Greetings from the Moderator                                                    DECEMBER 2024

Dear Christians,
 
As we enter the period of waiting, patiently, we also enter a season of change in the Presbytery. My term as Moderator is finished. I thank all of you for choosing me to this role. I had no expectations of what this would entail, and it has been an interesting and fulfilling spiritual journey these past twelve months. I have had the opportunity to meet so many great Servants of Christ this year, from one end of our Presbytery to the other.
 
I also want to thank a few individuals who have shown me patience as they educated and coached me over the year. There are the two reverends: Christina Greenawalt, our Stated Clerk, and Paige McRight, current Council Chair and prior Moderator and just about everything else in the Presbytery.  I know I am a better person for spending this year with those two saints.  I’ve appreciated the rest of the Presbytery staff for all the help they have given me, and the work I have seen up close that they have done this year. Thank you, Olivia, Hoover, Nancy, Barbara and Cheryl.
 
Let me tell you a quick personal story. I was asked in August of 2023 if I would allow myself to be nominated for Moderator. I asked for a few days for consultation and prayer. I spoke with a number of prior Moderators from CFP and other Presbyteries and after listening and then prayer, I told Doug I would decline this request. I knew when I went to sleep that night, I was fine with that decision. When I woke up the next morning, the first thought I had was: I will say yes. I truly believed I was called by God. I pray I fulfilled what the Almighty had called me for.
 
With that in mind, the advice and request I have in leaving this role is this: help others in your congregations find a way to use their talents in the Presbytery along with their local church.  Teaching Elders in particular, please search for the talents displayed by members of your congregation and encourage the members to share those talents with the Presbytery. As the Presbytery moves into the implementation phase of the Strategic Plan, we will need more talent and more hands to implement the plan successfully and fully.
 
The Presbytery can use a range of talented people, from those who can work well with numbers, project managers, communications experts, volunteers for the daily activity of CFP, and, as always, evangelists. Please help the members in your congregations know it is not a request to work with Presbytery but a Calling. As your retiring Moderator is an example, you don’t have to prepared, you just have to be willing when called.
 
Most Sincerely and with many blessings,
 
John

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Ruling Elder John Rogers