Dear Clerks of Sessions – of Chicago Presbytery Churches,
On behalf of the Presbytery of Chicago, and the Session of your congregation, please accept my great thanks for your faithful service as a Clerk of Session for your congregation. Those of us in this work have a particular calling as Clerks – and as a fellow Clerk I am grateful for your work of ministry in these years.
As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Constitutional Procedures Work Group of Chicago Presbytery now believes we are in a position to renew our standard practice for the Review of Session Minutes and Records. This standard practice is to invite Clerks of Session to bring their records to a Session Records Review Meeting.
This year, 2024 as an even-numbered year, we would like to invite Clerks of Session of congregations in the even-numbered regions of our Presbytery. Here is the list of even-numbered regions (those in Region 4/5 have the option to participate in 2024 or 2025):
North West and City (Region 2) – Lolly Dominski and Mark Nokes – COM Liaisons
- Arlington Heights, First
- Arlington Heights, Southminster
- Barrington
- Des Plaines, Hahna
- Des Plaines, Taiwan Greater Chicago
- Glenview, Chicago Joyful
- Hoffman Estates, Church of the Cross
- Mount Prospect, Community
- Palatine
- Park Ridge
- Wheeling, Evergreen
City, Near West, (Region 4/5) James Lifton – COM Liaison
- Broadview, Community
- Chicago, Faith Community
- Chicago, Good Shepherd
- Chicago, Pine Avenue United
- Cicero, Clement (Canto)
- Cicero, Emmanuel
- La Grange, First
- La Grange Highlands, Highlands
- Northlake, Trinity
- Oak Park, Fair Oaks
- Oak Park, First United
- River Forest, First
- Riverside
- Western Springs
Far West (Region 6) – Brent Anderson and Sandy Zeles – COM Liaisons
- Carol Stream, Heritage
- Clarendon Hills, Community
- Downers Grove, St. Luke
- Elmhurst
- Elmhurst, Yorkfield
- Glen Ellyn, First
- Glen Ellyn, Southminster
- Itasca, First
- Lombard, Community
- Naperville, Knox
- Naperville, River Glen
- Wheaton, First
- Wheaton, Hope
City and Far South (Region 8) – Barbara Vaughn, COM Liaison
- Chicago, New Deliverance
- Chicago, Morgan Park
- Chicago, Pullman
- Chicago Heights, First
- Hickory Hills
- Homewood, First
- Oak Lawn, Community
- Orland Park
- Park Forest, Calvary
- Tinley Park, Faith United
[Note: Churches in Regions 1,3,5, and 7 will be reviewed next year, 2025.]
For those churches listed above, we would ask that you as the Clerk of Session – or someone you designate from your church – bring the following three items to one of the Session Records Review Meetings scheduled below:
- The Session Minutes Book, containing your 2023 and prior years of Minutes;
- The Church Register Book, containing your up-to-date church rolls, and;
- The Completed “Session Records Review Checklist”
- Scroll down to “2024 Session Records Review Sheet” and click on “view file.”
- This pdf form is “fillable” – so you can type in the page numbers, save the file with a new name and year, and then print it on your printer.
- Please bring this hard copy with you to a review meeting.
Completing this review sheet will help you prepare for the Session Records Review Meeting. During the meeting, experienced Clerks will work in pairs to review one another’s minutes, sharing helps and offering support to each other in this work. Newer Clerks will work together to complete the review as a group. We will then stamp and sign the minutes, indicating their up-to-date review.
We have scheduled four Session Records Review Meetings in the following locations. We hope you can attend one of these meetings, closest to your location, from 10:00 to 11:30 AM, on either:
- Saturday, April 13, 2024, at 10:00 AM- at Southminster PC, Arlington Heights, 916 East Central Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60005-3291
- Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 10:00 AM – First PC River Forest, 7551 Quick Avenue, River Forest, IL 60305-1843
- Saturday, August 17, 2024, at 10:00 AM – Southminster PC, Glen Ellyn, 680 South Park Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-6933
- Saturday, September 28, 2024, at 10:00 AM – CHANGED TO: Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, 2121 Sheridan Rd, Evanston, IL, 60201
To help in our planning, please REGISTER HERE to let us know which of these meetings you plan on attending. You can also email us any questions about these meetings and this new review process.
We believe these meetings will help us get to know one another across the presbytery, so we clerks can help and support one another in this important work.
Thank you so much. We remain,
Yours in Jesus Christ,
Ken Hockenberry – Stated Clerk, Presbytery of Chicago
Wendy Boden – Moderator, Constitutional Procedures Work Group
Megan Hendrickson – Sr. Administrative Assistant, Presbytery of Chicago
