Category: Session Info (church Board) - Edmonds Presbyterian Church

Are You Listening?

7/1/2021

Our Daily Bread for Saturday, June 26, 2021 had a thought provoking (and humorous) story. United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt often endured long receiving lines at the White House. As the story is told, he complained that no one paid attention to what was said. So, he decided to experiment at a reception. To everyone who passed down the line and shook his hand, he said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” The guest responded with phrases like, “Marvelous! Keep up the good work. God bless you, Sir.” It wasn’t until the end of the line, greeting the ambassador from Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. Nonplussed, the ambassador whispered, “I’m sure she had it coming.”

Do you wonder if God hears your prayers? For the past several months you and I have been praying for a new pastor to come along and walk with Edmonds Presbyterian Church for our next season in life. I don’t know about you, but it seemed like God did not answer my prayer. I had specifically asked for a pastor to join us right after Pastor Amy retired. It didn’t happen. What is going on? It is similar to the prayer, “Lord grant me patience, and give it to me now!”

It is a blessing that God doesn’t run on my schedule. If HE did, I would be in a terrible mess now. Think back about some of the things you have prayed for and God mercifully DID NOT grant them. I am reminded by what Ruth Graham said about her prayers for a husband. “God is mercifully and did not answer my prayers for a mate – many times. If He had, I would have married the wrong man, several times!”

As this Caller is being sent out, your session is in final discussions with an individual we believe God has called specifically for Edmonds Presbyterian Church. If this is the right person, you will have the opportunity to meet them soon. If not, God is still working to find the right person for us to love and serve with in His kingdom.

We are all aware of some of the great waits in the Bible. Times when God said there was going to be something that happened and then nothing seemed to happen. Think about the wait of some of the Hero’s of Faith, Noah, Abraham and Sara, David, Moses, Rachael, and so many more. They were all promised something and then…nothing…or at least nothing for a while and THEN – STAND BACK AND LOOK OUT!

I’ve been told many times, not your time, but God’s time. I usually think maybe God messed up on this. This is the right time, or at least I think it is. God, what is going on? Then in retrospect I see how it was divinely inspired that my time was not the right time and THANK GOD for your perfect timing!
God hears the cries of our heart. “I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.” Psalm 17:6

Thank God that He doesn’t answer prayer on our schedule!

Don I.
Session Administration and Finance

Moses, Aaron, and Us

4/28/2021

How are we like Moses and Aaron?
When the Lord ordered Moses to go to Pharaoh and ask him to let the Israelites leave Egypt, Moses had several questions for the Lord. Perhaps some well-founded insecurities. (Passages from Exodus 3:11 – 4:10) “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? What if they ask me your name? What if they don’t believe me or listen to me? I am slow of speech and of tongue.” After the Lord answered all of these questions, Moses said (Exodus 4:13) “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” At this point the Lord told him that Aaron his brother would help him, by speaking on behalf of Moses.
One thing I have learned from our Bible studies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays is that God can do anything, anytime, with anyone He wants - PERIOD! The Lord could have told Moses to go to Egypt and bring the Israelites out BY HIMSELF and it would have been done. However, God seemed to realize that Moses needed a little help, someone to walk with him on this journey. This is where Aaron (Moses’ older brother) comes in and together, well the rest is recorded in the Bible.
Okay, always enjoyable to reread Exodus, but what does this have to do with you and me? Good question. You may be aware that your session is currently searching for a new pastor. Searching for a pastor to nurture and help our congregation grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ is a significant task in and of itself. Add the restriction of not being able to physically meet with our congregation until we have a safer environment and it becomes a very difficult process.
As you might guess, session wants to be very deliberate about what we do and how fast we are doing it. It just so happens we are in this process on behalf of people we love and care deeply about. We want the best for them, and that may take additional time.
If you are still scratching your head going, what does this have to do with Moses and Aaron and us? Picture if you will, that our session is Moses. We have been charged with a very significant task, finding a new pastor for the most wonderful people we know. We (session) can do this on are own, but we are hesitant like Moses was. The Lord knew we need help and sent us “an Aaron” to walk beside us while we are in this process.
“Aaron” came to us, unsolicited, in the form of a question by our brothers and sisters at Calvin Presbyterian church. Was there anything they could help us with during our pastor search process? AMEN! Yes, was session’s response.
Over the last several weeks we have been blessed to have a variety of messages from gifted pastors in our area. One thing that has been missing is not having continuity in our sermons or a series of sermons on the same topic.
Beginning May 9th, Neil Trainer, Pastor at Calvin Presbyterian church is beginning a sermon series that Calvin will be sharing with us titled “Pandemic Practices”. We are very grateful for this opportunity to have our brothers and sisters at Calvin walk along with us during our pastor search process.
In exchange for the sermon message that Calvin will share with us, we have invited Calvin to share in our Tuesday and Wednesday Bible studies and monthly Women’s Association meetings. Details are currently being worked out.

Session News

2/25/2021

Where do we go from here?

Our church is at a crossroads. As we start the new year, and in the process of looking for a new pastoral care, we ask that you continue to pray that God will send a new leader for our church. For the past 10 years Pastor Amy has served our church as fulltime, three quarter time and finally half-time. She has shepherded our church thru the word of God, prayers, and counselling. She shared our joys and sorrows, enjoyed church picnics, potlucks, coloring nights, and crochet group. We are grateful for the time and fellowship we had together, and we send her off with prayers to her new chapter of her life.

In this midst of uncertainty, we continue to believe that God will direct us to the new possibilities out there to be discovered. God is always faithful. Currently the session is in the process of reviewing job applicants, in the meantime we are using pulpit supply pastors from the Presbytery list so our worship service will not be interrupted. Difficult as it may be at times it is part of a larger picture. For our church family, this transition means being flexible and remembering that transition is part of the growth process. God will bless us when we remain faithful and wait. As faithful servants we will be positioned to receive and enjoy the blessings God brings through the transition. Let us keep the faith and pray for each other and for our church.

So What Now - LOVE?!

2/3/2021

Our Pastor of 10 years is gone. We are unable to worship, sing, visit and eat Jerry’s maple bars in person. We haven’t heard Brian, Alison, and Sarah, accompanied by Gina in person for 11 months. We have not heard Kathy and the choir perform in person. We haven’t been greeted at the door by Don H.   senior and Sid since last spring. We don’t get to admire one of Jim’s restored automobiles. No birthday cake and celebrations in the fellowship hall. The sanctuary and fellowship hall are empty. And the plan session had for transferring ownership of our property to Presbytery and becoming a tenant is no more. What now? Do you feel like we are alone with no-one in charge?

GOOD NEWS – God is still in charge! I will never leave you or forsake you! Joshua 1:5. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27. Working closely with Presbytery, session has    crafted a job description (on our website) describing the pastor we are seeking. There is an approved budget for 2021 that provides for our church in a financially responsible manner. By the time this article is published, session anticipates being in the process of reviewing applications and conducting interviews. By mid-March (of this year) we should have our new pastor! How exciting for us and for that individual, whomever he or she maybe?

Why exciting? Because of you. Yes, you. You may be expecting this pastor will do a lot for us, but I don’t think that will be the case. I think we will be the ones that will bless them. Why? You love so well! Over the last several months I have had the privilege of, working with the other members of session, attending the weekly bible study (a study of Christian Virtues – the current virtue we are studying is LOVE – what a coincidence?), participating in the 21-day racial justice challenge (we are now in day 200+ with no sign of stopping) and attend the regular Sunday afternoon check in. In all of these activities, I am so overwhelmed with the acts of love I see on your part. If you do not currently participate in one or more of these groups, join us! In addition, there are other groups in the church, women’s association, men’s group, and the session always have needs for volunteers for committees in    administration, finance, missions, education, and congregational life. Don’t hesitate to call Kim in the office and together we will find a group that you will “love.” There is room for you and you will be BLESSED, guaranteed.

The same love that so easily flows from you, will be needed for our new pastor. Imagine them wanting to meet and talk with you, but they aren’t able to do it in person. Many of you are amazing cooks and would host the new pastor for a visit. They would be engulfed by your hospitality, care for one another, and your delicious goodies! How are you going to share that love that so easily flows from your nature with our new pastor without meeting in person?

Yes, we have work to do. We have to get ready to LOVE our new pastor. We need to make their transition to our congregation a joyful time for them. A time when they will reflect back and realize what great disciples of Jesus the congregation of Edmonds Presbyterian Church is. They truly reflect John 13:34-35, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Maybe, we should not just do this for our new pastor, but for all of the people we meet. The stockers at the grocery store, the parking enforcement officer (Brian E.), the receptionist at the dental office, the mail carrier who comes to your door, the young couple down the block, the flight attendant on Alaska Airlines (Allison), or the teenager that walks by your place. Love one another.

Get ready for our new pastor. Be yourself and love well. God will take of you, me and Edmonds Presbyterian Church. 1 Peter 5:7 cast all your care upon God for HE cares for you!

…love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39
Submitted by the least member of Session,
Don I

Session News

2/3/2021

Dear Edmonds Presbyterian congregation,
Listed below is an excerpt from the “Northwest Coast Presbytery policy on Separation Ethics when dissolving a call” guidelines to our church stating s to what capacity we can communicate with our departing pastor.

To Individual Members of the Congregation.
Pursuant to G-2.0905 it is important that, with particular friends, it be made clear that the pastoral relationship will come to an end. This does not mean that friendships must come to an end. Friendships are priceless and are to be preserved, but there is a special responsibility on the part of the departing pastor to prevent friendships from becoming confused with the pastoral relationship. The pastoral functions of counseling, calling, conducting weddings, funerals, or baptisms are not appropriate. Neither is the rendering of opinions or judgments about the ministry of the former church or its pastor. If the former pastor receives a request to return to the congregation for a particular occasion, it is important for her/him to remind those making the request that the present pastor is the one to whom the request should be made.

From Session
Edmonds Presbyterian Church

SESSION NEWS

12/1/2020

What has your Session been up to?
It is an active time to be on the Session! We have
· Drafted a preliminary budget (we are still waiting for your pledges!)
· Begun preparing a job description for the next pastoral leader, in consultation with our Presbytery liaison, Rev. Ted S.
· Continued to support our mission causes.
· Sent our cards and gift-cards of thanks to all seven of the active teachers connected with our congregation. Please keep them in your prayers. They are doing great work during a difficult time.
· Continued to offer worship, bible study, fellowship, and Women’s Association via Zoom.
· Continued to reach out to every member and friend in the church directory – online or by phone – to offer our prayers and support, with the assistance of the deacons and staff members.

Please continue to keep your session elders and their work on your behalf in your prayers.

PRAYER WALK

12/1/2020

Since our property is visited by many members of the neighborhood community we wanted to invite them to walk the property looking for messages of hope, the Session approved a project to create a prayer walk on our property.

We started by ordering some inexpensive non-permanent yard signs to see how this idea is received. The committee hopes to have these signs in place the first part of December, We welcome you to drop by and visit our church commons. We invite you to walk the property. Take a moment to reflect on the 7 messages. We hope to be a blessing to you and your family.

Linda K. R.
EPC
Elder Clerk of Session

THANK YOU RUTH

12/1/2020

Thank-you, Ruth! Many thanks to Ruth R. who has finished her term as an Elder on the Session. She ably led us with her heart for mission to learn about and support our mission causes. Thank you, Ruth!

SESSION NEWS

11/10/2020

What has your Session been up to?

It is an active time to be on the Session! We
· Have begun work on the 2021 budget
· Have begun looking at models of pastoral ministry
· Are able, because of COVID-19, to keep elders and deacons on their respective boards for an additional year. We are grateful that both Elder Don I and Deacon Nancy B have agreed to serve for another year
· Continue to support our mission causes
· Continue to offer worship, bible study, fellowship, and game nights via Zoom
· With the assistance of the deacons and staff members, we continue to reach out to every member and friend in the church directory – online or by phone – to offer our prayers and support.

Please continue to keep your session elders and their work on your behalf in your prayers.

Session News

10/1/2020

It is an active time to be on the Session! We have:
· Completed two initial sessions for discerning what’s next for our congregation and its ministry.
· Begun work on a project to bless our immediate neighbors with messages of hope.
· Met with our Presbytery Executive, Dr. Corey Schlosser-Hall, and continued to meet with our Presbytery Liaison from the Commission on Ministry, Rev. Ted Schuldt. We are learning what options are available to us for future ministry, and beginning the process of discerning the first next step.
· Received a Northwest Coast Presbytery grant for future architect plans, if needed.
We also:
· Continue to support our mission causes.
· Continue to offer worship, bible study, fellowship, and game nights via Zoom.
· With the assistance of the deacons and staff members, we continue to reach out to every member and friend in the church directory – online or by phone – to offer our prayers and support.

Please continue to keep your session elders and their work on your behalf in your prayers.