Upcoming Stated Meetings

INFORMATION

The Fall Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta will be held on Saturday, November 9, from 9:00am until 3:00pm at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church in Sandy Springs. This message contains many important details about the meeting—please read it carefully. Pastors, please share it with your clerk of session and elected ruling elder commissioners.

Format: Upon the decision of the presbytery’s Council, this meeting will be held fully in-person. A livestream will be available of parts of the meeting. The meeting is expected to continue after lunch, so a meal will be available to those who make a reservation as part of their pre-registration for the meeting.

Theme, Worship, and Business: Our theme for 2024 is Finding Meaning, Inside and Out. At this meeting, we will be exploring the virtues of integrity and kenosis that mark thriving congregations. Our preacher for the day will be the Rev. Dr. Jennifer Ayres, the L. Bevel Jones III Professor of Religious Education at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University and a member of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. Worship will also include the annual celebration of the lives of those ministers and ruling elders across the Presbytery who have died in the last year.

This meeting will feature an hour docketed for table conversations about the mission and ministry of the Presbytery. These conversations will serve as the kickoff for several opportunities over the next several months to contribute to a broader process of discernment about the future of the Presbytery.

In other business for this meeting, we will vote on a proposed update to the Presbytery’s Manual of Operations, hear stories about the work of the Presbytery and its New Church Development Commission, examine persons for service in the church, and elect members to serve on the Presbytery’s committees and commissions for 2025 and beyond.

The commissioner handbook with the full business for the meeting is available above.

Pre-Registration for the Meeting, Lunch, and Childcare: Online pre-registration is strongly encouraged by the deadline of Sunday, November 3 so that our hosts can be prepared to welcome us and other arrangements can be made to support the meeting. Lunch reservations and payments can be made in advance through the online pre-registration process. Childcare needs can also be communicated in that system. Pre-registration is available above.

Health and Safety: We encourage all attendees to use the time between now and the meeting to get current with covid and other vaccinations, and those who do not feel well on the day of the meeting should stay home and watch the livestream of the meeting. All are welcome to wear a mask throughout the meeting if they feel more comfortable doing so.

Pastors and clerks of session, please share this information with your ruling elder commissioners now so that they can register by the November 3 deadline.

If you have any questions about the meeting, contact Stated Clerk Andy James at cajames@atlpcusa.org. We look forward to seeing you on November 9!