Celebrations!!! Worship Service Recording is now available
Did you know that women have been ordained as Ministers of Word and Sacrament for 70 years?
We celebrated this milestone during the Presbytery Worship on May 12th !
Highlights from the May Stated Meeting
This month the Presbytery gathered at the Johnsonburg Camp and Retreat Center for our Stated Meeting — and it was a day full of worship, community, and good news. We sang together outside, planted a tree, shared a meal around tables, and celebrated the people and ministries that shape our life together. As Executive Director Elise Bates Russell put it, “you just went to camp for a day.”
A New Season at Johnsonburg
There’s a lot growing at camp this season. After more than twelve years of waiting, the dining hall has a finished ceiling — and new private, gender-neutral restrooms are now open for all guests.
Looking ahead, four churches (including Long Valley Presbyterian) have made it possible to build a new meeting yurt and a covered entrance deck with a welcoming, accessible ramp. Volunteers will raise the yurt over the last weekend in May, with everything ready by June 19th — just in time for campers to arrive on June 21st. Please keep the camp staff, hired from around the world, in your prayers as the summer season begins.
Two ways to help right now: Johnsonburg still needs volunteer camp nurses (licensed healthcare professionals in your congregation) and a few male counselors over the age of 18. If you know someone, point them toward camp.
Moving Forward Together: A Discernment Update
Presbytery Leader Jeanne Radak shared an encouraging update on our discernment process, approved last fall and now being put into practice.
Teams have been oriented to their new roles, often through community-building like baking bread, building with Legos, playing trivia, and making quilt blocks (a theme that kept reappearing throughout the day). Team moderators have begun meeting quarterly so they can stay connected and find new ways to collaborate.
A few other notes from the update:
- Committee on Ministry liaisons are reaching out to their assigned congregations and pastors to build relationships.
- Pastors gathered for a one-day retreat at Johnsonburg on “communication that strengthens community and nurtures faith.”
- The pulpit supply list has been expanded with new elder preachers.
- A picnic for retired pastors and their spouses is planned for July 14th at Long Valley Church.
Celebrating the United Presbyterian Church of Long Hill
One of the most joyful moments of the evening: the Presbytery approved the plan of union joining First Presbyterian Church of Sterling and Meyersville Presbyterian Church (Gillette) into one congregation — the new United Presbyterian Church of Long Hill.
The two churches sit just two miles apart and have shared a long history of partnership, including shared staff and alternating worship spaces for years. The idea of joining together stretches back more than twenty-five years. After a year of prayerful discernment, both congregations voted to move forward and to make their new home in the Sterling building.
Pastor Stephanie Monzel, who serves both churches, spoke beautifully about a process that has been “thoughtful, thorough, and truly faithful.” This Easter, fifty people worshiped together — including nine children under the age of five — a sign of the future this new congregation is stepping into. We give thanks for their courage and faithfulness.
Commissioning Our Leaders
We had the honor of commissioning leaders for service in the wider church and in our local congregations.
General Assembly Commissioners to the 227th General Assembly were commissioned: Rev. Michael Cuppet, Rev. Linda Gayen, Elder Jean Perry, and Elder Bishop Singh. We also elected Joe Martini and Ross Lang as Synod Commissioners. Please hold all of them in prayer as they represent us.
We also commissioned several ruling elders to preside at the Lord’s Supper in their congregations after completing their training: Craig Bart, Mark Hunt, Dan Keoll, Susan Marsh, and Trisha Hayes. Congratulations to each of them.
Our GA commissioners offered a preview of what awaits this summer. The 227th General Assembly will include 11 committees and 95 items of business over seven days, with 44 overtures spanning a wide range of topics — from reformed identity and environmental stewardship to ordination practice, gender and sexuality, and global concerns. Our own Highlands Presbytery has submitted overtures, including two on administrative leave.
This was presented for information only, but everyone is encouraged to follow along. The best way to stay current is to register at myga.pc-biz.org. And please keep our commissioners in prayer as they head to GA.
