Ruling Elder and Deacon Training Information
Dates to Remember:
Officer Training:
Saturday, January 17 – 9 am – noon
Saturday, February 21 – 9 am – noon
Saturday March 21 – 9 am – noon
For Deacons:
Tuesday, March 24 – 7 pm
Samuel Maldonado and Eralyn McLarty will be received by the session.
Sunday, March 29 – 10 am
During worship, Samuel Maldonado will be installed as deacon and Eralyn McLarty will be ordained and installed as deacon.
For Ruling Elders:
Tuesday, April 28 – 7 pm
Returning elders Betsy Corlew, Joyce Jones and Jenny Mikhail and new elders Philip Dorsey and Jeanne Jeffries will be received by the session.
Sunday, May 24 – 10 am (Pentecost)
Betsy Corlew, Joyce Jones and Jenny Mikhail will be installed as Ruling Elders. Philip Dorsey and Jeanne Jeffries will be ordained and installed as Ruling Elders.
Videos and Study Guides
Study Guide: Before we meet together, watch the videos and answer the reflection questions that follow each video. During our training, we will share our reflections and deepen our conversation about what it means to be Presbyterian Elders and Deacons.
January 17
Part One: Ordered Ministry (with Landon Whitsitt and Carol McDonald)
Wait. I thought I signed up to be a Deacon or a Ruling Elder. What’s this “Ordered Ministry” thing?
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 1 – Ordered Ministers
Study guide for Part One – Ordered Ministry:
Part Two: Being Leaders (with Sandy Carlson)
Being a leader in the Presbyterian Church is not about accomplishing particular tasks. It’s about discerning where God is leading and then helping a congregation follow? But how do we do that?
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 2 – Being Leaders
Study guide for Part Two – Being Leaders:
Part Three: Who is the Church? (with Amy Plantinga Pauw)
Any consideration of who or what the Church is has to begin with a consideration of who GOD is and what GOD is up to. The good news of the Gospel is not about us. It’s about God.
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 3 – Who is the Church?
Study guide for Part Three: Who is the Church
Part Four: What is the Church? (with Gary Neal Hansen)
How do we know that the Church is the Church? What are the “marks” of the Church?
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 4 – What is the Church?
Study guide for Part Four: What is the Church?
February 21
Part Five: Being a Confessional Church (with Anna Case-Winters)
The Presbyterian Church calls itself a “confessional church.” We use official theological documents to help us interpret scripture.
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 5 – Being a Confessional Church
Study guide for Part Five: Being a Confessional Church
Part Six: The Confessions (with Gary Neal Hansen)
The Confessions of our church are “reliable expositions of what scriptures leads us to believe and do.” But where did these confessions come from? Why were they written, and what point were they trying to make?
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 6 – The Confessions
Study guide for Part Six: The Confessions
Supplemental material for Part Six: The Confessions:
Part Seven: A Brief Statement of Faith (with Shannon Craigo-Snell)
What do Presbyterians believe? A lot of things. What does the Presbyterian Church teach? Find out in this brief look at A Brief Statement of Faith.
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 7 – A Brief Statement of Faith
Study guide for Part Seven: A Brief Statement of Faith
Part Eight: Principles for Order and Government (with Clifton Kirkpatrick)
Presbyterian Leaders agree to live life in a certain way, and to be corrected when we don’t. What are the principles that guide us?
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 8 – Principles of Order and Government
Study Guide for Part Eight: Principles for Order and Government
Part Nine: The Councils of the Church (with Clifton Kirkpatrick)
When Presbyterians do church, they do it intentionally together in groups. We call these groups “councils.”
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 9 – The Councils of the Church
Study Guide for Part Nine: The Councils of the Church
March 21
Part Ten: The Dynamics of Worship (with Robert Hoch)
One of the primary responsibilities of the Session is to provide for a congregation’s worship life. What are the basic ideas and rhythms that we need to be aware of?
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 10 – The Dynamics of Worship
Study Guide for Part Ten: The Dynamics of Worship
Part Eleven: The Word in Worship (with Margaret Aymer Oget)
What do we mean when we say “The Word of the Lord”? Are we talking about Jesus or the Scriptures? Short answer: Yes.
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 11 – The Word in Worship
Study Guide for Part Eleven: The Word in Worship
Part Twelve: The Sacraments in Worship (with Christopher Elwood)
The Sacraments are the simplest way we know to tell the story of God’s Grace. Baptism and The Lord’s Supper will not let us forget the truth of it.
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 12 – The Sacraments in Worship
Study Guide for Part Twelve: The Sacraments in Worship
Part Thirteen: Prayer and Song in Worship (with Gary Rand)
For most people, it is the prayers and music in worship that are the introduction to the Christian Faith.
Link to video: Ordered Ministry 13 – Prayer and Song in Worship