A PERSONAL INVITATION
The invitations to these meetings need to be specific and personal. If possible, it should be either a phone call or personal interchange from the presbytery exec to the pastor of the churches involved. You need to explain the purpose of the request and then ask them if they will help you by accompanying three to four elders to such a meeting with a similar number coming from the other churches.
Be prepared for some suspicion and hesitancy at the beginning. This is a new thing and there is ample institutional distrust in our society to cause one to have questions. If the invitation needs to come from the stated clerk, the COM chair, etc., it needs to be made clear that this is on behalf of the General Presbyter and others in the leadership of the presbytery.
You should be ready with your “elevator speech” and be very open to respond to any questions that s/he has. Emphasize that you are asking for them to help you by cooperating in this attempt to build stronger community among the churches.
FINDING A COMMON DATE
In our complex society, finding a common date is not easy. You might want to set up a conference call among the pastors once they have agreed. Then together you can seek an agreed upon date. It is up to each pastor to find elders who are available at those dates. Encourage them to work to select strong elders to attend. On that same conference call, you need to select a mutually agreed upon location. Some form of food and coffee and cold drinks should be available. You might even arrange for one church to provide a meal for the group. While it may seem logical that a large church with staff might be the best opportunity for this, do not neglect the possibility that many small churches have some excellent cooks that can provide this for a small group.
LEADERSHIP MATTERS
If at all possible, the General Presbyter or other top official of the presbytery should be part of the leadership of the group. This emphasizes the importance of the event. If that is impossible, it might be worth the effort to set up a Skype appearance for the exec to both greet those present and affirm the importance of what they are doing.
Later, if further meetings are desired, the leadership can shift somewhat but it should always be clear that you are addressing a critical issue for the witness to the Gospel.
On the next blog, I will sketch out some ideas for that first crucial meeting.
