January 29, 2025
Dear Friends:
Several matters merit my communicating with you by means of this letter for publication in Salem Matters.
Register for Presbytery Meeting – February 11th at 9:00am.
Our Presbytery’s winter meeting will take place at 9:00am on February 11, 2025, at the North Wilkesboro Presbyterian Church, North Wilkesboro, NC. Please be sure that you register in advance of the meeting so that we can make appropriate plans for elder roundtables, worship, and lunch, as well as the meeting plenary. An email from our Stated Clerk, Paul Sink, has already been sent out, so please check your “spam” folders if you have not yet read his announcement and register to confirm your presence. If you know of others who should be attendance, please alert them to the need to register ASAP. The deadline for registrations to ensure lunch service is Wednesday, February 5 at 12:00noon.
Book of Order Amendments and Possible Presbytery Resolutions
One of the primary reasons for holding an in-person meeting in winter instead of our usual ZOOM gathering is for the Presbytery to deliberate on proposed Book of Order amendments early in the PCUSA presbyteries’ voting season. While the Executive Council of the Presbytery will be moving most of the amendments for approval as part of an omnibus motion, any presbytery member or elder commissioner has the right to pull an amendment for separate consideration, debate, and vote. In addition, Presbytery standing committees have reviewed each of the amendments and made their recommendations to the Presbytery for action. Please carefully review the amendments and committee recommendations being presented for our action in advance of the meeting.
I have been made aware that in addition to the Book of Order amendments, separate resolutions addressing various actions undertaken by the current federal administration may be offered for presbytery consideration. As with the Book of Order amendments, presbytery voters are advised to review and examine any such resolutions with care and prayerful consideration, hopefully in advance of the meeting as such resolutions are posted.
Board of Pensions’ January Invoices
With the due date for payment of the first monthly invoice from the Board of Pensions nearly upon us, I want to encourage all participating church administrators and pastors to review their new BoP invoices carefully to ensure their accuracy. While the staff of the Board of Pensions has undertaken their work with enviable care and attention during the implementation of the new benefits plan, mistakes can occur. Please review your invoices with all affected personnel to ensure that benefits elections are correct and that your church is being assessed the proper percentage and/or fixed amount for each employee’s elected coverages. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the Board if you encounter any billing or benefits election errors, or if you have questions about the invoice.
A Word of Thanks
In closing and on behalf of my husband, Michael, and me, I want to express our sincere and deep thanks to the overwhelming number of you who have reached out to us and conveyed so many kind expressions of sympathy and condolences on the passing of my mother-in-law Sandra Bendgen. We are so deeply grateful for your offering of support to us, and we give thanks to God for the many saints in Salem Presbytery who have remembered us in their prayers. We are indeed blessed to be laboring in your midst, and we are grateful for the opportunity to be here in with you all during this pivotal and tender time.
In Christ’s name,
Tony De La Rosa
Executive Presbyter
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