The Presbytery of San Diego
California
The Rev. Clark Cowden is installed at a meeting of the presbytery. Photo by Bob Battenfield.
In 2008, the Presbytery of San Diego declared that in the past it had been primarily a governing body, in the present it is primarily a relational community, and in the future it will be primarily a mission agency. This identity statement is meant to guide its people as it seeks to discover a new way of being. How will the presbytery begin to move in this direction?
The presbytery began a series of missional experiments that would help churches and leaders take steps forward. The presbytery then scheduled monthly leadership gatherings to discuss what it means to be missional. Then it created a pilot project of churches, inviting a group of congregations to go through the Allelon mission-shaped church survey and follow-up process.
It created a pilot project for pastors to go through the Allelon mission-shaped pastor leader survey and follow-up process to identify and develop adaptive skills for their ministry. The presbytery voted to affiliate with Presbyterian Global Fellowship, encouraged its sessions to do so, and invited lay leaders and members to attend the fellowship’s annual conference.
Becoming a missional presbytery is about creating an environment in which church leaders can discern where God is at work in the world and where they feel called to join in God’s ongoing activity. It is about the people of God moving back into the neighborhood and about creating connectionalism around listening, learning, and discovering together. Please pray for the 31 churches and 16,320 members as they seek to engage the community in fresh ways.
The Rev. Clark D. Cowden, member, GAMC
Elder Jack D. Shelver, member, GAMC
Presbytery Staff
The Rev. Dr. Clark D. Cowden, executive presbyter
Linda Therien, stated clerk
Steve Rybicki, director of mission and administrative services
Machelle May, secretary
Sharlene McKinstry, bookkeeper
Steve Elliott, webmaster
Chris Yanov, director, Reality Changers
The Rev. Peter Lual, Sudanese-American Presbyterian Church
The Rev. Efraín Romero, Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana
Norma Ruiz, secretary, Iglesia
Presbiteriana Hispana
Presbytery Urban Ministries
Gunnar DePaul, director
Gabe Shippam, resource coordinator
Rebekah Carter, office manager
PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
Carla Sutton, FDN
Margo Szabunia, OGA
Dear God, we pray that the churches in San Diego will sense where your Spirit is at work in their communities. We pray that they will listen and learn together and launch one another into places where you are already at work. We pray for an authentic interaction with the world that will touch people at the core of their being. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Ps. 88, 148 Ps. 6, 20
Neh. 9:26–38
Rev. 22:6–13; Matt. 18:10–20
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