Forty-five members and guests of the Presbytery of the Pacific met at Mount Hermon Retreat Center in northern California on October 9-11. Scott Farmer pastor of Community Presbyterian Church (CPC) in Danville, CA said, “It was fun” to host the retreat. Worship was led by CPC worship leaders Nancy Groeneweld and Rob Apger.
Pacific Moderator Shawn Robinson introduced the retreat as an opportunity to “get together with other pastors who love Jesus, get to know each other, pray for one another and ‘just relax’ for a few days.” He led the small group discussion times. With Scott, Shawn led planned and impromptu times of prayer for retreat participants, opportunities and difficulties some leaders are currently facing, the churches and the ministry of the presbytery.
In his remarks, EPC Stated Clerk Jeff Jeremiah stated that these retreats remind us of the importance of the spiritual connection we enjoy with one another in Christ and that we’re part of something bigger than our local church setting. That “’bigger’ is positive, encouraging and helpful to us in our ministries.”
Shawn Robinson said, “From the start, we wanted the retreat to be a part of our ‘DNA’ as a presbytery. Because we’re growing so fast it’s really important that we spend the time to get to know one another and to pray for one another.”
The Presbytery of the Pacific held its first meeting in October 2011 with 23 churches. At the conclusion of their October 2012 meeting at Community Presbyterian Church, Danville, CA it had 45. Twelve churches with their pastors are scheduled to be received at the February 2013 meeting.
