Discernment Team: December 2009 - May 2010
Mission Council established a team to discern God's guidance for the future of the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy. A Lenten study invited individuals, presbytery committees, and sessions to submit their ideas about how the presbytery might better reflect God's guidance and call for congregations and the presbytery.
Using data submitted, the Discernment Team created a Design Team that would:
(1) review and update the presbytery's Mission Statement, and;
(2) make recommendations about structures that would support that mission.
Design Team: June 2010 to Present June 2010: Organizational meeting and meeting with Discernment Team; Summer 2010 - Fall 2010: Studied and prayed over responses from the Lenten discernment process; offered "graffiti boards" at September stated meeting; organized lunch table discussions at November stated meeting; reviewed other material including Richard Hamm's, Recreating the Church, various articles, and Los Ranchos Presbytery's "Odyssey" materials; Consulted with Diana Barber regarding information still needed; Paul Reiter retired, Jim Cook became staff support. Winter 2011: Visited five representative sessions to listed to hopes, dreams, and concerns for our presbytery; conducted individual interviews with all members of presbytery staff; had an initial conversation with The Missional Network on Adaptive Change. Spring 2011: Reviewed data from visits and interviews; Accepted with regret the resignations of John Goodwin and Al Passwater from team; Craig Palmer, Interim Executive Presbyter, joined the team as staff support. June - August:
Meet with Ministry Teams to check out what we have heard. July 26: Meet with Mission Council and engage in a process to be used at presbytery to check out what we have heard to date. August 27:
Engage commissioners at presbytery meeting in process allowing for response to a summary of the various themes and suggestions the Design Team has heard to date. Fall 2011
Assess responses and begin to write a draft of the purpose, mission and priorities of the presbyery in consultation with Mission Council; November 12
Review and discuss the draft of the purpose, mission and priorities with commissioner at presbytery meeting.
>> Feedback from Presbytery November 2011
