The Session at St. James

In the polity of the Presbyterian Church (USA), There are three ordained offices.

• Ministers of Word and Sacrament,
• Elders, and
• Deacons.

Ministers of Word and Sacrament are ordained by the Presbytery.  Elders and deacons are ordained by individual congregations.  Persons are ordained to each of these offices for life.  You are an elder, deacon, or minister whether you are actively serving a term or not.

St. James is a small church.  We do not have enough active members to comfortably fill a session and a board of deacons.  We have several elders who have served a long time and do not have the energy to continue to serve.  Many years ago we petitioned the presbytery to give us permission to combine the duties of the deacons, (pastoral care to those in distress and financial care for those in need) with the duties of the elders and have just one board.

This church board or session was also given permission to have just seven members while most churches have twelve or more elders serving at a time.  The session members are elected to three year terms and are required to take a year or more off from session after six years.  Elders also have a required role in any service of baptism or the Lord's table but for those duties they do not have to be currently serving on session but can be retired or taking a break from the board.

Although the session has local responsibility for all decisions that effect the congregation, Its most obvious duties and much of its time is directed to the financial health of the congregation.  Our session makes all decisions regarding spending and is responsible for our yearly stewardship campaign.  Our budget materials for 2007 are here.

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