“All too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows”
― Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail
This is a busy time of year for Clerks of Session. In large part, the Session Clerk is a congregation’s keeper of church history and order. The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S. A.) is a gift that “reaffirms the historical principles of church order”, that provides that every congregation is to have a Council as an expression of unity of the church existing “to help congregations and the church as a whole be more faithful participants in the mission of Christ.” (F-3.01, G-3.0104)Book of Order 2017-2019. The ministry of the Session Clerk is vital to this mission, charged with recording transactions of the council, keeping its rolls of membership and attendance, maintain required registers, and preserving its records.
My thanks to the thirty-three (33) Clerks of Session who have just completed the Presbyterian Mission Agency Clerk’s Annual Questionnaire 2018. All Clerks of Session should now be busy completing Statistical reporting with a deadline of February 7, 2019. The goal for this year is that 100% of churches comply with this Constitutional requirement in contrast to the 41 of 47 congregations in 2017. Currently planning is for 2018 Record (minutes) and roll review to be held in mid-March 2019.
As a connectional body, I am encouraging all Ministers of Word and Sacrament, Sessions, Clerks of Session, and all Leaders and disciples in the Presbytery to attend and participate in the Conversations with the Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on February 19, 2019, at First Presbyterian Brighton, 11:30 – 2:30 – and please register on-line.
In Christ’s service,
Rev. Olivia L. Hudson Smith, JD
Stated Clerk, Presbytery of Denver