Adaptation is Life

by General Presbyter Melana Scruggs

My office at home, now the office of the General Presbyter for Peace River Presbytery

In January of 2022 we sold the presbytery office in North Port and moved our offices to First Port Charlotte. We did not need such a large building as the number of staff continued to decrease. The space in First Port Charlotte has been a wonderful next step. Now the time has come for the next logical step.

The presbytery’s purpose is to support the work of its member churches. The best way to support churches is to be present with the congregations as they do mission and ministry. That does not necessitate an office. 

First Port Charlotte has a wonderful opportunity to begin a new phase of their life through the sale of their property, which was severely damaged in Hurricane Ian. Another church is purchasing the property and will lease the fellowship hall to the congregation of First Presbyterian for their worship and mission. They will continue their tremendous food pantry work from the garage area that is next to the fellowship hall. The sale closes on August 9.

This means that the Presbytery will vacate the offices we have been using. Alesia and I will work from home. I will continue to meet people in the places where mission and ministry takes place. Since the hurricane we have been doing more work from home because of internet difficulties. You should not see a decrease in our ability to support the congregations in their work.

Please use my cell phone, 417-489-0024, to reach me, or email me at melana@peaceriverpresbytery.org. Please continue to utilize the website for pertinent information. We will share a phone number for Alesia on the website. You can email her at alesia@peaceriverpresbytery.org. Randy can be contacted by email, prpstatedclerk@peaceriverpresbytery.org. Devon is on sabbatical until mid-November. Please contact me with any questions you have for her.

The pictures here are of my office in my house. I also feel like my car is my office. I may be calling your church to see if you can offer a space for a meeting or a space for me to work while I wait for the next meeting. Many presbyteries are moving to a virtual office and I have done this previously. This is an exciting adaptation for the presbytery as we move into the future God has for us.

Please contact me with questions or concerns.