This first "save the date" is for current members of all of the presbytery's own standing commissions, committees, and task forces.

This includes:

• Coordinating Team (CT)
• Commission on Ministry (COM)
• Commission on Church Vitality (CCV) & New Worshiping Communities Committee (NWCC)
• Commission on Preparation for Ministry (CPM)
• Board of Trustees (BoT)
• Committee on Nominations and Representation (CNR)
• Racial Equity Task Force (RETF)
• Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC)

If you are currently serving on any of those groups, you are invited to some initial conversation about vision and innovation as we consider what God may be calling us to do and be as the Presbytery of Tampa Bay.

Rev. Corey Schlosser-Hall, Deputy Executive Director of Vision, Innovation & Rebuilding for the PC(USA) will join us virtually to spark our conversation.

St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in New Tampa will be the primary site for these conversations (5340 Primrose Lake Circle, Tampa, FL 33647), but we will also have a limited online participation option, too.

Invitees should be receiving a separate email soon

with a registration link and other information.

Are you interested in serving as a commissioner to General Assembly or do you know someone who might be interested?

For some introductory info on what's involved in participating in next summer's online and in-person assembly, check out What Commissioners and Advisory Delegates Can Expect at the 226th General Assembly (2024) prepared by the Office of the General Assembly.

Faith Leaders from different faith traditions, who pray in different ways, from diverse communities across the Tampa Bay Region, will be offering prayers on the Live Tampa Bay Facebook page at 7:00 p.m. every night through Recovery Month (September) and ending with a final prayer on October 9 (Indigenous People’s Day).

The mission of Live Tampa Bay is to improve positive outcomes for those suffering with substance use.

This is a community-wide campaign to unite congregations and communities in prayer. Many people in our congregations and communities are struggling with alcoholism, addiction, or other behavioral health issues, and they need a breakthrough in their lives. Others are new to recovery and may feel isolated or alone.

Members of our Presbytery who have led prayers as part of this observance (so far) include:

• Rev. Lissa Bradford from Church on the Bayou,
• Rev. Sam Picard of Missio Dei Community,
• Rev. Dr. Holly J. Dillon, General Presbyter,
• and former associate presbyter, Rev. Libby Shannon.

Check it out at 7:00 p.m. nightly at Live Tampa Bay on Facebook.

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Interested in being one of the forty faith leaders to share a 2-3 minute prayer about addiction and recovery as part of this Recovery Month observance?

Click here to apply.

Rev. Sam Picard of the Missio Dei NWC and a community engagement coordinator for BayCare Behavioral Health writes:

I’d be happy to talk more about it with anyone who has questions, but people who would like to pray can fill out the form without talking to me as well.

Thanks very much,

Sam

Send Sam an email by clicking here.

WHAT: Three courses to choose from at the October 2023 Session

WHERE: Epworth by the Sea, Saint Simons, Georgia OR online via Zoom

WHEN: Saturday, October 7th at 8:30 a.m. through Sunday, October 8th at 3:00 p.m.

COSTS: $110 tuition for everyone PLUS accommodations & meal fees for those

participating in-person

Click on the flyer to learn more or visit Savannah Presbytery's School of the Laity website. From the link:

The School of the Laity courses are held hybrid with both online (via Zoom) and in-person participants. In-person classes are held at Epworth By the Sea on St. Simons Island, GA. Participants can join a small cohort beginning each June and complete the full two-year program or can take a singular course as their schedule permits.

There are pre-course assignments for each course shared on the registration brochure. March and October Sessions begin early Saturday morning and conclude late Saturday afternoon while June Sessions begin on Friday evening and continue through late Sunday afternoon. For more details click here. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Marty Susie, SOL Registrar, at (800) 616-3671 ext. 703 or msusie1@savannahpresbytery.org.

The Association of Smaller Congregations will host its "Gift of Small" Conference at Epworth by the Sea in St. Simon's Island, GA on February 29 - March 4, 2024. 

We'll let you know when we know more. In the meantime, check out the ASC's website for updates and info on prior conferences.

Note: The Association of Smaller Congregations (ASC) of the Synod of South Atlantic, PC(USA) considers all churches and their members within the ecclesiastical bounds of the Synod of South Atlantic having 200 or fewer members as members of the ASC.

For starters, check out F-1.01 God's Mission and F-1.03 Jesus Christ is Head of the Church in the "Foundations of Presbyterian Polity" section at the very start of the book, followed by F-1.03 The Calling of the Church.

After that, check out G-1.0101 The Mission of the Congregation and G-1.0102 The Fellowship of the Congregation at the start of "The Form of Government." The first page of Chapter Three: Councils of the Church is a powerful reminder of "the mutual interconnection of the church" through sessions, presbyteries, synods, and the General Assembly, including the reminder that "Councils of the church exist to help congregations and the church as a whole to be more faithful participants in the mission of Christ."

We all come to faith in different ways, and we've come to our congregations, fellowships, new worshiping communities, and service on councils of the church from various backgrounds. Language found not just in those sections but in others throughout the Book of Order and Book of Confessions help explain what it means to be a Christian and a member or minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Here's a taste:

G-1.0101 The Mission of the Congregation

The congregation is the church engaged in the mission of God in its particular context. The triune God gives to the congregation all the gifts of the gospel necessary to being the Church. The congregation is the basic form of the church, but it is not of itself a sufficient form of the church. Thus congregations are bound together in communion with one another, united in relationships of accountability and responsibility, contributing their strengths to the benefit of the whole, and are called, collectively, the church.

Through the congregation God’s people carry out the ministries of proclamation, sharing the Sacraments, and living in covenant life with God and each other. In the life of the congregation, individual believers are equipped for the ministry of witness to the love and grace of God in and for the world. The congregation reaches out to people, communities, and the world to share the good news of Jesus Christ, to gather for worship, to offer care and nurture to God’s children, to speak for social justice and righteousness, to bear witness to the truth and to the reign of God that is coming into the world.

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If you would like a free copy of Book of Order 2023-2025, you can download a PDF of the book from the PC(USA)'s Constitution webpage as it was published in book form or as a text only version on letter-size pages.

• The download of the book from the PC(USA) turns out to be over 35 MB in size. If you'd like a smaller version around 2.5 MB in size, click here for one made from the larger file but with less detail in the cover graphics.
• Both versions of the PDF include active links from the table of contents along with bookmarks to help navigate quickly to the right page.
• Paperback versions of the Book of Order can be purchased from the PC(USA) Store at this link. (Combining orders with neighboring congregations can reduce the price and save on shipping.)

Look for boldface print throughout to find the changes from the last edition.