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There's a LOT in this eNews, including details on our upcoming Presbytery meeting on-site at Trinity (Clearwater), but first:


Greetings from our new General Presbyter
Greetings to my siblings in Christ!
Rev. Dr. Holly J. Dillon photo
I am excited to actually be with you and begin our ministry together, after a slight delay in our move due to Hurricane Ian. I’d like to share some of what I’ve observed since I arrived on October 2.

As I meet with members of FLAPDAN (Florida Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Network) and hear how churches in our presbytery have and continue to respond to the need in Peace River Presbytery and in Central Florida Presbytery, I see the connectional church alive and serving one another

Several volunteers agreed to reach out to all our churches after the hurricane to assess any needs. They were greeted with responses of gratitude and appreciation for the presbytery and our care for one another. Through these phone calls, I sense a desire for more connection to and with one another and the presbytery.

Last week, I met with staff members from Beth-El Farmworkers Ministry. I heard how volunteers from our churches provide ongoing support to the feeding ministry and saw donations of diapers, pet food and other items from our churches. I also learned of the impact of Hurricane Ian on the farmworker community: damage to the fields, decreased harvest, several weeks without work, wind and water damage to their homes, inability to pay for utilities and rent. In the coming weeks, the presbytery will work with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to address the increased need of the community.

I hear pastors and congregations express concern about their future. I also hear energy and imagination about new opportunities for ministry. When I meet with volunteer leaders in the presbytery, I sense a genuine openness to hear what God is calling us to do and be.

As I continue to visit with pastors and sessions and attend worship and congregational events (such as the Christmas Bazaar at Forest Hills Presbyterian Church!), I hope to hear your stories, your concerns, and your excitement about what God is doing in your midst.

I believe the words of the writer of Ecclesiastes: By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped. (Ecc. 4:12 – The Message)

#wearestrongertogether
Rev. Dr. Holly J. Dillon, General Presbyter
Office Phone: (813) 868-4800, option 1
East Region Opportunity to meet Holly Dillon
The East Region of COM invites ministers in validated ministries or serving churches (installed, stated supply, and regular pulpit supply) and church educators in the East Region (primarily Polk County +/- East Pasco) to join our new General Presbyter for lunch and conversation at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 2, at Grasslands Golf & Country Club, 1600 Grasslands Boulevard Lakeland, FL  33803.

Please RSVP no later than Monday, Oct. 31, by clicking here to fill out our online form. If you have trouble with the form, please reach out to Bill Wildhack; if you have questions about lunch at Grasslands G&CC, reach out to East COM member Elder Ann Marshall at m3annie@verizon.net.

West and Central Regions will be following up with their own events after the November Presbytery meeting.
A LOT has happened since our last full eNews
We all know about Hurricane Ian, but there were smaller interruptions to our office workflow, too.
Bill Wildhack Nov 2021
Among the myriad abbreviations I learned in the Navy was "OBE" for "overcome by events." It's a catchall for all those good plans and good intentions that didn't get accomplished because more urgent (not always more important!) matters or unexpected events got in the way. Several attempts at getting an eNews out since I last wrote to you were OBE by matters big and small.

On the plus side, our new General Presbyter, Holly Dillon, joined our staff (yay!!!) remotely on Sept 20 in advance of her move to our area (which at the time was planned for October 1), but we did a bunch of her onboarding and turn over with me also out of the area unexpectedly.

In the run-up to Hurricane Ian, we did send out two special eNews issues to ministers, clerks of sessions, and those who help them with info from FEMA and FLAPDAN, and one to them after the hurricane left our area with a pastoral letter from Holly Dillon and some additional hurricane response/recovery info.

One positive interruption along the way (a trip to Little Rock for the marriage of Rev. Jocelyn Wildhack) had its own unexpected interruption:
  • While staying at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center, I met a group of volunteers who were paying it forward at the Disaster Assistance Center (DAC) (a shared ministry of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Church World Service, with support from Presbyterian Women). As you can read at this link, the volunteers went there to help replenish supplies and do other work in gratitude for help their church received from PDA and the DAC in 2020 following a tornado in their community.
  • By the time I'd met them, they had already helped ship 44 pallets of just over 30,000 pounds of disaster kits and supplies to a staging site in Arcadia in support of Hurricane Ian response and recovery. One of the volunteers also turned out to be an associate pastor of First, Tampa, in the 1970s and was very interested about what's happening at their new site!

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Sadly, October also brings another change to our staff. After almost eleven years with us (her first day was January 16, 2012!), Office Administrator Ann Marie Fizzano told us earlier this month that it was time to retire (for real, this time!).

While she initially planned to stay through our November presbytery meeting before retiring, Ann Marie's own plans were overcome by some physical challenges coupled with an unexpected illness over the weekend. Because of that, her last regular day with us turns out to have been last Thursday. (We'll see her in the office one more time for a little while one day next week to wrap up some things we were going to take care of this week and next.)
  • We hope to be able to recognize her long service in person at our meeting on November 10.
  • In the meantime, you can mail cards and notes to her in care of our office and we'll get them to her:
Ann Marie Fizzano
c/o Presbytery of Tampa Bay
455 Scotland St, Ste 1
Dunedin, FL 34698

  • I'll be keeping up with the office@pbty.com email account for now while we figure out short and long-term office staffing. If you would like to send Ann Marie an email instead of mailing a card or note, you can still send it to that email address for me to forward to her personal email address (but mail would be nicer).

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As you continue scrolling (and please do because there's a lot here), along with info about our upcoming in-person Presbytery meeting, you'll find:
  • news of a change in the Presbytery's minimum effective salary for 2023 for ministers serving churches full or part-time (hint: it follows the COLA announced for Social Security),
  • updates on volunteer opportunities to assist with Hurricane Ian recovery efforts, and
  • some open positions at a couple of our churches (well, they were open the last time we heard!), and a church bus for sale.

Blessings,
Rev. William A. Wildhack III
Stated Clerk and Manager of Communications
(813) 868-4800, opt. 2 (landline only; no text messages)
statedclerk@pbty.com or bill@pbty.com (both come to the same email account)
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My work is supported by per capita funds from congregations in the Presbytery of Tampa Bay, which also help unite all Presbyterians in sharing God’s love through mission and ministry. Thank you!
PRESBYTERY STATED MEETING
Thursday, November 10, 9:00 A.M.
Trinity Presbyterian Church in Clearwater
REGISTER NOW to attend our meeting at Trinity, Clearwater on November 10 (ministers can or request an excused absence at the same link)

Our main items of business at this meeting will be the election of moderator and vice-moderator, installation of our new officers along with new General Presbyter Holly Dillon, elections to fill vacancies in regular classes and unexpired terms across all our commissions and committees, and acknowledging retirements of some colleagues. We also expect to hear more from our commissioners to the 225th General Assembly along with other updates and greetings.



  • On-site check-in and morning coffee and refreshments will be open by 8:00 a.m.

  • Our meeting will start at 9:00 a.m.

  • We will include at least two breaks with refreshments during the meeting.

  • Lunch will not be provided, but the refreshments will be more than just cookies to help get you through to lunch.

  • Staff and members of Trinity Clearwater will be happy to tell you all about their new solar panels!

  • We will be livestreaming the meeting for those who would like to observe without participating. We are not yet equipped to do a hybrid meeting adequately with both on-site and on-line participants.

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Register here to attend as a ruling elder commissioner selected by your session, a minister member (or request an excused absence), a corresponding member, or in another category.

  • The deadline for registration to attend (and be included in the count for refreshments) is Monday, November 7.

  • If you would like to request childcare at the meeting, please register and let us know that no later than Monday, October 31.

Covenant partners or other organizations requesting a display table may also register at the same link but should also send a note to info@pbty.com to let us know you'd like to attend.

  • The deadline for requesting a display table or submitting any other materials for possible inclusion in the meeting packet is Thursday, October 27 (two weeks before the packet goes out).
Our meeting offering will support hurricane relief

When we dedicated our August offering to FLAPDAN, we had no idea at the time how close-to-home the need would be by the end of September, or what new needs we would learn of at each new turn.

Consequently, the Coordinating Team (CT) decided earlier this month to dedicate the offering at our November meeting to hurricane relief, with the final distribution to be determined by CT based on identified needs in consultation with FLAPDAN and Peace River Presbytery.

You don't have to wait for the Presbytery meeting or for the invitation to the offering during worship that morning to contribute.


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Note: Our online giving is handled by the Presbyterian Foundation’s Online Giving Program, hosted at a unique link on Vanco’s eservicepayments.com website with no monthly fees.
2023 Minimum Effective Salary for ministers: $53,374
As it has for years, the Commission on Ministry (COM) voted to raise the Presbytery minimum effective salary by the same Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) announced by the Social Security Administration
On Thursday, October 13, the Social Security Administration announced a COLA of 8.7% for 2023.

Whether the Presbytery minimum is still enough for new minister to move to the Presbytery of Tampa Bay is a different question, but the goal of a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is to try to keep up with inflation so our lowest paid ministers don't fall farther behind --- just as it is for those receiving Social Security benefits, military retirees, and disabled veterans.

Adding this COLA to the 2022 Minimum Effective Salary of $49,102 raises the minimum for 2023 to $53,374, an increase of $356/month or $4,272 for the year.
  • This change only applies to those ministers whose effective salary is currently set at the 2022 minimum or below the new minimum, including those serving part-time prorated from the minimum.

The Commission on Ministry also voted to recommend a 4.5% COLA for all other church employees, including ministers whose effective salary is above the new minimum.

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Here are some links to recent news for some more context surrounding these decisions:

  • August 30: Axios AM - Covering America: Where home prices are soaring. Key takeaway: Of the top 10 metro areas nationwide with the most growth in median single-family home price from July 2021 to July 2022, Lakeland was #2 at +31.4% and Tampa was #7 with +28.0%. The national average was +14.2%, and four of the rest of the top ten were in Peace River Presbytery south of us and one was in Central Florida Presbytery east of us.

  • October 17: Axios Tampa Bay - Up, up, up: Change in Consumer Price Index for select metro areas. One key takeaway: "Consumers in the area that includes Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater are now paying 10.5% more for goods and services than a year ago, compared to the national rate of 8.2%, per the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index." The COLA is less than the CPI for the greatest concentration of our churches.

  • October 16: Tampa Bay Times - How renting in Tampa Bay went from cheap to expensive, in 11 charts. One key takeaway: "In early September, the federal government released its Fair Market Rents for 2023. The Tampa Bay-wide fair-market rate for a studio apartment was set at $1,291 — just $56 short of the rate set for a 2-bedroom just a year earlier. One-bedrooms were up to $1,381, 2-beds to $1,659. In dollars, the region’s Fair Market Rent increase was its biggest ever."

And one blog post by a presbytery leader writing to church members with some hearty food for thought:
  • October 17: Let’s Talk COLAs, Bonuses, and Raises | A Church for Starving Artists. by Rev. Dr. Jan Edmiston, General Presbyter for the Presbytery of Charlotte, North Carolina, and co-moderator of the 222nd GA (2016). Jan writes: "If your professional clergy person is doing a good job leading your congregation, we need to have a spiritual conversation." Jan goes on to share from her own experience:
I remember serving a congregation (a couple of them in fact) who struggled with finances. Or at least they believed that they couldn’t “do any better” than what they were giving financially to their church. The disheartening thing for the whole staff was that no matter how well we served, no matter how effective we led, no matter what we did, there were rarely any raises or cost of living adjustments. We knew this and yet we continued to serve to the best of our ability.
Click through to read more of Jan's thoughts on this, including her belief that all salaried workers should get a COLA, not just Social Security recipients and (maybe) pastors. (She also has a thought on a different spiritual conversation to have if your professional clergy person is not going a good job.)
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The COM did not take the actions to increase the minimum or recommend a COLA for other church employees lightly or without serious discussion and recognizes that some of our churches currently at the minimum (which is just under a third of our congregations) may need to have some conversations not only internally but also with COM, CCV, and perhaps others about their particular situation.

Ministers, clerks of sessions, or ruling elders responsible for personnel or financial matters are welcome to reach out to your COM Liaison, General Presbyter Holly Dillon, or Stated Clerk Bill Wildhack with questions or concerns.

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The Presbytery of Tampa Bay has specifically delegated to the COM the responsibility to set minimum annual compensation for ministers of the Word and Sacrament, Commissioned Pastors, and those in Certified Church Service. The Book of Order, in G-2.0804 Terms of Call, states (in part):
  • The terms of call shall always meet or exceed any minimum requirement of the presbytery in effect when the call is made. The session shall review annually the minister’s terms of call and shall propose for congregational action (G-1.0501) such changes as the session deems appropriate, provided that they meet the presbytery’s minimum requirements.

Volunteer Opportunities - Hurricane Ian
We know that some of our churches are already reaching out to help
Of course, there's a lot more to be done and there will be more to do for a while.

Our new General Presbyter, Holly Dillon, has led PDA work trips before (including one to Gulfport, Mississippi, following Hurricane Katrina in 2005), and will be looking to organize a Presbytery-wide opportunity to serve in the weeks and months to come.

In the meantime, FLAPDAN sent us this information on opportunities:

 Volunteer Opportunities to assist disaster survivors through FLAPDAN and PDA:
  • Muck & gut and debris removal teams helping survivors - Fort Myers/Port Charlotte area
  • contact Inspiritus at 239-560-1554. Inspiritus is our partner who is organizing volunteers for us in the Southwest Florida area

  • Muck & gut and debris removal teams helping survivors and churches - Orlando/Daytona/Lake County area
  • email Kathy Broyard at fla.pdan@pcusa.org

  • Church teams helping impacted churches and survivors - Arcadia/Port Charlotte/Northport/Venice area
  • contact Church of the Palms at this LINK



  • Future mission trips to help with rebuilding
  • contact the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Call Center at PDA.CallCenter@pcusa.org or 866-732-6121

You can also support PDA and/or FLAPDAN by making a monetary donation to support Hurricane Ian response and recovery.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is working with affected presbyteries and international partners to assess the aftermath of Hurricane Ian and offer resources and support. Emergency grants have been disbursed and National Response Team members are deployed. As people of faith, we stand ready to partner with presbyteries, congregations and communities to meet the immediate and long-term needs. To support this response, designate gifts to DR000194

FLAPDAN is responding to impacted presbyteries, churches and communities in Florida. FLAPDAN works in partnership with the presbyteries and PDA as well as with many other faith-based and non-profit disaster organizations. To support our response, please consider making a donation to FLAPDAN HERE.
Recent Job Postings
We're happy to share openings among our member churches and ministries (and occasionally beyond). Send information about openings to info@pbty.com with "eNews - Employment Opportunity" in the subject line --- and be sure to let us know if/when you fill the position!

If you have a job posting here AND the position has been filled, please let us know!
** NEW (last time)**

Trinity Presbyterian Church of Seven Springs in New Port Richey is looking for a Youth Ministry Intern to begin as soon as possible

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From the attached flyer:

For $200 a week, we are looking to hire a Youth Ministry Intern to begin as soon as possible to commit for one school year to work alongside our Director of Family Ministries, Tracey Hollins and our Youth Ministry Team, in the areas of middle school and high school youth ministry. We are seeking to partner with an individual who loves God and has a heart for sharing the Gospel with youth. This individual might also be exploring a potential calling to ministry and will gain experience in youth ministry. The position will be 10 to 15 hours per week. The intern needs to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, a Biblical worldview, and a high regard for Scripture. No ministry experience is required. We want to help you build your ministry resume! He or she will be expected to attend church at TPCoSS on Sunday mornings.




** NEW (last time)**

is looking for its next full-time pastor

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From the attached excerpts from the Mission Information Form:

OUR MISSION STATEMENT: Glorify God, Enjoy God, and Live Christ’s Love.

CONGREGATION SIZE: Under 100

AVERAGE WORSHIP ATTENDANCE: 43

OUR VISION FOR MINISTRY: 
St. Andrew Presbyterian Church seeks a pastor to guide our vital, multigenerational and adaptable church. We embrace our many physical, political, theological and philosophical differences in pursuit of our common vision to “Glorify God. Enjoy God. Live Christ’s Love.” This vision guides our worship, fellowship and service activities. 

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Click the images below to read more from the excerpts or the full Ministry Information Form (MIF)

MIF Excerpts
MIF 11971.AB0 -- St. Andrew, New Tampa
MUSIC LEADERSHIP POSITION

First Presbyterian Church, Brandon, is looking for a skilled musician to assist in worship with the following possible responsibilities:

  • Organist
  • Pianist/Accompanist for Praise Ensemble, soloists
  • Director of Chancel Choir-Rehearsals once a week, September - May
  • Director of Handbell Choir-Rehearsals once a week, September - May
  • Collaborator in worship planning

This position involves one service on Sundays. Salary is negotiable. This is a part-time, salaried position.

Please submit letters of inquiry and resumes to:

Worship and Music Ministry Team
First Presbyterian Church of Brandon
121 Carver Avenue
Brandon, FL 33510
--or--
Looking for a new-to-you church bus?
Christ Presbyterian Church in Largo is looking for a buyer for its "maintained religiously" church bus
The specs on the bus are:
  • 2008 Ford F350 chassis - gasoline powered
  • Automatic transmission
  • 15 passengers
  • Wheelchair lift
  • Front and rear A/C units
  • 22,000 miles
  • Maintained religiously

The asking price is $25,000. 

Any interested parties should contact William Stephens, the church treasurer, at 727-656-5051.
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Look for the next issue of the eNews -- with the presbytery meeting packet -- no later than Thursday, November 3.
As always, thanks for reading all the way to the end! -- Bill