Category Archives: Assembly

June Assembly Stewardship Follow-up

Joy and thanksgiving on beautiful paper! What you see above are your prayers of gratitude.

At the June 8 assembly you were invited to bring prayers of thanksgiving forward after the sermon, written on small squares of origami paper. I took them home and put them in a jar, praying your thanksgivings with you.

I expected it to be fun. I didn’t expect to be so moved that tears came to my eyes.

Opening each prayer turned out to be an opportunity to acknowledge the generous working of God in the lives of others. It was like looking at a meadow full of different wildflowers. When we are thankful for these gifts that are dear to us, we hold them close to our hearts, and that means we attend to them and we tend them. Caring for the gifts we have received from God is at the heart of stewardship.

Thank you for the privilege of sharing your prayers.

~ Michelle

Coming Up: In a month or two you can expect to see newsletters and other resources for nurturing the joy of your congregation as they steward all the gifts and resources you have been given for your ministry, from skills and vocations to buildings and finances.

Feel free to write with ideas: mjbartel@gmail.com

And write or call (812-292-0950) if you’d like to join me in this work!

What Happened at Assembly on March 5th?

New Moderator, Rev Scott Hill, wielded the gavel for his first meeting of POV. Scott is transitioning from his ministry as pastor at Corydon to being the interim pastor at Columbus First.

Representation in Balance Part of the fundamental principles of the Presbyterian Church is that ministers (Teaching Elders) do not outweigh Ruling Elders in meetings and deliberations. The balance is sound in POV.

Parish Associate is a role in the church for ministers who worship in local congregations. It is helpful at times to clarify the position of such a minister to the Pastor who serves that church. The position is no longer a part of the Book of Order. A POV process for creating a Parish Associate position was shared.

Report received on payments of per capita and of shared mission giving. The level of per capita payments and of shared mission giving was published in the Assembly papers. It will continue to be published.

Changes in the role of moderators of sessions were outlined. Additional roles for persons who are moderating sessions were outlined. An identified commission may appoint Moderators rather than the entire COM. Some additional compensation will be attached to the role depending on the amount of work really needed.

A team was appointed to examine the vision statement of the presbytery and propose any needed structural changes.

Youth Triennium was promoted strongly. POV plans to send a group of 50 youth to this year’s Triennium.

POV Academy has a broadened mission and continues to offer high quality educational opportunity to all who want to learn. This is not just about being Commissioned to act in pastoral duties. It is now about learning regardless of other goals.

Votes on Overtures took place at the Assembly. Last summer’s GA meeting approved and sent to the presbyteries about 20 Overtures. One was to adopt a new translation of the Heidelberg Catechism. 10 overtures were somewhat technical changes in the Book of Discipline and concerned Judicial process. Most of the remaining Overtures were also technical and what the committee referred to as custodial. There were no overtures that inspired strong debate as has happened so often recently.

Larry Jackman, Stated Clerk

December 4th Assembly

The next Assembly will take place at 1:00pm Eastern time on Tuesday, 12/4/2012, at the Mitchell Presbyterian Church in Mitchell, IN.

Registration will begin at 12:00pm (EST).

Reports for the Packet must be submitted via email by Friday, November 23rd to Stephanie Worden.

The packet, driving directions, and the minutes from the June meeting will be available for download from the assembly webpage after 4:00pm (EST) on Monday, November 26th.

Online registration for the Assembly is available now. Please let us know if you will be in attendance!

What Happened at Assembly 9/15/12

The Presbytery met in Assembly at PYOCA. It was an opportunity for the members of Presbytery to see and appreciate the wonderful resource of the Camp and help celebrate the recent 60th “birthday” of this ministry.

Preparation for Ministry is something that happens in many steps. Two phases in those steps are a period of Inquirer status and Candidacy. Candidate status comes when both the person and the presbytery agree that there is a real call to Teaching Elder Ministry and the gifts are present to make that call a reality. Martha Lasher, a member at Brownstown Church, moved to Candidacy with the recommendation and support of the Committee on Preparation for Ministry and the action of the presbytery. Martha’s sense of call is to the military chaplaincy. She serves in the National Guard currently.

Per Capita for 2013. The per capita is to support the maintenance and administrative costs of the church at various levels. In some real sense it is the cost of doing business. Program costs are not part of the per capita budgets of the church.

Per capita for 2013 will be the same as for 2012—that is $29.33. The presbytery is going to absorb increases in other places to keep the total the same.

Minimum Compensation standards were established for 2013. There is a 3% increase in minimum compensation for 2013. There is also a 1% increase in pension dues. Full data is on the Presbytery website.

The Great Swap-a-Roo. Church Transformation reported that Reformation Sunday, October 28 will be an opportunity for congregations to share with other congregations the stories of ministry going on in their communities. Many of our churches will designate a speaker to send to another church and tell a story of ministry and of the differences being made by our people in each place.

2013 Budget Approved Our budget for next year maintains a total anticipated expenditure budget of almost no increase. (Less than $300 out of almost $ 400,000.)

Worship included Rev Dave Crittenden sharing a sermon on Stewardship and the “New School Praise Band of Brownstown Church sharing music.

Larry Jackman
Stated Clerk, Presbyery of Ohio Valley

Fellowship Before the Assembly!

Friday POV Overnight at Camp PYOCA

September 14-15, 2012

Come one, come all!

Have you ever left a Presbytery meeting sorry that you didn’t have time for conversation or prayer with someone? Wendy Olson and Linda Peters have also felt that way. They also wondered if you’ve never been to a Presbytery meeting because you thought they were always MEETINGS? So they have planned this gathering just for you.

Here are some of what will be available alongside the September meeting. Relax. Share a long conversation. Laugh and sing silly songs. Pray for a good long while. Eat a leisurely meal. Walk in the woods. Play with children. Roast MARSHMALLOWS! These things may not typically be associated with a Presbytery meeting, but these are things designed into the OPTIONAL Pre-Presbytery-Party event for Friday evening.

We hope you will be there so we can share these with YOU! Oh, and bring the family – the whole family. They are all invited and there will be special activities for non-delegates during the Saturday Assembly.

Join us Friday night for fun and reflection with your fellow Presbyterians.

You can come early on Friday (no lunch provided)
Dinner will begin at 6:00PM and be available till 7:00PM.
Breakfast will be with the Presbytery at 9:00 AM (early risers will have a basket in their cabins)
If you play a musical instrument, please bring it to join in the fun.

There will be an inter-active prayer center at the chapel available through lunch on the 15th.

If you have any particular joys or concerns for you or your congregation please send them to Linda Peters to list in the prayer center.

Through a generous grant by the Council the cost is only $20/ person. Children 12 and under are free.

To attend the event, print the Registration Form, fill it out and mail it (with payment) by August 31st to the Presbytery Office:

Presbytery of Ohio Valley
1701 E. 2nd Street, Suite 100
Bloomington, IN 47401

Assembly: September 2012

The next Assembly will take place at 10:00am Eastern time on Saturday, 9/15/2012, at PYOCA Camp and Conference Center in Brownstown, IN.

Registration will begin at 9:00am (EST).

Reports for the Packet must be submitted via email by noon on Monday, September 3rd to Stephanie Worden.

The packet, driving directions, and the minutes from the June meeting will be available for download from the assembly webpage after 4:00pm (EST) on Thursday, September 6th.

Online registration for the Assembly will be available on Thursday August 2nd. Please let us know if you will be in attendance!

What Happened at the June 2nd Assembly

What Happened at Assembly on June 2, in Evansville?

Host Church hospitality is always a great part of what any Assembly is about. First Church in Evansville is in the heart of a beautiful historic district. The Church and the homes around it reflect the period of the late 1800’s. Our hosts greeted us, made us welcome in every way, fed us and shared a great sanctuary for our meeting. We made new friends and embraced old ones.

Examination of Candidates for Ministry:
Deborah Fortel, Committee on Ministry Moderator, reminded us that the face of ministry is now often that of being “bi-vocational”. That is the minister is employed in more than one vocation and the church is a part time call for very many. We heard two candidates for ministry preach, examined them and approved them both for ordination and for part time calls in our churches.

Alex Becker will serve the churches in Henryville (Community and Mount Lebanon) while he also labors in two additional callings. Alex is tri-vocational.
Julie Olt will serve the Church of Covenant in Elizabeth while she also works a second calling.

Church Transformation Work Group and “the Great Swaparoo”
Church Transformation is convinced that every one of our congregations has a great story to tell to another of our churches. Two people from every church should take the word to another church on the same Sunday. These are our stories about transformation. As a model the presbytery heard two stories from two places. One story was of an activity that had zero dollar cost, happened in a small church, and helped the church encounter its own community in a rich way. No excuses from anyone else—it can happen. A second story reached outside our culture—a Presbyterian Revival.

On Reformation Sunday (Oct. 28) we will conduct the “Great SwapaRoo” and hear each other’s stories of “reforming and transforming” our very beings and ministries.

New Hymnal presentation was offered by Tim Jessen. Tim led us in an exploration of a new Presbyterian hymnal that will be out in the next year.

Center for Congregations ministry was interpreted for us by Wendy McCormick.

March 2 Recovery—Jean Beaver interpreted the progress of the Tornado Recovery efforts after three months .

Statistical Reporting:
The Stated Clerk offered a perspective on statistics for the presbytery. Not being happy with “ain’t it awful”, he reported good realities that are present in our stats. An example of his statistics might be: the church looses more people from loss of interest than any other cause. This is the “back door of the church loss”. Two of our churches get the “closing the back door” award. One Church with less than 80 members restored 12 members. One church with less than 150 members restored 11.

There is good to be celebrated. Look for the good and imitate it.

Lawrence Jackman, Stated Clerk