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Tent Talk
February,
2008
APT
MODERATOR’S MESSAGE
A Covenanting We Will Grow
Making the move as a Tentmaking PCUSA minister to one with “dual
standing” serving a UCC church full time has been an exciting adventure
in faith. It may even require less hours! Part of that process has
involved preparation in the congregational tradition where I have come
to appreciate some differences and commonalities with respect to
Presbyterianism.
I am reminded of the “3 C’s” that are helpful in remembering the
hallmarks and strengths of our Presbyterian heritage; those being our 1)
constitutional, 2) connectional, and 3) confessional way of being.
Today, I would like to commend to you a fourth C from
Congregationalism. One that speaks well to the challenges, goals, and
opportunities that lay ahead for us this year – covenantal. And
remember, it was a group of early Presbyterian settlers to this country
who organized and called themselves “covenanters” as well. Although
this is a term pregnant with meaning both theological and biblical,
Webster boils it down to “an agreement between parties for the
performance of some action”.
Being a denominational, all volunteer organization that meets annually,
it is easy to be sidetracked by disparate geography, time constraints
and availability once the “glow”of our annual get together fades. To
maintain the flame of excitement about our plans for 2008, that word
covenantal, as a necessary component of our vitality keeps coming
back to me.
Covenantal
this year means sharing the good news denominationally and ecumenically
with those who would like to know more about APT - at our annual APT
Conference, General Assembly, via our website ( www. ) and newsletter
‘Tent Talk’, through seminary and college visits, or by e mail contacts
or phone calls from any of our membership
Covenantal,
reaching out in the spirit of hospitality to network with like
organizations with whom we share common interests.
Covenantal,
in honoring Gods promise of “doing a new thing”: offering the biblical
model of bi-vocational ministry for a church and denomination(s) in need
of timely alternatives.
Covenantal
means each of us in leadership and membership signing on to further one
of the APT tasks for which we have a passion
At our Portland confab, in noting our goals and plans for the year, Ross
Blount referred to these as “another item to be put in bucket.” As your
Moderator this year, it is my hope and plan that we would covenant
with one another responsibly to shoulder the various loads so that the
bucket is lighter and emptier.
As always, I know it will be a joy to splash around with you all in
wonderful fellowship. May we grow together covenantally in 2008.
Jeff Scott, APT Moderator
APT WEB SITE
During 2007
tentmaker Rev. Ralph Wright, Jr. has set up a web site for the
Association of Presbyterian Tentmakers. At first he attached the web
site to the web site for his church, the Yaphank Presbyterian Church.
Recently he has located the web site under the domain name
“pcusatentmakers”.
www.pcusatentmakers.org
The web site
includes the APT purpose and officers, current and future activities,
proceedings of past conferences, books and research reports on
tentmaking/bivocational ministry, and links to other tentmaking web
sites.
This project has
been funded with a $750 grant from the General Assembly National
Ministries Division. As of 1/31/08 $490 had been spent on setting up
the web site. The remainder of the grant will be spent on future
expenses.
The maintenance
and use of this web site will help in providing current information to
any who seek to learn more about the opportunities that tentmaking
ministry can provide. Many thanks to Ralph Wright for making this
project a reality.
Association of Presbyterian Tentmakers
Annual Meeting
Present: Ross
Blount, moderator, Moderator elect, Jeff Scott, Fred Bunning,
Treasurer, Kathy Johnstone, Secretary pro tem, Phil Aspinall (Chrism
Representative), William Dodge, Lois Dodge, Carolyn Hampton, Phil Tom
(GA representative), Lorena Blount, Virginia Bunning, John Hasenjaeger,
Emily Guess (guest and tentmaker searcher), Charity Kamau.
Opened with prayer
at 10:32 a.m. by moderator Ross Blount.
Minutes from last
years annual meeting read and approved.
Nominating
Committee Report: Presented in nomination:
Moderator: Jeff Scott
Moderator
elect: Don West
Treasure: Fred Bunning
At
Large: Kathy Johnstone
Slate approved by
acclamation.
Service of
installation – Moderator Ross Blount.
Thanks to John
Hasenjaeger for his organization of the meeting.
Financial Report
by treasurer Fred Bunning:
Presented financial report for 2005.
Opening balance $5,942.43
Income 5,720.00
Expense 6,505.82
Closing balance 5,1561.61
Phil Aspinall
commented on the lack of expenses for the executive committee.
Executive committee now meets in cyberspace, so there is no cost for
these meetings. Other expenses have not been submitted to the treasurer
for payment. It is the will of the body to have the expenses listed,
even if donations are made.
Approval of 2005
financial report was moved, seconded and approved.
Report on the 2006
year to date: For next year there is a change of designated monies for
the web site and a seminary project.
Report accepted:
Moved, second, Approved.
Treasurer
presented the list of members, accurate to the minute. Memberships are
by calendar year. Membership is $50 per year.
Website: Website
is provided by a grant from General Assembly. The web address is
currently
www.yaphankpc.org. Web master Ralph
Wright is searching for a domain name which is unique to the
organization. Costs should be around $450 to $500 for the initial
year. Continuing costs should be $50 per year. The executive committee
is discussion a blog or forum. Nathan Hampton, son of Carolyn Hampton
has a business that could provide technical assistant also. Jeff prayed
for this ministry.
Tent talk: Tent
Talk is the newsletter for the organization. The editor, Steve Hammond,
has resigned. Carolyn Hampton asked how often it is published. She
would be available at some times to update this. The group discussed
using the website to publish a newsletter. Ralph Wright has volunteered
to do the web master. Executive committee will discuss the content of
the website.
Seminary
presentations by tentmakers: GA gave a grant to do seminary
presentations to discuss the vision of tentmaking with seminarians.
Links need to be made with seminarians, ethnic pastors, CLPs and
bi-vocational students.
2008 Conference:
Fred Bunning reported we don’t yet have our location. Dubuque was
suggested but not a good place because distance from the airport is
difficult. Phil Tom shared the efforts of GA in regard to conferences.
They are supporting regional conferences, which seems to be more
effective since networking can be sustained. The Executive Committee
will continue to work on this. A decision should be made by General
Assembly so brochures can be distributed at that time.
New immigrant
ministries: Charity Kamau reported the strength of the conferences for
new immigrant ministers. Moderator Ross Blount commented that the
immigrant ministers are often tentmakers. There is an annual CLP
conference for immigrant CLPs. We talked about holding the Tentmaking
meeting close to this meeting. Ross Blount challenged us to find money
to bring immigrants to conferences.
General assembly:
Fred and Virginia Bunning will be responsible for the table at
General Assembly with the intent of sharing space with Phil Tom from
GA and his office if possible. If other members are present, help
in manning the table will be appreciated.
Contact with
colleges: We should be contacting colleges to offer a new look at
bi-vocational options. Gary Luhr is the GA associate for colleges.
Presbyterian Camps
and conferences Association: We should also contact the Association of
Camps and Conferences. Jeff reports that 20 to 30% of the camp
directors are tentmakers. This is also a time when we contact students.
Jeff Scott will contact Don West to try to make contact with PCCCA Board
members while they are at their upcoming Conference (Camp Calvin,
Georgia).
Tentmaking DVD:
Moderator Ross distributed DVDs about tentmaking.
Reports: Charity
Kamau asked if there will be a final report of this group.
Meeting was
adjourned at 11:45 a.m. with prayer.
Respectfully
submitted,
Kathy Johnstone
Stories of Tentmakers
Kathy Johnstone
Mineral, Washington
This November Mineral Presbyterian Church celebrated 100 years of
ministry in Mineral, Washington. For 5,200 Sundays, people have
gathered to sing, pray, and listen to God's word. The current pastoris
tentmaker Kathy Johnstone. Kathy came up through the ranks at Mineral,
participating as a member, elder, and lay reader for 14 years before
becoming pastor.
Kathy likes to say that she is all possible exceptions. She is a
Commissioned Lay Pastor in addition to being a tentmaker. She completed
her education for CLP through the program at the University of Dubuque
Theological Seminary and taught their on-line preaching class for three
years. Her "tent" is teaching school at Columbia
Crest Elementary School, the school closest to Paradise. (This is an
inside Washington joke. Paradise is one of the areas of Mt. Rainier
National Park.)
Kathy loves pastoring. It has been such a rewarding thing to do. Her
congregation of 22 members and an average of 25 on Sunday, is warm and
supportive. "The surprise," she mused, "has been how much I have
enjoyed the pastoral care part of the job. I never knew what a
privilege it was to walk beside people in times of trouble."
Come see the 99 year old building at:
www.mineralpresbyterian.org
Association of
Presbyterian Tentmakers
Directory
Moderator
Jeff Scott
hildsctt@netscape.net
PO Box 481
Creede, CO 81130
719-658-3082
Moderator—Elect
Don West
donaldjosephwest@hotmail.com
PO Box 2684
Thomasville, GA 31799-2684
Past
Moderator
Ross Blount
allerton-blount@yahoo.com
405 N. Central
Allerton, IA 50008-8606
641-873-4242
Treasurer
Fred Bunning
vcvlbunning@msn.com
1035 SW 20th
Loveland, CO 80537
970-667-4853
Member at
Large
Kathy Johnstone
kayjay@myhome.net
PO Box 194
Mineral, WA 98355
G.A.
Liaison
Phil Tom
ptom@ctr.pcusa.org
100 Witherspoon St.
Louisville, KY 40202
888-728-7288, ext 5845
Board of
Pensions
Philip
Gehman
Contact
Person
pgehman@pensions.org
Board of Pensions
2000 Market St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103-3298
800-773-7752 ext. 7482
Tent Talk
Editor
Vacant
Website
Ralph
Wright, Jr.
rbwright1@aol.com
Report on
TENTMAKER CONTACTS
WITH SEMINARIES
January 31, 2008
During 2007,
discussions within the Association of Presbyterian Tentmakers have lead
to the following plan for action in 2008.
The APT Moderator
and Past-Moderator have covenanted to do “trial runs” with each making
presentations at a seminary and reporting back to the APT assembled at
the 2008 Conference.
Contacts will be
made through appropriate seminary staff who are sympathetic to
tentmaking as a valid form of ministry.
Seminary
gatherings will hopefully include all in the area involved in
tentmaking/bivocational ministry: seminary students already involved in
tentmaking, students interested in tentmaking, new immigrant pastors in
the area who are tentmakers, Commissioned Lay Pastors in the area,
tentmakers /bivocational pastors from other denominations.
An effort will be
made to assemble resources useful for such a seminar and with the help
of participants, to assess the value of such resources for future
seminars.
This project has
been funded with a $2000 grant from the General Assembly National
Ministries Division. No funds were spent in 2007.
- Ross Blount
Tentmakers and
The Board of Pensions
Tentmakers often ask whether they are eligible for benefits from the
Board of Pensions. Since the circumstances among tentmakers vary so
widely, I find that I must ask each person three questions before I can
respond to the inquiry. Feel free to ask them of yourself!!
Are you in a called and installed position (pastor, co-pastor, associate
pastor or designated pastor)?
If you are in a called and installed position, you must be enrolled in
the traditional Benefits Plan in accord with the Book of Order,
G-14.0534.
If you are not in a called and installed position, you are not required
to participate in the Benefits Plan.
If you are not in a called and installed position, is your church
employment for 20 hours a week or more?
If your church employment is for 20 hours a week or more, you are
eligible for coverage from the Board of Pensions.
If your church employment is for less than 20 hours a week, you are not
eligible for coverage from the Board of Pensions.
If you are not in a called and installed position and your church
employment is for 20 hours a week or more, do you desire benefits
coverage through the Board of Pensions?
If you do desire benefits coverage from the Board of Pensions, you may
choose one of these options:
Traditional Benefits Plan (includes healthcare, pension, disability and
death coverage).
Affiliated Benefits Program (limited to healthcare coverage or to
healthcare, death and disability coverage).
To explore these options further, please go to Board’s website,
www.pensions.org, or call the Board
of Pensions at 1-800-773-7752 to request an enrollment packet and have
your questions answered.
One further note: all church workers, clergy and lay, who are employed
for 20 hours a week or more are eligible to participate in the Board’s
403(b)(9) Retirement Savings Plan, whether or not they have other
benefits through the Board of Pensions.
As always, thank you for your faithful ministry to the congregations and
tents that you serve!
Phil Gehman
The Board of Pensions’ Liaison to APT
Tentmaking in Texas
First Presbyterian Church
Duncanville, Texas
I am presently serving on staff as choir director, and
we are in the midst of pastoral transition. We are
certainly interested in tentmaking possibilities as a
possible option for our church.
Please feel free to call or respond should you need
any additional information or log onto the church’s website:
www.fpcd.org.
Thanks!
Steve Bayless
(214) 371-9665
Tentmaker Position Open
France Memorial Presbyterian Church
Rawlins, Wyoming
Our church is looking for a 1/2 time pastor who sees
himself/herself as a fellow traveler. He/she should be a
Christ-centered person with a strong, professional work ethic and a
relaxed, interpersonal style. Good communication skills, personal
warmth, and a sense of humor would all be good descriptors of the pastor
we seek. Also, a person who enjoys fellowshipping with others, who is
caring and sensitive to the needs of a multi-generational congregation,
and who is a flexible, dependable, positive thinker willing to try new
ideas. Together we can learn and grown in Christian faith in order to
fulfill Christ’s mission of service.
Major employers in Carbon County, where Rawlins is the
county seat, are: two school districts, the Union Pacific Railroad, BP
Amoco, Sinclair Oil Corp., Wyoming State Penitentiary, several natural
gas companies, the Bureau of Land Management, the hospital and the
county itself. Many jobs are also available in the hospitality
industry, which includes motels, restaurants, and tourist attractions.
The boom we are currently experiencing has created a job market loaded
with opportunities for a tentmaker.
Rawlins is located on the high plains of south central
Wyoming on the !-80 corridor. Our wide open spaces, magnificent vistas,
and snow capped mountains in the distance, make it a special place to
enjoy God’s creation. We are known for our hunting, fishing, and other
outdoor activities, both winter and summer. Check out all our area has
to offer at the following web sites:
www.rawlins-wyoming.com
www.wyomingcarboncounty.com
www.geocities.com/presbyterianchurch/fmpc
http://www.pcusa.org/clc/
For further information, please contact:
Ruth Hood, PNC chair
2307 Inverness Blvd.
Rawlins, WY 82301
307-328-1743 (phone)
1-775-206-0288 (fax)
rrhood@bresnan.net
Or the church office at:
P.O. Box 786
1506 Nevada Street
Rawlins, WY 82301
307-324-3031
COVENANT ANNUAL REPORT
Submitted January 31, 2008
Covenant between the National Ministries Division (NMD)
Of the General Assembly Council (GAC)
Presbyterian Church (USA)
and
The Association of Presbyterian Tentmakers (APT)
Statement of Purpose
The Association of Presbyterian Tentmakers (APT) is an association of
ministers, members, congregations, and governing bodies of the PC (USA)
who are either tentmakers or have an interest in tentmaking ministry.
Tentmakers are pastors who divide their work between two or more
vocations – at least one of which is a ministry validated by presbytery
and at least one of which is a secular vocation. The purpose of APT is
to provide support for tentmaker, tentmaking congregations, and
advocates of tentmaking in the PC (USA); and to promote tentmaking
within the PC (USA).
Officers
Moderator – Jeff Scott
Moderator Elect – Don West
Treasurer - Fred Bunning
Member at Large – Kathy Johnstone
Past Moderator – Ross Blount
Newsletter Editor - Steven Hammond
Activities During 2007
Annual Conference held at Portland, Oregon
October 26-28, 2007.
Publish APT Newsletter: TENT TALK.
Set up APT web site (see report attached).
Clearinghouse for information about tentmaking/bivocational ministry.
Activities Planned for 2008
Annual Conference to be held in South Carolina or Chi cago area.
Publish APT Newsletter: TENT TALK. Appoint Editor
Clearinghouse for information about tentmaking/ bivocational ministry.
APT Web Site.
Initiate Tentmaker Contacts with Seminaries. (see report attached)
Develop Data Base
Network with other General Assembly Entities: Rural Ministry, New
Immigrant Ministry, CLPs, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship,
Transformation
Establish Contacts with Presbyterian Camps and Conference Association
A Letter from Rick
Friends,
I've been thinking of you and keeping your gathering in my prayers over
the past week as all of the final preparations have come together. I'm
sorry that I can't be with you, though grateful to have kept faith with
my wife and son on cutting back on my travel. I'm one week into a
six-week period at home - the longest time without travel for the church
since I was elected moderator.
I've been watching your emails all year, and it seems as if you have
made significant progress on many of the ideas we discussed last year in
Colorado. I'm very excited to hear about your continued interest in
making inroads with folks in the New Immigrant Fellowship network, and
about your success in developing outreach methods intentionally reach
out with seminaries.
I remain totally convinced that you are modeling a way of "doing church"
that will become increasingly important over the next generation. Though
I know it sometimes must feel overwhelming to try to imagine spreading
this way of doing ministry on top of your already full lives, I am so
grateful to each of you for both the work that you do for an in the
church each day, and also for your broader witness as well.
My own thinking this year has run toward the possibility of trying to
create a way for both lay folks and pastors to offer a deeper level of
commitment to living the radical gospel in the world than is
typically afforded by local congregations. It would look something like
an "ecumenical order for peace and justice" and would revolve
around members taking a vow to engage in vocational peace and justice
work and all that it takes to nurture the spiritual disciplines
that will sustain that work. It would be a dispersed community (kind of
like Iona), and would encourage what I've been calling "bivocationalism"
that many of you are already practicing.
Anyway, just wanted you to know that your witness continues to
inspire me, and we need to grow it as intentionally as possible.
Many blessings as you deepen your connections and community this
weekend.
Peace to you,
Rick Ufford-Chase
Director, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Even Fulltime Parish Ministry Can be Ducky
The feathered
adage goes something like “if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck,
swims like a duck…it must be a duck”.
Now, since making
the jump and crossing the line and accepting a fulltime call pastoring
at the Creede Community Church, UCC in Creede Colorado the question
looms, ”Can I still be a tentmaker?” I took this deep ecclesiastical
quandary to our Moderator Ross Blount and he assured me that I could
seek and would likely find absolution among my colleagues. \
Since taking the
position as acting minister in February and the permanent fulltime
position with my installation in Creede (August 19), I’ve wondered
whether I could effectively paddle in the same pond among fellow
tentmakers. Not to mention the powerful message of last year’s
conference – “integrity”. In effect, don’t waddle, rather, take flight
(Is. 40) and ‘integrate’ your vocations, ‘tent’ (secular employment) ,
and church work passionately. But I have always found APT to be
wonderfully inclusive.
Today, I have no
business to run, nor camp directing and yoked churches to juggle as part
of my call. I feel like I’m flying with a few less feathers but a bit
lighter and freer. Resisting the resignation of ugly duckling syndrome,
I puff myself up and find myself quacking,
“I hope everyone
knows I still think like a tentmaker!”
So the apologetic
word from your Moderator-elect is “I may be fulltime but I really do
still feel and act like one of you.”
You may squawk,
“So where’s the proof?”
I offer exhibit A: The development of my present job description, a
joint effort between myself and a church representatives. Early in the
process, rather than simply list the pastor’s role and responsibilities,
I felt there was something sorely missing….what I termed “broader goals
and desirable indicators” .
The initial draft
sounded too inward, too pastor-dependent, too old school. What seemed
lacking was a sense of teamwork and mutual accountability between and
flock and pastor. That covenantal “we’re in this together” sense that
is the hallmark of tentmaking.
What emerged in
the process was an energizing discussion about our corporate life
together, what constitutes a healthy congregation, the body of Christ
realized. See if you see the essence of tentmaking in some of the
desirable outcomes we set down.
A Spirit-filled
place: A positive spirit and energy about the Church, its mission, and
everyone’s involvement as a place of risk and transformation.
Delegation and
discipleship: Increase and develop mentoring, levels of lay
participation, and new levels of leadership and discipleship.
Mutuality: Foster
a spirit of teamwork, mutual ministry among members, committees, and
groups within the Church family so that we all truly are co-laboring as
“ministers” in solidarity.
Equipping the
saints: Understanding a tentmaker’s mindset with church as the
priesthood of all believers – an empowered congregation
discovering/implementing their gifts.
As we prepare to
reserve our flights to the West side of the pond together in Portland
this October, it is just such discussions that typify us. We may be
fledgling newcomers, old crows and wise owls but none of the ministry we
practice is quackery. As many of us know, sometimes we are a herd of
cats. More often than not we are a gaggle in pretty good formation.
May we all be
birds of a feather as we come to share, seek, learn, and laugh as God’s
faithful in the church of the future -
Jeff Scott
(written in a
“preconference” frame of mind)
Membership Form for the Association of Presbyterian Tentmakers
Name
Address
City
State Zip Code
(For Individual Members) Church Position
Denominational Affiliation
Your Tent
For Institutional Members Designated Representative
Enclosed Annual Membership ________$50
Please make checks payable to the
Association of Presbyterian Tentmakers
Mail to : Fred Bunning, 1035 SW 20th, Loveland, CO 80537 |