New Beginnings
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
For God says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:1-2
It was a busy weekend for me. The National Indonesian Presbyterian Council (NIPC) met on Saturday, hosted by GKI LA, as their pastor Pipi Dhali is Moderator. It was nice to be able to celebrate with the national gathering GKI LA as our newest chartered congregation. Yesterday, I preached at Claremont Presbyterian Church, as they enter a time of transition. And in the afternoon, Interwoven held their Eagle Rock launch. And it is now a week and a day until Election Day, and fundamental changes in staffing at the national church are in the works but not yet announced. So there is much to pray for, in thanksgiving and also concern.
All three churches—GKI LA, Claremont and Interwoven—are experiencing active change. As a new congregation, GKI LA’s session is feeling the weight of the many responsibilities of our sessions. As a matter of fact, if there was one theme for my work these days, it is the near-unbearable burden carried by sessions, as they must take responsibility for an ever-growing list of requirements, from the denomination but also the many government agencies that demand reporting or compliance in order to maintain status as tax-exempt corporations.
To that end, the Presbytery Executive Commission has approved the recommendation from Personnel to open a new half-time “Business Manager” position. This position is similar to Sam Bang’s
position, so it may carry the title Associate Executive Presbyter, as the person will work with Administration and Finance to manage the Presbytery’s financial and property assets, as well as provide guidance and support to sessions needing help with their own issues. The job description has not been finalized yet but it will be posted soon, as the hope is for this position to be filled in January.
Claremont is not a new church, but they are set for a new chapter in their ministry. Karen Sapio has left after over 18 years as head of staff, and Ruth Schmidt is a temporary associate, as Brian Symonds left at the beginning of the year. Both Karen and Brian had excellent ministries at Claremont, and have moved to new calls—as Executive Presbyter of North Central California Presbytery (Sacramento and Stockton) and Pastor of All Peoples Presbyterian Church in Cathedral City, respectively. This is a challenging time for Claremont, but the leaders also recognize that it is a great opportunity to look at their vision as a church and the needed staffing structure in a new way.
Claremont is being supported by Ruth and Sandy Tice, who will be starting as Bridge Pastor in November. Sandy was Associate Pastor at Claremont through the 1990s, but has been serving as Pastor for First Presbyterian San Bernardino. One thing in this transition has become clear, that Claremont has an excellent track record of fruitful and positive relationships with their pastors, which bodes well for them when they are ready to search for new pastoral staff.
Interwoven held a new launch on Sunday, officially reaching out to the Eagle Rock community as they are now settled in the facility. The worship service was a great celebration, with many visitors as well as the regulars, and there was great energy among the participants. They are evolving their music leadership, partly in anticipation of a likely move to Sunday mornings in 2025. Many of their musicians in the past already have Sunday morning gigs with other churches. But the new leaders are more focused on inviting more participation from the congregation, which was a priority from the leadership team. I sense that the Interwoven leaders wish they could settle in on a more permanent approach to worship, but I think they have been conducting a very healthy process of fine-tuning their life as a new congregation. It is also an important characteristic that makes new worshiping communities much more attractive to people looking for a new church, because research has shown that folks (especially those who have not been active in church) are much more comfortable going to a new church that is still more fluid, rather than coming into a congregation that has developed more fixed ways (read “unwritten rules”) of living together.
This is just a small glimpse of a very active time in our Presbytery. There are many wonderful things happening in the Presbytery, while we are aware of much pain and uncertainty in the world around us. In our Presbytery meeting on November 16th, we will try to acknowledge all of it, as we celebrate the elected leadership of the Presbytery, consider changes that will be coming in 2025, and also lament the crises of war and natural disasters affecting the world. The meeting will be hosted by Live Oak Community Church—itself one of the miracles of San Gabriel Presbytery—as they are experiencing new life and ministry in Temple City. We will also be able to contribute in very tangible ways to the ministry of our friends at Baldwin Park United Methodist Church, who offer safe haven to migrants, which is so important especially in this time of heightened attacks on immigrants.
You will see more information on the Presbytery meeting in the MMU. I look forward to seeing you then.
Blessings,
Wendy