Today's episode features two Ruling Elders from Tres Rios Presbytery. If you are not familiar with Tres Rios Presbytery, it is a group of congregations and ministries located in the westernmost portion of Texas, and it’s known as Tres Rios because the presbytery is marked by three rivers: the Concho, Pecos, and Rio Grande.

In our disaster work, we actually don’t hear a lot coming out of Tres Rios Presbytery, because historically, this is an area that does not experience many of the types of environmental disasters we are used to across other parts of our synod.

I even looked back through the history of Tres Rios Presbytery and found that there was one flooding event in 2009 and a wildfire in 2011 that were significant enough for the presbytery to receive financial grants from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to support its response to those events.

But I want people to know about Tres Rios Presbytery, that even though they are not often impacted by tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and fires themselves, the presbytery already has a culture of generosity when it comes to responding to disaster needs across other parts of our synod and beyond. In my time working with them, there has never been any hesitancy from the presbytery to send their funds and prayers wherever they are needed, and from their recent response to Hurricane Helene, I know this generosity remains strong.

Part of my work with this presbytery over the past year has been to contextualize what disaster preparedness looks like for their communities and congregations. This year, two congregations stepped forward to pilot an initiative focused on enhancing Church Safety & Crisis Response. So, on today’s episode, you are going to hear from Connie Chapman of Grace Presbyterian Church in El Paso, Texas, and Jeanie Holbrook of FPC Odessa, Texas, about how their congregations are willing to assess their capacity to respond to medical and critical incidents that churches are more likely to encounter than natural disasters. You’re going to hear how their collective efforts have made an impact not only within their church but also in developing important relationships with emergency responders right in their own neighborhoods.