A Three Year Plan for the Presbytery of Denver

 

 

                                                      Prologue

 

      As we form a new three-year plan for the Presbytery of Denver …

 

          We celebrate the work of the Spirit among us and in the world.

 

          God’s Spirit is raising up disciples for Christ in ways and in forms that baffle the imagination.  God is moving to create unity and break down barriers.  The Spirit is igniting the human imagination to bring praise and glory to God in ways and places before unknown.  As the Presbytery of Denver, we celebrate the ways we have grown, served and worked together, ways that have deepened and broadened the work of our churches.  Once again we seek to discern where the Spirit is moving and join God in these endeavors of redemption and grace.  We seek to build on the good, the right and the faithful of the past and also to see the new that God asks us to embrace.   We seek to celebrate the Spirit’s work in sister churches and communions, and hear the testimony of those who have been transformed by the gospel.

 

 

       We confess our individual and corporate brokenness.

 

        We confess our idolatry, worshiping that which is not God.  We name the attitude and actions in our church life which have contributed to the disharmony and disorder of the world.  We acknowledge with humility the structures that perpetuate injustice.  We lay ourselves open to receive the witness of the Hebrew prophets who announced that God hates worship that is not joined with compassion for the least of these.  We seek healing for our apathy, separateness and indifference.  We seek forgiveness for our greed and materialism.  We seek wholeness for our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual disease.   We trust that as we are forgiven, that we will forgive. 

 

 

        We seek to fan the flame of the holy urgency for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

         We will use our resources and time to nurture those who feel the life and death urgency of ministry in the name of Christ.  Rather than supporting institutional survival, we will invest our time and assets in those individuals, groups, churches and partnerships who have a deep inner longing for God’s work.  We will study Scripture together and listen to our partners in ministry to discern the fresh call of God in our day.  We will give public witness and engage in community dialogue from our Reformed perspective.  We will seek to be the voice of Christ for our churches, our community and world.

 

       With humility, prayer, courage and love in Christ, we seek to look into the future God holds out to us and work to prepare for it!

 

 

 

                                          The Three Directions of the Plan

 

 

                                               We serve congregations.

 Congregations are the people who carry out the mission of the church.  They are the varied and unique expressions of the Body of Christ.  They are the places where faith in Jesus Christ is proclaimed, lived and nurtured.   They are where the work of the Spirit is celebrated, healing is received, the urgency of the gospel is lived and the future is claimed.  Without strong and vital congregations, there is no presbytery.  In fact, there is no church at all.  Therefore, the Presbytery understands and affirms that its primary role is to serve and strengthen congregations and their ability to be the instruments of Christ’s mission in the world.

 

                                   We minister with those who minister.

Ministry is shared by the whole people of God.  In a new century, ministry also is changing.  Congregations need dynamic, creative and faithful leadership in this demanding time.  Ministers are called to provide new kinds of leadership.  Current leaders require constant training to meet new challenges.  Emerging leaders must be identified and supported.  Therefore, the Presbytery commits to providing support and on-going education for ministers, current congregational leaders and emerging leaders in the church.

 

                                                  We reach out.

 “In life and in death we belong to God.”  To be Presbyterian is to know we are never alone.  In all we do and are, God reigns over us, loves us, saves us and provides for us in all ways.  We also are not alone in the church.  In the Reformed tradition congregations do not minister independently.  Presbyteries cannot work in isolation.  We are joined with other Presbyterians in a covenant relationship that binds us with the whole Presbyterian Church.  We also are united with the ecumenical church that extends to all Churches of Christ and to the world fellowship of the church.  We know, too, that the work of the church is never done.  It must reach out into new places and with new people, near and far.  Together we can discern where the Spirit is moving, discover wholeness for our lives and find courage to proclaim with urgency the gospel of Jesus Christ.

        Therefore the Presbytery reaches out and …

·        Promises to provide opportunities for ministry with persons of all races and ethnic groups;

·        Commits to extend ministry of congregations into new places and support the development of new congregations;

·        Affirms its partnership with the Presbytery of Zimbabwe and its churches, ministers and members;

·        Recommits to its covenantal relationship with the whole Presbyterian Church and to support faithfully the work of the Synod of the Rocky Mountains and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA);

·        Continues to support and encourage the Colorado Council of Churches.