Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley


The Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley is an administrative district of the Presbyterian Church which comprises 94 churches in central Alabama. The Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley is one of three presbyteries in Alabama, and one of twelve comprising the "Synod of Living Waters" in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. The Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley was established on January 11, 1988 at the First Presbyterian Church of Selma. Its headquarters are located at 3603 Lorna Ridge Drive in Hoover.
The Executive Presbyter is Tom Evans. Associate executive presbyters oversee Divisions focussing on "Nurture" and "Missions". A video resource library is kept at the Presbytery offices. The Presbytery operates two retreat locations, the Gulftreat camp in Panama City Beach and Living River, a retreat on the Cahaba River.

Origin

The Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley is named for William Henry Sheppard and his wife, Lucy Gantt Sheppard and for Samuel Lapsley, Alabamians who established a mission in the Congo Valley in 1890.
In 2003 the Presbytery invited the Reverend Dr Mulumba Mukundi, General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo and President of the Presbyterian University of Sheppard and Lapsley there to visit Birmingham. From that visit, a partnership was forged. In 2004 a delegation of eight travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo to work out a partnership agreement between the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley, the Nganga Presbytery, and the Tshibashi Presbytery. The agreement committed all three groups to participate in a mutual relationship, work together in prayer, evangelism, education and development, and to keep contact through frequent visits.
This unique partnership was highlighted at the 217th Presbyterian General Assembly which the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley hosted at the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex. Communion-ware created for the event was modeled after a Congolese wooden chalice given to the Presbytery; all attendees were given a tote-bag made in the Congo of traditional cloth, and a joint choir from the three Presbyteries performed during worship services in Birmingham.

Member congregations