
1st - City Hall needs daily help handing out ice, water and MTE's every afternoon and evening. I think they finish at 7:00 pm. The busiest times are from around 4:30 until 7:00. It requires picking up ice, water and meals and setting it in people's cars.

Contact: Rhonda at the City of Shoreacres - 281-471-2244

2nd - trash clean-up in Shoreacres' Heron Park and the bayou. People need to wear heavy shoes/boots and bring garbage bags and gloves. Charlotte will be the contact person and can meet at whatever time is convenient for the volunteers. The earlier the better in case it is hot and humid.
Contact: Charlotte Wells 281-842-7764 or 281-455-9595.

Volunteer Work Team Overnight Coordination:

• Since PDA has a call center already in place to coordinate calls from congregations and individuals who want to help with clean-up and recovery efforts we are going to have them schedule all “OVERNIGHT” work groups. This includes any groups staying in “host churches” and the up and coming PDA villages. Once you contact the call center and register, they will send you the appropriate forms to fill out and a skill assessment form for your group so that we may connect the gifts and talents of each group to the appropriate work site. The requests I have already received are being processed through the call center this week and Penny and her volunteers will be contacting you to coordinate these efforts!

• Please call or email Penny Noel at our PDA call center
866-732-6121 or
pdacallcenter@sbcglobal.net
• Our need will be to coordinate work sites for these volunteers. We are working within our Presbytery, various organizations already in place and other denominations to begin to coordinate these efforts.

HOST CHURCHES:
To become a “Host Church” you must have showers, kitchen and sleeping area for work teams. Please call Tricia Pogue to coordinate these efforts. We have two already in the Houston area working through the forms and process and should be up and going very soon. We need more host churches and will welcome your call.

Our IKE Recovery Team is continuing their efforts and will have a conference call tomorrow and I will be reporting any news as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience and your prayers
Blessings,

Tricia Pogue

Presbytery of New Covenant, Volunteer Coordinator for IKE Recovery

PH: 281-957-5859

EMAIL: PDA@CLPC.ORG

1511 El Dorado Blvd.

Houston, TX 77062-3422

September 30 UPDATE

2008-10-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

Administrator's Note: Mike Cole sent this yesterday, and I am late in posting it.

The Ike Recovery Team met today and organized itself into four primary areas of focus: Spiritual Recovery, Missional Recovery, Administration, and PDA Villages. The IRT sees the spiritual recovery as the most important component of efforts. Spiritual Recovery will be the driving force behind all our long-term recovery missional efforts. Spiritual recovery within our presbytery could involve, among other things, revitalization of our clusters for prayer, worship and fellowship, pastor-to-pastor mentoring, use of spiritual disciplines, caring for the caregivers, pulpit supply to relieve overburdened pastors, care for congregations through Stephen’s Ministry or other caring networks.

The Missional Recovery will seek to connect churches in need with churches with resources to meet those needs. We will be working on building partnerships between congregations, Sunday School classes, youth groups etc. so that those churches who are facing huge challenges will know that there are sisters and brothers who stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them. The church-to-church connection will be critical as we move from relief efforts to long-term recovery. We are also developing a database of information about churches which are willing to host work groups and we will also be exploring ways of involving youth in the recovery effort.

The establishment of two Volunteer Villages in the presbytery will be central to serving our communities which have been devastated. One village will be established in an area that serves Galveston and areas north of the island. Another village will be set up in the Golden Triangle. Each village will house between 90-120 volunteers who will be sent to worksites to rebuild homes and lives. PDA is working hard to get the first village serving the greater Galveston area set up in early November. The second village in the Golden Triangle area will follow soon after.

Administration is the necessary part of the work of the IRT to make sure that we maintain our connections with PDA and interfaith groups during this long-term recovery period. We are also recruiting a volunteer financial person to establish appropriate and transparent controls and lines of accountability for the financial aspects of this recovery effort. We anticipate that there will be a significant amount of money contributed to our Ike Recovery Fund. The funds entrusted to our care will be appropriately and wisely managed. The IRT will continue to provide updates by email and posting on our website and blog to be sure that everyone has the same information.

Tricia Pogue, our Volunteer Coordinator for Ike Recovery will be sending the updates beginning later this week. You can expect to receive email from her at: pda@clpc.org. The IRT is especially interested in sharing stories of faith, hope and encouragement in these updates.

Sondra Tucker, the Director of Music at ChristChurch, Bellaire offers the following: “I have written a piece of music for handbells that I am distributing to anyone who makes a $25 or larger contribution to PDA or another local area relief organization. The details are at http://www.houstonhandbells.org/ike.html. Since so many of our congregations have handbell ensembles, I hope that you will consider forwarding this message in your next e-letter. I am proud to report that in the two days the piece has been posted, it has collected almost $1000 for disaster recovery from organizations across the country.”

Mike Cole's Monday the 29th Update

2008-09-29T14:49:00.000-07:00

I’m starting out today’s update with a paragraph from Carol Tompkins email to her congregation – Westminster PC in Beaumont. Carol’s advice is right on target for lots of folks in our presbytery.

“Please remember that we're once again dealing with a traumatic experience. Be gentle with yourselves and each other. Even if you didn't sustain major damage, the closeness to our Rita experience may trigger difficult moments. I know that for me there's just too much sky. I vaguely recall feeling the same thing after Rita, and it puts me in a bit of a fog whenever I realize there's just too much sky. I suspect when my neighbors start getting their roofs repaired, the sound of nailguns will probably trigger similar feelings. For others, it may be scents or different sounds; remembered landscapes that just don't look right, or any of a number of random senses. Don't try to brush it off and ignore it. Acknowledge what you're feeling, recognize it for what it is, and do whatever it takes to heal and get beyond it. We each go through the process of recovery in our own ways. Respect that in yourself and one another. It's another long journey we'll be taking with this one. Know that we are each wrapped in the never-ending love of Jesus as we once again go through the process of healing.”

Yesterday, I worshipped with FPC, Dickinson, FPC, Galveston and Emmanuel PC, Galveston. Each worship service was distinct and beautifully led. There were a lot of heartfelt prayers and tears among the members as they shared stories of the storm and what they are facing. These congregations are courageous as they face an enormous challenge because they know that they do not face these difficulties alone.

Don’t forget our presbytery-wide worship on Sunday, October 5 at 3 pm at FPC, Dickinson and Trinity PC, Port Neches as we praise the Lord for seeing us through this crisis, hold one another in prayer, celebrate communion and enjoy the fellowship of the family.

Tricia Pogue, our Presbytery Volunteer Coordinator for Ike Recovery has a new direct phone line in her office at CLPC – (281) 957-5859. Tricia’s email is: pda@clpc.org. Please contact Tricia for assistance, if you want to volunteer or if your church would be wiling to host work groups.

Photo Request - This request came in from Shane Whisler, the Director of Communications for the Synod of the Sun: anyone with any hurricane damage photos, please mail to Shane Whisler, Synod's director of communications: editor@pnnews.com. We cannot use photos from other company/news websites.

Our Ike Recovery Team is beginning to solicit churches that have the wherewithal to “adopt” or partner with a church in need. If your session or church would be interested in this partnership, please contact Tricia Pogue.

Those who would like to be trained as a spiritual care giver in disaster situations may attend the Spiritual Care Team Training event in Dallas on October 13(noon)-14 ( 3 pm). For more information, email Rick Carus - rick@gracepresbytery.org

A fund is available for any congregation needing disaster recovery financial assistance. Requests for up to $10,000 can be made by any congregation on behalf of itself or one or more individuals. Please complete the grant application on our website and mail to the Presbytery of New Covenant. Please contact Lisa Simpkins, Outreach Ministries Committee, at 713.412.3396 or lsimpkins@fulbright.com if you have any questions.

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News from SETIO (Southeast Texas Interfaith Organization) in their recovery efforts in the Golden Triangle, reported by Harland Merriam:

1. PRESBYTERIAN CLUSTER IN OUR AREA. Pastors and lay leaders from five of our area's ten PC(USA) Congregations met for lunch on Thursday, September 25th. Mary Marcotte, our Associate Presbyter for New Covenant Presbytery met with us, too. The congregations were: Trinity Port Neches, First Jasper, Pioneer Beaumont, Westminster Beaumont, St. Andrews Beaumont. We did a "roll call" finding out how each one of us was doing, how our members were doing, and how our church buildings were doing. We talked together about the PDA Village proposal, about how the Presbytery was organizing, and about a joint worship time on October 5th at Trinity Presbyterian in Port Neches. We'll meet again in a month, working on several projects in the interim.

2. SETIO "TABLE". Approximately 40 folks met at the second weekly SETIO "table" on Thursday afternoon from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. We shared information about both Relief and Long Term Recovery efforts in progress. The key Long Term Recovery players include United Methodist, Lutheran, Disciples, Presbyterians, Southern Baptists, and Christian Reformed.

3. SETIO BOARD.

As Chair, I convened the SETIO Board of Directors after the "table" meeting. We confirmed our roll as the larger, umbrella organization for our region, seeing ourselves as pulling together and organizing the "table" for the Long Term Disaster Recovery Effort. We still have some defining to do as to the effective functioning of this "table". Several state and denominational groups have asked us to play this function. Also, earlier in the week, the local VOAD also confirmed the benefit of us assuming this function. We will be adding new Board Members at our meeting next week, to include more leaders from across our region.

4. STEPS FORWARD

I know our area recovery work has been very effective with our Case Management Round Table, which has not been led by SETIO, but by another of our area organization case management leaders. This group has done outstanding work with training volunteer case managers, bringing together various organizations to communicate and coordinate cases over the past three years. I hope we will re-energize this excellent work.

We are asking the "Directors" of the major Long Term Recovery Groups to meet sometime next week to talk together about these two elements: SETIO organizing the "table" for Long Term work, and someone organizing a regional cooperative effort for the Case Management elements of the work.

We do not yet have agreement on the Volunteer Coordination or the Construction Management elements of the Long Term Recovery effort. I have submitted the information to our Presbyterian Call Center with Beverly Antilley as the local contact for Presbyterian groups coming to our area. I believe she has already scheduled three Presbyterian volunteer groups for the next several weeks. I would expect these groups to work with case/construction management in both the SETIO and UMCOR efforts.

Beaumont, Pioneer – Lloyd Crosby reports that the church had its south-facing stained glass window blown in and its steeple ripped off. A Presbyterian Disaster Assistance team was able to get by and put blue tarps over the damage to keep out the elements. We have rain water damage, but not too much mildew. We have been running the air conditioner full blast to dry it out as much as we can.

What PDA is Doing and Where to Send Contributions

2008-09-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today's Update from GP Rev. Mike Cole:

I know that some of you receiving these updates are wondering why the Presbytery or PDA isn’t coordinating immediate work sites and projects. The most direct answer is that other faith and volunteer groups are already equipped to organize for short-term immediate relief. We do not need to reinvent the wheel, when others specialize in this part of the recovery effort.

Presbyterians have stepped up to the challenge of long-term recovery work, which takes time to organize for a sustained effort over a period of months or years. Many of the groups and organizations who specialize in the short-term relief work will be gone within a few weeks. That’s when the Presbytery and PDA efforts will go into effect. Thus, for now, the best way for individuals or groups to serve is through SETIO in the Golden Triangle, Volunteer Houston or UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). After all, the name under which we all serve is Jesus Christ, not just Presbyterian.

The Ike Recovery Team will be working on ways to establish partnerships between churches in need with churches with resources. Your church does not have to wait to establish a partnership – please feel free to initiate this on your own. It would help us to know what is happening, so give Tricia a call.

Contributions for Hurricane Ike Recovery may be sent to:

The Presbytery of New Covenant

1110 Lovett Blvd.

Houston, TX 77006

Memo line: Ike Recovery Fund

Contributions for the 2008 hurricane recovery efforts may be sent to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: www.pcusa.org/pda

By the way, I plan on taking tomorrow and Saturday off as much as possible so the next update will come out on Sunday or Monday.

Just a reminder: Sunday, October 5 at 3 pm will be the time for our presbytery to gather in two locations: Trinity Presbyterian Church, Port Neches and First Presbyterian Church in Dickinson. We will celebrate communion, praise God, give thanks, prayer for all our churches by name and enjoy the fellowship of the presbytery family. Please make plans to attend and bring as many in your congregation as possible. We’d love to overflow both sites with praising Presbyterians!

Contact Information for the Army Corp of Engineers Blue Roof Program – (832) 851-3920. Blue rood tarps are available for pick up to protect homes with roof damage. You may also request someone to deliver and install the tarp.

Everyone should be aware that there are some fraud activities in our area. FEMA does not go door to door and they do not ask anyone to fill out forms. All FEMA representatives have photo ID’s. If there is any doubt about a person at your door, ask them to return later. Then report the incident to FEMA.

FEMA urges those in need to hold on to finances as long as possible until FEMA can coordinate assistance. The needs are enormous and they are working as fast as they can.

Church and Congregation Updates:

Livingston, FPC – The clerk/church secretary reports that the church has major damage to the sanctuary. The upstairs ceiling ended up in the parlor, narthex and nursery. There was water damage to the activity building also. Both buildings are unusable for the time being but we are well on the way with removal of moldy stuff. All activities and worship will be in the fellowship building. We thank God for this new building even more than before. We were able to have one service last week – more of a prayer and praise. Hopefully this week we will have both services.

Presbytery Volunteer Recovery Coordinator Named

2008-09-25T05:39:00.000-07:00

September 24 Update

We have a Presbytery Volunteer Coordinator for Ike Recovery – Tricia Pogue, a member of FPC, Pasadena and wife of Dean Pogue, the pastor is being trained in this volunteer position. Tricia will have an office at CLPC. As soon as we have a direct line installed for her, we’ll get that information out. In the meantime, she can be contacted by phone at: 281-488-6850 x330 or email at pda@clpc.org

Tricia’s responsibilities are:

Answer phone calls and direct volunteers to the proper resource so that they may respond to the disaster
Track requests for assistance
Refer inquires for donations to the proper source for designation (presbytery or PDA)
Collecting information on the skills that are available from a group
Referring skills summary to a project manager for follow-through when appropriate
Create and mange the database of volunteer groups and skills and refer to the project manager
When Villages are operational, follow up with interested groups and review procedures for referring registrations to the PDA National Call Center
Work collaboratively with the Project Manager, Case Manager, and other resource persons as they come on line
To assume responsibilities as requested

WELCOME ABOARD, Tricia!

Tricia Pogue, needs information on churches who are willing to host work groups. If your church could host a group, call Tricia and register your church as a host.

Opportunities to serve:

Volunteer Houston has a website up and running to register to volunteer at worksites - http://www.volunteerhouston.org/

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has worksites ready for immediate work. To register teams for volunteer for work: www.txcumc.org

Go to Volunteers then Register. Any questions- call Kathie Mann at 713-521-9383.

Ralph Hendricks is a volunteer working the Surfside, Freeport and Angleton area

Ph: 979-236-3630. Ms. Lee Thornton is working the Bayou Vista, Alvin, Texas City and Dickinson area - Ph: 409-925-1216. Register your work team, give them what they can do and how soon they can come. Also advise if your group needs housing.

The Golden Triangle continues to need work groups. To register, call Beverly Antilley is our Golden Triangle Volunteer Coordinator. Her phone 409 223-0118 She can handle groups coming in with work assignments and accommodations and other information.

Sunday, October 5 at 3 pm will be the time for our presbytery to gather in two locations: Trinity Presbyterian Church, Port Neches, and First Presbyterian Church in Dickinson. We will celebrate communion, praise God, give thanks, prayer for all our churches by name and enjoy the fellowship of the presbytery family. Please make plans to attend and bring as many in your congregation as possible. We’d love to overflow both sites with praising Presbyterians!

The Golden Triangle Cluster (they call it the Geneva Cluster) is gathering tomorrow at noon at St. Andrew’s in Beaumont for prayer, mutual support and encouragement. This is a great idea for all our clusters.

Here are today’s reports from our churches:

Tiki Island – C.O. Magee reports that Tiki Chapel made it okay. Lost front stairs but have back stairs. Worshiped there Sunday under the sanctuary. Security guards are using sanctuary for dorm so they can sleep in the day and guard island at night. Tiki is really a mess!

LaMarque – C. O. Magee reports that the church did great. Worshiped there Sunday too outside. Just got electricity Sunday afternoon. Glad everyone around here made it okay. Some houses gone though. Lots and lots of destruction.

Galveston, Westminster – Barrett Ingram reports that the church and his home are both fine. They plan on worshipping at the building on Sunday.

Jones Creek, Gulf Prairie – Tommy Badders reports some minor damage to the sanctuary roof but no leakage.

Daily Update from GP Rev. Mike Cole

2008-09-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

September 23 Update from General Presbyter Rev. Mike Cole:

The General Council met today and approved the formation of an Ike Recovery Team. The IRT is authorized to meet the immediate needs of the presbytery following the hurricane. Members of the IRT at present are:

Rev. Alan Brehm

Rev. Tom Sharon

Rev. Steve Oglesbee

Rev. Mary Currie

Rev. Pat Clark

Rev. Margaret Desmond

Arnetta Boson

Melissa Brown

The General Council also appointed a planning team to organize two simultaneous worship/communion/fellowship opportunities on Sunday, October 5 (World Communion Sunday) at 3 pm in the Golden Triangle and South Harris County/North Galveston County. As soon as we have the location details, we’ll get the word out. This will be a great time for us as a family to gather to praise God, share our stories and to hear first-hand what is happening in the recovery effort.

We are still seeking someone to serve as a financial officer for the IRT. We also need volunteers to help us for the next couple of months in the following areas:

Worksite Assignment Manger – someone to work with the Volunteer Coordinator in assigning work groups to work sites

Case Workers - people to do on-site visits of families needing assistance. It would be especially helpful to have folks with degrees in social work.

The Golden Triangle area is prepared to receive work groups immediately. Beverly Antilley is our Golden Triangle Volunteer Coordinator. Her phone 409 223-0118 She can handle groups coming in with work assignments and accommodations and other information.

Clean up buckets can be take to Clear Lake Presbyterian Church. CLPC will oversee the distribution of the buckets to the community.

Here are the reports we have received today:

Livingston, FPC – Star Starling reports: The building that houses the sanctuary has a great deal of damage. The oldest building that was called the Activity Building (where we ate supper last year for the Fall Conference) has been damaged too. Both buildings now have mold.

Orange, FPC – Jeannie Alexander, Clerk of the Session reports the following:

Microbial growth is present in the Fellowship Hall on the ceiling, walls, and furniture.
Hatch blew off the roof and let water in through the Sanctuary.
Thermal imaging was done and traced the track of the water from the roof where it went throughout the building.
Drains were displaced during the storm on top of the building and let water directly in through the pipes.
Two return vents in the hardwood floor of Fellowship Hall are drains that lead to the basement, thus how the water entered the Basement.
We have no flood insurance. Tidal surge is considered flood water for insurance. We have an 80,000 dollar deductible for our insurance policy on the Lutcher building as per our insurance reps.
Basement had less water in it than the flood water outside. Debris line outside was not to the entrance of the church. If it were flood water, it would be equal to the height of the flood water outside.
No debris got into the church. Debris line in the yard is the key.
The flood was salt water. Basement was pumped and cleaned and there is no evidence of salt water sediment in the basement. It appears the water came from the roof down.
Organ pipe chamber was assessed and photographed as well. Microbial growth is present in there as well.
Hardwood floors in Fellowship hall were “cupping” from the water. 60% chance they will not lie back down. Floors are unique with the crawl space under the hardwood floors between the floors and the concrete. Concrete and crawl space is being dried now. If we had to install a new floor, a protection could be put in place.
Microbial growth is covered by insurance if it is caused by the damage from the storm.
The basement has sewage on the wall.
Relative humidity was 91.8% when LCI got here.
Items are being packed out, cleaned, and put into PODs outside stored cleaned.
Water did not run on top of the ceiling in Fellowship Hall. It ran down the drains and the humidity made the ceiling sweat and that was the cause of the microbial growth.
Trough around the dome that houses the lights is holding water.
Molding in the Sanctuary has fallen down where it got wet.
There is water saturation in the Good Shepherd stain glass window frame.
Wall by the big columns in the front of the sanctuary by the angels also has 4-5 foot water intrusion in the ceiling there.
Fellowship hall ceiling is sagging. When cleaning it, it is possible that the plaster could start to fall.

Photos From First Presbyterian Church, Pasadena

2008-09-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

Rev. Dean Pogue, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Pasadena sent the photos in this slideshow. Here is Dean's description of the pictures:

One of our members lives directly on the water in San Leon, about 12 miles south of Clear Lake. According to insurance adjustors, she lost about 85% of her home and its contents. The attached photos show our church cleanup group (First Presbyterian, Pasadena, Texas), responding to her SOS for help.

A few notes: Her house was built on piers, and the steps to her front door were washed away. Entry was via step ladder. The storm surge washed away everything on the ground floor. She lost quite a few sentimental items, although she was able to salvage some family photos, including her high school photo, and ones of her son and her dad.

(Photos courtesy of Dean Pogue)

Thank you, Dean! If you have photos to share, please send them to us and they will be shared on the blog.

Volunteer Opportunities and Church Status Updates

2008-09-22T15:53:00.000-07:00

September 22 Update
from Mike Cole

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED--CAN YOU HELP?

We are getting our support structure in place to coordinate offers of assistance with needs in our communities. We need volunteers to help us for the next couple of months in the following areas:

Worksite Assignment Manger – someone to work with the Volunteer Coordinator in assigning work groups to work sites

Case Workers - people to do on-site visits of families needing assistance. It would be especially helpful to have folks with degrees in social work.

Financial Officer – A CPA serving on the Ike Recovery Team to help administer funds and design systems of financial reporting and accountability.

The Golden Triangle area is prepared to receive work groups immediately. Beverly Antilley is our Golden Triangle Volunteer Coordinator. Her phone 409 223-0118 She can handle groups coming in with work assignments and accommodations and other information.

Clean up buckets can be take to Clear Lake Presbyterian Church. CLPC will oversee the distribution of the buckets to the community.

The High Island Retreat Center will be housing some teachers from the High Island Independent School District who lost their homes to the storm. There is still no electricity on High Island and no generators available. If anyone has a generator they are no longer using and would be wiling to donate/loan it to the Retreat Center, that would be very helpful to those we are housing. The teachers also need food, cleaning supplies and toilet paper.

Focus – The discipleship and renewal event of our presbytery is STILL scheduled to happen on Saturday, October 4 at Northwoods. We have extended the early-bird registration deadline to September 29. I would encourage all of us to attend – I plan on being there. It will be a great opportunity to gather with friends and colleagues, be uplifted by great presentations and recover some sense of normalcy.

Here are some recent updates on church communities:

Houston, St. Giles – Greg Feigh reports that that they are without power and will be for at least another week due to a downed line behind the church. They have some wind damage plus water "in the usual places"

Hunstville, FPC – Ken Jack reports that the church has been without power until Friday. Church sprung a few leaks and had a little damage to our chapel steeple, but that is about all. We have many less trees in the little city now, however. I lost a 100 foot pine that fell away from my house instead of toward it.

Eagle Lake, FPC – Ed Triem reports that the church did not have any damage nor did any members have any problems. We were very blessed not to lost power and hosted other family members here who lost power.

Pasadena, Faith – Joe Delgatto reports that the church had no structural damage from Ike. However, a leak in the sanctuary ceiling caused water to come the floor. As of today (September 21St) there is still no power. Services were canceled for September 14 and 21.

Houston, Heights – Mark Downs reports that our physical damage in minimal and even more important, all our members are safe, just a little uncomfortable. More powerful than the hurricane winds was the blowing of the Spirit. The church worshiped this morning "unplugged", including no air conditioning. Last week we were able to distribute ice, water, and food to the Heights community. We have also had teams go out and help clean up for those who needed help. With no phone or internet, we still have kept our Angel Food program going and have yet another record number of orders for the month of September. This week we hope to expand our mercy effort beyond the Heights and help others in our larger city and presbytery.

Cleveland, FPC – Gene Marion reports that the church at Cleveland is recovering from IKE'S visit. Most of our members left town and there was no health threat to any of them. Damage was limited to houses and tree limbs in the yard. However one member had two trees fall on her house another had one fall on his mobile home. The church had a tree come through the south wall of our fellowship hall. We are hoping that our insurance will cover the damage. Most of us were without water and electricity for about a week. The church was closed for one week.

Got Presby-IKE Photos?

2008-09-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

If you have some good, high-resolution photos of Hurricane IKE damages to Presbyterian churches or relief efforts by Presbyterians, please email them to the Blog Administrator, Jody Harrington, at the address in the sidebar.

Presbyterians Today asked me to try to get some for them. I'll forward the photos to the editor, Eva Stimson.

Many thanks to those of you with power who can read this and respond.

More Updates from Mike Cole

2008-09-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

September 20 Update from GP Rev. Mike Cole:

The information continues to trickle in (pun intended) as we begin to grasp the enormity of the recovery that lies before us. We are putting together a long-term Disaster Recovery Team (those interested may apply to me) which will oversee the recovery effort over the next several years. There are thousands of homes and lives to rebuild in our communities. This will take effort, coordination and a lot of money.

The faith community has proven to be a far better administrator of these kinds of efforts than the government, so that’s where our energies will be spent – impacting lives for Jesus Christ in ways the government can’t. For example, SETIO has rebuilt nearly 2,000 homes in the Golden Triangle in the three years since Rita. The government is just now releasing funds to rebuild 3,400 homes destroyed during Rita. We have the faith, we have the people, we have the know-how, we have the compassion, we have the expertise and we have the commitment to make a dynamic impact for Jesus Christ in our presbytery.

Here are a couple more reports from our congregations:

Houston, St. Andrews – Jeff Smith reports: the people: everyone, as far as we have been able to assess, is healthy and safe, praise God! Many, as you might expect are without power. We are working to coordinate ways of serving these members of our family by providing the essentials: places to do laundry, recharge equipment, sit in the AC, catch up on the news, browse the internet, etc. also, to provide teams to help cut trees, and clear property.

The facility: our electricity was restored Thursday afternoon. We are working on ways to use the facility to reach out and serve our neighbors without power. We held services in the dark last week with over 140 in attendance... And will hold regular schedule this Sunday.

Orange, FPC – Jeannie Alexander reports: In the Lutcher/Sanctuary bldg: Front door blown off and water/debris inside. In the Sanctuary there were 3 roof leaks .. plaster down in those areas and water got inside the sanctuary floor because of those leaks. Consequently, the Fellowship Hall (which is underneath the Sanctuary) got water down into it. The entire ceiling is mildewed. Door are rippled in the wood from water. The newly redone hard wood floors are buckled in many areas. The basement was completely flooded. The CE building had a leak on one end from the roof...just clean up needed inside there. The Gillespie Building faired very well...thank God. :) I think there was a small leak into the kitchen..nothing major..

The Power House did very well also. Nothing there to mention.

On the grounds...several trees down and the usual debris.

God is good and several families worked all day long and got the grounds cleaned up today and we got the Gillespie set up for a service on Sunday. Our new pastor comes tomorrow and we are looking forward to his arrival. We told him this is a special homecoming for him...welcomed by a hurricane.

Note from Blog Administrator: please leave information or questions in the comments or email me at the address on the sidebar so I can include your information or needs on the blog.

Galveston Churches Report and NCP Church Update

2008-09-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

September 19 Update from GP Rev. Mike Cole:

Two PDA volunteers, Paul Reiter and Milton Fulton, and I went onto Galveston Island to inspect our church sites and survey the community needs. Everything you have seen on the news about Galveston is true. The community is devastated. Having seen the damage first-hand, I can’t imagine that there is any home that is not affected by flood water, wind or both. You will read more detailed reports on the church buildings below, but the more important information is the impact of this storm on our members and communities.

Clay Faulk, pastor at Providence PC in Nederland, sent an excellent reminder that the church is not the building – the church is the people and our people are hurting from devastating losses. Our initial reports have been about our buildings, I suppose, because our church buildings are our rallying point for worship and nurture. Now I’d like to begin to gather information on the community impact of this hurricane. How have our church members and the members of our communities been affected? Please send in your assessments for us to share as we develop our response to the human need. I realize this won’t be scientific, but it will provide more information than we have presently.

Today, members of the presbytery Disaster Recovery Team, PDA volunteers, presbytery staff and other interested persons met to begin to assess the needs and frame a response. We are actively talking about establishing at least two volunteer villages in the presbytery that will host work groups from outside our area. There will also be a need for local work groups to participate in weekend projects. My encouragement continues to be to connect directly church-to-church to help in clean up and restoration.

The Golden Triangle Area (Beaumont/Orange, Bridge City/Port Arthur) already has an organization(SETIO) in place that is prepared to receive work groups immediately. If you have a group ready to work, please call Harland Merriam (409)673-0720. SETIO will have a permanent phone number established for volunteer coordination on Monday afternoon and I will get that number out in my Monday update.

Please urge your congregations to contribute to PDA (www.pcusa.org/pda) to support the long-term recovery efforts within our presbytery. PDA has the background to help us formulate a long-term recovery plan and needs the financial support to fund this recovery effort which will last several years.

Here’s a challenge for your congregation: put together clean-up buckets (contents of each bucket listed on www.pcusa.org/pda/help/goh.htm) to help individuals with the clean-up of their flooded homes. We will send out a drop-off site for the buckets so they can get to those who need them.

Harland Merriam, the pastor at St. Andrews PC in Beaumont, asked a question of the group who met today: “If not us, who?” We have an opportunity to passionately engage our communities. Let’s get busy.

Galveston, Emmanuel – There was at least of five feet of water in the sanctuary. The pews etc. will need to be removed and dried out. This small Hispanic congregation will need significant help in restoring the building.

Galveston, West Isle – It appears that the sanctuary did get some flood water. The kitchen and education building both have silt covering the floors and evidence of water damage. This west-end congregation will need help with restoration.

Galveston, FPC – The flood waters invaded the education building and chapel. It appears that water also impacted the air conditioning units, the fellowship Hall and perhaps even the sanctuary.

Galveston, Westminster – The steeple copper sheathing was torn off, but no damage was sustained by the sanctuary or education building.

Nederland, Providence – Clay Faulk reports that even though the congregation meets in a facility that was not significantly damaged, some of the congregation members have been disastrously affected by flooding and wind. Some congregants live in the Bridge City area, which as devastated by the storm surge. Bridge City has taken a devastating hit. Those that reside in the city were flooded. The height of the water varies from a few inches to more than 8 ft. Estimates are that as many as 10,000 homes in the Bridge City area are flooded, many with mud and muck in their homes.

Houston, Pinecrest – Many members are in need of assistance with their personal homes. Elder Tracy Hooper will coordinate volunteer work assignments: thooper62@aol.com; cell: (832) 372-4778

Houston, First African NCD – Aluu Nnali reports: None of our members suffered any significant loss. I have been in touch with them all and they all seem to be recovering pretty well. Some that had no light, water or communication have had that restored. Also, the building where we hold our services was not touched, except that the building has been without power ever since. Last Sunday we worshiped without power and till date power has not been restored. But this is minimal compared to what some of our brethren are going through. We have been in prayers for all and trust that God will see everyone through this. We are okay and need nothing. Pls do not hesitate to inform us if we can be of any help anyhow.

Houston, Memorial Drive--has no power. All activities at the church are cancelled through Tuesday, September 23. Worship services will be held this Sunday in the Fellowship Hall at 8:30, 9:45 and 11:15.

Houston, Fuente de Esperanza NCD – Mauricio Chacon reports: We at Fuente are fine as well as my home. In the church several trees came down. Not considerable damage to the buildings. We don't have electricity. On Tuesday we gave water and ice to the community and today we visited a trailer park and gave food, water, and other supplies. Please let us know how we can help. We already cleaned our church. On Wednesday we have a prayer meeting and Sunday we will have our worship service.

Houston, St. John’s – Jon Burnham reports: St. John's still has no power but we had very little damage other than a gutter on the sanctuary. I still have no power at home and a pine tree on my house

Houston, Thien An – Viet Ho reports: Thanks God, Thien An Presbyterian church was OK. Not to evacuate. Thien An's members were OK, their houses sustained no serious damages. Almost the fences or some roof covers were damaged. The church building was OK but out of power. We had service last Sunday without power. It made us to remember some kind of the underground meeting worship services in Viet Nam. We hope that we will get electricity back in this weekend.

Houston St. Paul – Bill Folts reports: St. Paul Houston is ok. Minor damage due to several trees falling on the Educational Building. We also had a window in the 'steeple' of the church break from something hitting it. So there is water damage in the sanctuary.

Livingston, Indian PC – Debbie Kleinman reports: We just received power this evening in Livingston! The Reservation is still being worked on. 'Will let you know how things develop this week.We are Blessed to have running water. "God is Good! All the Time!"

Baytown, Faith – Wendy Bailey reports: The church has missing shingles and trees down. They intend to have a simple worship there on Sunday at 10:30 am

Houston, St. Thomas – Larry Spencer reports that the church is one of the few places where electrical power was on during the hurricane as well as after. Have assisted Turning Point ministers in placement of elderly residents. The church sustained minor damage. The congregation has responded extremely well to those in need.

Crockett, FPC – Georganna Bozeman reports that the church fared well. The church worship on Sunday was informal and the time was mostly spent talking and being sure that we could account for all of our members and in prayer for all of our brothers and sisters in the hardest hit areas. Our best thoughts are with all of you.

Nacogdoches, Westminster – Steve Newton reports that the church is just cleaning up a mountain of limbs, but none on the church. We did loose a few shingles. If anyone is interested in other problems, they can pray for the termites eating away at our church kitchen. They have been appropriately threatened and we are calling out the big guns tomorrow to get rid of them.

La Porte, St. James – Mary Currie reports that after the storm on Saturday afternoon and they found a window broken in the choir practice room, water on the sanctuary floor and classrooms and kitchen floor caused by the flat roof leaking. This additionally caused the "dining room" ceiling to begin to fall in, etc. Additionally, the main peaked roof covering the sanctuary had a layer of shingles stripped leaving the original shingles exposed but apparently no leaking occurred. And finally, the storage shed shingles have been stripped off the roof.

Eagle Lake, FPC – Ed Triem reports that the church did not sustain any damage.

Orange, FPC – Jeannie Alexander reports that the church will have ONE SERVICE SUNDAY AT 11:00 in the GILLESPIE BUILDING. No Sunday School. It will be a real service and Mike Umbenhaur will be preaching his very first sermon for the congregation. Please pass the word as everyone's email is not working and send this to anyone that I didn't have an email for. The Sanctuary building is off limits right now due to the damage from the storm.

Bay City, FPC – Anna Strickland reports that Bay City is fine. Most minor damage in way of trees, power on everywhere in County. Please advise how we can help. Prayers and Blessings to all our brothers & sisters who are suffering.

Pearland, Peace - David Wilson reports that they don’t have power yet … and are planning on one worship service at 10:00. The building got some water around the doors, but that’s it. All of the signs for the shopping center came down except for the Peace Presbyterian sign. They feel blessed.

Trinity, FPC – Lots of trees down but no major damage.

Trawick, FPC – Lots of trees down but only minor damage.

Baytown, Faith – Richard Kleiman reports that the church had lots of trees down and lots of shingles blown away but no real structural damage that we can tell at this point. Our Session met yesterday and shared information about our members and then divided the members we had not heard from and started making calls. So far so good -- only property issues and power outages. The church is without power but we will gather on Sunday at 10:30 AM for a service of thankfulness whether or not we have power.

High Island – The Retreat Center – Carrie Walker reports that the center made it through the storm “like a champ.” The Center will be housing several teachers from the High Island Independent School District whose homes were dmaged or destroyed by the hurricane.

Brenham– Trey Hegar reports nothing but tree limbs down. They have electricity.

Presbytery Office Opens Monday

2008-09-17T14:04:00.001-07:00

Power has been restored to Presbyterian Center!

However, debris remains in the parking lot, so the office will not officially open until Monday morning.

Mike Cole advises that the internet and server are now working. If you sent an email to a staff member on Sept. 11 or afterwards, please re-send it now.

The PDA folks will continue to office out of Clear Lake Presbyterian Church.

Update on Church Status from Mike Cole

2008-09-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

September 17 update, received from GP Rev. Mike Cole:

Just a bit of helpful advice for those of you are are using your cell phones exclusively. Check your minutes used. If you are “overusing” your minutes, call your provider and increase your minutes immediately. You’ll pay more, but not as much as you will for each minute if you go over your allotted minutes.

Below are reports we’ve received as we have contacted or been contacted. The churches are not in any particular order – alphabetizing them is more than I can handle at the present.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is sending three teams to help us assess damages and determine a work plan. One team is already in the Beaumont/Orange/Port Arthur area. A second team arrives on Thursday and a third team arrives on Friday. There will be a meeting of our presbytery’s disaster response team with the PDA folks and leaders from the Southeast Texas Interfaith Organization (SETIO) on Friday afternoon at Clear Lake Presbyterian Church. We may be setting up as many as three work camps in the presbytery. As soon as we have information on that, I will pass it along.

On a personal note, Ellie and I were pleasantly surprised with the return of electricity early this morning (1:40 am). We realize that we are now in the minority of folks who have electricity and feel particularly blessed have this modest return to normalcy.

As you read down this list of churches, if you see a need that you think you can meet, make the contact directly to offer assistance. We don’t feel a particular need to control the flow of assistance, although it would be great to have reports of how churches are helping one another.

Houston, Grace PC – Doug Ferguson reports: Here at Grace we lost one of the steeples (the one over the gym) and have some fairly extensive water damage in parts of the sanctuary and offices (especially mine which was soaked).This morning we are beginning to go door-to-door to our neighbors identifying places where we can help. The stories I'm already receiving of neighbors loving neighbors are just amazing.

Tomball, FPC – Jim Gill reports: I preached my first sermon at FPC Tomball by candlelight. We had 28 brave souls come for service. We lost one tree and the copper on our steeple and the cross on top got peeled back. The power has been restored as of today and we only had one window break due to a tree limb hitting it. It was the outside window that caused a leak in the stained glass window. Ironically it was the window that pictured John the Baptist baptizing Jesus. Naturally that would be the window to spring a leak!

Galveston, Westminster – Barrett Ingram reports that he has heard that the church building is ok. The Westminster congregation will worship at Atascoita on Sunday.

Lufkin, FPC – The church is fine.

Navasota, FPC – Craig Sanders reports: The church survived well with only some slight damage. People in the church came through all right with some property damage. It is getting a bit tense in town with concerns about food and water and power.

Houston, St. Paul – Kevin Boyd reports: Saint Paul, Houston, has problems with trees that have fallen on top of the church. There is some structural damage. In addition, we had water leaks in several places, and a flooded sanctuary. We are still without power. Even so, a core group gathered for prayer and praise on Sunday morning. The school is also closed until power is restored.

West Columbia, Bethel – Jim Gentner reports: Here at Bethel all is well --- most members stayed, and all seem to have suffered minimal damage. The church has lost shingles and siding, along with a tool shed that a tree fell on --- all our windows were untouched. we are without electricity for a week, we are told, but hopefully we will hold worship outside on sunday. we have a crew willing to go anywhere we are needed. thanks for the update.

Bellaire, ChristChurch - Christchurch had flooding in the sanctuary basement and a large tree down at the entrance. They lost some of their siding. They will be worshipping in the Fellowship Hall Sunday since there is not likely to be power in the sanctuary until well into next week. Calls have been made on shut ins. Both Mark Cooper and Ashey Brodhurst had trees down on their roofs at home.

Houston, Central - Central had no damage other than a few small trees down and concerns about lack of ventilation with no electricity.

Houston, Christ - Christ Presbyterian had a little minor water damage.

Houston, Community of the Servant Savior - no damage, but no power

Houston, FPC - part of campus has power and part does not. Tree down in courtyard that is being addressed - nothing major

Atascocita: no answer at the church

Conroe, FPC - John and Mary Singleton report no damage to church; members okay. Power still out; some tree damage to church members' homes.

Houston, Advent - no answer

Houston, First Lao - no answer at church

Houston, Northwoods - buildings okay at church; power restored; services planned for Sunday. Members are okay.

Houston, Oaks: Noelie Day reports no damage to church; big trees down on grounds. Still no power; do have water. Members okay.

Houston, Windwood: church okay; a couple of trees down on property; services scheduled for Sunday; Pat Ryan has tree down on her house.

Kingwood, FPC - Jim Davis reports that church in good shape; some trees down; some members have trees on houses, but overall everyone is okay. Held services last Sunday in the dark and will again this Sunday -- regardless of power status.

Waverly - Clerk reports all is well. He talked with Dan Alexander Saturday night and he is okay, too.

Woodlands Community - 2 large trees came down on church over child-care center; 2 HVAC units damaged. Everyone is okay, though, and some have power.

Houston, Grace Taiwan - large tree down, but no significant damage

Houston, Heights – One report that a tree went through one of their windows.

Houston, Heritage - Lost some small trees. Copper sheathing on old chapel’s steeple was stripped away, creating some damage both to the steeple and some water damage to chapel interior

Houston, John Knox - structure fine but lost several trees

Houston, Juan Marcos - no answer

Houston, Korean Central - only minor damage

Houston, Korean Young Nak - only minor damage

Houston, Memorial Drive - no power expected well into next week. Serving dinner to the community Wed. Night. Will worship Sunday - all other events cancelled

Houston, Pinecrest - had several bad leaks - several older members have large trees in homes. PDA is working with Pinecrest on immediate assistance ot members – also working to get a POD into their area.

Houston, Pines - lots of tree debris has been cleared. Offering ice and internet access and cell phone recharging to community

Houston, St. Andrews - no visible damage, no power

Houston, St. Giles – no answer

Houston, St. John’s - no damage visible from street

Houston, St. Luke - no damage but no power.

Houston, St. Philip - lost some small trees, in good shape

Houston, St. Stephen - some water damage from roof leaks. Roof damage especially over outreach center

Houston, St. Thomas - no damage, fully powered

Houston, Spring Branch - some water in sanctuary from backed up toilet, water in Fellowship Hall and Academy building but it’s been cleaned up

Houston, Thien An – no answer

Houston, University - big window in sanctuary broken out

Houston, Westminster - sign blew down, no other damage

Houston, Woodforest – no answer

Huntsville, FPC – no answer

Sealy, FPC – Tom Wessman reports the church is ok.

Katy, Grand Lakes – Harry Slye reports Grand Lakes building had no damage and did not lose power. They served breakfast yesterday and this morning to neighbors without power. About 100 yesterday and 30 today. Power is coming back on in the area. Grand Lakes is ready to receive 4 families and care for them the next two weeks in our education rooms upstairs.

Thank you, Mike for this report! Thanks also to Associate GP Mary Marcotte who gathered a lot of this information over the phone.

Presbytery Youth Update

2008-09-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

Associate General Presbyter Mary Marcotte called with the following information for presbytery youth:

Youth Council will NOT meet this Saturday.

The Youth Rally scheduled Sunday, September 28 has been POSTPONED for a future date.

Blogging the Recovery from Hurricane IKE

2008-09-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

Greetings and blessings to all of you in Presbytery of New Covenant who have internet access and are able to read this.

General Presbyter Rev. Mike Cole asked me to transform the PNC GA Newsblog into a Hurricane Ike Recovery blog so that it could become a clearinghouse place for information about churches, congregations and individuals in the area affected by Hurricane Ike. That includes just about everyone in the presbytery.

As I receive information or requests for information, requests and offers of assistance, or words of encouragement and prayer, I will post it here. The blog will be linked to the Presbytery's website and also to my blog, Quotidian Grace. Please email your submissions to the address on the sidebar, and I will post it as promptly as possible.

Yesterday I posted a report from Mike Cole with information about the status of many churches in the presbytery on my blog. Here is the link to that report: Church Status Damage Report.

Now, let us hear from YOU!

Mike Cole Revises Top 10

2008-06-30T05:34:00.000-07:00

Editor's Note: In response to yesterday's called presbytery meeting General Presbyter Rev. Mike Cole revised his Top 10 actions of the GA to include Christian-Muslim dialogue. He also revised the information regarding the proposed change to the Heidelberg Confession based on new information he received from the Office of the Stated Clerk.

Top Ten Actions of the General Assembly

The most prominent issues coming out of the General Assembly:

1. Approved an overture for presbyteries to vote on that would allow ordaining bodies more latitude in their examination of candidates. This overture needs a majority of the 173 presbyteries voting affirmatively in order to take effect. The specific language of the overture is:

[DELETE THE FOLLOWING] “Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.”

[REPLACE WITH THE FOLLOWING] “Those who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003), pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and G-14.0450) establishes the candidate's sincere efforts to adhere to these standards.”

2. Issued a new Authoritative Interpretation which goes into effect immediately:

“Interpretive statements concerning ordained service of homosexual church members by the 190th General Assembly (1978) of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the 119th General Assembly (1979) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and all subsequent affirmations thereof, have no further force or effect.

3. Issued a second new Authoritative Interpretation which also goes into effect immediately:

"The 218th General Assembly (2008) affirms the authoritative interpretation of G-6.0108 approved by the 217th General Assembly (2006). Further, the 218th General Assembly (2008), pursuant to G-13.0112, interprets the requirements of G-6.0108 to apply equally to all ordination standards of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Section G-6.0108 requires examining bodies to give prayerful and careful consideration, on an individual, case-by-case basis, to any departure from an ordination standard in matters of belief or practice that a candidate may declare during examination. However, the examining body is not required to accept a departure from standards, and cannot excuse a candidate's inability to perform the constitutional functions unique to his or her office (such as administration of the sacraments)."

4. Disapproved an overture seeking divestment from Caterpillar and Motorola.

5. Approved an amendment of the Heidelberg Catechism, which seeks to correct improperly translated scripture texts in the Heidelberg Catechism, the most notable of which was an insertion by the 1962 translators of the phrase, “homosexual perversion,” which was not in the original scripture text. According to the Office of the Stated Clerk, the Moderator of the GA will appoint a task force to study the amendments to the Heidelberg Catechism and make a recommendation to the 2010 GA. If the 2010 GA approves, the amendments will be sent to the presbyteries for a vote. Since this is a proposed change in our constitution, it will require 2/3 of the presbyteries to cast an affirmative vote.

6. Disapproved an overture to redefine marriage.

7. Referred the Form of Government Task Force Report to the church for a period of two years of study, consultation and review. A new task force will be formed to receive suggestions and will revise the Form of Government for presentation to the 2010 General Assembly.

8. Called for tolerance and peaceful relations between Muslim and Christian communities and “state that though we hold differing understandings of how God has been revealed to humankind, the PC (USA) affirms that as children of this loving God, we share the commandments of love for God and neighbor and the requirement to care for the poor.” This action encourages our congregations to engage in dialogue with Jewish and Muslim communities and commissions a study on Islam and Christian-Muslim relations. In a related action the GA supported an invitation to dialogue and cooperation entitled, “A Common Word Between Us and You,” a document from 138 Muslim clerics.

9. Elected Bruce Reyes-Chow as the Moderator of the General Assembly for the next two years and Gradye Parsons as the new Stated Clerk of the General Assembly for the next four years.

10. Affirmed our commitment to peace and justice in Palestine and Israel.

Top 10 Actions of the General Assembly

2008-06-28T05:54:00.000-07:00

From General Presbyter Mike Cole:

The most prominent issues coming out of the General Assembly:

Approved an overture for presbyteries to vote on that would allow ordaining bodies more latitude in their examination of candidates. This overture needs a majority of the 173 presbyteries voting affirmatively in order to take effect. The specific language of the overture is:

[DELETE THE FOLLOWING] “Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.”

[REPLACE WITH THE FOLLOWING] “Those who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003), pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and G-14.0450) establishes the candidate's sincere efforts to adhere to these standards.”

Issued a new Authoritative Interpretation which goes into effect immediately:

“Interpretive statements concerning ordained service of homosexual church members by the 190th General Assembly (1978) of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the 119th General Assembly (1979) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and all subsequent affirmations thereof, have no further force or effect.

Issued a second new Authoritative Interpretation which also goes into effect immediately:

"The 218th General Assembly (2008) affirms the authoritative interpretation of G-6.0108 approved by the 217th General Assembly (2006). Further, the 218th General Assembly (2008), pursuant to G-13.0112, interprets the requirements of G-6.0108 to apply equally to all ordination standards of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Section G-6.0108 requires examining bodies to give prayerful and careful consideration, on an individual, case-by-case basis, to any departure from an ordination standard in matters of belief or practice that a candidate may declare during examination. However, the examining body is not required to accept a departure from standards, and cannot excuse a candidate's inability to perform the constitutional functions unique to his or her office (such as administration of the sacraments)."

Disapproved an overture seeking divestment from Caterpillar and Motorola.
Approved an amendment of the Heidelberg Catechism, which would require affirmative votes of 2/3 of our 173 presbyteries to take effect. This amendment seeks to correct improperly translated scripture texts in the Heidelberg Catechism, the most notable of which was an insertion by the 1962 translators of the phrase, “homosexual perversion,” which was not in the original scripture text.

Disapproved an overture to redefine marriage.

Referred the Form of Government Task Force Report to the church for a period of two years of study, consultation and review. A new task force will be formed to receive suggestions and will revise the Form of Government for presentation to the 2010 General Assembly.

Elected Gradye Parsons as the new Stated Clerk of the General Assembly for the next four years.

Elected Bruce Reyes-Chow as the Moderator of the General Assembly for the next two years.

Affirmed our commitment to peace and justice in Palestine and Israel.

PNS Report on Ordination Standards Actions

2008-06-27T18:54:00.001-07:00

Here's the official PNS story about the ordination standards actions taken today at GA.

Called Presbytery Meeting Sunday at 3 pm

2008-06-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

From the Editor/Moderator--

This seems like a good time to remind the readers of this blog that there will be a called meeting of New Covenant Presbytery this Sunday at Pines Presbyterian Church, Houston, beginning at 3 pm. The purpose of the meeting is to hear the report from our commissioners to the 218th General Assembly. Come with your questions for the commissioners.

I'll put a reminder on the sidebar, too.

Mike Cole on Stated Clerk Election

2008-06-27T14:32:00.001-07:00

From General Presbyter Mike Cole:

Casey Jones garnered 25% of the vote in the election of the Stated Clerk, but it was not enough to overcome the 57% that Gradye Parsons garnered. Casey presented an outstanding speech and responded masterfully to questions from the commissioners, who ultimately elected the nominee of the GA Stated Clerk Nominating Committee. By my count, only one person not nominated by the GA entity was elected to office. I am very proud of Casey and the way he represented our presbytery. He conducted himself with dignity and integrity and did us proud.

Report from Mike Cole on Ordination Standard Changes

2008-06-27T14:29:00.001-07:00

From General Presbyter Mike Cole:

( Editor's note: a more complete report than the earlier post on this subject)

The General Assembly passed along to the presbyteries an overture to change the language in the Form of Government 6.01016b by a 54% to 43% margin. The suggested change is:

[DELETE]Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.

[Replace with the following] Those who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003), pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and G-14.0450) establishes the candidates sincere efforts to adhere to these standards.

The second major part of the overture to provide the following authoritative interpretation:

Interpretive statements concerning ordained service of homosexual church members by the 190th General Assembly (1978) of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the 119th General Assembly (1979) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and all subsequent affirmations thereof, have no further force or effect.

The first part of the overture will have to be approved by a majority of the presbyteries. The second half of the overture (Authority Interpretation) goes into effect immediately.

This AI goes along with an Authoritative Interpretation passed earlier by the GA by a similar margin:
[The 218th General Assembly (2008) affirms the authoritative interpretation of G-6.0108 approved by the 217th General Assembly (2006). Further, the 218th General Assembly (2008), pursuant to G-13.0112, interprets]the requirements of G-6.0108 [to] apply equally to all ordination standards of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Section G-6.0108 requires examining bodies to give prayerful and careful consideration, on an individual, case-by-case basis, to any departure from an ordination standard in matters of belief or practice that a candidate may declare during examination. However, the examining body is not required to accept a departure from standards, and cannot excuse a candidates inability to perform the constitutional functions unique to his or her office (such as administration of the sacraments).

This AI also goes into effect immediately and appears to give to ordaining bodies the prerogative of determining who can and who cannot be ordained. My read of this is that presbyteries and congregations cannot be forced to ordain someone, not can they be forced not to ordain someone - it is up to the ordaining body to determine who is qualified and on what basis.

Friday Morning GA Update

2008-06-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

Ordination Standard Change to Go to Presbyteries for Vote:

From the Presbyterian Outlook:

"Commissioners to the 218th General Assembly have voted to change the denomination’s constitution to approve the ordination of gay and lesbian persons, a change that will require ratification by a majority of the 173 regional presbyteries over the next year.

Two other actions adopted by the assembly will take effect immediately.
First, the commissioners approved by a vote of 375 to 324 a proposal from the Presbytery of John Knox that allows ordination “examining bodies to give prayerful and careful consideration, on an individual, case-by-case basis, to any departure from an ordination standard in matters of belief or practice that a candidate may declare during examination.” This takes effect immediately.
Second, the commissioners voted to send to the presbyteries for ratification language to replace the present rules that requires those being ordained and/or installed into ordained office to live “in fidelity in a marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness.”

See the full story here.

Parsons Elected Clerk

2008-06-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

Rev. Gradye Parsons was elected as the new Stated Clerk of the PCUSA on the first ballot with a decisive 57% of the vote. Parsons was the nominee chosen by the Nominating Committee.

PNC's Rev. Casey Jones came in second with 25% of the vote.

Rev. Ed Koster received 15% of the vote and Rev. William Tarbell was in single digits.

Musings From Marcotte

2008-06-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

From Associate General Presbyter Mary Marcotte:

I'm back at my desk in the presbytery office and had the LONG flight home on Thursday to reflect on what I have experienced so far.

The Assembly is indeed a family reunion. It was good to reconnect with folks with whom I've been engaged in ministry in other parts of the country through the years. I had the opportunity to visit with a variety of folks, including my son's college chaplain (Go Rhodes!), a young woman who interned with our youth group back when my young adult children were in middle school who is now a pastor in a small church in OK, several women with whom I did committee work back in Washington, DC and more.

I am thankful for the opportunity to attend the Assembly. As I entered the Exhibit Hall, I was struck by how many more National staff types I know now than I did when I began working in New Covenant. It is far easier to pick up a phone and make a call - and be heard - when you know the person.

Folks have asked me what I'd say about the proceedings so far...

If I had to sum up in one word, I'd say I have a huge spirit of hope.

I am so impressed by our new Moderator. Bruce Reyes-Chow is sharp and funny and faithful. He clearly gets the tension between honoring the tradition and moving into the future that God is preparing for us. When his eleven year old daughter offered prayers for her dad's service to the church, I confess that I was a little weepy. Listen to him talk with our own Shawn Coombs over at decently.org. There is a terrific post election interview on podcast.

I am so impressed with so many of the YADs and TSADs I have heard speak in committee hearings and then on the floor. We have articulate, faithful and committed young people in our denomination. They care deeply about the church and Christ's teachings.

It's time to get ready to follow the Stated Clerk's election proceedings on streaming video. Debbie Cenko wowed the Assembly with her nominating speech. for Casey Jones We'll see what happens next.

Thursday GA Update

2008-06-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

FOG: The committee recommended the Form of Government Task Force report be referred to the presbyteries for study and discussion. Also, additional members will be added to the Task Force and they will be asked to review and revise it for the 2010 GA. The expanded FOG will be asked to take into account the comments from presbyteries. The number of people added to the Task Force will depend on the number of the current members who agree to continue and will be appointed ONLY from the members of the committee that made the recommendation about the FOG Task Force report. (Editor's Note: This means that members of the New Covenant group that studied the FOG report and wrote an outstanding analysis of it are not eligible to be considered for the expanded Task Force) Here's the PNS story.

FUNDING NCD'S AND CHURCH RE-DEVELOPMENTS: After descending into a parliamentary black hole--what with a reconsideration, an "arrest of the report", and confusion on the floor and on the podium, the original motion from the committee (08-15) passed after the arrested report was bailed out (editor's little joke, sorry!) and proposed amendments to it failed. Your editor couldn't find a PNS story about this discussion, though.

MISSION INITIATIVE FUND: PNC pastor Rev. Dave Peterson, MDPC -Houston, addressed the GA to announce the Mission Initiative Fund raised $33 million in pledges for new church development. Dave is co-chair of the effort. Well done! Here's the full story from PNS.

REVISING THE HEIDELBERG CATECHISM: GA voted to initiate a process to amend "translation problems" in the Heidelberg Catechism. A study group will be appointed to make recommendations to the next GA which, if approved, would go to the presbyteries for approval. This was a very controversial debate because the proposed revised translation would remove reference to homosexual activity as a "perversion." A two-thirds vote of the presbyteries would be required for approval. See the full story from PNS here.

Today the election for Stated Clerk is scheduled. PNC's Rev. Casey Jones is one of the candidates. This is the most important election of the GA.

Round-Up of Wednesday GA Actions

2008-06-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

The General Assembly took the following actions yesterday:

Overture to Provide Habilitative Services for Children in the Pension Plan: Presbytery of New Covenant co-sponsored this overture which was initiated by the presbytery of Nebraska. The overture was approved. Here's the full story from the PNS.

Christian/ Muslim Relations: The General Assembly approved with amendments a resolution “On Calling for Tolerance and Peaceful Relations Between the Christian and Muslim Communities.” The most significant amendment involved removing a statement that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. There was extensive discussion on this item. PNS story is here.

Sexuality Curriculum: The GA approved, with comment, the overture to produce an "adolescent development curriculum", including human sexuality. Debate centered on the proposed human sexuality curriculum, and amendments that were offered which would have included specific instructions to the prospective curriculum writers were defeated. PNS story is here--scroll down because this article summarizes several other actions of the GA as well.

Stated Clerk Candidates Meet 'N Greet

2008-06-26T05:49:00.000-07:00

Jerry Hurst and Casey Jones confer at the Meet 'N Greet.

Stated Clerk candidates Rev. Casey Jones (New Covenant Presbytery, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Pearland) and Rev. Gradye Parsons (Nominating Committee nominee and Director of Operations for the General Assembly).

Photos by Diane Prevary

From Stated Clerk Rev. Diane Prevary:

Wednesday, June 25: 218th General Assembly

Today the candidates for Stated Clerk were given an opportunity to "meet and greet" the commissioners and visitors to General Assembly. For two hours, each of the four men shook hands and visited with folks who dropped by to meet them and to seek their positions on various issues facing the church.

Casey Jones was supported by a variety of folks, and especially of note was Rev. Jerry Hurst, most recently of the Southminster Church in Missouri City, and currently an Interim Associate General Presbyter in Sacramento, CA.

After lunch, the assembly reconvened in plenary session, where commissioners heard reports from and acted on recommendations from several committees both in the afternoon and evening sessions. Election of the Stated Clerk will take place Friday morning.

Editor's Note: Log onto the streaming video to see the election live!

Breaking News Round-Up From GA

2008-06-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a round-up of actions taken by GA committees in the past couple of days, as reported by the Presbyterian News Service:

New Covenant Overture Approved: By a 67-4 margin, the Social Justice Issues committee voted to approve the PNC overture to urge Congress and the President not to saddle future generations with any more debt. The overture asks the GA to “declare that federal government practices and policies that create ever-increasing debt and unfunded or underfunded obligations for future generations of Americans are a grave moral concern as well as a clear danger to the republic” and calls upon public leaders “to have the courage to address this economic and moral crisis while there is still time.”

Revision of the Authoritative Interpretation Regarding "Scrupling" Ordination Standards: The General Assembly Committee on Church Orders and Ministry has voted to recommend that the 218th General Assembly adopt a supplementary authoritative interpretation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) constitution that applies the historical practice of “scrupling” — the declaration of conscientious objection by candidates for ordination coupled with discernment by the ordaining body whether the declared objection is disqualifying — equally to all ordination standards of the denomination. See the full story here.

Fidelity and Chastity: The GA Committee on Church Orders and Ministry voted to recommend the deletion of 6.0106b of the Book of Order. Here's the link to the story.

Definition of Marriage: The GA Committee on Church Polity rejected an overture from the Baltimore Presbytery to define marriage as between "two people". Read the full report here.

Form of Government Task Force: The FOG report will be revised by an expanded task force, which will be instructed to take the comments received so far into consideration in making its revisions. Then the revised FOG will go to presbyteries for a period of discussion and consideration. PNC formed its own study group this year which produced a very thorough analysis of the present FOG proposal, which was distributed at the last presbytery meeting. Go here for the full story from the GA.

PNC Goes To the Hawg's

2008-06-25T05:59:00.000-07:00

From Stated Clerk Rev. Diane Prevary:

Tuesday evening: San Jose, CA.....

A free night for commissioners, IF their committee work is completed. Well, some are free and some are not. The folks from our presbytery who could, gathered with Mike, Mary, Wendy and me at Hawg's Seafood Restaurant for a delightful time of conversation and good food!

Mark , Jean, Libby, Monica and George have completed their work, but Herb and Gene and Debbie had to return for more tonight. Sam and his wife, Gloria, opted to share food and fellowship with the National Asian Presbyterian Council, and also had to return to work tonight. Dave Peterson flew home to conduct a funeral tomorrow for a long-term member of MDPC, but will return for the remainder of the week.

Other friends also joined us for dinner: Shawn Coons (AP, St. Philip); Martha Langford (former PNC staff member and minister-member of Chicago Presbytery; Carol Tompkins, David and Judy Fletcher (Snyod Exec); Ellie Cole, Vicky Jones (AP, MDPC) and Casey Jones (candidate for Stated Clerk), and Dave Steane ( Executive Pastor MDPC).

Many thanks to Carrie Walker for making the dinner arrangements for us!

Mike Cole Reports on Synod PDA Overture

2008-06-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

From General Presbyter Rev. Mike Cole:

I agreed to be the overture advocate for a Synod of the Sun overture affirming the work of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance following the hurricanes of 2005. After orientation on Friday night and some strategizing with the overture advocate from South Louisiana, whose overture was similar, I attended the Social Justice Committee where my overture was to be presented. I sat through the debate of several overtures before my overture came up for review.

Previously, the other overture advocate and I collaborated on a unified overture that took the best of each overture to make the work of the committee easier. That tuned out to be a great strategy since the overture that immediately preceded ours eventually (after an hour's debate)went to a re-write sub-committee for simplification. The two of us presented about five minutes of supportive information, answered a few questions and then watched in amazement as the committee voted unanimously to recommend our overture to the assembly.

Here's the text of our overture as it will go to the GA later this week:

Whereas Presbyterians throughout the General Assembly have been generous and gracious in responding to the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma with gifts of time, resources, and prayers;

Whereas Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has been and continues to be abundantly helpful in providing leadership and resources in the affected areas and in coordinating relief efforts throughout the denomination; and

Whereas PDA and the presbyteries and synods involved in recovery efforts recognize that the work of rebuilding is far from complete and have worked together to develop a long-term financial response plan,

RECOMMENDATION

Therefore, the 218th General Assembly (2008):

1. Thanks Presbyterians throughout the denomination for their generous giving, prayers, and volunteer services in recovery efforts;

2. Thanks and commends the staff and volunteers of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, who, working under extremely difficult circumstances, created a framework for a continued and faithful response to the storms of 2005.

3. Instructs Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to continue the work of nurturing partnerships with the presbyteries affected by the storms of 2005, including regular consultations concerning volunteers and resources.

4. Affirms and commends the long-term recovery plan for the Gulf Coast which was developed jointly by PDA and the synods and presbyteries impacted by hurricanes Rita, Katrina and Wilma. This plan, approved by the GAC, funds recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast through 2011 and allows for continuing evaluation and adjustments as circumstances change.

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

The destructive hurricanes of 2005, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, affected many communities and churches in the Southeastern United States. The presbyteries and synods of the Gulf Coast have been thoroughly involved with and informed about recovery efforts on many levels.

The members and churches of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), through their own efforts and through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and the agencies of the General Assembly, have made significant and continuing contributions to the ongoing work of rebuilding and recovery. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has worked as a significant partner in transmitting funds, recruiting and supporting volunteers, and developing partnerships with the affected presbyteries, including negotiating agreements concerning use of resources.

In January 2008, key persons from recovering presbyteries and synods gathered in Gulfport, Mississippi with PDA and GAC staff to share information. This group reviewed PDA expenditures from 2005 to the present and developed a plan for expenditures for recovery work through 2011.

While a few individuals call for the immediate expenditures of all funds, the leadership in the affected areas believes that an immediate distribution of funds would be unwise and would jeopardize the long-term recovery work outlined in the carefully developed plan of action adopted by the leadership of all of the presbyteries and synods in the affected areas. If it were not for the good stewardship of the governing bodies involved and PDA in setting aside funds for the future, the long term needs would not be met.

Opportunity to Support Casey Jones for Stated Clerk

2008-06-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

From General Presbyter Rev. Mike Cole:

The Rev. Debbie Cenko delivered an inspiring nomination speech on behalf of Casey Jones, putting his name officially in nomination. The election of the Stated Clerk is scheduled for Friday morning. Until then Casey, the other candidates and their supporters can talk but not "campaign."

There will be a time on Wednesday morning from 10-12 when the candidates will be allowed to set up a booth outside the exhibit hall where they and their supporters can converse with folks.

If anyone wants to help this "non-campaign" by showing up on Wednesday morning between 10-12, please feel welcome. We'll meet at the "Vista Point" on the second floor of the San Jose Convention Center.

GA Worship Observations

2008-06-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

From General Presbyter Rev. Mike Cole:

Imagine having to coordinate two simultaneous worship services (with about 4,000 participants in each) so that they would blend into one - that's the daunting task that faced the worship organizers for Sunday morning worship at GA. They actually pulled it off rather well. Each location had a full 200 voice choir, organists, orchestra and a full compliment of worship leaders. One sermon was delivered by the outgoing Moderator, Joan Gray. The music was wonderful, although it all tended toward the classical rather than incorporating contemporary music.

We recognized new chaplains in the military and commissioned young adult volunteers for international mission. Two of the new volunteers are from New Covenant - Elizabeth Cluff from Bryan, who is going to Belfast, and John Stanger from Bethel West Columbia, who is going to South India. We also commissioned long-term volunteers, one of whom is Vicki Smith from Webster who will be teaching in Jamaica. And we also commissioned young adult interns, one of whom is Tiffany Gonzalez, from the Woodlands, who is serving in the Office of Women's Advocacy. Communion was celebrated and a real sense of energy filled both worship venues. It was a grand way to start the day.

Tatoos and MORE at the GA Exhibit Hall!

2008-06-24T09:18:00.000-07:00

From Stated Clerk Rev. Diane Prevary

If you are a shopper, the Exhibit Hall is where you want to be in San Jose! Between Cokesbury and the Global Marketplace (SERRV and Fair Trade type products), 1/2 of the Exhibit Hall is devoted to books, pottery, woven products (fabric and baskets), jewelry, vestments, communion-ware, coffee products and the like. (Editor's Note: see previous post about the Calvin bobbleheads that I am coveting.)

The other half of the Hall is set up in display booths, one of which is "run" by the Association of Stated Clerks. While it may be difficult to imagine exactly what a group of stated clerks might have to offer the public, you would be amazed at how many folk stop by to be tattooed! Yes, you read correctly. We offer to "brand" folks with the PC(USA) seal -- tattooing them with the colorful symbol of our denomination! My own suggestion is that in wearing the tattoo, we are showing the world that the church is welcoming of pierced and tattooed persons! Well, the YAD's seem to appreciate that perspective.....

We also give out candy -- everyone needs extra sugar at GA -- and free polity advice! Again, you would be surprised at how many folk engage us in conversation about how the church works, and why. Warms the hearts of all of us polity-wonks!

Speaking of whom .... if you are one and haven't availed yourself of the closer look at what's happening here, log onto www.pcusa.org, and then to the GA link, and then to "PC-biz." If you register with a user name and password, you will be able to access all of the business before the assembly and see exactly what actions the committees are taking on each overture. It is amazing that for so many years we hauled tons of paper back and forth around GA, and now we have it all available at a keystroke!

Today is a social day for those of us from New Covenant. In addition to the committee work that continues, folks from the Synod of the Sun will gather together for lunch, and from our presbytery for dinner. This will give us two opportunities to touch base with each other and see how we are doing, as well as how the various committees are handling their business. Time is short before the assembly returns to plenary tomorrow.

{The tree is named "Jacaranda" -- from the mimosa family -- and is absolutely beautiful. I wonder if it will grow in southeast Texas?????}

Habilitive Services Overture Approved for Referral

2008-06-24T07:48:00.001-07:00

From Stated Clerk Diane Prevary:

Our other overture was APPROVED for referral to the assembly for their consideration (to direct the Board of Pensions to expand benefits to provide for habilitative services for children in the plan who have congenital disabilities). Pam Stoops'(ChristChurch) daughter, Mary, was a masterful coordinator of support for this overture.

Editor's Note: This is Overture 15.01, which was originally brought by the Presbytery of Nebraska. New Covenant is one of several other presbyteries that co-sponsored it.

Sighting: Calvin Bobbleheads

2008-06-24T06:08:00.001-07:00

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. It's a John Calvin bobblehead doll. Apparently they are being sold at PresbyFest in San Jose (a/k/a General Assembly). I SO want one for the dashboard of my car. Wouldn't that be cool? Much better than a plastic Jesus. Won't one of our New Covenanters bring one back for me? Please?

Social Justice Committee Comments on PNC Overture

2008-06-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

The PNC's Overture on the Church Addressing Intergenerational Injustice has been considered by the Social Justice Issues Committee to which it was assigned. Here are the Comments from the committee.

Report of Nominations for Stated Clerk

2008-06-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

Here's the official press release from the Presbyterian News Service summarizing the nominating speeches for the candidates for Stated Clerk. PresbyFolk in New Covenant will be interested to read more about Rev. Debbie Cenko's nomination of Rev. Casey Jones for this important position.

Otherwise, it's a slow news day at GA as committees are meeting and no plenary business sessions are scheduled.

Stated Clerk Race Is On!

2008-06-23T06:11:00.000-07:00

From Stated Clerk Rev. Diane Prevary:

Just before the dinner break tonight Debbie Cenko placed in nomination for the office of Stated Clerk, the name of Casey Jones from the Presbytery of New Covenant. Debbie's speech was filled with energy and conviction, a touch of humor, and was straight-forward and to-the-point! She nailed it! The election, however, is not until Friday. This gives the candidates time to meet the commissioners and for the current Stated Clerk to complete the work of this assembly.

I could not get close enough to take Debbie's picture on the platform while she was giving her speech, but I did capture a bit of her image on the large-screen monitor (see attached). I was also able to track down several of our commissioners (see attached) as they returned to the Plenary from a day filled with activities.

The committee meetings began tonight following dinner. The focus of the next two days will be the business of the assembly as assigned out to the 17 Standing Committees of this General Assembly. Each of our commissioners are assigned to different committees, so they will not be together again until they return to the Plenary on Wednesday.

Tomorrow I will speak before the committee that has received our overture petitioning the Board of Pensions to expand their benefits to include habilitative services for members of the medical plan (the ChristChurch Overture). Mike Cole will be tracking the activity around our overture from 1st Church, Pearland, concerning the Church Addressing Intergenerational Injustice in America. Mary Marcotte and Wendy Bailey are tracking the work of particular committees, and we will all be together on Tuesday night with our commissioners and friends who are here from New Covenant. It promises to be a busy week!

PNC Commissioners on the Job

2008-06-23T05:58:00.001-07:00

Sent by Stated Clerk Rev. Diane Prevary:

Dr. David Peterson, Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Houston; Elder Herb Meyers, First Presbyterian Church, Alvin; and Elder Libby Stapleton, First Presbyterian Church, Lufkin
Elder George Bones, First Presbyterian Church, Houston.

Elder Jean Boisaubin, Spring Branch Presbyterian Church, Houston.

Rev. Gene Price, Woodlands Community Presbyterian Church, Woodlands
and Elder Libby Stapleton.

Our New Moderator

2008-06-22T19:10:00.001-07:00

From Rev. Shawn Coons (associate co-pastor St. Philip Presbyterian Church, Houston):

Disclaimer: I was a member of Bruce's campaign team.

Most of you probably already know that we have a new moderator. So is the PC(USA) ready for a blogging, earring-wearing, techno-hipster, emerging-type moderator? Well, the Assembly seems to think so. BRC almost got the nod on the first vote (48%). I was in the press section twittering and live blogging (http://www.igeekrev.com/?p=157) the night and by the end of the evening the live blog (internet play by play commentary) had about 10-15 people contributing from in the hall and others at home around the country watching on streaming video. Almost all of those live bloggers were BRC supporters.

I guess no one really knows why the commissioners give one candidate the nod over the others. We interviewed all four candidates on our podcast (www.decently.org/podcast) and they were all very likable and dedicated men of faith and leadership. If I had to speculate I would say that the assembly appreciated several things about Bruce: his honesty, his perspective, and his humor.

Bruce tells it like it is, not to say that the other candidates aren't honest, but Bruce doesn't seem to give safe, easy answers. When asked last night about the ordination of gays and lesbians Bruce stated his position clearly that he believes in full ordination inclusion (actually, Carl Mazza was even more emphatic), at the same time stating that he knows that is not where the majority of the church is and that he would seek to be "excruciatingly fair." Bruce's blog (www.reyes-chow.com) is full of Bruce's thoughts and beliefs, and may make some people uncomfortable given how much Bruce puts himself out there.

Bruce brings a postmodern perspective to the role of moderator. "Context" is a word that you will hear often from Bruce. He strongly believes in being grounded in our tradition but shaping it in vastly different ways for different contexts. In his own church in downtown San Francisco he is part of a group of people who "do church" a little differently while still remaining thoroughly Presbyterian.

Finally, Bruce is a funny guy and will interject a lot of humor into his work. He had a lot of fun last night remarking on the guy who put a small platform on the podium last night each time it was Bruce's turn to speak (Bruce is not a tall man). In his press conference after the election he continued to amuse. When I asked him if he would wear a tie now that he is moderator (he wasn't wearing one during the election), he responded that he did indeed own one and would wear it at least in the GA worship on Sunday. He went on to say that all his people from his church would be there in worship because that was the only time they would see him in a tie and robe.

Bruce will need you prayers for the next two years. He is a full-time minister, Dad (three grade school daughters), and husband, and now moderator. He will also need your prayers because I think he will attract more "attention" than some past moderators and not all of it will be positive. So please pray for Bruce and for the rest of the Assembly.

Editor's Note: Moderator Reyes-Chow's blog has been added as a link to the sidebar--check it out! Photo from Presbyterian News Service.

Call To Order

2008-06-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

From Stated Clerk Rev. Diane Prevary--Entry #3 to GA Blog:

A somewhat battered Joan Gray called the 218th General Assembly to order at 10:00 am today (Saturday). She told the body that her bruised face was the result of a tumble down a flight of stairs earlier this past week -- which, thankfully, resulted in no more serious injuries.

The first day of the Assembly is spent hearing reports of work completed since the last Assembly; in orienting the commissioners to the voting procedures and equipment; and in general familiarity with the way the Assembly will work together over the next week.

The San Jose Convention Center bustles with activity. Thousands of volunteers are on-hand to assist commissioners and visitors in a multitude of ways. There is an eclectic array of booths and displays in the Exhibit Hall. There are very thirsty people -- due to the unusually hot temps -- and there is free water, as well as water for $4.00 a bottle! There are tortuous stone stairs (for one with a cane), and there are escalators (which do not run most of the time). Blessedly, there are also elevators.

Time now for a recess; I'll return after the election of the Moderator.

9:30 pm, June 21, 2007:
Elected on the second ballot as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. was The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow. An ordained minister since 1995, he is a 38 year old native Californian and founding pastor of Mission Bay Community Church, an NCD of San Francisco Presbytery. He is married to Elder Robin Pugh and they have three daughters, Evelyn (11), Abigail (7) and Analise (4).

In his words: "I am the grandson of Filipino and Chinese immigrants and my home church is Trinity Presbyterian Church, Stockton, CA. Through my family and my church I was taught the importance of tradition and heritage, service and social justice and shown the imperative to live one's life with a deep sense of gratitude for the reconciling nature of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ."

We will be getting to know our new Moderator as the week progresses. For now, may we pray God's blessing upon him in this service to our church.

Aliens or What?

2008-06-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

From Associate General Presbyter Rev. Wendy Bailey:

So, imagine a mob of Presbyterians standing on a corner in downtown San Jose as the first business meeting was breaking up. We were waiting for a traffic light and all carrying masks of John Calvin. The scene brought this response from an unknowing on-looker … “Are you guys aliens or what?”

Wendy

A Farewell to Clif Kirkpatrick

2008-06-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

From Rev. Diane Prevary, Stated Clerk #2: Farewell to Cliff

On Wednesday evening, at the Stated Clerks' pre-assembly conference, those gathered honored and bid farewell to our colleague, Cliff Kirkpatrick. Cliff will retire as the Stated Clerk of the PC(U.S.A.) at the end of this assembly. Serving the national church in a similar capacity to the clerk of session at the local level and stated clerk of a presbytery, Cliff has been a supportive member of this small group of ecclesial officers throughout his tenure. Now our group prepares to welcome a new member -- to be determined at the end of the General Assembly, when a new Stated Clerk will be elected.

dkp

(Editor's Note: One of the candidates for Stated Clerk is New Covenant Presbytery's own Rev. Winfield "Casey" Jones. At its last meeting the presbytery commended his candidacy to the commissioners at GA.)

Presbytery Stated Clerks Pre-Assembly Conference

2008-06-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

From Rev.Diane Prevary, Stated Clerk, New Covenant:

Stated Clerks from all over the country are descending upon San Jose today, in preparation for the General Assembly. Traditionally the clerks gather for a pre-assembly conference to assess the upcoming business. Many of us will work as staff to the various GA committes during the assembly, and/or as floor assistants during the plenary sessions. So, our conference the next two days will nourish us for the journey ahead!

My friend, Rebecca New, Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Southern Kansas, and I have planned three worship experiences for the clerks, framed by the sacraments. We will convene this afternoon with worship that includes the renewal of baptism; we will adjourn on Friday with the celebration of the Lord's Supper.

Faithfully,
dkp

(Editor's Note: Thanks, Diane, for checking in with this report! Blessings on all the Stated Clerks as they prepare for their duties at GA.)

Set Your Bookmarks Now!

2008-06-19T13:43:00.001-07:00

Here are some websites that PresbyPolityGeeks will want to bookmark in advance of the opening of the General Assembly, so you can stay up-to-the-minute on the latest developments:

Streaming Video Schedule of GA Events--Watch all the action (or inaction!) on your very own computer in the comfort of your own home. Pass the popcorn. Wear your jammies.

Presbyterian Outlook News Service-- Log on for reports from the Presbyterian Outlook

Presbyterian Outlook GA Blog-- Presbybloggers at GA can contribute to the blog. Read what's happening "on the ground".

Presbyweb -- Presbyweb is another good resource for timely reports from GA. Although it is usually published daily, during GA the editor will post updates frequently on events as they happen. Presbyweb is a subscription site, but offers a free trial. GA would be a great time to take advantage of that offer!

Other Presbyterian websites that will offer timely updates on GA happenings are:

Just Presbyterians-- focusing on issues important to the liberal/progressive side of the church

Presbyterian Coalition--focusing on issues important to the conservative/evangelical side of the church.

Of course, bookmark THIS blog for news and views from PNC commissioners and staff.

Warning: if y'all don't send me stuff, I'll be forced to make it up. (Email link on the sidebar!)

GA Theme Song 2008

2008-06-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

~with apologies to Dionne Warwick~

Can you pray your way to San Jose?
Two years passed since the last GA
That’s when the PUP came out to play
Who will moderate the GA in San Jose
Shoemaker, Teng, Mazza or Reyes-Chow?
GA could bring understanding, brotherhood or
Just another PresbyRow
Newbie commissioners just come and go
But the Stated Clerk stays on the roster
Will it be Tarbell, Jones, Parsons or Koster?
At the end of the week--they’ll vote on the Clerk
And then go home and tell the folks about the days they spent at GA.
Wo oh oh oh
And wonder how they got to San Jose
Wo oh oh oh
Will you pray their way to San Jose?

Top 10 Issues Before the GA

2008-05-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

The retiring Stated Clerk of the PC(USA), Rev. Clif Kirkpatrick, released his own "Top 10" Most Important Issues that will be coming before the 218th General Assembly in San Jose. The list is based on the overtures before the GA and his travels and conversations around the country in the past two years since the last GA. Here is Kirkpatrick's list:

A revised Form of Government
The Form of Government Task Force was created by the 217th General Assembly (2006) to propose a revised polity that would be more flexible, foundational and appropriate for a missional Reformed church in the 21st century. The task force is bringing a revised Form of Government for adoption by the assembly and recommendation to the presbyteries.

Partnership in World Mission
The 217th General Assembly called for a consultation between the General Assembly Council World Mission program and a variety of mission initiators in the PC(USA). The fruits of that consultation will be before this assembly in a call for an “Expanding Partnership in God’s Mission” that involves a wide variety of groups working together for the renewal of PC(USA) World Mission.

PC(USA) ecumenical stance and covenants
The 218th General Assembly will take action on a number of ecumenical items, including a proposed new policy on the ecumenical stance of the PC(USA) and covenant agreements with four different churches: the Korean Presbyterian Church in America, the Episcopal Church, the Catholic Church and the Moravian Church.

Peace, unity and purity of the PC(USA)
Several proposals concerning the peace, unity and purity of the church will be before this year’s assembly, including fresh ways to use discernment in our life together, reconsideration of some or all of the actions of the previous assembly in this area and proposals to change the constitutional standards for ordination.

The Belhar Confession
This assembly will be asked to act on a proposal to take the first step toward adding the Belhar Confession to The Book of Confessions. This confession grows out of the experience of Christians in South Africa and is an affirmation of the biblical call to Christian unity and racial reconciliation.

Middle East concerns
Before this General Assembly will be a variety of overtures and advocacy committee proposals to strengthen the PC(USA)’s witness to peace with justice in relation to both Israel/Palestine and Iraq.

Elections
A Moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008) will be elected to a two-year term, and a new Stated Clerk of the General Assembly will be elected to a four-year term.

Growing God’s Church Deep and Wide
The General Assembly Council is challenging the whole church to adopt a two-year commitment to grow the church in membership, in discipleship and in diversity.

Domestic social justice concerns
This assembly will address a large number of social justice concerns, including the adoption of a new Social Creed, as well as the adoption of major policy papers on serious mental illness, energy and global warming, pay equity for women, homelessness and electoral reform.

A church for future generations
One assembly committee will do generative thinking as it focuses on the church’s ministry to and with youth to ensure a church for future generations.

As GA approaches, what do you think are the most important issues before the church? Share in the comments below, and the blog editor will try to track developments on the issues most important to New Covenant.

Interviews with Moderator Candidates

2008-05-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

New Covenant Commissioners to GA, staff, observers and PresbyPolityGeeks-at-large will want to log onto the Decently and In Order website where you can listen to podcast interviews with each of the candidates for Moderator of the PC(USA). The interviews give you a chance to get a more complete impression of each candidate than is possible from reading print articles and interviews. And, by the way, Rev. Shawn Coons (associate co-pastor St. Philip PC, Houston) is one of the members of the Decently and In Order team. Check it out!

PNC's Overture: Intergenerational Injustice

2008-05-14T11:23:00.001-07:00

PNC sent one overture to General Assembly. The overture was assigned to the Social Justice Committee for consideration and one of our commissioners, Rev. Mark Cooper, co-pastor of ChristChurch, Bellaire, has been assigned to serve on the Social Justice Committee.

The overture originated with the session of First Presbyterian Church, Pearland and Rev. Casey Jones, the pastor of that church, will serve as advocate for the overture.

The overture reads as follows:

On the Church Addressing Intergenerational Injustice

The Presbytery of New Covenant overtures the 218th General Assembly (2008) to do the following:

1. Declare that federal government practices and policies that create ever-increasing debt and unfunded or underfunded obligations for future generations of Americans are a grave moral concern as well as a clear danger to the republic.

2. Call upon public leaders to have the courage to address this economic and moral crisis while there is still time.

3. Call upon individual Presbyterians, sessions, presbyteries, and agencies of General Assembly to study, pray, and speak words of justice and morality into the present situation and to defend future generations who have no defense. We do not at this time call upon General Assembly agencies to prepare study documents or study papers, and we do not propose that the church at this time have a monolithic policy recommendation. We do call upon the church and the nation to study the policies and practices that have created this grave moral and economic crisis, to repent of the sins of greed and of stealing from future generations who cannot defend themselves, and to call upon our citizens and national leaders to make the sacrifices necessary to begin to solve this problem before it is too late.

4. Call on the nation for a day of prayer on this issue.

The rationale for the overture can be read on the GA website: pc-biz.org.

Doing GA Web 2.0 Style!

2008-05-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

PNC's own "geekrev", Shawn Coons is organizing fellow Presbybloggers to do General Assembly "Web 2.0-style." Read all about it on his blog here.

There is a link on the sidebar for PNC bloggers who will be attending and/or following the GA on their blogs. Please let us know in the comments if you would like your blog added to this list.

PNC Commissioners and Committee Assignments

2008-05-12T12:54:00.000-07:00

At Saturday's presbytery meeting the commissioners to the 218th General Assembly were formally commissioned. We have ten commissioners and one Youth Advisory Delegated slated to attend the General Assembly. Youth Advisory Delegates have voice but not a vote at General Assembly. Each commissioner and YAD is assigned to serve on a committee at General Assembly and those assignments have been made as follows:

ELDER COMMISSIONERS

1. Jean Boisaubin, Spring Branch Presbyterian Church, Houston, Ecumenical & Interfaith Relations

2. George Bones, First Presbyterian Church, Houston, Church Growth & Christian Education

3. Monica Lin, Formosan Presbyterian Church, Houston, Review of GA Permanent Committees

4. Herb Myers, First Presbyterian Church, Alvin, Form of Government Revision

5. Libby Stapleton First Presbyterian Church, Lufkin, Theological Issues & Institutions

MINISTER COMMISSIONERS

6. Deborah Cenko, First Presbyterian Church, Wharton, Mission Coordination & Budgets

7. Mark Cooper, ChristChurch, Bellaire, Social Justice Issues

8. Sam Fabila, Biyaya Community Church, Missouri City, Church Orders & Ministry

9. Dave Peterson, Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Houston, Health Issues

10. Gene Price, Woodlands Community Church, Woodlands, Peacemaking & International Issues

YOUTH ADVISORY DELEGATE

11. Maricarmen Cabral, St. Giles Presbyterian Church, Houston, Church Polity

Please pray for our commissioners as they prepare to fulfill their committee assignments!

PNC Commends Candidacy of Rev. Casey Jones

2008-05-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

At its May 10th stated meeting, the Presbytery of New Covenant voted to adopt a resolution commending the candidacy of Rev. Winfield ("Casey") Jones for the position of Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PCUSA. Rev. Jones is a member of the PNC and pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Pearland.

The motion was made by Rev. Kevin Keaton, pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Sugar Land and reads as follows:

"Two days ago, the Stated Clerk nominating committee of the General Assembly announced three additional certified candidates for the office of GA stated clerk in addition to its nominee, associate stated clerk Gradye Parsons. Only 13 people who had applied last year were eligible to be nominees. A member of our Presbytery, Winfield Casey Jones, had declared his intent under the option provided under our polity to have his name placed in nomination.

The Presbytery of new Covenant, meeting in a Stated Meeting on May 10, 2008, expresses its thanks to the Stated Clerk Nominating Committee for its hard and prayerful work. We ask the 218th General Assembly to honor that work and its goal of finding the person whom God has selected for this office in two ways.

First, we ask the 218th General Assembly to seriously and prayerfully consider and honor the committee's nominee, Gradye Parsons.

Second, knowing the heart, work and gifts for ministry of Winfield Casey Jones as we do we also commend him to the 218th General Assembly for its serious and prayerful consideration for the position of Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)."