The Rev. Paula Steinbacher of Church of the Eternal Hills in Tabernash, joined other Grand County churches on August 17th in organizing a vigil for peace following the violence in Charlottesville. Approximately 60 people attended, including Denver Presbytery moderator Jean Demmler. Featured in the local newspaper here.
Denver Presbytery Delegates visit Zimbabwe Presbytery
Olivia Hudson Smith, Julia Henderson, and Rob Habiger represented the Denver Presbytery and the PZDP on a recent visit to Zimbabwe as part of the 12-year-old partnership between the Denver Presbytery and the Presbytery of Zimbabwe. The focus of their visit was the Central Fund, an initiative of the Presbytery of Zimbabwe, to provide sustainable support for their pastors. Their visit included witnessing the construction of the first major project of the Central Fund, a greenhouse that will grow 2500 tomatoes and 1000 English Cucumbers. The plants have been seeded and will be set into the greenhouse in about four to five weeks. They meet with the Business Investment Unit of the Presbytery of Zimbabwe, the body that is developing and overseeing the sustainable projects that make up the Central Fund portfolio. Their visit also included listening visits with the congregations chosen for a pilot program to provide stipend supplements to a small group of pastors. Olivia, Julia, and Rob also preached at three of the congregations included in the pilot program, making many new friends in Christ and renewing relationships made over the many years of the partnership.
A very special event was the memorial service for The Reverend Stan Jewell, held at Highfield Presbyterian Church in Harare, where he served in 2015.
Update on the Interim Presbytery Pastor Search Committee
Dear Friends,
While we are stepping into the heat of July, these are not lazy days of summer for the Presbytery of Denver. I write to update you on the progress of the transition planning for the retirement of Rev. Tom Sheffield and the calling of new presbytery leadership.
Presbytery Council met on June 27 to adopt a three-phase approach to seeking new presbytery leadership:
- Call an Interim Presbytery Pastor: Interim Presbytery Pastor (IPP) Search and Nomination
- Reflect on our Past and Prepare for our Future: Conduct an Assessment and Affirmation of Our Context, Identity, and Leadership Model
- Call an installed Presbytery Leader: Presbytery Pastor Search and Nomination
This approach will provide day-to-day leadership during our transition as well as a careful process of discerning our needs for the future before hiring our next installed Presbytery Leader. A separate committee will be established to complete the work of each phase. The Council approved the Interim Presbytery Pastor Search Committee to guide the process of Phase 1. The Interim Presbytery Pastor they seek will serve for one year (with an option to renew for another year) and will not be eligible under any circumstance to apply for the Presbytery Leader position. Beginning its work immediately, this committee is comprised of the following individuals who have graciously agreed to conduct this important work:
- TE Joel Adams, NorthWest Denver Missional Community
- TE John Anderson, Trinity Presbyterian Church (Council Member)
- RE Wanda Beauman, Peoples Presbyterian Church
- TE Katie Robb Davis, Wellshire Presbyterian Church
- RE Dietmar Fritsch, Eagle River Presbyterian Church
- RE Lemuel Velasco, Divino Salvador Fellowship
- TE Louise Westfall, Central Presbyterian Church
- Non-Voting Personnel Committee Liaison: TE Bruce Spear, Elizabeth Presbyterian Church
The Council also approved contracting with Dr. Corey Schlosser-Hall, Executive Presbyter of the Northwest Coast Presbytery, to serve as a consultant throughout the three phases of our process. Dr. Schlosser-Hall is a credentialed leadership coach and serves on the faculty of the Presbytery Leader Formation Program of the PC(USA) where he teaches post-modern ecclesiology, visionary and financial leadership, and communications. He is also known by several of our Presbytery members to be a skilled organizational consultant and has previously led our presbytery leadership retreats.
We will honor Rev. Sheffield at a celebration of his retirement to be held on Friday evening, October 27, 2017. PLEASE SAVE THE DATE! Yes, still another committee is forming to plan this event and details will follow later in the summer.
I thank the members of the Personnel Committee and especially its moderator, Rev. Bruce Spear, for their quick and responsive leadership. Please pray for the work of the search committee, and if you have questions or suggestions regarding the transition process, please contact either Rev. Spear at brucespear57@gmail.com or myself at jeandemmler@msn.com
Peace be with you.
Jean Demmler, Moderator
The Presbytery of Denver
Ministers and church staff - Selecting Benefits for 2018
Getting Ready To Select 2018 Benefits
Here are a few things to keep in mind while preparing to review or update your Employer Agreement for 2018:
The Employer Agreement details the benefits selections for 2018 that will be available to your employees on Benefits Connect during annual enrollment in the fall.
Key considerations for building your Employer Agreement include who will be covered (and when); what benefits to offer; and how much you (and employees) will pay toward the cost of coverage.
Be certain that your benefit groups are set up correctly; read Importance of Benefit Groups below.
Key Dates
- Late June: Web tutorials Considerations for Selecting Benefits: Building Your Employer Agreement and Creating Your Employer Agreement available
- Early July: The launch of Selecting 2018 Benefits section, on pensions.org
- Mid-July: Guides for selecting benefits and completing the Employer Agreement available on pensions.org
- July 17-October 13: Employers log on to Benefits Connect to begin reviewing, modeling, and building their Employer Agreements for 2018
- October 13: Deadline for employers to submit their final 2018 Employer Agreements on Benefits Connect
- October 30-November 17: Annual enrollment for members to elect 2018 benefits
If you have questions about the Benefits Plan or the benefits selection process, call the Board at 800-773-7752 (800-PRESPLAN).
For more information, click here.
A Letter from the Moderator
Dear Friends,
Earlier this week you received Rev. Tom Sheffield’s letter telling us of his retirement from his ministry as Presbytery Pastor, effective November 15, 2017. His announcement is bittersweet. While we lament that his time with us is coming to an end, we are joyful that he will have opportunities for other ministry as well as additional time to relax and enjoy his family. Tom has served us with immeasurable grace and skill, and we grieve the upcoming loss of his wise leadership. Most importantly, however, we are grateful because we have been blessed with Tom’s vision for -- and many years of dedication to –the Presbytery of Denver, guiding us on our continuing journey to become the Church that Christ asks us to be! We will not let Tom retire without an appreciation celebration! Watch for information for this event to be held in the fall.
As Moderator of the Presbytery, I write to inform you that the Council has begun transition planning for selecting an Interim Presbytery Pastor. At its June meeting, the Council both suggested names of persons who might serve as members of the Interim Presbytery Pastor Search Committee and considered the most important roles to be expected of interim leadership. The Personnel Committee, moderated by Rev. Bruce Spear, has met to begin the transition process and will submit names of potential Search Committee members to Council soon. Once the Search Committee is approved by Council, they can begin their work.
As a Council, we are moving as quickly as possible to complete our task to nominate for election an interim presbytery pastor candidate to members of Presbytery. We will take the time needed, however, to move at the tempo of the Holy Spirit as we seek to select an excellent nominee for this important position.
Please pray with us as we work. If you have questions or suggestions regarding the transition process, please contact either Rev. Spear at brucespear57@gmail.com or myself at jeandemmler@msn.com
Peace be to you in this time of transition,
Jean Demmler, Moderator
The Presbytery of Denver
Our Presbytery Pastor Announces Retirement Date
Dear Friends,
Sixteen years ago this month I began my ministry with the Presbytery of Denver. Every day of those sixteen years has possessed great joy, dynamic challenges, countless moments of fulfillment, rich and supportive relationships and an undeniable sense of God’s leading and presence. However, it is now time for the Presbytery, and for me, to prepare for another time of ministry. Therefore, I have informed the Presbytery Council of my plan to retire from my position as your Presbytery Pastor, effective November 15, 2017. It is my hope and expectation that in the months ahead the Presbytery will carry out a time of transition and proceed with plans to seek new leadership.
At the same time there are many projects, ministries, obligations and directions that I will continue to address. Selling the Presbytery Center and moving to a new location are already high priorities for the whole staff and the Presbytery leadership. New worshiping communities, new mission endeavors, new initiatives across the presbytery as well as offering pastoral care to all servants of the church, support for congregations, and continued emphasis on our partnership with the Presbytery of Zimbabwe, Highlands and diversity ministries in the Presbytery will claim my attention and enthusiasm every day. The coming months also will bring our General Assembly Stated Clerk, J. Herbert Nelson, to visit us and the November Leadership Retreat that will lift up the essential need for evangelism in each congregation and in all of our lives. All of that, of course, is already in process or is being carefully planned because this Presbytery is blessed with committed leaders and a staff that is remarkable in its creativity, intelligence, and love for the church.
We will have much time to speak and share with each other in the coming months, but I want to assure you that my primary priority will not be on my personal decision to retire, but on our common ministry for Christ to “Journey with God Together.” I am immeasurably grateful for and humbled by our service together over the past sixteen years. Now for the days ahead I remain grateful and always hopeful for all that God is doing in, with and among us.
In Peace,
The Reverent Thomas Sheffield
Presbytery Pastor
The Presbytery of Denver