The Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley is an administrative district of the
Presbyterian Church (USA) which comprises some 64 churches (2022) in central
Alabama.[1] The Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley is one of three presbyteries located 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 as a merger of several presbyteries from the former
Presbyterian Church in the United States and
United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, the national bodies of which merged in 1983 to form the present PC (USA). PSL's headquarters are located at 3603 Lorna Ridge Drive in
Hoover.
The Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley is named for
William Henry Sheppard and his wife, Lucy Gantt Sheppard, and for
Samuel Lapsley, Alabama Presbyterians 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 people traveled to the DRC to work out a partnership agreement among PSL, 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 stay in contact through frequent visits.
This unique partnership was highlighted at the 217th PC(USA)
General Assembly which PSL hosted at the
Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex. Communionware created for the event was modeled after a Congolese wooden chalice given to the Presbytery; all attendees were each given a tote bag made in the Congo from traditional cloth, and a joint choir from the three presbyteries performed during worship services in Birmingham.[3]