Shenango Presbytery consists of 69 churches and over 16,000 Presbyterians in western Pennsylvania, half-way between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. We like to say that we in Shenango are more "dense" than anywhere else in the PC(USA). Of course, we mean that Presbyterians are a higher percent of the population here than in any other presbytery...approximately 10%! No matter where you live in Mercer or Lawrence counties you are within fifteen minutes of at least five Presbyterian churches!

This data is important to the cultural identity of Shenango Presbytery. We are a "familial" group which is essentially homogeneous. Our small town and rural context makes families especially important and that includes extended families and that overflows into the church. Most folks have lived here a long time and that means that ours is a traditional culture. It is not unusual for pastors to serve a church for more than twenty years.

There are two Presbyterian-related colleges (Westminster and Grove City) located here. This was also the heartland of the former United Presbyterian Church of North America, a highly mission-focused denomination whose New Wilmington Mission Conference still thrives. All of that combines to make Shenango a mission-oriented Presbytery.

I am convinced that this was a key factor in my being asked to be the executive of Shenango in 1992. A little biographical background will show the connection. I was raised in the Bethel Church of the Presbytery. I graduated from Westminster College and Pittsburgh Seminary, and then was ordained by Shenango to serve the Jamestown Church, on the northern edge of the Presbytery. After nine years of pastoral ministry, I became a Mission Funding Counselor for the Synod of the Northeast where I served for eleven years. That allowed me to complete an STM in mission at Yale Divinity School, which also stimulated a pattern of research and writing on mission, stewardship, and funding in the Presbyterian Church.

My vision for Shenango Presbytery is: 1) that it fulfill its governance functions in a pastoral and non-regulatory manner; and 2) that it serve as a resource to its churches in nurturing them as missional congregations. I believe that, in the words of Emil Brunner, "the church exists by mission in the same way that a fire exists by burning." I strive to help Shenango cultivate authentic missional thinking and action in our churches. This includes critical thinking about the meaning of mission and its practice. Mission is not "everything" that we do. It is thoroughly evangelical and socially incarnate. A vital presbytery is one where churches are becoming authentically missional.

David Dawson, Executive Presbyter