For those of us who grew up knowing ‘the synod’ as the source of staff, mission money, program materials and ministry decisions, this is quite a change.  The familiar hierarchy and ‘big tent’ are gone; mission responsibility is now clearly with presbyteries and their councils.  We are the ones to determine the mission of the Presbytery of Alaska.

In Sitka, the efforts to find a way to continue the mission and legacy of Sheldon Jackson College appear to be over. With the decision of the University of Dubuque to withdraw from discussions about assuming the campus for educational uses, the trustees have turned to local arts and science groups. I would like to thank all those who for years have supported the mission and restructure of Sheldon Jackson College, those who have prayed for and encouraged us, those who have hoped for some continuation of Christian higher education in service to the peoples of Alaska.

I have concluded my service as president of the College, and Laura and I will be leaving campus housing by the end of August. We are beginning our search for another base from which to work within the presbytery.

In two weeks the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will convene in Minneapolis.  Our commissioners are the Rev. Ron Horn, Elder Carol Martin, and Youth Advisory Delegate Kelsey Mills.  Please be in prayer for them and for the entire Assembly, as a host of critical issues and significant decisions await the Assembly. As in the life of our presbytery, the way forward for the PC(USA) is not clear, and we are called to make choices whose full consequence we cannot know.

The wise author of Ecclesiastes reminds us that there are seasons to everything, including the church, and that those times are in God’s hand. We, too, are in God’s hand, and our confidence in the Providence of God is that God provides sufficiently for His purposes and people. Some blessings and forms of ministry are time-bound, and when concluded, pass away. Let us be thankful for those faithful servants who devoted themselves to the work that God put in their hands.

God continues to send us out as ambassadors for Christ.  Times change, and as St. Paul says, “We walk by faith, not by sight”.   So let us be in prayer for discernment and for courage.  ‘Show us your path, Lord, and by your grace may we walk it with joy.’

Yours in Christ,

David Dobler