The Rev. Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie, one of our denomination’s most widely known preachers, brought a stirring and challenging message urging San Diego area pastors “to mount into the pulpit to preach with passion.”

Pastor of the Hollywood Presbyterian Church for more than 20 years, from which he conducted a national television ministry and authored numerous books, Ogilvie served the prestigious post of Chaplain of the United States Senate for the past 8 years, prior to retirement in 2004.

Ogilvie gave a theological re.ection prior to the formal opening of the Presbytery meeting, as well as delivering the sermon at the evening worship service that followed dinner.

Speaking about what it means to care for people, he gave a new twist to the familiar phrase, “I couldn’t care less.” He said. “I couldn’t care less – less than He cares.” Ogilvie charged the pastors “to preach a two-legged Gospel” – of a personal commitment to Christ, and also a commitment to social justice and the righteousness of God.

He recommended pastors meet together frequently in small groups for mutual support and to pray for each otherwith accountability.

Quoting from a Latin phrase that dates back to the early church, he declared, “the preaching of the Word of God IS the Word of God.”

“To preach the cross is to proclaim the suffering of Christ, of the substitutionary death of Christ for the sins of the whole world.”

Quoting from Spurgeon, he said: “We have a great need for Christ, and a great Christ for our needs.”

And this from the motto of the Senate BibleStudy he led: “Without God, we can’t. Without us, He won’t.”

In his evening sermon, titled “The Red Ember in the White Ash,” Ogilvie recalled a time when at a church retreat he joined a down-spirited elder in his cabin to talk and pray together. While their conversation continued, the fire in the fireplace died down to white ashes. “See?” the other man said, “that’s how my spiritual life has dimmed.”

“Oh, look there!” cried Ogilive. “See that glowing ember! Let’s go outside and gather up some kindling and toss on these logs and we’ll have a roaring fire again!”

The Stated Clerk has received information from the Synod of Southern California & Hawaii advising that a significant downsizing of the Synod staff is in process. A restructuring of the Synod is also in process. Rumors that all Synod staff has resigned or that the Synod has shut down are untrue. The terminations are effective May 31, 2005 but all employees who are terminated will be eligible to apply for new positions that may be created.

Information from the General Assembly Meeting Service regarding the 217th General Assembly to be held June 15 – 22, 2006 in Birmingham, Alabama, advises overture deadlines are as follows:

• 120 day – February 15, 2006
• For overtures & questions requiring an interpretation of the Book of Order 60 day – April 17, 2006
• For overtures with financial implications 45 day – May 1, 2006
• For all other overtures Contact Linda Therien, stated clerk, for more information.

A Pre-Presbytery event will be held prior to the September 20, 2005 stated meeting of Presbytery for the purpose of discussing the Peace, Unity & Purity (PUP) report to the General Assembly. Rev. Gary Demarest, recently interim pastor at Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church, is co-chair of the task force, which is to make its final report to the 217th General Assembly in 2006.

Stephen represents the church learning how to wash one another’s wounds. Recently, I realized that our presbytery has met in six of the past seven months. Wow. Unfortunately, the most painful of those meetings was our gathering on February 22 nd at Fletcher Hills Presbyterian Church. I am deeply grateful to the leadership of Fletcher Hills for the hospitality they provided on very short notice. Their grace-filled presence made a difference at a meeting that was extremely painful for all of us. There were no winners. No celebration was appropriate. In many ways, we all lost something that night.

Yet I am convinced the meeting was very right. In the midst of the great pain we all experienced, I was proud of the way the meeting was conducted. It was a clear expression of how our polity serves us well under extremely trying conditions.

As we continue to move through this “Year of Stephen,” I pray that the regulatory responsibilities we have been entrusted with might be seasoned with relational sensitivity. Please join me in praying for Steve and Janet Murray and their daughters, for all members of La Jolla Presbyterian Church, and for our presbytery—as we wash one another’s wounds in the days ahead.

Stephen represents a “HINGE” in the early church: From Regulatory to Relational.
In early February, the Council spent the evening around dinner and a “fireside chat.” No minutes were taken. No business was handled. We simply gathered together in my home to enjoy one another and discuss how we might become more relationally connected to our sessions and congregations.

Some key questions included: What do our churches want us—as the leadership of the presbytery—to hear? And how can the presbytery move from a regulatory focus to a relational focus?

The Committee on Ministry has committed to focusing on relational connectedness with our churches and pastors and, in late February, sponsored ten leaders in our presbytery to attend a three-day, conflict-resolution training event with Rev. Peter Steinke. I have hosted four luncheons with various groups of pastors, and I look forward to the pastor’s Sabbath retreat on April 28th.

Stephen represents the ending of the “TEMPLE MINDSET.”
We have already begun to see the downsizing of the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii. On February 24, 2005, fourteen synod employees were terminated, effective May 31, 2005. The Camps and Conference Ministry has been transitioned to a separate 501(c)(3) corporation, with the staff being removed from the synod payroll. The synod also plans to sell its Wilshire Boulevard property and relocate its offices.

In our presbytery, we have begun the complete decentralization of Military Outreach Ministries. As evidenced at the informational dessert held last night for our North County churches, people are excited to see the movement from a top-down, presbytery-driven ministry to one owned and managed by local congregations.

Also, in January, the Arabic Speaking New Church Development was “decentralized” to become a vital ministry of Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church. By December 31, 2005, the presbytery will have six fewer employees, as we, like the Synod, move away from a temple mindset.

Stephen represents the beginning of the “MISSIONAL MINDSET.”
In response to the “Year of Stephen,” the Missions Committee adopted two operative words for 2005: initiate and collaborate.

Collaborative mission efforts are already happening as churches reach out to tsunami victims (to date, sixteen churches have given over $105,000 through our presbytery to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance).

Currently, ten of our churches have identified liaisons for our partnership with Habitat for Humanity; and in May, volunteer teams from the presbytery will begin to build a new home for the Amos family in Descanso.

I am currently talking with Tom Theriault about the possibility of a presbytery-wide mission trip this fall to the Afar people in Ethiopia.

Recent collaborative efforts within our presbytery also include the leadership training event, “What’s So Essential About the Essential Tenets?” Over 150 people from 24 of our churches participated.

Stephen’s ministry ushered in a new, bottom–up reformation in his day—and in ours! I am excited to see a new relational connectionalism beginning to surface in our midst.

Every so often I find myself drawn to a particular subject because a group of independent experiences serendipitously converge and hit me over the head. This has happened in the past couple of weeks. I use a daily devotional guide entitled; “Daily Readings from Spiritual Classics” edited by Paul Ofstedal.

For the past couple of weeks the focus has been on writings from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. A magazine that I subscribe to entitled “Homiletics” has a special feature in this month’s edition on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Leading up to the Men’s Retreat I spent a lot of time catching up on my knowledge and understanding of Martin Luther (the subject of our men’s retreat) which led me to many articles, essays and material reflecting on, you guessed it, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Many of you probably remember Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a German Lutheran Pastor who was executed in the Flossenberg concentration camp on April 9, 1945 just prior to the surrender of the Nazis. He had participated in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Bonhoeffer was only 39 years old. He stood, in 1934, with other German pastors, Karl Barth among them, and told the Nazi party that the evangelical church would not support their cause and be a state church under National Socialist authority. The Theological Declaration of Barman, which is in our “Book of Confessions,” is the product of that group of pastors.

In an interview by Homiletics magazine with Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, (Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke University Divinity School) he stated that Deitrich Bonhoeffer was an example of one who performed his Christian faith – not just believed his Christian faith. This may be a strange way to talk about faith – a performance. Yet, Hauerwas wanted to make a distinction between faith as intellectual belief and faith that shapes and impacts the world. This is how he put it at the beginning of the interview:

“Religious belief is not just some kind of primitive metaphysics, but in fact it is a performance just like you’d perform Lear. What people think Christianity is, is that it’s like the text of Lear, rather than the actual production of Lear. It has to be performed for you to understand what Lear is – a drama. You can read it, but unfortunately Christians so often want to make Christianity a text rather than a performance.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived his faith as performance, drama that had passion and impact that shaped lives and the world around him. His faith was not an intellectual statement, but a life lived in the presence of God.

In the same way, our faith needs to be lived as performance, not intellectual dialogue. We are not statements of belief, but actors of faith. We gather at Easter to live our faith, not explain the metaphysical merits of a resurrected body. We live because Jesus lives. This is not just “talk” it is real life being lived in the world on behalf of the one who has saved us.

Before he was led away by Gestapo guards, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said to a fellow prisoner, “This is the end – for me the beginning of life.” We live the end and the beginning in this holy season – a season of the cross and the empty tomb.

Resolution
BE IT RESOLVED on the 15th day of March, 2005, that the Presbytery of San Diego:

1. Condemns the language contained in the “Publisher’s Note” of a document entitled, “Confessional Standards for a Confessing Church”, produced by Geneva Press; specifically,

“The term ‘confessing church’ has come to mean something altogether different in the current Presbyterian context, however, as right-wing organizations seek to use confessional standards as theological sledgehammers to bludgeon Presbyterians into a rigid orthodoxy that divisively excludes certain persons from ecclesiastical leadership.”

2. Requests that Davis Perkins, President of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, retract this statement and apologize for the divisive and unwarranted characterization of brothers and sisters in Christ who are part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); and,

3. Instructs the Stated Clerk of San Diego Presbytery to convey this Resolution to

1. The President and Publisher of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation;
2. To Rick Ufford-Chase, Moderator of the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.);
3. To Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); and,
4. To John Detterick, the Executive Director of the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Dated this 15th day of March, 2005.

There are a number of confessing congregations within San Diego Presbytery. The language of this statement by the President and Publisher of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation is inaccurate, offensive, and damaging to those congregations. It is particularly inappropriate because it is produced with the seal of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and under the color of the authority of the General Assembly. This statement should be retracted with an apology; distributed as widely as the original publication.

The Rev. Donna Alora has transferred to the Presbytery of Alaska where she is serving as Interim Pastor to the Northern Light United Presbyterian Church in Juneau.

The Rev. Dr. Paul Fisher, formerly pastor of Chula Vista Presbyterian Church, is now serving as part-time Parish Associate at Lakeside Presbyterian Church.

The Linda Vista Presbyterian Church session has extended their Stated Supply relationship with The Rev. Richard B. Hayward for one year.

Elder Carol Ostrander, a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Escondido, was honored by the Presbytery with a Letter of Commendation for her volunteer work as Minute Clerk of Presbytery (replacing John Bryan who is on a leave absence), Acting Clerk of Session at La Jolla Presbyterian Church, as well as Clerk of Session at Westminster.

The Rev. Dr. George Walker Smith, pastor emeritus, has donated his papers and memorabilia to the Special Collections and University Archives Library at San Diego State University.

The Rev. and Mrs. Casper Glenn celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary in March 2005. Rev. Glenn is a former Executive Presbyter of San Diego Presbytery.

The Rev. Dr. John Paul Powell has accepted the call to serve as Pastor/Head of Staff at Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church. He is relocating from the Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Penn, where he was Senior Pastor. Also, his wife, The Rev. Dr. Pamela Baker Powell, an ordained Presbyterian minister who most recently has been Dean of Students and Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, is being received into membership of the Presbytery of San Diego as a Member-at-Large. Two of the couple’s three children and one son-in-law are Presbyterian ministers.

Rev. Powell’s appointment as Pastor/Head of Staff at the Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church was rati.ed at a special worship and congregational meeting at the Point Loma Church on Sunday, March 13. He is expected to begin his regular duties at Point Loma on Sunday, May 15. A formal installation service has been scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Sunday, June 5 in the PLCPC sanctuary.

Rev. Powell, who will be the fifth leader of the Point Loma congregation in the churches’ 68 year history, follows the Rev. Arthur F. Sueltz who served as Senior Pastor for 22 years. The Rev. Gary Demarest has served as Interim Pastor for the past year and a half during which time a 14-member Pastoral Search Committee worked toward its final selection from some 160 candidates.

A third generation pastor, Rev. Powell received a B.A. degree in biblical studies from Northwest Christian College in Eugene, Oregon, and both a Master and Doctor of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.

After serving as Associate Pastor at Glendale Presbyterian Church for six years, he co-pastored with his wife at the Sherman Oaks Presbyterian Church for six years before becoming the Senior Pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Lubbock, Texas. He served at the Lubbock church for eight years before moving to Pittsburgh to become the 11th pastor to lead the Mt. Lebanon church in its 200-year history.

A gifted biblical preacher, Rev. Powell is deeply aware of the emotional and spiritual needs of his congregation and regularly makes home and hospital calls. His commitment to a missional church has taken him to Asia, Europe, Africa and India. He most recently led the Mt. Lebanon Church through a successful 6.2 million dollar capital campaign and building project.

The Presbytery of San Diego is now receiving applications for the position of Regional Manager for Military Outreach Ministries' Southern Region (south of Hwy 56).

The position involves hands-on service to military families in need, networking with churches and military and civic organizations, organizing donations, maintaining administrative records, and supervising volunteers.

The ideal candidate is a self-starter who is committed to Christ, has excellent interpersonal and organizational skills, is computer literate, can speak in public, and has a heart for the military community. Applicants must be able to drive a van and lift 30 or more pounds.

For a job description or for more information, please contact Heather Henderson at 619-224-2490 x 102. To apply, please send a cover letter and resume no later than April 12, 2005 to: Heather Henderson, Director, Military Outreach Ministries, 3707 Udall Street, San Diego, CA 92107.

Join the Kids at Heart team and make a difference in the lives of San Diegos youth! Part time Program Director needed for Presbyterian-based, ecumenical after-school program.

Job Description: Manage the Kids at Heart tutoring program, with responsibilities including, but not limited to: administration and coordination of student registration, maintenance of volunteer database, and organizing academic enrichment activities.

Qualications: Spanish/English required. Program Coordination experience helpful. Excellent organizational and communication skills. Flexible hours.

Fax cover letter and resume to 619-234-4508 or email to linda@uplift.sdcoxmail.com Contact information: Linda Guzzo, Executive Director 619-234-4504

Its called "A Sabbath Day for Pastors," a day set apart for rest, reection and relationship. Rev. Jack Baca is host pastor, with Rev. Andy Smith billed as the shepherd. All pastors are encouraged to attend, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday April 28 at the home of Ed and Linda Ewing in Rancho Santa Fe. Cost is $25 (scholarships available). Lunch is included, bring your own swimsuit. RSVP by April 22 to Sharon Pruess, office manager, at 619-224-2490 or email ofcemgr@presbyterysd.org

The San Diego Chapter of the National Library Association will meet Saturday, April 30, at the Evangelical Bible Bookstore, 3812 Grim Ave. in North Park. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the meeting will conclude at 12 noon. There will be a book trade table and time for sharing new library ideas. Visitors and new members are welcome.

“Many churches have their own lending libraries of religious books and many would like to start a library,” said Carol Spaulding, vice president of the San Diego Chapter. “One help for librarians is the National Church Library Association. Membership in this nonpro.t support organization is open to individuals or churches of all Christian denominations who desire assistance with church library development.”

For more information or early registration, call Spaulding at 858-578-8268 or email lib4him@aol.com>

Ten churches in the San Diego Presbytery have joined in the partnership between the Presbytery and San Diego Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild a family home in Descanso that was destroyed in the October 2003 wildfire. In addition two more churches in the Imperial Valley area will work with Habitat in Imperial County due to the distance from Descanso.

The Presbytery joined forces with the San Diego Habitat af.liate following the .res to concentrate fundraising efforts and secure the volunteer manpower needed to build two Habitat for Humanity homes.

According to The Rev. David Turner, Associate Pastor at Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church, who is serving as head of the joint project for the Presbytery, work on the home in Descanso, is scheduled to begin April 2. A second Habitat home in Lakeside is scheduled to come on line in a month or two.

Under the program, teams from each of the 10 churches will choose two or three dates they will volunteer during the construction phase, working Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays every month beginning in May. The project is scheduled for completion by the middle of November.

Churches unable to get a team of volunteers together can still take part in the Habitat project by materials required to complete the home. The Presbytery maintains a list of materials including as windows, roo.ng materials, and plumbing supplies, which will be needed as the construction forward. Those interested in donating funds or building materials should contact Sharon Pruess, office manager at (619) 224-2490 for more information.

July 2 is set as the Presbytery Night at the Padres. The game will be against the San Francisco Giants and includes Fireworks. The ticket cost is $12.00 per ticket with $3.00 per ticket coming back to the presbytery. Padres have allotted 1000 tickets for this event. Distribution of the proceeds will be recommended by the Executive Committee of Council at a future date.

The Muslim Afar people of Ethiopia, the target of one of PC(USA)’s largest people/frontier mission will be visited the .rst two weeks of November by a delegation from San Diego Presbytery led by Smith, Executive Presbyter, and Rev. Tom Theriault, missions pastor at Solana Beach Church. Other and mission leaders from San Diego Presbytery are anticipated to join the trip as well.

Seven San Diego churches currently support outreach to the Afar: Fallbrook, Fletcher Hills, Graham Linda Vista, Oceanside, Solana Beach and Westminster Escondido.

“We are praying that other church pastors/mission leaders will get excited as they see [the Afar] people for themselves," said Theriault.

Theriault expects the missions group “to see the mighty works of God among the Afar.” Dates for the trip remain tentative.

An Ethiopian banquet featuring missions workers to the Afar was held March 4-5 at Graham Memorial Church in Coronando.