The Olympia Presbytery Newsletter

January 19th, 2024

Full Presbytery Calendar available on olypres.org

A Message from our Executive Presbyter

Happy 2024 Olympia Presbytery! 

When you were a kid, did you happen to sing a song about finding joy, joy, joy, joy down in your heart? I remember singing it with gusto. In this spirit of joy, please join me in thanking outgoing co-moderators of COM (Commission on Ministry) Ken Sikes and Ruth Moore and welcoming the 2024 co-moderators of COM, Tom Paine and Sheri Martin. We also celebrate this month the joy of shared leadership in CPM (Commission on Preparation for Ministry) as Julie Johnson is joined by Angela Chen Miksovsky as a co-moderator.

In other joyful developments, please join me in welcoming Kristina Morse, who begins work this week as my virtual assistant. She is tackling a mountain of administrative duties with a measure of joy that astonishes me. Look for more about Kristina in an upcoming newsletter. 

I pray that you are finding joy in this season. 

With a joyful heart,

Shari 
Executive Presbyter & Stated Clerk 

Olympia Presbyter Announcements

Clerks of Session Training & Check-in

Join us for the Clerck of Session Training and Check-in event on Thursday, January 25th, at 7:00 pm. The gathering, hosted by Stated Clerk Shari Jackson Monson and Judicial Clerk Glen Ferguson, will be on Zoom. For those who cannot attend, the meeting will be recorded.

This virtual gathering is especially useful for those new to the role of Clerk of Session. All Clerks of Session are encouraged to participate.

If you have specific questions to ask, please send them ahead of time to StatedClerk@olypres.org 

Please click here to join the Zoom meeting

Save the Date for the Olympia Presbyter Meeting

Date: Thursday, March 14th, 2024
Time: 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location: Shelton Presbyterian Church
1430 East Shelton Springs Road
Shelton, WA 98584

Registration will begin on Monday, February 19th.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Poverty, by America” will take part in the kickoff of a four-week book study being held next month by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Registration is open now for the free online study, which will feature Matthew Desmond in the February 5th session. Discussions will continue each Monday in February to help give participants a heightened understanding of the insidious nature of systemic poverty.

Regional Resources

National Resources

Funding for Church Energy Efficiency or Renewable Energy

For congregations, there are many great webinars and websites out there about how to fund and pursue energy efficiency and renewable energy with financial resources, tax incentives, and pathways provided by this year’s legislation passed through the U.S. Congress. In addition to the curated list below, you can find other great webinars from Interfaith Power and Light as well as Presbyterians for Earth Care (PEC).

• Holy Heat Pumps! explains how heat pumps work and how to lower the costs for installation at your churches with the new government funds available to congregations for the first time.

• The Tools & Resources to Green Congregations webinar covers the ways houses of worship and religious institutions can update their facilities to become more energy efficient and save on their energy bills. It also offers important information regarding first-time federal funding available to nonprofits to support investment in energy efficiency and renewables.

• In the Summer Solstice Webinar on Solar Financing, learn about the different ways congregations can finance solar from Jerry Bernstein, author of IPL’s Solar Financing for Congregations. Then take a deeper look at power purchase agreements, one of the options allowing a congregation to install solar with no up-front costs.

• Presbyterians for Earth Care offers a webinar on Federal Funding Resources for Houses of Worship with Tiffany Hartung.

• PEC has tips to save money on church energy bills.

• A follow-up webpage from Interfaith Power and Light has a lot of content; the spreadsheet might be particularly helpful to you, as it has things broken down by types of work.

• This website deals with what is covered by “direct pay.”

• This FAQ may also be useful.

In addition to these webinars and web sites about public funding and tips for saving energy and money, a reminder about the Restoring Creation Loan from the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program. Many congregations have made use of this great resource as a way to get started.