Presbyterian News of Note
GAMC announces new deputy executive director for missions
The Layman, April 26, 2010
The Rev. Roger Dermody has agreed to accept the position of deputy executive director for mission with the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s General Assembly Mission Council (GAMC). He will oversee the GAMC’s mission activities.
Dermody served as a pastor for 13 years, including the past nine years as executive pastor of Bel Air Presbyterian Church, a 3,000-member congregation in Los Angeles, where he managed and oversaw the senior leadership and the day-to-day ministry of a staff of 67 employees and an annual budget of $9.8 million.
“I truly believe that our mission and message are compelling,” said Dermody, “because they are Christ’s mission and message. I like to envision the PCUSA not merely as reversing the steady stream of membership loss, but one day truly becoming a turn-around denomination – one that other denominations point to and learn from because somehow, by God’s grace, we figured it out. We understood how to serve together. People got excited about the relevant and effective ways that our denomination brought the hope of the Gospel to a broken world.”
RTS plans Houston campus
Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Houston, an Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) congregation, has entered into an agreement with Reformed Theological Seminary to establish a Houston campus.
“Bringing RTS to Houston is a great opportunity to penetrate the Hispanic community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Senior Pastor John Crimmins said. “I see a great future for Biblical Christianity in Houston with the coming of RTS.”
Located on the church’s grounds, the Houston campus will be RTS’s sixth, in addition to Jackson, Miss., Orlando, Fla., Charlotte, N.C., Atlanta, Ga., and Washington D.C.
Christ Evangelical Presbyterian Church had its first service in 1991 after 750 members left a PCUSA congregation, formed a new church and later joined the EPC.
PCUSA associate accepts Obama appointment
According to the Presbyterian News Service, Phil Tom, associate for small church and community ministry in the GAMC of the PCUSA, has been appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as director for the Center for Faith-based and Community Initiatives for the Department of Labor.
“I give thanks to God for this extraordinary opportunity to serve President Obama and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis,” he said in a news release. “I will help build partnerships with faith-based and community groups to improve the lives of workers, particularly in the areas of livable wages and working conditions. The Presbyterian Church has been supportive of labor rights for more than 100 years. I look forward to continuing the work of bringing about God’s justice and peace in our world.”
Before joining the General Assembly Mission Council in Louisville, Tom was pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis. He also served the General Assembly Council from 1993 to 1996 as an associate for urban ministry.