1 El Montecito Presbyterian Church Parish Lunch April 17, 2016

 Fulfilling our Vision  Vision  Plans to fulfill  Denomination Decision  Update  Preparation for May 1 st 2

3 El Montecito Presbyterian Church Fulfilling Our Vision April 2016

 One of four priorities  Establish new vision  Stabilize our financial situation  Resolve the denomination issue  Prepare the way for a new Pastor 4

 It’s Biblical  Proverbs 29:18 – “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” KJV  Drives everything else we do  Mission  Ministries  Programs and activities  Answers fundamental questions  Why are we here  Why do we exist 5

6 Vision El Montecito Presbyterian Church Following Jesus

7 El Montecito Presbyterian Church Love ServeCare Connect

8 Vision El Montecito Presbyterian Church Vision “Following Jesus, we love, connect, care, and serve”

 Should answer the following questions  Where is God working?  What needs can we meet?  Who has God asked us to serve?  What are our gifts / how can we use them? 9

 John 15  Jesus as the true vine  Love one another  Stay connected  Acts 6  Widows were being overlooked  Assigned Stephen and six others  Allowed leaders to continue to pray and preach 10

 Create a Community of Caring  Love one another  Connect with each other  Care for one another  Serve one another 11

 Establish an Elder of Care  Work with Deacons  Outreach to the community  Identify and enable congregational shepherds  Train to use our spiritual gifts  Reach out to the forgotten  Reach out to the community  Involve everyone in the church 12

 Starts with you  Spiritual gifts assessment  Training scheduled May 15 th  Initial focus on:  Our members  Parents of Early School  Understand and meet needs  Expand to greater community  Retirement homes  Parents of young children 13

14 El Montecito Presbyterian Church Fulfilling Our Vision Questions April 2016

15 El Montecito Presbyterian Church Denomination Decision April 2016

 Session Recommendation  Why we recommended to leave PC(USA)  Why we chose ECO  Overview of the process  Preview of May 1 st Meeting  Questions 16

In January 2015, the Session of El Montecito Presbyterian Church unanimously recommended that we request dismissal from the PC(USA) denomination and seek to join A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (ECO) 17 Notes:  Recommendation only  This is the members decision  We will remain Presbyterians

 Series of PC(USA) Decisions over the years indicates that the denomination is:  Confused about the centrality of Jesus and  Confused about the authority of Scripture  No list of essential tenets  Political not theological  Impact on El Montecito  Loss of members  Distracted from our mission  Concerns by many remaining members 18

 Theological issues  Consistent with our core beliefs  Adopted confessions of PC(USA)  Procedures in place to maintain standards  Support for ministry direction  Focus on equipping  Inter-church covenant groups  Number of local congregations  Other  Own our property  Pastoral search support  Emphasis on planting churches 19

 Mandated by PC(USA) General Assembly  Established by Santa Barbara Presbytery  Designed to seek:  Reconciliation or  Gracious separation to another denomination  Guiding principles:  Consistent  Gracious  Pastoral 20

October 2014Decision to pursue change January 2015Session recommendation February 2015Church straw poll / 70%+ June 2015Process paused: Leadership issues Interim Pastor search Period of healing Vision Casting December 2015Process restarted February 2016Confirmed choice of ECO March 2016Meeting with PRT 21

May 1, 2016Congregation Vote* (to proceed and evaluate or not to proceed) May – Aug 2016Discernment / Negotiation Sept – Nov 2016Second Congregation Vote* (to accept / reject terms) *50% of active membership must be present 2/3 majority vote 22

 Agenda  Presentation on PC(USA)  Presentation on ECO Polity  Presentation on ECO  Session Summary  Vote (written ballot / members)  What does the vote mean?  Continue the process  Seek dismissal  Evaluate options  Support Session  Discontinue the process 23

 How much will it cost?  How will we pay for it?  What does our Pastor want us to do?  What are other denominational choices?  Where have other churches from our Presbytery gone? 24

 Theological Differences  Jesus as THE Way to salvation  The Authority of Scripture  Decline of PC(USA)  Vibrancy of ECO  Integrity of our story  Support for our vision 25

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27 El Montecito Presbyterian Church Denomination Decision Questions April 2016