Presbytery Prattle
Reporting on the Yellowhead Presbytery meeting of
October 20-21, 2004 at Ardrossan United Church

Greetings Friends! Darren Wooff from Ardrossan Pastoral Charge, reporting. This is the short form of what happened at our presbytery meeting on October 20 and 21.

Worship: We began on Wednesday morning with a worship service focusing on keeping our communities healthy and growing. Darren Wooff and Allan Cunningham of Ardrossan led Communion.

New to Presbytery: Newcomers to presbytery include Erin Klassen, intern at Grand Cache, Curtis Tufts (and spouse Nell Ouwen who was unable to attend), ministers at Spruce Grove, Heather Kennedy, delegate from Jasper, Silke Jones-Kelly alternate delegate from Devon-Calmar and Nicole Imgrund, minister from Gibbons. Sorry if I missed your name or misspelled it!

Conference Executive: Chair Tammy Allen reported on the last meeting of Conference Executive on Oct. 6-7. The Conference is seeking input from congregations as to how they like the current staff model. Yellowhead’s own Kathy Suteau is now Conference’s new resource co-coordinator. The Conference Website is looking for good news stories from congregations to put in its “Web Weavings” section.

Congregational Development Coordinator: Pat Bourque is the member of the Conference Staff who attends our presbytery meetings and is available to our congregations to help us learn and grow. She was unable to be at the meeting due to the death of her aunt. Our prayers are with you, Pat. Pat will be away on sabbatical from Nov. 28 to Jan. 31 studying stewardship, congregational life and the church in mission.

Position descriptions: To be more clear about what we do and how we do it, Phyllis Greenslade suggested that we create position descriptions for all the committee chairs and others who serve our presbytery. Erin White will be compiling this list.

Mission Support Grants: Our Mission Support Grant representative, Leslie Penny, was surprised when the requests for aid from congregations in our presbytery was lower this year. We approved grants to Moose Hill, Grande Cache, Beaumont, Athabasca and Fort McMurray pastoral charges. We also asked for the amount of $2,500 from Mission Support Grants for special projects.

Stewardship: Division chair, Karen Gusek, presented some interesting resources around “Asset Mapping.”

Stewardship Education: We were educated and inspired on Wednesday evening by Jeff Crittenden from Grace United Church in Edmonton. He gave an intriguing presentation on stewardship, St. Paul’s Great Collection, work and leisure and volunteerism. If you want a passionate speaker on the topic of stewardship, Jeff would be a great choice.

Thursday worship: On Thursday morning our presbytery was presented with a painting of an Inukshuk (a stone marker in the shape of a person, used by the Inuit peoples). We were invited to think of what markers were in our own communities and what needs we see there. Our intrepid chair, Tammy Allen, led worship.

Notes from Zambia: Newly returned overseas personnel, Betty Marlin, shared some of her experiences working in the United Church of Zambia’s Theological College. Betty said that Zambia is a rich country with poor people. While Zambia’s never experienced civil conflict like many of the countries that surround it, the poverty there needs to be addressed. Betty challenged us to write letters to our MPs asking that Canada relieve the debts of highly indebted countries like Zambia. Act now to get Betty to speak at your church while she’s in Canada! You can contact her at 437-1272.

God Spots: At presbytery, we are kept mindful of the presence of God with us as we meet. We take time out for “God Spots” to rest our minds and feed our hearts. Betty Welsby, read from a book called, God Hunger: Discovering the Mystic in All of Us by John Kirvan. This book is full of thoughtful meditations and is available through Revelations book store.

Christian Development: The chair of the division is Natalka Dreichel. The Banff Men’s Conference had 285 men for its 50^th anniversary year. Funds are now available for those men who need assistance to attend the conference. We are hoping to connect youth leaders in our presbytery with one another at the February presbytery meeting (their travel & meals will be paid by presbytery). The presbytery is setting aside $1000 in “camperships” for children who need sponsorship to go to our United Church camps.

Church in the World: Where and how in your life do you find peace? What are the issues that wake you up in the middle of the night, wondering and worrying? Are these the issues that we are dealing with in the church? How can we deal with these issues? These are the questions that the Church in the World division encouraged us to look at. They also brought forward a motion to ask General Council to extend the Beads of Hope campaign.

Finance and Treasurer: The division of Finance, led by Stephen Sparks, is collecting a record of all the trust funds in the presbytery. Such a record would be kept confidential and would only be used for information of the division. A letter will be coming to your congregation shortly about this project. Treasurer, Lilley Glebe, gave her report and presented the 2005 budget. The budget is bigger this year anticipating a larger assessment fee from Conference as well as increased spending by the presbytery.

Communication: There is a whole division in presbytery to ensure our good communication, led by Peter Chynoweth. The Presbytery Prattle is part of that division. The division also inspects church records and minutes and is in charge of the presbytery website: www.yellowheadpresbytery.org.

Ministry, Personnel and Education: Beaumont pastoral charge is getting a new minister! Britt Jessen will be assuming duties there as of Jan. 1, 2005. Grizzly Trail pastoral charge (Swan Hills and Fort Assiniboine) is looking at the needs for ministry in a Joint Needs Assessment Process. Erin Klassen, intern at Grand Cache was granted a license to marry and administer the sacraments for the year. Retired ministers Warren Bruleigh and David Pype were also given the license to marry, to help out with ministry needs in our presbytery.

Education and Students: Marjorie Steele will be interviewed by the Conference Interview Board and will be received as a Lay Pastoral Minister this year at Conference. Congrats Marj! Wendy Galloway from Fort Saskatchewan is a candidate for ordained ministry and Murray Speer, also from Fort Saskatchewan, will also shortly be a candidate for ordained ministry. Must be something in the water there!

Pastoral Oversight: Last year visits were completed in Rainbow pastoral charge, Josephburg, Andrew and Morinville. Scheduled for this year are Namao, Drayton Valley, Telfordville and Woodlands pastoral charge.

Lay Administration of Sacraments: If you are interested in this pilot project to train laypeople to serve the sacraments, please contact Audrey Mitchell.

Covenanting Service: Sturgeon Valley pastoral charge will be covenanting with Nicole Imgrund on Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Gibbons United Church.

Alberta & Northwest Conference Meeting: Don’t forget that the Conference meeting is in our presbytery this year! It is happening in Spruce Grove, May 26-29. If you would like to help, please contact Judy Stretch or Phyllis Greenslade.

Next Meeting: Our next presbytery meeting is in Morinville on Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 23 & 24, 2005.

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