OMNIBUS MOTION May 23, 2013 - The Presbytery of Los Ranchos

PRESBYTERY MEETING OMNIBUS MOTION May 23, 2013
The following items do not require Presbytery action; they are for information only.
A “Yes” vote on the Omnibus Motion is to receive all items included on it.
Presbytery Committees, Council, and the Stated Clerk have included those actions taken by committees,
task forces, commissions and the like which do not require presbytery approval but which may be of
interest to Ministers, Commissioners, Sessions, and congregations. Many, however, need to be in the
Minutes of Presbytery and will be by virtue of this action. If you have questions regarding any item,
please see the Moderator of that group for clarification. Items may be pulled for discussion by making a
motion to remove the item (said motion must be approved by majority vote of presbytery).
ACTIONS TAKEN:
STATED CLERK
Minister 12-X: Investigating Committee formed by the presbytery of a minister being accused has filed
charges and set a date for trial in June. The accused has petitioned for PLR to pay for defense
expenses. (withdrawn prior to hearing) Kay Gustafson will represent PLR’s interests.
Minister 12-Z: An investigating committee has been formed to investigate allegations brought under the
provisions of our Sexual Misconduct Prevention Policy.
Anaheim, Korean Administrative Commission: The AC continues to work to bring the session back to 6
elected and installed elders.
Long Beach First United Administrative Commission: The AC will present its recommendations during
plenary.
COUNCIL
East Africa Partnership – Review Team - Jerry Tankersley, Jean Molnar, and Bruce Boyer have met five
times. Their work has been focused on interviews and email communications helping them review the
EAP.
COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY
Commissioned Fermín Mercado, a member of Whittier Presbyterian Church as Commissioned Ruling
Elder (pending examination by presbytery) serving at Nueva Vida NCD for 12 months beginning March
14, 2013 and assisting Whittier Presbyterian Church when needed to perform sacraments, moderate
session, and perform weddings.
Approved Rev. Huw Christopher, HR, for membership of The Presbytery of Los Ranchos and request
the transfer of his credentials from the Presbytery of Florida
Validated Tamara John’s Trailer Park Ministry “Hope 4 Life” and approved her for membership when the
way be clear. Ms. John is a candidate under care of Pacific Presbytery and will be examined for
ordination at the May 23, 2013 meeting of Presbytery.
Approve Rev. Tim Fearer for membership and concurred with the Session of First Presbyterian Church of
Downey to call him as Intentional Interim Pastor beginning April 15, 2013 for one year, and request the
transfer of his credentials from Presbytery of Santa Barbara.
Received Rev. Elizabeth Steele into membership and approve her call by the Session of Whittier
Presbyterian Church as Intentional Interim Pastor effective March 25, 2013 with the following terms of
call: (3/4 th time)
Salary & Housing $28,500
Pension/Major Medical 10,020
Auto Allowance 1,000
Study Leave 1,500
Other (reimbursable) 1,000
Study Leave
2 weeks
Vacation
30 days
And request that Pacific Presbytery transfer her credentials.

PRESBYTERY MEETING OMNIBUS MOTION May 23, 2013
Granted Rev. John Shackelford exemption from the Sexual Misconduct Prevention Training. Rev.
Shackelford is 90+ years and is no longer engaged in any ministerial functions.
Granted Rev. Robert Rodisch exemption from Sexual Misconduct Prevention Training. Rev. Rodisch is
93 years of age and unable to manage a training session and also not engaged in any ministerial
functions.
Granted Rev. Bob Parry exemption from Sexual Misconduct Prevention Training. Rev. Parry is 90+;
living in Pasadena; no longer engaged in any ministerial functions.
COM requests that Rev. Dr. Steve Yamaguchi compose a letter of congratulations for Rev. Rodisch upon
the celebration of his 70 th ordination anniversary (June 18, 1943) to be celebrated at Placentia
Presbyterian Church on June 16, 2013. Dr. Rodisch pastored six congregations, was Synod Executive
in Missouri, Synod Executive of Union Synods of Mid-America, and then served as General Director of
the Support Agency of the General Assembly.”
Approved the following Administrative Commission to ordain Tamara John, if the way be clear, on June
30, 2013 at :00 p.m. at Christ Presbyterian Church, Huntington Beach:
Moderator of Commission: Ruling Elder Bruce Boyer
Teaching Elders:
Ruling Elders:
Rev. Gary Watkins Heddy Knight, Christ Presbyterian Church, Huntington Beach
Rev. Tim McCalmont Doris Grace, Trinity United Presbyterian Church
And that the Commission be dismissed upon completion of their task.
Concurred with Geneva Presbyterian Church, Laguna Hills to change Rev. Linda Flatley’s terms of call
to full-time Stated Supply Associate.
Concurred with Geneva Presbyterian Church, Laguna Hills to extend Rev. Mike Wallman’s terms of the
Interim Pastor contract by six months.
Transferred the membership of Rev. Rebecca Prichard to San Fernando Presbytery where she is
serving in Interim ministry.
Approved the Former Pastor Policy changes as follows:
1.2.8 Family Members. While most former pastors leave the immediate area of their
former congregation, not all are able to do so. Normally, the presbytery has no
jurisdiction over family members of the former pastor. However, if tensions emerge
between the Session and/or subsequent pastor(s) new pastor and the former pastor
(including the role of the former pastor’s spouse and/or family in the life of the
congregation), the Committee on Ministry shall mediate and may determine it is in the
best interests of all parties for the former pastor (and spouse and/or family) to establish a
relationship with another congregation. Good judgment and restraint will go a long way
toward preventing such situations. If specific concerns need to be addressed, they should
be included in the “Boundaries Covenant.”
Adopted the following policy regarding severance agreements:
1) Congregations and pastors shall use the presbytery's template for severance agreements. The
presbytery will not approve any other severance contract.
2) The presbytery will pay the cost, up to $1000, to modify the template to meet the specific terms
and conditions of the church and pastor. Beyond that amount, the congregation and pastor shall
determine who requires additional changes and that party will pay for the presbytery's attorney to
complete the agreement.

PRESBYTERY MEETING OMNIBUS MOTION May 23, 2013
RATIONALE: In working with multiple severance agreements over the past 5 years, COM has
determined that the template as presently drawn up by our attorney is a legal document covering all
elements of a severance agreement necessary for the dissolution of a pastoral relationship. It
saves the congregation and pastor 5-10 hours of legal expenses to create a document that may or
may not be acceptable to the presbytery. However, we have discovered that the parties to such an
agreement often believe they can improve upon this document. Since only the presbytery can
dissolve a pastoral relationship, and since such approval is contingent upon having a severance
agreement agreeable to the presbytery, it is appropriate that only the presbytery's document be
used--and that the cost of modifications being a reasonable amount should be paid by the
party/parties who will benefit from acceptable modifications.
STRATEGIC COORDINATING TEAM
The SCT has met three times since the last meeting of Presbytery on February 28, 2013. The following
report represents SCT’s major activities and motions.
SCT Membership: Bruce Boyer, Anita Coleman, Mike Conan, Colette Cozean, Chineta Goodjoin, Frank
Harmon, Jason Ko, John McKeague, Bill McReynolds, Eliseo Morales, Trevecca Okholm, Nancy
Pearson, Lydia Sarandan (Moderator), Jon Saur, Beryl Smith, Lissa Smith, Steve Wright. Staff: Bonita
Carr and Tom Cramer
Discernment Process
The discernment blog site http://blog.losranchos.org went live in February to provide resources for
discerning missional vision, theological clarity, and denominational alignment, including videos of
presbytery-wide discernment events and congregational town hall meetings. The blog also features a
discussion area for conversation between members of PLR congregations.
Interpretation of 6-b-ii-2:It was decided that the official SCT interpretation would be, “Having
considered the possibility, the SCT has decided not to request a ‘straw vote.’ Council and
trustees may consider ways to collect information they need to plan for PLR’s financial future.”
The rationale for this interpretation was accepted as being the interpretation closest to the thoughts and
concerns of the SCT. Information regarding this issue will be presented at the Presbytery meeting on
February 28 with the SCT report.
Discernment Event #2 on February 28 was held during Open Space at the Presbytery Gathering.
Presentations were one hour each for three topics, with each speaker talking approximately 40 minutes
with 15-20 minutes for questions from the floor, under specific guidelines. The following topics were
selected because of interest demonstrated at former events: “Bigger than the Big Three,” speaker Steve
Yamaguchi, “The Nature and Purpose of Denominations,” speaker Barry Ensign-George from PC(USA),
and “Essential Tenets,” speaker Jerry Andrews (from First Presbyterian Church of San Diego).
Discernment Event #3 on April 27 was held as a stand-alone event at Trinity United Presbyterian
Church from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM. There was a panel of three speakers: Jack Haberer, editor of
Presbyterian Outlook, Laird Stuart, former interim president of SFTS, and Dana Allin, synod executive of
ECO. Panelists responded to questions collected online from the Presbytery sorted into three general
topics:
• Authority and Interpretation of Scripture
• Is Jesus “The Way” or “A Way” to Salvation and What Does that Mean for the Church Today?
• Homosexuality, Same Sex Marriage, and Ordination Standards
Discernment Event #4 will be held at Open Space at the May 23 Presbytery Gathering. Topic: A Recent
History of Highly Publicized General Assembly and PJC Decisions. The speaker is Steve Salyards
(gajunkie.com). Questions will be drawn from previous discernment events and will be organized and
presented for Salyards before the event. If Salyards has written materials to address these questions,
they will be posted before the event.
Presentation on ECO on Monday, June 17, 7-9 PM (optional event). Hosted by SCT, possible speaker:
Dana Allin.

PRESBYTERY MEETING OMNIBUS MOTION May 23, 2013
Upcoming Discernment Focus: Ecumenical cooperation with other Reformed bodies and
denominations. Possibly presented in September at Open Space.
Property Procedures Timeline
Sat., April 27, 1-2:30 PM—PPTF distributed the first draft of new procedures document and explained its
content.
April 27-May 23: Presbytery provides input to PPTF. An email box was established
(lrpropertytf@gmail.com) to collect questions and comments to be used in writing the final draft to be
presented to presbytery for first reading.
May 23, 3:30-4:45 PM: PPTF will provide a forum to discuss the new procedures document as printed for
first reading at the business meeting that day.
May 23-June 15: Presbyters will study procedures and prepare for vote.
Sat., June 15, 9-11 AM: Special Meeting of Presbytery at First Presbyterian Church, Orange, to vote on
new property procedures document.
Abbreviations:
SCT-CC = SCT Coordinating Council
RE&NCD = Racial Ethnic and New Church Development Network Team
CF&D = Christian Formation and Discipleship Network Team
HC = Healthy Congregations Network Team
WM&CE = Worldwide Mission & Community Engagement Network Team
SOCP = Sale of Church Properties
Approved Motions having Financial Impact
1. Electronic Vote: Motion from HC to fund a request of up to $500 each for vouchered expenses of
Rebecca Prichard and Michael Vaughn to attend the NEXT Church Conference PC(USA) on
March 4-5, 2013, from SCT Budget funds. P 2/11/13
2. Electronic Vote: Motion from RE&NCD team to approve up to $1,500 matching funds for
vouchered expenses for Korean Churches (Anaheim Korean, Shil Il, Orange Canaan, Bellflower) for
a Chinese New Year celebration event, from SCT Budget Funds. P 2/6/13
3. Motion from CF&D to approve up to $10,000 to provide scholarships for Los Ranchos Presbytery
students to the Presbyterian Youth Triennium to be held July 16-20, 2013, from SOCP
Leadership Development fund. Scholarships will be based on financial need and will be determined
by Triennium coordinating team of Barbara Murphy, Lissa Smith, and Nancy Pearson. The cost of
tuition is $469, plus airfare and other transportation costs.
4. Motion from WM&CE to approve up to $7,500 from Missional Opportunities Fund to supplement
financial support for the Consultant for Mission Partnerships position.
5. Motion from the RE&NCD to fund the grant request from Church of Amazing Grace (KUMG) for
$51,000, to be spread over three years, from the SOCP Church Development fund beginning
January 2013 in anticipation of establishing an Administrative Commission for this fellowship in 2013.
6. Motion from the SCT-CC to approve honorariums and expenses related to the discernment
process from the SOCP Leadership Development fund.
7. Motion from SCT-CC to approve $1,000 from the SOCP Leadership Development fund for the
purpose of compensating the “over-and-above” efforts of Media Arts Director Tom Dykhuizen in the
development of the “discern” blog.
8. Motion from RE&NCD to approve the Partnership Development Grant proposal for an RV Ministry
in Huntington Beach in the amount of $15,000 from the SOCP Church Development fund.
9. Motion from CF&D to approve a Congregational Development Grant in the amount of $25,000 for
the First Presbyterian Church of Anaheim from the SOCP Church Development fund for initiating a
multi-denominational, multi-cultural Children’s Ministry program with two other fellowships
meeting on their campus (Getsemani & Morning Star) called “Godly Play.”

PRESBYTERY MEETING OMNIBUS MOTION May 23, 2013
10. Motion from WM&CE to approve a Partnership Development Grant in the amount of $24,500 (over
two years) for La Semilla Learning Center in Santa Ana from the Missional Opportunities Fund
(2/3rd) and the SCT Budget (1/3rd).
TRUSTEES
Ladera Ranch: Working with the pastor and members to provide a refinance and the manse.
Canyon Hills: thanks to Canyon Hills whose work with Verizon resulted in a refund from Verizon that paid
for presbytery’s legal costs.
Card Reader: Approved purchase of a credit card reader to allow us to accept credit cards for events.
2014 Budget: Approved request of Council to have Trustees and Financial Futures Task Force jointly
prepared the 2014 presbytery budget.
Just Noodling: Following discussion, found no obstacle to the proposals contained in the “Just Noodling”
document under review by Council et. Al.
Additional Signer: Approved adding Michael Haggin as an additional signer on checks and banking
documents.
Corporate Resolution: Approved corporate resolutions regarding banking instruments at Bank of
America.
ORDINATION ANNIVERSARIES
MAY
OGDEN, Harold 05/01/43 St. Louis 70
TOLSON, Chester 05/01/47 Los Angeles 66
SARANDAN, Lydia 05/01/70 Detroit 43
LOO, Jack 05/02/82 Pacific 30
THORNDIKE, Jeanie 05/04/86 San Fernando 27
ERICKSON, Thomas 05/11/62 UCC 51
TUFFT, John 05/14/44 San Francisco 69
STRUTT, Chris 05/16/76 Los Ranchos 37
MOORE, Jonathan 05/17/09 Los Ranchos 4
CHUNG, John 05/18/58 PC/Korea 55
TODD, Dick 05/18/58 Donegal 55
GECKELER, Keith 05/18/74 Miami 39
HEER, Ray 05/24/53 Kendall 59
CASSELL, Robert 05/29/66 Pittsburgh 46
HOGG, Michael 05/29/94 Other Denom. 18
HUFFMAN, John 05/30/65 New Brunswick 47
JUNE
NICHOLAS, David 06/01/62 Detroit 50
MATTHEWS, Josh 06/06/10 Los Ranchos 2
McCRORY, Jeff 06/07/81 Pueblo 31
RAINE, Cheryl 06/09/02 Los Ranchos 10
ELLIOTT, Jerry 06/09/52 Amarillo 60
GOOD, Steven M. 06/10/2007 San Joaquin 5
WIRTH, Steve 06/10/78 East Iowa 34
McCALMONT, Tim 06/12/77 Pacific 35
HUNEYCUTT, Norm 06/13/65 Trinity 47
RUMFORD, Douglas 06/18/78 Cincinnati 34
RODISH, Robert 06/18/43 Philadelphia 69
WARREN, Robert 06/22/56 Pacific 56
COLLINS, Robert 06/22/67 St. Joseph 45
STOUT, Jim 06/22/69 Pittsburgh 43
RIHOVSKY, Anette 06/24/2012 Los Ranchos
JUNE (cont’d)
LANDRETH, Mike 06/25/67 Spokane 45
McREYNOLDS, Bill 06/26/96 Grace 16
BONNER, John 06/27/54 Redwoods 58
DYKHUIZEN, Tom 06/28/92 San Fernando 20
STEELE, Randy 06/30/76 36
McCOLL, Emily 06/30/96 San Diego 16
JULY
SCHWENCK, Bob 07/01/64 Los Angeles 58
GOFF, William 07/05/70 Pacific 42
PARRY, Robert 07/06/56 San Joaquin 56
McCLUSKEY, James 07/07/63 Los Angeles 49
HALBOTH, Don 07/08/46 St. Paul 66
SKELLY, John 07/12/59 Los Angeles 53
PRITCHETT, Chris 07/12/09 Los Ranchos 3
McCOLL, Duncan 07/14/96 San Diego 16
WEBSTER, Frank 07/14/96 Savannah 16
NARANJO, Juventino 07/15/85 PC of México 27
CHIN, Jay Jong Ho 07/17/88 Trinity 24
VAUGHN, Michael 07/17/77 Concord 35
PIETSCH, Bob 07/19/72 Los Ranchos 40
HAZEN, Delores 07/19/98 Los Ranchos 14
CLARDY, Robin 07/27/10 Los Ranchos 2
AUGUST
PURDY, Roger 08/01/61 Box Butte 51
MUNZING, George 08/03/52 Los Angeles 60
EWART, Ed 08/03/69 American Baptist 43
LUGO, Tony 08/05/58 Puerto Rico 44
FUNG, Gabriel 08/07/11 Los Ranchos 1
STEARNS, Gail J. 08/10/83 East Iowa 29
WAGNER, Jeff 08/17/08 Los Ranchos 4
TANKERSLEY, Jerry 08/18/63 Los Ángeles 49

BLUE COLOR
May 16, 2013
To:
From:
Subject:
The Presbytery of Los Ranchos
The Stated Clerk Search Committee
Progress Report
At the present time the Stated Clerk Search Committee (SCSC) has been meeting
regularly since January 2013.
The committee is comprised of seven (7) members. The members of this committee
are: Jackson Clelland, Harriet Hughes, Gary Mills, Bob Parker, Kathy Sizer, Dave
Swidrak, and Steve Yamaguchi
During this time we have:
• Completed the orientation and training process with the assistance provided
by the Synod.
• Defined our role and responsibilities as members in this process.
• Were trained in and developed employment processes that ensure
compliance with governmental and denominational requirements.
• Refined the current position description and obtained approval based on the
current needs and employment realities of the Presbytery.
• Completed the CIF, received approval and posted same on the Church
Leadership Connection website of the PCUSA
• Began a nationwide search by “advertising” on the PCUSA Church Leadership
Connection website, Presbyterian Outlook, Synod and PLR’s website
• Developed screening and interview processes that are incompliance with
applicable church and regulatory laws and regulations.
• Conducted interviews.
At the present time we are seeking to wrap up the process by June 27, 2013 and
deliver to the Presbytery a candidate that meets the expectations and requirements
contained in the current position description.
If there are any other questions, please feel free to contact Gary Mills (SCSC
Chairperson).
Respectfully submitted,
Gary Mills
SCSC Chairperson