31st stated Meeting Announcement

I am pleased to announce that the 31st Stated Meeting of Tidewater Presbytery will take place on Saturday, February 3, 2024, at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Norfolk, VA (1600 Colonial Avenue, Norfolk, VA 23517).

The worship service will begin at 8:30am. TE Mike Sharrett of Blue Ridge Presbytery will be preaching. A breakfast will be served on site following worship. The business portion of the meeting is scheduled to begin by 10:15am.

Materials for the meeting are available in the members-only section of the website. The password is available from the Stated Clerk.

Please register your attendance or submit your request for excused absence using the online form here. Churches/Clerks may register all their Ruling Elder Commissioners in a single form. Teaching Elder Commissioners must register individually. There is a place at the end of the form to list any visitors attending with you. Contact the Stated Clerk if you have any problems with the form. Form submissions will be accepted until noon,Thursday, February 1, 2024.

​Regarding registration and excused absences, please remember:

• If you do not submit a request for an excused absence, you will be considered unexcused. Our by-laws recognize the following excuses: (1) immediate need for pastoral care: illness, funeral, crisis counseling, and weddings; (2) personal or family illness; (3) unexpected business demands; (4) extraordinary distance to travel by those laboring outside the bounds of Presbytery; (5) honorably retired and (6) Sabbaticals. 
• Ruling Elder Commissioners must be elected by their Sessions to represent their congregations prior to the meeting. If you were not so elected, you should sign in as a visitor, as you are not eligible to vote. BCO 13-1 - "When the Presbytery meets as a court it shall comprise all teaching elders and ruling elders as elected by their Session. Each congregation is entitled to two (2) ruling elder representatives for the first 350 communing members or fraction thereof, and one additional ruling elder for each additional 500 communing members or fraction thereof.” 
• A church that is unable to send at least one commissioner should notify the Stated Clerk with the reason for its absence if it wishes to receive an excused absence.