This year the staff of Presbytery offered officer training  at 5 locations around the Presbytery.  Designed for new and returning elders and deacons, this training meets the requirement in the Book of Order that elected officers be trained before their installation.

Overall there were 215 participants from approximately 70 churches!

Participants could select any of one of three Saturdays in early November. If your officers were unable to participate, go ahead and mark your calendar to have new officers elected before the first of November so they can participate next year.

Here is a summary from the various locations:

At Winderemere:  61people attended representing 18 churches, These instructors facilitated the learning and case studies.

• Chris Denny – Devotion and Book of Order
• Ann Jahnes – Spiritual Life of the Session/Diaconate
• Ernie Thompson – History/Beliefs/Book of Confessions
• David McDonald – Book of Order
• Gayle Boykin, Steuart Link – Partners in Ministry (PCC)

At Windermere training, participants said afterwards,

• “I learned a great deal today!”
• “Thanks for getting us moving!”

At First, Jacksonville:  35 at event representing 13 churches

• John Kerr – Devotion
• Phil Gladden – Spiritual Life of the Session/Diaconate
• Nancy Gladden, Robbie Phillips, Jay Bender – Partners in Ministry (PCC)
• Tim Havlicek – Book of Order
• Nick Nielsen – History/Beliefs/Book of Confessions

A  ruling elder at Jacksonville training said,

• “Best leadership training I have ever attended.”
• “Enjoyable and I learned a thing or two.”
• “Filled me with some ideas I can use.”

At Red Springs Presbyterian there were 17 participants  representing 7 churches, with George Thompson leading a spiritual part, Rick McDuffie teaching on the history,  and Jim Moran opening up the secrets of the Book of Order.

Red Springs cooked lunch with the produce that they canned in their “Together we Can” mission project.   They have a community garden from which they can vegetables to give to those in need. The garden has been a blessing the community and the church as they partner together.

At Raeford Church there were 19 churches represented by 44 people, Instructors were  Bill Reinhold, Ron Crossley,  Deck Guess   and   Rev. Laura Lupton.  The Book of Order section used a quiz format to spark discussion and exploration of the Book of Order passages.

• One participant remarked, “I learned what is available through the Presbytery to support individual churches.”

At First – Sanford there were 14 Churches represented by 58 people.  Facilitators were  Jason Hamersley,  David Dudley, Ron Stoker,  Bill Hayes       Bill Goodnight,  Paul Shields, and Laura Lupton.  After an overview of the Book Of Order some amusing but true case study examples were discussed at each table.

• When asked to share something learned, one elder said, “The Session is not just a governing body of yes or no answers. We as elders need to have a vision for our church and inspire our congregation to do God’s will.”

The staff are grateful for the hospitality of the hosting congregations and the thorough preparation of the instructors. These training events were coordinated by the Mission Coordinators: Nancy Gladden, Steuart Link and Laura Lupton with help from the whole staff team.