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Contact:    Noelle  Damico,  Hudson  River  Presbytery  Communications  914-­‐525-­‐7040,  noelle@hudrivpres.org    For  immediate  release    

The  Presbytery  of  Hudson  River  calls  Ruling  Elder  Deborah  Milcarek    as  its  Next  General  Presbyter  

 On  Tuesday,  September  18,  the  Presbytery  of  Hudson  River  unanimously  voted  to  call  Deborah  Milcarek  as  its  next  General  Presbyter.    She  will  begin  her  position  on  November  1,  2018.        Milcarek  comes  with  twenty-­‐three  years’  experience  working  in  the  PC(USA),  thirteen  years  of  which  she  has  served  as  a  middle  governing  body  leader  in  the  Baltimore  Presbytery.

 “We  were  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  programs  Deb  inherited,  expanded  and  the  new  initiatives  Deb  launched  took  root  and  flourished,”  explained  the  Rev.  Laurie  McNeill,  chair  of  the  General  Presbyter  Search  Committee  for  Hudson  River  Presbytery.        “She  has  a  keen  eye;  she  remembers  the  details  of  people  and  conversations  in  a  way  that  lets  you  know  you  were  heard.    Her  spirit  of  openness  resonates  with  the  character  of  our  presbytery.        

Milcarek  first  became  interested  in  working  at  the  presbytery  setting  while  she  was  completing  her  MSW  where  she  focused  on  macro  social  work;  changing  systems  as  opposed  to  individuals.  “In  a  climate  of  declining  membership  and  resources,  we  can  do  so  much  more  together  as  congregations  than  separately,”  Milcarek  explained.    

Figure  1  Deb  Milcarek,  at  left,  and  Laurie  McNeill  as  Milcarek  accepts  the  post  of  HRP’s  General  Presbyter.  

After  serving  10  years  as  a  Christian  Educator  in  two  different  congregations,  Milcarek  was  called  to  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore  as  their  Associate  for  Mission  and  Justice  and  later  as  the  Associate  for  Reconciliation.   The  portfolio  that  Milcarek  carried  at  the  Presbytery  of  Baltimore  changed  often  during  her  thirteen  years  there.  Initially  guiding  the  mission  and  social  justice  work  of  the  Presbytery,  a  new  vision  gave  her  an  opportunity  to  work  with  geographic  congregational  Ministry  Groups  where  she  walked  through  transitions,  mergers  and  closings  with  pastors  and  congregations  as  well  as  encouraged  deep  engagement  with  the  communities  surrounding  each  congregation  and  with  each  other.    Along  with  that,  she  guided  the  Cuba,  Guatemala  and  Dakota  partnerships  through  great  growth  and  expansion,  allowing  Baltimore  congregations  to  better  understand  the  concept  of  true  partnership  around  the  world.    Milcarek  was  integral  in  the  conception  of  and  launching  of  The  Center,  an  urban  Presbytery  mission  partnership  in  Baltimore  City  that  now  hosts  several  hundred  visitors  each  year,  teaching  neighborhood  engagement  in  partnership  with  congregations.    And  for  the  past  several  years,  Milcarek  has  engaged  the  presbytery  in  issues  of  racial  justice  and  white  privilege. Reflecting  on  the  unique  role  of  presbyteries  Milcarek  offered,  “About  eight  years  ago,  the  pendulum  swung  to  push  everything  down  to  the  congregational  level  and  that’s  what  we’ve  been  doing  in  several  presbyteries;  to  flatten  out  the  structure,  which  it  needed  because  we  were  very  hierarchical.    Presbyterians  were  rightly  asking  of  presbyteries,  ‘Why  are  you  there?’    That’s  when  a  lot  of  presbyteries  moved  away  from  doing  top-­‐down  programming.”     “But,”  she  insisted,  “there’s  still  an  important  role  for  presbyteries.    Congregations  can  work  together  with  other  congregations  with  whom  they  have  commonalities.    The  question  remains,  though,  how  are  they  getting  together?    What  is  connecting  the  spokes  of  the  wheel  that  is  the  PC(USA)?    Besides  resourcing  and  equipping  healthy  congregations  and  leaders  -­‐-­‐  the  Presbytery  becomes  the  hub  in  that  wheel  that  connects  the  spokes.    One  of  the  things  we  lose  in  this  move  to  flatten  the  structure  is  an  essential  tenant  of  our  faith,  to  be  a  connectional  church.  This  is  one  of  the  main  reasons  that  I  became  a  Presbyterian.    How  is  that  connection  happening?  That’s  the  presbytery:  the  connector,  we  build  community.” Noting  that  it’s  easy  to  throw  around  terms,  Milcarek  asserts  that,  “the  hard  work  comes  in  as  we  define  what  constitutes  ‘healthy  vital  congregations;’  and  I’m  sure  it  is  not  just  a  matter  of  numbers  and  dollars!    Once  we  do  that,  and  those  marks  can  be  different  for  every  presbytery,  once  we  name  it,  we  can  go  from  there.    These  congregations  have  the  signs  of  a  healthy  vital  congregation,  now,  what  do  they  need  to  thrive?” Milcarek  was  drawn  to  Hudson  River  Presbytery  because  “social  justice  is  in  its  DNA;  it’s  a  part  of  who  the  presbytery  is!  I  sense  a  convergence  of  my  love  for  the  church’s  mission  and  social  justice  as  well  as  my  love  for  congregations  that  want  to  thrive  and  have  what  they  need  to  go  forward.”      

Transitional  General  Presbyter,  the  Rev.  Peter  Surgenor  affirmed  the  Presbytery’s  readiness  explaining,  “Hudson  River  Presbytery’s  members  engage  each  other  in  thoughtful  conversation  and  thought-­‐provoking  worship,  we  build  community  by  sharing  the  reflections  of  many  different  ministers  and  elders  through  our  regular  blog,  A  Curious  Faith,  and  by  sharing  resources  through  our  active  Grants  committee  that  invests  in  creative,  faithful  ministry  by  leaders  and  of  congregations.    Deb  Milcarek  brings  a  unique  set  of  skills,  talents  and  experiences  as  she  joins  this  healthy  presbytery.”    Milcarek  will  assume  her  post  just  prior  to  the  mid-­‐term  elections.  “In  a  society  that  is  increasingly  divided,  increasingly  lonely,  and  increasingly  looking  for  hope  and  grace,  we  offer  the  sanctuary  of  Christ,”  Milcarek  explained.    “We  are  a  community  of  like-­‐minded  believers  and  we  really  need  to  re-­‐emphasize  who  we  are  as  Presbyterians;  the  faith,  the  love,  the  witness  and  the  community  we  hopefully  offer  to  people.” Describing  the  church  as  a  “big  container”  Milcarek  insists,  “We  can  hold  different  opinions  and,  by  the  grace  of  God  and  strong  relationships,  some  amazing  changes  in  hearts  and  minds  can  come  about.    When  people  truly  understand  systems  of  oppression  they  realize  they  need  to  do  something  about  them;  it’s  not  divisive.    When  congregations  know  and  love  their  neighbors,  their  neighborhoods,  however  they  define  that,  they  will  thrive.    Helping  people  understand  that  is  our  job.”  

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