Catawba Presbytery Spring Meeting

I just returned from Catawba Presbytery's Spring meeting at York ARP Church in York, SC.  It was a good trip, with Jim Griffith joining me for the long drive.  York ARP has a beautiful and historic sanctuary (c.1920) right in downtown York.  They also have a good history of the ARP on their site.

Highlights of the meeting included:

• Needed discussion of the requirements of Presbytery for specific cost of living increases for pastors.  We voted for cost of living "adjustments" with no specific percentage mandated by Presbytery from here on out.  This should allow room for increases/decreases as appropriate for individual church communities.
  
• Approval of the Indian Land Mission.  Up to now, this has been an exploratory work.  Now it will be an official Mission Development with plans for it to grow to a particularized church in the next few years.
  
• Transferring of a pastor from another presbytery who provided an opportunity for challenging discussion on two things: First, the Framework view of Creation (each day is symbolic) vs. Apparent Age view (each day is 24 hours and God created full mature specimens during each day). Second, the Continental view of Sabbath rest (leisure/recreation is okay) vs. the Puritan View (leisure/recreation is not okay).
• News of a Senior Adult conference in Columbia this May, which should be a good experience for some of our Sweet Agers here at EPC.
• An update regarding ministry openings in Catawba Presbytery: there are now 10 churches in need of pastors.
• Of course, the best part of any Presbytery meeting is re-connecting with other pastors and elders who serve God's kingdom.