Stated Clerk Rev. Annika Lister Stroope will be available by Zoom anytime between 12 PM and 7 PM on Wednesday, June 3, and Thursday, June 4, for helpful feedback and guidance to ensure your congregation’s records are in order. No registration is needed. Simply join using the links below. You can also reach out to Annika at ANY TIME with questions. You do not need to wait for one of these Zoom sessions. The Session Minutes Review Form can be found here. You may send in this form at any time. 

• Wednesday, June 3
• Thursday, June 4 

We invite you to watch and share this video update from the Moderators of the three presbyteries’ Councils as we continue the prayerful process of discerning what God may be calling us toward together. This video offers a look at where we are in the conversation around potential presbytery unification — sharing progress and encouraging the communities to remain engaged in this important journey.

We know that discernment is best done together, and we are grateful for your prayers, patience, and participation as we seek the Spirit’s guidance in this season.

Watch and share the video

• Widescreen Video
• Tall Video

Results

For the past five years, our three presbyteries have been living into our connectional nature through shared executive leadership, joint ministry experiences, and collaboration in important areas such as personnel and support for congregational leadership.

Recently, each presbytery has voted to begin a season of intentional prayer and discussion to discern whether God may be leading us toward a new structure: a single, joined presbytery serving Iowa together.

To that end, we have created a video to explain our next steps and how we will discern this journey together. You can access the video in both widescreen and vertical formats as well as embed, download, and share the videos through whatever means will be most useful for you.

• View video (widescreen)
• View video (vertical)

The Leadership Council of the Des Moines Presbytery met on March 10. Here are some of the highlights of that meeting:

• We opened the meeting with a brief devotional that outlined the book of Nehemiah. A man of prayer, Nehemiah is a good example of leadership skills, discerning God’s will, how to face significant challenges and learning to celebrate what God is doing. These are all things that we as a council and as a Presbytery are needing as we prayerfully explore where God is leading us in the coming months and years.

• We spent time reflecting over the last Presbytery meeting on February 14 and looking toward the meeting on May 19 in Newton.

• A document entitled “Foundational Principles and Guidelines About Property” was shared with the Council. This document was prepared by members of the Des Moines Presbytery, the Presbytery of Prospect Hill, and North Central Iowa Presbytery who attended a conference in Minneapolis last Fall that was sponsored by the national church. This document provides a theological and pastoral foundation for churches and presbyteries who are wrestling with issues of church property and buildings.

• We spent considerable time discussing the on-going discernment process that all three presbyteries are undergoing. This process includes three discernment teams. The first involves Communication. Listening Sessions throughout our presbytery are carefully listening to people’s feelings about a possible merger. Are they excited? Concerned? Have questions? The results of these conversations will be made available to everyone after all the listening sessions are completed and the notes are compiled. Another team is wrestling with the numerous Administrative details involved if we believe God is calling us to unite into a single presbytery. A third team is prayerfully discerning what this Presbytery’s Mission, Values and Vision would be. While these discernment teams are working, gatherings of the committees of our 3 presbyteries who share similar work (Commission on Ministry, Mission, Youth Ministry, and Finances to name a few) are also taking place.

• For the last several years we have enjoyed a tri-presbytery event in August that includes times of worship, fellowship and continuing education. A committee made up of members from our three presbyteries in being organized to plan that event on August 29.