HOME CHURCHES + MINISTRIES GRANTS NEWS EVENTS RESOURCES TEAMS CONTACT MISSION & VISION DESIGN TEAM PROPOSAL September 10, 2021 A Note from the Transitional EP: Dear Presbyters, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to ask a favor of each of us attending Presbytery this week. Find 20-30 minutes in your day when you can settle into a comfortable chair, grab a favorite beverage, and sit down to invest unhurried time in reading the Mission and Vision Design Team proposal (below). If you prefer, the team has also recorded an audio option. Jot down some notes if you like. Doing so will help to ensure that the MAV first-read is time well spent. With gratitude, Shari On behalf of the MAV team CLICK on the LOGO to READ or CLICK on PLAY to LISTEN 1 Likes Share ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE TRANSITIONAL EP SEARCH TEAM March 11, 2021 Dear Friends and Colleagues in the Olympia Presbytery, The Transitional EP Search Team is delighted to present its final candidate for the position of Transitional Executive Presbyter, the Rev. Shari Jackson Monson. Please read more below,and plan to join the Presbytery as it gathers for the March Stated Meeting to hear from Rev. Monson, and as we present Rev. Monson to the Presbytery for election. We look forward to meeting with you all on THURSDAY, March 18, 2021! Warmly in Christ, Transitional EP Search Team Rev. Dr. Tammy Stamplfi Rev. John Asher RE Sarah Nyland, Trinity, Tacoma Holly Smith, Immanual, Tacoma Rev. Shari Jackson Monson Shari is an innovative leader in PC USA. She particularly enjoys collaborative ministry among people who lead the church during seasons of change. Shari has been a student, practitioner, thought leader and conversation partner in the area of transitional leadership for nearly a decade. She is curious about what transitional leaders need to thrive. Shari is an accomplished ministry strategist whose impact is seen in staffing models, strategic plans, mission studies, and mission partnerships around the world. Her well-worn [pre-COVID] passport illustrates a passion for bringing hope to people experiencing change, crisis, conflict, or living in poverty. Since ordination in 2013, Shari has served as Transitional/Interim Senior Pastor at John Knox Presbyterian Church [Normandy Park], West Side Presbyterian Church [West Seattle], Hamblen Park Presbyterian Church [Spokane], and Westminster Presbyterian Church, Chehalis. She is currently wrapping up a call as Transitional Pastor at Lacey Presbyterian Church, where they hope to form the Pastor Nominating Committee shortly after Easter. Shari curates resources for transitional leaders at Interim By Design. As a researcher, Shari studies the vocational practices of interim pastors that sustain vitality in ministry. She plans to launch a doctoral research project on this topic. Shari grew up in an independent Bible church, but she found her theological home when she became Presbyterian. Ask her what drew her in, and she answers with delight, ‘Governance!’. Shari serves as Chair of the Board of the Thai Christian Foundation and recently completed nine years on the Board of Medical Teams International. Last year she served as theologian in residence with MTI. She holds degrees from Seattle Pacific University (BA), Drew University (MA), Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India (post MA), and Fuller Theological Seminary (MDiv). Currently she is a Doctor of Ministry candidate at Seattle University. Shari and her husband Craig call Gig Harbor home. They are parents to a globe-trotting daughter Madeline, MSW student at University of Washington, and a home-hearth warming son Jackson, student at Tacoma Community College. Gardening, painting, reading for fun, and road trips are among her favorite restorative practices. Shari looks forward to serving alongside leaders in this presbytery by providing innovative pastoral guidance and support as we develop strategies for a hope-filled future. 7 Likes Share POET IN THE PULPIT November 3, 2020 Poet in the Pulpit (Oct 28, 2020) 0 Likes Share THE COMMON ROOM RECEIVES PCUSA GRANT November 3, 2020 Twenty-one new worshiping communities, two presbyteries receive Mission Program Grants (Oct. 26, 2020) 0 Likes Share OLYPRES & SPECIAL OFFERINGS VIDEO September 24, 2020 0 Likes Share HCC FEATURED IN PRESBYTERIANS TODAY September 19, 2020 Click on the title above to read the article. 0 Likes Share LONGVIEW & AFFORDABLE HOUSING September 4, 2020 Click on the title above to go to article. 0 Likes Share FRONT COVER OF MISSION CROSSROADS May 13, 2019 Hagar’s Community Church made the FRONT COVER of Mission CrossRoads On the cover: “Clear Vision,” devotional art by Lauren Wright Pittman, is an inspiring image of hope for Hagar’s Community Church, a 1001 New Worshiping Community inside the largest women’s prison in Washington state. ©Lewp Studio, lewpstudio.com. (See page 16) 0 Likes Share WEST COAST GATHERING FOR VITAL CONG KICK-OFF May 10, 2019 Over the next two weeks, leaders gather in Denver and Atlanta to pray, plan and worship by Paul Seebeck | Presbyterian News Service The Rev. Dr. Kathryn Threadgill, coordinator for the Vital Congregations initiative, says that events this week and next are ways to let congregations and presbyteries know “we are in this together.” (Contributed photograph) LOUISVILLE — Nearly 140 leaders including representation from presbyteries, pastors, clerks of session and the Presbyterian Mission Agency are meeting at Montview Presbyterian Church in Denver this week to pray, plan and worship together during the West Coast Vital Congregations gathering. Leaders from the following presbyteries — who were among the 14 chosen to participate in the first wave of the 2020 Vital Congregations national launch — will receive training at the gathering, which is sponsored by Denver Presbytery: Cascades (Portland, Ore.), Mission (San Antonio), New Covenant (Houston), Northwest Coast (Everett, Wash.), Olympia (Tacoma, Wash.) and Riverside (San Bernardino, Calif.). Presbytery of New York City is also sending some of its leaders to Denver, but the majority will be at First Presbyterian Church in Atlanta for next week’s East Coast gathering, which runs May 13-16. Participants at both gatherings will hear from Columbia Theological Seminary preaching professor Dr. Anna Carter Florence and Columbia’s professor of Old Testament, Dr. William P. Brown. Florence will reflect on “The Gift of Scripture and Community Together.” Brown will speak on “Wonder and Church Vitality.” Gathered leaders will also go deeper into the theory and theology of the Vital Congregations initiative and begin to envision and plan the two-year process for their presbyteries and churches. They also will participate in confession/lament and commitment/celebration worship services, put together by the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell in the PC(USA)’s Office of Theology & Worship. “Through our praying, planning and worshiping we will know that we are in this together,” says the coordinator for the PC(USA)’s Vital Congregations initiative, the Rev. Dr. Kathryn Threadgill. “By sharing our struggles and the hopes we have for our churches, we will know that together we can do this work. That can only be the Spirit moving.” During the first year of the initiative’s revitalization efforts, presbyteries and churches work to build authentic faith relationships. Then they enter into a period of assessment by working together through seven marks of vital congregations (click here to read about each mark). As congregations identify both their strengths and key growth areas in their study together, they enter into a period of discernment over what God is calling them to do next. The second year of the initiative, according to the Vital Congregations manual, is “about joining Christ in the new thing taking place, allowing the wonder of God to transform and faithfully living into change.” Participating in next week’s East Coast gathering are mid council and church leaders from the following presbyteries chosen to chosen to participate in the 2020 launch — Eastminster (Akron, Ohip), Genesee Valley (Rochester, N.Y.), Lake Michigan (Portage, Mich.), Mackinac (Petoskey, Mich.), New Harmony (Florence, S.C.), West Jersey (Haddon Heights, N.J.) and Western Reserve (Cleveland). “It is my hope and prayer that folks leave our time together trained, empowered, connected —and filled with the Spirit’s power to prepare for the Vital Congregations initiative in their particular church and presbytery,” Threadgill said. The Office of Vital Congregations is part of the PC(USA)’s Theology, Formation & Evangelism ministry. You may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License. The Rev. Dr. Kathryn Threadgill, coordinator for the Vital Congregations initiative, says that events this week and next are ways to let congregations and presbyteries know “we are in this together.” (Contributed photograph) 0 Likes Share PRAYING FOR NEW ZEALAND March 15, 2019 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.) Our hearts break for the victims, families and Christchurch, New Zealand community in the aftermath of mass shootings at two mosques, that left 49 worshippers slain and 20 injured. At this tragic time we look to God for comfort and strength — and wisdom in responding to this sickening act of violence. Give us the grace to hear your truth and be healed through your mercy. PRAYER BY REV. DR. LAURIE KRAUS, DIRECTOR, PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE, PC(USA) Read the full prayer online. INTERFAITH VIGIL & ANTI-ISLAMOPHOBIA TEACH-IN MONDAY, MARCH 18, 7-9PM Please join us for an interfaith prayer vigil for the victims of the New Zealand mosque massacre followed by a teach-in about combating Islamophobia in our communities. FEATURED TOPICS & SPEAKERS: “Connecting Activism and Advocacy to Combating Islamophobia and Hate,” by CAIR-WA Executive Director Masih Fouldai “The Roots of Islamophobia,” by MAPS-AMEN Executive Director Aneelah Afzali Other guest speakers include local interfaith leaders and elected officials. Location: Muslim Association of Puget Sound - MAPS 17550 NE 67th Ct, Redmond, Washington 98052 Learn more online. STATEMENT OF THE CHURCH COUNCIL OF GREATER SEATTLE AFTER ATTACK AT TWO MOSQUES IN NEW ZEALAND Read the full statement online. 0 Likes Share NEWS OLDER NEWER © Olympia Presbytery | Find us on Facebook | Questions, feedback? 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