Pastor Search Information and Mission Study Information
Pastor Search Nominating Committee (PNC)
This page is to provide communication regarding the Pastor Search Nominating process currently taking place at LPPC. The Committee will post regular updates for the congregation to read and be kept informed of our progress. Please click below to read the the PNC Updates (PDF documents):
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Please check back here regularly to find information and
communication regarding our current Pastor Search process for 2010.
Thank you!
A Prayer for Our PNC: "We Are From"
"We are from Baros, from Gurule and Trujillo,
from the heirs of the Spanish land grant,
and the placitas that dot the north slopes of Sandia.
We are from the snow fed spring, from acequia madre,
for generations her waters have nourished our orchards and fields,
and moistened the foreheads of our children.
We are from white-washed adobes, brick floors and corbels,
from the majestic ponderosa whose long gone limbs
we remember as if they were our own.
We are from chile, red and green, the smell of pinto beans,
Navajo tacos and enchiladas reminds us of
the gentle, irresistible persistence of our fellowship.
We are from El Himnario, from the Hispano Singers,
from Pitney and Willy, the sweet strains of his viola
echo through the sanctuary and in our hearts.
We are from Casa Rosa and Mothers’ Day Out,
from gardens that remind us to celebrate and preserve
our connection with the earth and those who passed before us.
We are from friendships born of our shared love
of children, the earth and one another.
We turn cartwheels at sixty and we’re glad you were born.
At the altar rests La Biblia,
its yellowed pages are stained with a century of tears of sorrow and joy.
Its spine is cracked but our backbone, our sense of community, remains strong.
We are from Las Placitas Presbyterian Church. Wherever you are from, you are welcome here."
- John Davis
LPPC Mission Study, September 2009
On September 19, 2009, the Session and Deacons of LPPC approved our Mission Study. It is an accurate representation of who Las Placitas Presbyterian Church is at this point in its life and is important reading for all members.
Please see below for the main Mission Study document posted in Adobe PDF format (there is a link to Adobe). There are also 3 printed copies in our library for your review.
Many thanks to the Mission Study Task Force for all their hard work this summer and for all of you who took the time to give us your thoughts about LPPC in our coffee and conversation meetings and for those of you who attended the home meeting this fall to discuss the Mission Study, the Pastor Nominating Process and the Stewardship needs of LPPC as we move forward in these exciting times. Please click here for more information on "Stewardship" in the October Newsletter.
Reflections on LPPC from your Transitional Pastor, Rev. Elizabeth Lyman
"When I came to Las Placitas in January of 2008, it was in the role of transitional pastor. Rev. Harmes had retired after 12 years of strong service to Las Placitas Presbyterian Church. During her tenure, much had already been done to move Las Placitas forward. My work was to continue that process. Session and I understood that the role of a transitional pastor was an expanded understanding of interim that would take into account not only the standard interim tasks, but also the far greater transitional tasks of positioning a congregation for spiritual and corporate health in times of great change.
Many of these tasks have happened. Communication is far improved at LPPC. Meetings are structured so that people from various committees with similar interests share common time on meeting nights in "Convivio" to share ideas. The administration of the church has been strengthened to take into consideration new staff and the increasing work done by volunteers in times of financial uncertainty.
For me, some of the most important work has happened as the outcome of deeply spiritual ‘coffee and conversations’ that have taken place periodically in my tenure. These are times when the congregation gets together to listen for God’s calling for LPPC. Attendance has been as high as 70% of the congregation at these events. Out of this time of spiritual dreaming has come the extraordinary mission known as Casa Rosa. In the course of one year, LPPC has gone from a shelf of food in the back room, to a full food bank housed in a home owned by the church. When Casa Rosa opened in August of 2008, it served eight families. Now it serves over 60 in a week. In unique and vital ways, it is a place to honor the relational nature of Christ, by not only offering packaged food, but coffee and breakfast, occasional health screening and community outreach through parties that connect the clients of Casa Rosa and the church. The greater community of Placitas has taken this mission to heart and supports it through volunteering on Saturdays and through generous funding.
Other missional callings are blossoming as well. LPPC has expanded its outreach to other local organizations and is considering a more formal relationship with churches in the country of Cuba.
This is a church of high creativity and enthusiasm. Its commitment to earth care is deep. It is a church that values the questions and concerns of its members and honors the varieties of spiritual experiences that its members have.
In many ways, LPPC has been involved in a mission study since the beginning of my call here. Session agreed that rather than wait and just suggest what LPPC could do to deepen its work here in Placitas, we would form a variety of task forces and take those yearnings we understand to be of God and make them happen during the interim time. Therefore, the mission study you have in front of you has far less “action steps’ than many you may have seen. That is because much of the work is already done. LPPC has also used an appreciative inquiry form of mission study, a method that is concerned less with a particular strategic plan than it is in the story the congregation tells itself about who it is as part of the overarching story of God’s salvation through Christ. An Appreciative Inquiry Mission Study focuses on the best practices of life in Christ as a way to strengthen who LPPC is individually and corporately. It keeps LPPC dreaming.
This is by far the healthiest church I have had the honor to serve as an interim/transitional pastor. It is facing financial difficulties at the present time, but that is not surprising considering the economic conditions in the country right now. I expect this to be a temporary challenge. Plans are underway to address these issues. At the core of this challenge is to truly delve into all the ways we are called to be stewards of God.
Yet, this is a church that is not afraid to face tough questions and to keep communication strong even when there are significant differences in theology and faith understanding. LPPC knows its strength is in being a community in the Body of Christ that is open to all who hear God’s still small voice.
Grace and Peace,
Rev. Elizabeth Lyman, Transitional Pastor, LPPC
September 2009"
Please click here for the PDF document
2009 LPPC Mission Study Report
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