Presbytery Moderator, Rev. Steven Hammond

I have been hopelessly Presbyterian for a lifetime.   Baptized as an infant, raised in small Central Coastal California Presbyterian churches, educated at the Presbyterian related College of Idaho and San Francisco Theological Seminary and serving Presbyterian congregations since 1975 has only confirmed my appreciation for the church.  My experiences have generated a respect for our denomination's willingness to engage in creative mission, promote quality Christian education and critical thinking while having the courage to take on the challenges associated with potentially divisive issues. 

            I was ordained by the Presbytery of Los Ranchos (Orange County, California) in 1975 and served as an assistant pastor in Salina, Kansas before being called as the Associate Pastor to the Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church in San Diego.   In 1979, I accepted a call to be the Pastor of the Bovill Presbyterian Church in Bovill, Idaho.  

            Bovill was a logging community of 289 people in the northern panhandle.  They had been without a resident pastor for 50 years.  The membership had fallen to 13 but had received a Major Mission Fund grant to see what might happen if a resident pastor were placed.  My wife, Nancy, and I had been "student ministers" in Bovill through the Volunteers in Mission program during one of my seminary summers, so we thought we might be able to provide a head start for this project.  

            The church did grow to a membership of 48, but it soon became apparent that they would never be "self-sufficient" with such a limited number of people in this rural part of Idaho.  That's when the concept of "Tent-making" was explored where a pastor also takes on secular employment to earn a portion of income.   The shorter story is that I was accepted in 1982 to the Kettering College of Medical Arts Physician Assistant program for a 2 year course of study and then returned to Bovill to continue service to the church while also working as a physician assistant.  

            In 1989, my supervising physician left the area, so I had to find new ways of making a living.   We moved to St. Maries, Idaho where I worked primarily in medicine while serving as a parish associate for the local Presbyterian church.   Then in 1997 I was invited to join the faculty of the University of Washington's Family Practice Residency program in Spokane, Washington.  

            During our time in Spokane, I was able to serve three churches doing interim work as they searched for permanent pastors while teaching and practicing medicine at the residency.  After the third interim position was completed - or perhaps during that time- I recognized a desire to return to a more intentional ministry and began searching for opportunities where I could use both my theological and medical education.   Alpena appeared on the horizon in 2004 and agreed to give it a try. 

            Initially, I was working at a local clinic on a part time basis which helped supplement a salary.  In 2008, we stated the Free Clinic of Alpena as part of the mission and ministry of the church.  It became apparent in 2010 as the number of free clinic patients has grown, that I would have to devote that medical part of me to the Free Clinic, so now the ministry has truly become one in which we see that providing medical care has become a part of what our congregation is able to provide. 

            Nancy and I have been married for 37 years.  We have two daughters, Laura and Leslie who live in Oregon.  Leslie is married to our daughter-in-law Sonia and they have provided us with our first grandchild, Georgia Clover Hammond-Ruyts who is now an active 1 year old.   (which made a Christmas visit this year pretty exciting.) 

            My hope for the Presbytery is that we will be a collegial cluster of folks who are willing to listen to one another, willing to consider creative ways of accomplishing ministry, willing to open ourselves to people who may not be like us, and willing to work together as servants seeking to be the people God asks us to be.   I look forward to our gatherings and welcome invitations to come to your church for worship or meetings.  

Steven Hammond

Moderator

 LOUISVILLE-

Phyllis Schneck, a member of Northminster Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Ariz., w

Phyllis Schneck

as among those killed in the shootings on January 8, 2011, that left six people dead and 14 injured.

Schneck's pastor, the Reverend Andy Ross, described her as "vibrant, fun, and a devoted woman of faith. Her smile, her commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ, and her friendship to so many will long be treasured."

Ross continued, "From all of us at Northminster to all of you - we offer our hope and commitment to live as Christ's disciples, advancing his Kingdom of peace and healing, hope and salvation, with God's divine help, and with all of you. God bless you!"  Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders issued a statement today in the wake of the shooting tragedy.  Elder Cynthia Bolbach, Moderator of the 219th General Assembly (2010) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Reverend Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, and Elder Linda Valentine, Executive Director of the General Assembly Mission Council, expressed anguish over the shootings and horror over "this kind of assault on public discourse."

Registration is open for the Presbytery meeting scheduled for Saturday, February 26, 2011 at the Church of the Straits in Mackinaw City, MI.

Presbytery meeting materials will only be prepared for those who register online at www.presbymac.org.  Registration is on the left of the home page.  Please register no later than February 18th.