New Castle Presbytery seeks to fulfill its ministry and mission according to the vision well expressed by our Constitution as the Agreat ends of the church.@

AThe great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the kingdom of heaven to the world.@

New Castle Presbytery finds itself in a time of transition: feeling the effects of new structures at the General Assembly level; being a presbytery within the new Synod of the Mid-Atlantic; experiencing the retirement of our executive presbyter and pastoral changes in more than half of our churches.

In response to the rare opportunity afforded by times of transition and in recognition of contemporary challenges facing the world and the community of faith, we open ourselves to the leading of God=s Word and to new directions of ministry and mission.

We are a presbytery of 55 congregations with more than 15,000 members as of January 1, 1989. Bounded on the north by Pennsylvania and on the south by Virginia, on the east by the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean and on the west by the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay, the presbytery covers the nine eastern counties of the state of Maryland an the entire State of Delaware. It is a three-hour drive from the almost adjourning northern Delaware cities of Wilmington and Newark in populous New Castle County to the southernmost church of the presbytery in Beaver Dam, Maryland.

Small but growing metropolitan areas include Dover, Delaware (middle area of presbytery) and Salisbury, Maryland (southern area). Small towns and rural areas, throughout the presbytery, are recording a slow, yet persistent growth.

The life and mission of the presbytery is influenced by the distribution of churches and members throughout the peninsula. Slightly more than half of all the churches in the presbytery are outside New Castle County. These 29 churches represent 29% of all members. Eighty-three percent (83%) of them have less than 250 members, while none have memberships over 500.

At the same time, 44% of our members are found in seven churches (13%) of the presbytery, all in the Wilmington-Newark area. Seventy-six percent (76%) of all churches in the presbytery with more than 250 members are in New Castle County, while 71% of all those with less than 250 members are in southern Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

We affirm that the God who creates, redeems and empowers us is the foundation of our life together. Therefore:

Linked by a connectional church to the fulfillment of God=s purpose in all parts of the world, and

Committed to a Reformed theological tradition and a biblical understanding of justice and peace, and

Formed by the testimony of women and men in this and in all generations,

* We will WITNESS by proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ=s reconciling love so as to invite individual and corporate commitment to Christ.

Separated by geography by which we sometimes excuse our isolation from one another, and

Differentiated by diverse cultures, races and theological perspectives by which we sometimes justify our alienation from sisters and brothers in Christ, and

Estranged by practices that inhibit the full participation of persons because of gender, race, ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or marital status, and

beset by seemingly intractable justice issues arising from practices of corruption and exploitation in the life of the world,

* We will CONFESS our own and the world=s brokenness and act as agents of God=s power to heal the divisions among us.

Alarmed by the urgent needs of people in our communities and around the world who lack adequate food, clothing, housing, health care, employment and education, and

Aroused by peoples in every nation of the earth who struggle against all odds to overcome powers that oppress them, and

Aware that many of us are only a major illness or lost job away from the despair and disillusionment of poverty, and

Called by a compassionate God to minister to persons and congregations in conflict, and

Restrained in our own spiritual lives by revered patterns of individualism, commercialism and self-reliance,

* We will CARE for ourselves and others in need by working together in the spirit of God=s justice and mercy.

Conscious of the need for active study of the biblical witness and the Reformed tradition, and

Confronted by the hope and faith of peoples in oppressed communities and cultures, and

Bound by our faith to enable, encourage and support the next generation of God=s faithful witnesses, and

Committed to nurturing the vocation and ministry of the laity,

* We will EQUIP the clergy, members and children of our congregations to exercise discipleship and to participate more fully in the life of the whole church.

Compelled by the need for enhanced communication and educational ministry among our congregations, and

Motivated to develop ecumenical stragegies for mission in our urban and rural areas, and

Challenged by opportunities for evangelism and the development of new congregations, and

Open to the needs of existing congregations and their communities, and

Receptive to the diversity of language, stories and styles of ministry in our midst, emerging through a new generation of pastoral leadership, and

Committed to the unity of Christ=s Church and, in particular, to the covenantal unity of congregations in the Presbytery of New Castle,

* We will SUPPORT one another by developing and mobilizing all resources to achieve our mission.

Our corporate intention to witness, confess, care, equip and support will be expressed in a variety of ways in future years. For now, we wish to focus on particular areas of concern that require a concentration of our talents and resources:

Ministry of Presbytery

Resourcing the process for the preparation of candidates and the calling of pastors;

Supporting and caring for churches in conflict;

Providing for the training of church officers in consultation with sessions;

Working to increase diversity and inclusiveness in the selection of pastors and other church leaders.

Mission Strategy and Implementation

Working with other churches and faith groups to develop urban, rural and suburban mission with special emphasis on hunger and homelessness;

Modeling solidarity with people who are poor and oppressed;

Providing for ministry beyond the scope of local congregations, for example, the life care of aging persons;

Providing linkages between synod and General Assembly and local churches to effect a more faithful churchwide witness, for example, on issues of peace and world justice;

Providing for new church development and redevelopment including mergers and/or closings;

Advocating active campus ministries supported by Synod.

Establishing structures and procedures to identify areas in which congregations need support, for example, evangelism;

Organizing responses to the needs of congregations;

Providing for the education and nurture of children, youth and adults in consultation with sessions;

Supporting and encouraging clergy and lay leaders in their vocation and ministry.