On the recommendation of the Human Resources Committee of Presbytery, the relationship between the Presbytery and the Rev. Dr. Andy Smith, Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of San Diego, has been dissolved retroactive to December 31, 2006. The Presbytery voted to continue to compensate Rev. Dr. Smith for sixteen weeks, effective January 1, 2007, at a cost of approximately $29,000.

The background is this -- the Human Resources Committee met with Dr. Smith on December 18 and agreed to a series of matters related to his separation. Dr. Smith served for five years and four months as our Executive Presbyter. During his tenure with the Presbytery, his cell phone was provided by the Presbytery - the phone contract is now in Dr. Smith's name. Dr. Smith was provided a lease car, which has been returned and will be available for other use by the Presbytery.

Dr. Smith has one week of unused vacation from 2006. His vacation and study leave allowance in 2007 is six weeks. At the time of his original employment he was promised as part of his terms of call, a three-month sabbatical at the conclusion of seven years of employment. As of December 31, he has worked 75% of that time. This amounts to 75% of the three-month period or nine weeks. These various components added together equal sixteen weeks and it is the recommendation of the Human Resources Committee that this be his separation package.

The Human Resources Committee believes this agreement will allow Dr. Smith some time for rest and discernment to discover where God is calling him to serve next. He is sent out with deep regret, with true appreciation and with God's richest blessings as he moves along a new path of service.

Elder Bill Tayler, Chair, Human Resources

The following people have been elected by Presbytery to serve on the Executive Presbyter Search Committee:

• Pastor Rachel Brown, Pt. Loma Community
• Pastor Jan Farley, Village
• Pastor Mike McClenahan, Solana Beach
• Pastor Jim Rauch, Westminster Escondido
• Elder Cheryl Kosits, Northminster
• Elder Ardelle Matthews, Christ United San Diego
• Elder Bill Tayler, Christ La Costa (Chair of Human Resources)

Pastor Doug Kelly, Chair, Nominating Committee

Rev. Neal Nybo, an associate pastor at Solana Beach Presbyterian Church, was installed at the January Meeting to serve as Moderator of the Presbytery of San Diego for 2007. Installed to serve as Vice Moderator/Moderator Elect was Elizabeth Crews, an elder at First Presbyterian Church of San Diego. Both Nybo and Crews were commissioners to the 217th General Assembly in Birmingham. Crews chaired the Task Force on the Way Forward.

2006 Preliminary Financial Overview

As of year end, unrestricted net assets increased $70,000. Per Capita and Shared Mission giving were above budget $47,000 and Administrative commission expense was below budget $20,000.

Restricted net assets increased $35,000. Crisis Center and Reality Changers fund balance increases, approximately $45,000 each, were offset by the distribution of $66,000 from the Habitat for Humanity fund balance.

Total 2006 expenses were $1.1 million, $18,000 less than the amount budgeted.

Total net assets before depreciation increased $105,000; after depreciation net assets increased $41,000.

2007 Proposed Budget Overview

2007 projected income is $1.1 million. Per Capita, Shared Mission and designated giving revenue projections are based on actual receipts as of November 2006 and anticipated December 2006 receipts. Expenses before depreciation and amortization budgeted for 2007 are $1.1 million. Although total cash flow is projected at break-even, certain receipts are designated therefore unrestricted retained earnings are projected to decrease $21,000 and restricted net assets are projected to increase $21,000.

Areas with material expense budget increases not offset with increased designated donations or fund balances are Ecclesiastical and Evangelism. Schedules detailing budget increases are available from the Presbytery Office.

The 2007 proposed budget were presented at the January meeting for approval subject to additions or deletions recommended by Presbytery and/or Council. A final budget will be presented for approval at the February Council and March Presbytery meetings.

Be Part of God's Transforming Work
By Rev. Chris Lenocker, Faith Presbyterian Church

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is in a time of great transformation. What shape that transformation will take is still an unknown.

The denomination as we have known it no longer exists. Many of us still function out of the "hay-days" of the '50's and '60's when our churches were full and we had great impact in the communities within which we lived. What we don't talk much about is that since the '60's our church has continued to lose members at a pace that has created a crisis for our denomination. The national church no longer has the financial resources to maintain a large number of missions and missionaries - always a strength of our church. Resources at the national level have been cut to skeletal levels and we are facing more cuts. The Presbyterian Church (USA) is numerically disappearing.

Another change that has become all too clear over the last 10 years is the growing polarization between the "conservative evangelical" expression of our theology and the "moderate progressive" expression of our theology. This gets labeled as the "conservative/liberal" split (some liken it to the red/blue split in our political world). I believe it is more complex than these politically loaded terms.

The Presbytery of San Diego is one of the places where this "polarization" has been clarified and intentionally engaged at a presbytery level. Both Nancy Harber (a member of Faith) and I have been part of that intentional engagement and worked very hard on the Task Force for the Way Forward (TFWF) to bring some clarification and direction to the presbytery. The report of the TFWF was approved at the November 21 meeting of San Diego Presbytery and is available on the Presbytery website. I would encourage everyone to look at that report. It will help clarify what has been going on across the country for the past several years.

Now, one might want to become disheartened and cynical, but I believe that God has a way of taking human brokenness and sin and redeeming it. We are facing an uncertain future as a denomination and church, but fortunately this is not our church or denomination - it is God's. All of our theologizing, politicizing and human efforts ultimately will have to face the purifying presence of God's intent for the church and each of our lives together.

I have a strong sense of hope and trust that God will create out of our confusion and chaos a stronger and more vital expression of the redemptive power of Christ in our midst. It is into that trust and faith I call all of us in the church. We have the privilege and opportunity to be part of God's transforming work - let us join together, trusting in the One who has made us One.

LOUISVILLE - Sharing joys, concerns, hopes and prayers was the focus of a letter sent Friday (January 19) by the members of a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delegation currently in the Middle East.

General Assembly Council (GAC) Chair the Rev. Allison Seed, General Assembly Stated Clerk the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick and GAC Executive Director Linda Bryant Valentine are visiting Lebanon, Israel and Palestine in an effort to show their continued support for the region's Christians and to get a first-hand look at the area's dynamics.

They also are joined by the Rev. Victor Makari, coordinator for the PC(USA)'s Middle East Office and the Jinishian Memorial Program; and Sara Lisherness, director of the PC(USA)'s Peace and Justice program area.

The following is the text of the delegation's letter:

Greetings to you from Beirut. We are on a trip of solidarity, listening and conversation with our brothers and sisters in Lebanon and Israel/Palestine. We share with you the joys and concerns of our hearts from the first leg of this journey, Beirut and Lebanon.

FIRST, JOY. In churches, schools, universities, and meetings with Christian leaders we have been met with warmth and hospitality and inspired by faithful and constant Christian witness.

Our Presbyterian partnerships here have long and deep roots. Presbyterian missionaries first came in 1823 and started the Evangelical School of Sidon in 1832 for girls, at that time then in the Ottoman Empire. Today the student body of boys and girls, from preschool through high school, is 97% Muslim. The mission of the school is to educate children, to teach democratic principles and to model Christian values of cooperation, respect, and justice, of living with people with other points of view. This is having a profound effect on students and their communities, says John Daoud, the principal of the school. This is but one example.

The importance of Christian witness is evident in the relief, development, and peacemaking work of the Middle East Council of Churches, in the services of compassion of the Jinishian Program for needy Armenians, in the interchanges conducted by the Arab Group for Christian-Muslim Dialogue, in the scholarship and training of church leaders at the Near East School of Theology under the leadership of our friend and president Dr. Mary Mikhail, and in the education of future leaders and citizens who are taught to pursue knowledge, think critically and become leaders at the Lebanese American University (which was started by Presbyterian missionaries as the Beirut College for Women), American University in Beirut (started by Presbyterian missionaries in 1866) and Haigazian University (affiliated with the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches).

Another bustling school is the Beirut Evangelical School for Girls and Boys where several hundred students - Christian and Muslim - are taught values as well as academics, and whose students are drawn to return on Sunday for church school - often their first connection to church. The church and school share property with the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (the Presbyterian Synod) and with the offices of the Reverend Doctor Salim Sahiouny, President of the Supreme Council of Evangelical Churches in Syria and Lebanon and as such the leader of Reformed Protestant churches in those countries. Rev. Sahiouny, a Presbyterian, led a 10-year revision of the constitution that applies to Reformed Christians in matters of personal status, including marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Rev. Sahiouny expressed particular thanks to Presbyterian Women for the support that they gave for this project which, among other things, opened the way for women to serve as judges - and one woman now sits as a judge.

CONCERN. In a meeting of Synod leaders, and in dozens of other conversations we had on our brief visit, we heard the grave concern of continuing Christian presence in the Middle East. Christians are leaving in great numbers, and finding diminishing voice in public and civic arenas. Instability and insecurity is prompting those with opportunity or connection in less vulnerable parts of the world to leave. Many of these are Christians. The very presence of vibrant Christian witness is at stake.

One day we traveled to the south of Lebanon and saw the immense devastation caused in last summer's war with Israel. Churches, mosques, bridges, shops and homes are rubble. How quickly they were destroyed. How long it will take to rebuild, even with support coming from donors like the country of Qatar that has committed to the rebuilding of places of worship and homes in three villages.

Lebanon had been rebuilding for the 16 years since its civil war ended when the attacks of last summer took them by surprise. It "destroyed not only stones and bridges, it destroyed dreams" said Reverend Joseph Kassab, General Secretary of the Synod. Other leaders from the Synod spoke to us: "We are tired. . . . Our young people are leaving. . . . Being Christian is difficult in Lebanon. . . .We want our children to live like any other children and pray that they may have time to dream" were among the comments we heard. Reverend Maan Bitar, Moderator of the Synod used the analogy of an eagle with two wings - "one of love and mercy and one of truth and justice. The eagle cannot fly without both wings, although each has a cost and a price," he said.

HOPE. Through the devastation, concerns of emigration and fears, the church is at work - drawing children in, providing food and shelter to refugees during the war, preparing leaders, educating young people, and modeling Christian values.

We were inspired by leaders who maintain hope where there is so much despair, who live and preach the Gospel of hope and reconciliation, of respect and dignity, compassion and justice.

PRAYERS. The people we saw say they pray for us. Let us pray for them, our brothers and sisters in Christ in Lebanon and the Middle East. Let us pray for all people. Let us pray - and work - for peace.

Blessings,
Cliff, Linda, Allison, Sarah and Victor

Conducted by Baja Presbyterian Missions., Inc. and Pueblos Hermanos of Presbyterian Border Ministries, both endorsed mission projects of SD Presbytery

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Visit and Learn about these Mexican Presbyterian Missions and Churches we work with in the Tijuana area:

• Dios Con Nosotros ("God with Us") Church
• Dios Habla Hoy ("God Speaks Today") Church
• La Nueva Vida ("The New Life") Church
  Lunch will be served
• Dios Es Amor ("God is Love") Mission

Meet at 8:30 a.m. at Chula Vista Presbyterian, 940 Hilltop Dr, Chula Vista. We will travel by three 15-passenger vans and return to the church by 5:00 p.m. Lunch will be provided, plus water, sodas and snacks. A free will offering will be taken to defray expenses.

Deadline for Reservations: Tuesday, March 13.

RSVP to the Presbytery Office 619-224-2490 officemgr@presbyterysd.org

For information, contact:
Rev. Bill Soldwisch (619) 429-8851 or cell phone (619) 392-7943
or Bob Battenfield (619) 469-6101 or cell phone (619) 248-5389

Rev. Jeff Holmes has accepted a call to relocate to Gilroy, California, the heart of garlic country, leaving the La Jolla Presbyterian Church where he has served for 10 years as Associate Pastor. Holmes has been a cycling partner with Rev. Dave Pierson, left, pastor of La Mesa Presbyterian Church, and Rev. Kevin Womack, pastor of Fletcher Hills Presbyterian Church. "We're going to miss him," said Womack. Holmes will be the Pastor of the Gilroy Presbyterian Church effective February 1.

Rev. Steve Locke, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of El Cajon, has been appointed to serve as Vice Moderator of the Presbytery Council. The Rev. Jack Baca, who served as Moderator of the Presbytery in 2006, is Moderator of Council.

A Memorial Service was held January 15 at Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church for the Rev. Leon Raines, a minister member of San Diego Presbytery. Rev. Raines was the founding pastor of La Mesa Presbyterian Church and served on the staff of Point Loma, Fletcher Hills and Faith Presbyterian Churches.

CHURCH ADMINISTRATOR
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, OCEANSIDE

Accepting resumes for Church Administrator from applicants with knowledge of gov't regulations and experience in Finance, Human Resources, Payroll and Office Management. Proficiency with computer skills in analyzing data and preparing financial reports required. Four year business degree preferred. Responsibilities include overseeing all accounting functions including preparation of financial statements, budget and payroll; administration of human resources functions including hiring, wage and salary and benefit administration; as well as supervision of facilities and grounds maintenance. Some night meetings required. Submit resume with salary requirements to fpc@fpcoceanside.org.

Celebrated former La Jolla Presbyterian Church soprano soloist, Barbara Tobler, will present an evening of "Favorite Songs of Love and Longing." Ms. Tobler will be joined by Ines Irawati on piano and Erin Breene on cello. Their concert will feature some of Barbara's favorite composers including Handel, Strauss, Catalini and Rachmaninoff. In celebration of Valentine's Day and her Irish heritage, Barbara will be including sets of love song and classic Irish melodies that all will enjoy.

Tickets are not required for this performance. A freewill offering will be taken before intermission. The church is located at 7715 Draper Ave. across from the La Jolla Recreation Center. The concerts are held in the sanctuary, and there is free parking in the underground garage, which is accessed from Kline Street.

Location: La Jolla Presbyterian Church
7715 Draper Avenue, La Jolla, CA 92037

Recorded Concert Information: (858) 729-5531