Presbytery of Olympia

Registration for 2025 CREDO conferences opens this week — and we’ve doubled the number of mid- and late-career conferences! All eligible plan members will receive invitations via email, and registration is first-come, first-served. Learn more about the CREDO invitation process and eligibility here: https://bit.ly/3Z6S5pS

Questions about CREDO? Reach out to us at [email protected].

Join Jer Swigart online for six weeks of shared learning and exploration. This group is ideal for experienced preachers who have a desire to hone their preaching voice and explore ways to transform the preaching moment into a opportunity to enact deep and formational change in listeners. Gatherings will be a mix of theological exploration, skill development, sermon workshopping, and community support. 100% virtual. Register at whitworth.edu/preaching.

And look out for more learning cohort opportunities soon!

Summer Sunday worship in the park was such a joy with Manitou Park Presbyterian Church, Trinity Presbyterian Church, and Urban Grace, The Downtown Church. The collaboration on music, message, food and fellowship worked beautifully! Let's do it again sometime soon.

Please join us for this conversation about the Benefits Plan 2025 ~ an online workshop.

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Benefits Plan 2025 Workshop: Synod of Alaska-Northwest Presbyteries. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting. Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Benefits Plan 2025 Workshop: Synod of Alaska-Northwest Presbyteries. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

Read more about how our overture was received by the General Assembly.

While the 10th plenary session of the 226th General Assembly focused most of its time discussing the so-called “Olympia Overture,” the Wednesday morning plenary began with thoughtful wisdom in both word and action from leadership and other speakers that set the tone for later debate. Read more: https://hubs.ly/Q02FkjSG0

Our Olympia Presbytery leaders, 2 commissioners, 2 observers, and 2 staff (pictured here) are heading into Plenary Session 8 in which our overture, now called POL-1, will be considered by the commissioners. Stay tuned….

“Living in the Spirit fuels hope” ~ Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, General Secretary, Workd Council of Churches ⛪️

“Christian hope rooted in freedom has the power to transform.”

May we be transformed this day, and beyond.

Please join us in congratulating the Rev. Jihyun Oh, who has been elected as the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)!

Our Synod of Alaska Northwest friends gathered for a delicious dinner between General Assembly plenary sessions. Nearly 20 of us from 5 presbyteries shared in joyful fellowship. Thank you for holding us all in prayer as we continue in service to the denomination.

Important message here for our congregations and beyond. Daunting statistics. Don't miss the bright spots of hope in this article. Indeed, let's find ways to talk about them!

With 1 million leaving the church every year, is Gen Z the faithless generation? Gen Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2012, is a cohort of firsts and new frontiers. They are the first digital natives, meaning unlike generations before them, Gen Z was born into and only knows a world that is digital and hyperconnected. Generation Z ushered in the new face of America by bei...

It is time to register for the OlyPres meeting on Thursday March 14th in Shelton. Link to register https://presbyteryofolympia.breezechms.com/form/cc69f02467302817744

Christ & Cascadia Gathering - Christ & Cascadia You’re invited to a relationship-forward event centered on questions specific to our place and time, designed to facilitate the exchange of ideas among Christ followers to explore, imagine, and create the future of Christianity in Cascadia.

What an amazing opportunity for preachers ~ check this out!

Whitworth University is pleased to announce it has received a $1.2 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the Compelling Preaching program. The program is designed to strengthen the preaching skills of ministry leaders by supporting and resourcing them to experiment with and cultivate new models of proclamation that can invite listeners into transformative experiences with God. https://bit.ly/3SwOfT2

Have you ever considered volunteering with the national church? Perhaps you have a heart for disaster ministry or love extending compassion to God’s world. You’re invited to attend an information session about the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Response Team (PDA NRT). The NRT is a team of national volunteers that represents the PC(USA) after natural and human-caused disasters. Want more information? RSVP below to learn more.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeG_1al9IHyej_0QNn64k5w8SY57x-WgOOePRKBv5B9H911wA/viewform

Save the Date! Join Celtic luminary John Philip Newell at Rose City Park PC on February 16-17 for a two-day retreat based on the award winning book: Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World.
Learn more at: More at www.rosecityparkpres.org

Please join us for our Longest Night Service 💒

On Wednesday, we will be having a "Longest Night" or "Blue Christmas" service called 'Worship for Weary Souls'. If you or someone you know is dealing with grief, loss, and weariness this season, you are invited to join us for this special worship service where grief is a full part of our worship, not something to hide from. All are welcome to join us for this special meditative service.

Join us in prayer as we begin our week.

New resource for Christmas Joy Offering! We have a toolkit for you. It has all the images you need to customize your weekly email, newsletter and bulletin announcements to share information about the offering with your congregation. Check it out: https://bit.ly/49FZf7c.

Got plans for January? You might consider this!

Friends, the Matthew 25 Summit is getting closer and closer, and I could not be more excited!
I hope you will join me in Atlanta, Jan. 16-18, 2024, for the Matthew 25 Summit! It will be a time for worship, workshops, food, fun and great fellowship. Together, we will explore the Matthew 25 vision and how it is taking root in our denomination and around the world. I can't wait to see you there! Learn more about the Summit and register here: https://hubs.ly/Q026Wlrj0

A few photos of the Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of Olympia on Saturday. Around 30 people participated in workshops in the morning joined by another 30 for the afternoon meeting. Many thanks to Churches for Middle East Peace, former Stated Clerk Kari McFarland, Retreat Home's Sarah ButlerWills and Rev. James Kim of Little Church on the Prairie for their workshop presentations. Also MANY thanks to LCOP staff, deacons, and other volunteers for making us welcome.

Thanking God for the generosity of the folks at the Stated Meeting! More than $440 was collected online and in person for the Emergency Food Network. Thanks for your generosity. If you would still like to give, you can do so on the EFN website. https://www.efoodnet.org/ways-to-give/donate-to-efn/

If you can't be there in person, please join the 70+ participants in the Stated Meeting of the Olympia Presbytery in prayer on Saturday, Nov. 11. Good and faithful work will be happening all day!