Fall Leader Formation webinar focused on the basics of polity scheduled for Oct. 23
The third webinar of the year will be led by ruling elder and Assistant Stated Clerk Flor Vélez-Diaz
The next Leader Formation webinar is scheduled to take place on Oct. 23, from 7 p.m. through 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. While the first two webinars of the year, which took place in March and July, dove into essential components of Presbyterian theology, the third virtual learning event will focus on the denomination’s polity.
The Leader Formation webinar series is designed particularly for the ongoing education and formation of ruling elders and deacons and is organized and facilitated by Martha Miller, herself a ruling elder who serves as the manager of ministry education and support within Mid Council Ministries. Miller brings in various scholars and church leaders to lead each session.
The upcoming webinar will be led by ruling elder Flor Vélez-Díaz, who is an Assistant Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Manager for Judicial Process and Social Witness within the Interim Unified Agency. She is also an attorney and former civil litigator who has served in roles at every level of the denomination including most recently as a member of the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission. She is married to the Rev. Edwin González-Castillo, who also works within the IUA as the director of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
Vélez-Díaz currently works alongside Laurie Griffith in the Office of Constitutional Interpretation of the IUA, where she helps “untangle church tangles, particularly in judicial process and church discipline matters.” This background gives Vélez-Díaz both a depth and breadth of tangible expertise that informs her teaching on church polity.
According to the Leader Formation webpage, this webinar will “provide an overview of how the PC(USA) is structured, the who, when, and how of decision-making, and the role of membership and ordination in the life of the church.”
In this webinar, participants will engage in discussion around the theological underpinnings that inform Presbyterian polity, as well as the practical theology behind how that polity framework supports the work of councils within the broader community of faith.
Registration for the webinar is now open and the event is available at no cost to participants. The Leader Formation series is funded by per capita dollars from congregations across the denomination to support the ongoing formation of their church leaders.
The October webinar will also be available in several languages via simultaneous interpretation based on requests made during the registration process. In order to give organizers time to arrange for these services, the deadline to register is Oct. 15. A recording of the event will be available in English after the fact, and access to that recording does not require advance registration.
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