For Congregations - Grace Presbytery

Resources for Congregations

Please note: All related forms & documents are located in the Document Library of our website.

OCCASIONAL SUPPLY LIST

The Book of Order mandates: those who are to preach the Word shall be Teaching Elders (ministers of the Word and Sacrament) or other people authorized by Presbytery to be invited by a session to preach. (W.2.2007) Therefore, the Committee on Ministry of Grace Presbytery has established these guidelines.

GUIDELINES

Men and women may be placed on Grace Presbytery’s Occasional Supply List in the following categories:

A. Teaching Elders (Ministers of Word and Sacrament) who are also members in good standing of Grace Presbytery and who want to serve by preaching in the pulpits of Grace Presbytery. They will be asked to complete Occasional Supply List Form.

B. Ruling Elders of churches in Grace Presbytery. They will complete Occasional Supply List Form, and include a letter of endorsement from their session.

C. Candidates under care of Grace Presbytery. They will complete Occasional Supply List Form, which requires the endorsement of their Committee on Preparation for Ministry. The moderator of CPM may send an email approval.

D. Commissioned Ruling Elders of Grace Presbytery. They will complete Occasional Supply List Form, which requires letter of endorsement or email approval from Grace Presbytery Staff.

E. Teaching Elder (Minister of Word and Sacrament), minister member of another PCUSA presbytery which requires endorsement by Grace Presbytery Staff.

FORM PROCEDURES

Note: All forms are located in the Document Library.

When completed forms are received, the Temporary Relations Committee (TRC) will forward to COM recommendations of approval/disapproval for each applicant. The COM will be the body that places/denies/removes an applicant from the Occasional Supply List.

A person who is asked to fill a pulpit of a church that has an active PNC, APNC, DPNC, or Committee of the Session looking for a Stated Supply, Temporary Supply, or Interim, ordinarily may fill the pulpit only once if that individual has any interest in being considered for any of the aforementioned positions.

COM recommends compensation of $150 per Sunday, ($250 for two services) plus current IRS rate for travel.

The list is available upon request to all churches and updated throughout the year. Contact Grace Presbytery staff for a copy.

STAFF CONTACT

MISSION STUDY

Who Does a Congregation’s Mission Study?
A mission study is vital to a congregation’s future, and should be done by a select group of members of the congregation with diverse experiences and skills appointed by the Session.

GUIDELINES

MAKEUP OF THE MISSION STUDY TEAM

In appointing members of the Mission Study Team, the Session should ordinarily consider:

A team of three to five members
Balanced in gender
Representative of all ages in the congregation, including youth
One member from the Session and one from the Diaconate

The following criteria should be considered for those asked to serve in this important task:

A person with competency in English composition (a wordsmith)
A person skilled at using computers and graphics
A person comfortable with statistical analysis
Persons with a sense of interplay between past, present and future
Persons actively involved in worship and ministry
Persons who are long time and more recent members
Persons who are visionaries

MISSION INSIGHT

STAFF CONTACT

CHURCH PROPERTY ISSUES

If your congregation is interested in selling, mortgaging, leasing, entering into an oil or gas lease on, or otherwise encumbering the real property of your church, a request needs to be made to the Board of Trustees to comply with requirements in the Book of Order (G-8.0500, G-8.0701, G-11.0103, sections i, j, y).

The Board of Trustees acts on behalf of Grace Presbytery on routine property matters and reports them to the presbytery body at stated meetings. The sale of real property used for the purpose of worship requires the vote of the body of Grace Presbytery itself, but is funneled to the presbytery meeting through the trustees.

The Board of Trustees meets throughout the year as there are requests to be considered. Detailed information on the meeting schedule and requirements can be found in their manual.

Note: The Book of Order and manual are located in the Document Library.

For further information, or to submit a request, please begin by contacting Karen Ebling.

CONTACT VICKI ROBERTS

Coordinator of Finance and Property

JUBILEE LOAN PROGRAM

The Jubilee Loan Program is a limited loan resource that Grace Presbytery makes available to congregations and new church developments for non-programmatic capital expenditures that are outside of usual one-year budget cycles. Ordinarily, such loans are made only when other loan sources are not available.

DETAILS

Jubilee Loans are considered for repairs, new or replacement equipment, small renovations, such as providing handicap access or meeting building codes, repairing parking lots or a variety of other unexpected expenses.

To apply for the loan the church needs to make a request through its Clerk of Session to the Board of Trustees directly.

All Jubilee loans are subject to approval by the board, upon compliance with general, small loan requirements. Loans to existing congregations must first be approved by the Committee on Ministry; loans to new church developments must first be approved by the Church Development Committee.

CRITERIA

The aggregate principal amount of such loans outstanding at any one time shall not exceed $100,000
Each loan must be repayable in equal monthly installments over 10 years at 5% interest
The loan documents shall contain covenants requiring the congregation to provide the Presbytery with financial information at least annually, and evidence of insurance coverage
The loan documents shall contain a covenant that any Jubilee Loan shall be repayable in full if the congregation dissolves or becomes a member of any other denomination than the PC(USA)
A copy of the action of the Session of the borrowing congregation authorizing the loan shall be provided to Grace Presbytery at the time the loan is requested

REQUESTS

Requests from a congregation or new church development for approval of a Jubilee loan are to be accompanied by written information from which the board may reasonably conclude that the congregation/new church development demonstrates, both historically and prospectively, a significant commitment to the life, mission, and ministry of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and recognizes and appreciates the unique connectional relationship that exists among individual congregations and more inclusive councils of the church.

For further information about the Jubilee Loan program, including the application process, contact:

Rev Christopher Lee
Executive Presbyter

DRT EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE GRANTS

Purpose – To assist congregations with severe property damage due to unexpected events such as, but not limited to flooding, wind, and fire.

Maximum Grant Amount – Varies based on need up to a maximum of $5,000.

Restrictions on Use – The grant will not to be used to pay for the repair of a pre-existing building concern.

Endorsement Required – Grant applications shall be endorsed by the Session of the church applying for the grant.

Grant Application

Grant Processing

QUESTIONS? CONTACT JIM Reinarz

Resources for Congregations

OCCASIONAL SUPPLY LIST

GUIDELINES

FORM PROCEDURES

STAFF CONTACT

MISSION STUDY

GUIDELINES

MAKEUP OF THE MISSION STUDY TEAM

MISSION INSIGHT

STAFF CONTACT

CHURCH PROPERTY ISSUES

CONTACT VICKI ROBERTS

JUBILEE LOAN PROGRAM

DETAILS

CRITERIA

REQUESTS

DRT EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE GRANTS

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