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Witherspoon officers gather in Santa Fe, look ahead

a report by Doug King
[9-30-00]

If you have to have a meeting, Plaza Resolana in Santa Fe makes it more than tolerable. And a meeting with thoughtful, congenial Witherspoon officers makes it better yet. And a meeting that really gets things done -- that's beyond the bounds! But that was the story of our meeting on September 21 - 23.

A few highlights:

The group welcomed Michael Livingston as a new at-large member, and welcomed Jane Hanna on her return in a new role as president of the body. Michael, formerly the chaplain at Princeton Seminary, is now serving as national staff person for a council of community churches. Jane, who was the secretary-communicator of Witherspoon for some years, has returned now as president. She and her husband live in Santa Fe, so they, along with Membership Secretaries Betty and Ray Kersting, were our gracious hosts (along with the staff of Plaza Resolana, of course) for the weekend.

The group took a major step forward as we sorted through various ideas for specific projects to extend our outreach and activities over the next few years, and selected six or eight of them for our immediate attention. You'll be hearing more about them over the next few weeks.

A high point of the weekend came on Friday evening, when some 25 Witherspoon members from the Santa Fe area joined us for dinner and an hour of conversation afterwards. The group provided valuable feedback to some of the projects we had been discussing, and the evening gave many of us a chance to renew old friendships. We were happy to be joined for the evening by a number of participants in a gathering of clergy women which was also meeting at Plaza Resolana.

With regret, the group accepted the resignation of Nancy Neal as our staff coordinator, as she is returning to her full-time staff position with the People of Faith Network. It has become clear over the past few months that our hopes for funding her part-time position would not be met. During the weekend, however, Nancy made significant contributions to our discussions, and she will continue to serve the group in various ways -- most immediately by becoming a member of the Nominating Committee.

Officers in session 
From left around table: Kent Winters-Hazelton, Brian Christoffersen, Nancy Neal, Vicki Moss, Betty Kersting; backs to camera: Chris Iosso, Jane Hanna.

A number of plans were formed, including a commitment to distribute 1000 extra copies of the current issue of Network News to seminary students, presbytery and synod staff members, and others. We are committed to reaching out to people who have not traditionally considered themselves "'Spooners," especially at this crucial time in the life of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

If you're one of those we should be reaching out to, send a note and we'll send you a copy of Network News, and do whatever we can to encourage you to join us!

Perhaps the most important outcome of the weekend was our decision to focus our efforts for the next few years on finding, defining, and helping to nurture "whole Gospel congregations." For some preliminary ideas of what this might mean, click here for a short essay by Gene TeSelle, and click here for a sermon which Kent Winters-Hazelton preached right after our meeting.

The future of the Witherspoon Society -- like the future of our church -- holds great promise, but also confronts us with many challenges. We invite you and urge you to join us as we face the problems and work to fulfill the possibilities of the future.

 
 

A major
Ghost Ranch event this summer!

July 28 - August 3, 2008

Paths toward Peace and Justice:

Spirituality, Earth-Care, and the Prophetic Word in a time of Violence

More info >>

 

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An index of our reports from

 

 

 

BECOMING NEIGHBORS:
An Invitation
to Global Discipleship

A Witherspoon conference
on global mission and justice

September 16 - 19, 2007
Louisville, Kentucky

 

Check out our report from the Conference
on
Terror, Torture,
and Security

 

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© 2007 by The Witherspoon Society.  All material on this site is the responsibility of the WebWeaver unless other sources are acknowledged.  Unless otherwise noted, material on this site may be copied for personal use and sharing in small groups.  For permission to reproduce material for wider publication, please contact the WebWeaver, Doug King.  Any material reached by links on this site is outside the control and responsibility of the WebWeaver and The Witherspoon Society.  Questions or comments?  Please send a note!