The Treasures of God

Executive Presbyter’s Oral Presentation to Presbytery on November 21, 2024

The Treasures of God

Greetings, Mr. Moderator, and siblings in Christ. Read my written report here.

Capital One credit card company has a catchy slogan, “What’s in your wallet?” and this afternoon we heard a candid presentation from the Trustees about what is in our collective wallet as a Presbytery.

Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Who knows, maybe what he really meant was, “Where your heart is, there your treasure will be also” but for some reason Jesus talked about treasure first. Where we put our treasure is an indication of where our hearts are.

Thank You!

So, the first word I have to say to you today is, “Thank you.”  Thank you for putting your treasure where your hearts are. Your faithful giving is a tribute to you and to the cause of Christ, especially during this era where all our congregations are trying to figure out how to speak the good news of the Kingdom of God to the next generation of Jesus’ disciples.

Our Collective Witness to Jesus

As Mike Regele pointed out, there are three revenue streams that pay for everything we do as a presbytery. This means, just like your congregation, we operate with a unified budget, whether we are helping a congregation find its next pastor or working with pioneer leaders to start a new worshiping community or brokering a mission partnership through the teams of Council. It is your giving and the giving of past generations of Presbyterians that help make our collective witness what it is today.

Partners in Mission

I don’t want there to be any confusion about this. Shared Mission Giving and Per Capita are not a requirement or a mandate, but an invitation and a privilege to support our life together as partners in ministry. Notice, ours is not a “donor-receiver” relationship. Ours is a “household-of-God” relationship where siblings give to restore the world in joyful obedience to Christ.

That said, I wish to provide you today with a window through which you can see some of the things we do together as ministry partners.

Where do These Treasures Go?

I share this window so that you, as leaders of our presbytery, can answer the question, “What does our presbytery do with our Shared Mission Giving and Per Capita?”  especially in those rare moments when you can’t get ahold of one of our committee or staff members by phone.

When you go to our website at “losranchos.org” you will see it is just brimming with answers to the question, “What is the presbytery and what does it do?”

For example, on the first page, you will see immediately that it takes you to our latest Enews on the work of the presbytery and the resources of our Stated Clerk’s office.

And underneath those banners, it is easy to find information about our Gatherings, like the one we are in right now, and all sorts of resources for your session and congregation.

Mission Partnerships are Easy to Find!

But here is a question that comes up regularly this time of year from church sessions. They  ask, “What are some of the missions that the Presbytery does?”

I’d like to address this question in two ways. First, I want to point you to the menu on our website that says, “Mission & Partnerships.”  When you select that menu item you will find descriptions of all our Mission Partnerships as a presbytery.

These are ways that our congregations are partnering together to embody the love and justice of Jesus Christ in their neighborhoods and communities. Once you select one of these partnerships, you can go as far as you’d like in learning what each of them does and how to get involved if you are interested.

But the news gets even better. Several times a year through our Enews, author and storyteller Courney Ellis from the Presbyterian Church of the Master writes featured articles about these mission partnerships, and if you click on this page, you can go directly to all the articles she has written. The point is, there is a great abundance of information about what our presbytery is “doing in mission.”

Locally Grown and Beautiful

Which brings up the second point I wish to make, just so we are clear. Our presbytery’s mission is delivered by you, the members and congregations of Los Ranchos, as facilitated, brokered, and resourced by the committees, ministry teams and staff of our presbytery.

We are not a top-down, programmatic presbytery that does mission work separately from you. Rather, we are a bubble up, locally grown way of witnessing to Christ wherein the committees and teams of our presbytery pay attention to what God is doing in and through your local congregations. And then we do our best to steward to the resources of the whole to support you in YOUR work. I hope that makes sense. Either way, you can learn about the missions of the presbytery through this page or by calling our office.

Resources for our Life Together

But the last page I want to share with you, that some of you may not be aware of, is our “Resources” page. If you are going through a pastoral transition or you want a mission grant or you find yourself confused about what form to use for the annual records review, most of these resources may be found on this page. All of them have been developed for our life together as a presbytery and we want to make it easy for you to find what you need. But like I said, you can always call one of us at the presbytery office, and we will work overtime to make sure you get the answers you need.

 God’s Future in the Making

“What’s in your wallet?” is a catchy slogan, but it points to only one type of resource the church uses to support or accelerate its mission. I say “one type” because in the coming years many other resources are going be equally, if not more, necessary—those of imagination, sacrificial love, and risk taking—for the sake of those who have yet to hear and believe the good news of Jesus Christ.

On this week before Thanksgiving, may we give thanks for the resources we have in our wallets but even more so for love that God has placed in our hearts to embody God’s love and justice to a hurting world.

If there are no questions, this concludes my report, Mr. Moderator.