SLPN Annual Gathering 2026

Registration Now Open!

September 16-18, 2026

Union Presbyterian Seminary

5141 Sharon Rd, Charlotte, NC 28210

Our meeting will start on September 16 at 3:00 pm Eastern Time and end Thursday, September 18 at noon.

Some sessions to be live-streamed via Zoom

This page contains information about paying your registration, Travel & Hotel, and the Annual Gathering Registration Form.

PLEASE FILL OUT THE REGISTRATION FORM BELOW

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Our Theme:  Mutually encouraged by one another’s faith 

  • Worship, prayer, and conversations with pastors and other partners in Lebanon and Syria

  • In-person engagement with Dr. Accad, President and Professor at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut

  • Learning more about, and praying about, the current crises and changes in Lebanon and Syria

  • Continuing our Advocacy work in consultation with the Carter Center’s Conflict Resolution Team

  • Strengthening our Network across the US, as our work evolves with changes in the mission structure of the PC(USA)

Special Guest

We are delighted to welcome in person, Dr. Martin Accad, the President and Professor at the Near East School of Theology (NEST) in Beirut, Lebanon. NEST offers several degree programs to educate church leaders in the Middle East. Dr. Accad will bring so much to our gathering. We will learn from him about the current situation in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East, as well as about NEST's vital role in education and in outreach to the local community, especially in this time of crisis for Lebanon. NEST faculty and students are serving a group of displaced Lebanese with meals and with games for the children, through their 'Neighbor to Neighbor' ministry. We welcome Dr. Accad and look forward to vital conversations with him at the Annual Gathering.

Below:  NEST faculty and students reaching out to the displaced in their Neighbor to Neighbor ministry.

REGISTRATION FEE

$90 per in-person participant (which covers dinner on Tuesday, lunch and dinner Wednesday; coffee, tea, snacks; and participant’s printed materials)

$25 per Zoom participant. (Sessions marked with an asterisk (*) will be live-streamed on Zoom.)

All participants are responsible for making their own travel and hotel reservations and covering the cost of travel and lodging. 

All payments must be received by September 9, 2026.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

Please note that registration payments are not tax-deductible.

Online: You can pay online at the Des Moines Presbytery website, using a credit or debit card or PayPal. Click here to be directed to the online payments page.  In the “Note” box, type “SLPN Annual Gathering” to alert the Presbytery’s accountant that the payment is for SLPN.

By Check: Make your check out to Des Moines Presbytery with “SLPN Annual Gathering” in the memo line, to help the Presbytery’s accountant know the payment is for SLPN. Mail the check to:  Susan Schroeder,  SLPN Secretary, 65 W 26th Avenue, Eugene OR 97405

***PLEASE FILL OUT THE REGISTRATION FORM BELOW***

Travel INFORMATION

By plane: There are direct flights from most major airports to Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT). 

You may Uber from the airport to the Seminary or hotel for approximately $30 one way.  On the registration form below, you may request a ride from the airport, and SLPN will do their best to accommodate you. 

By car:   There is free parking at the hotel and at Union Presbyterian Seminary.

Limited subsidies for travel: Due to increased travel costs, a limited number of subsidies for airfare and gasoline are available upon request.  These subsidies will only be available until the designated funds are depleted, so you are encouraged to register and reserve your flight early.  

  • For airfare, until the funds run out, SLPN is offering to subsidize 25% of the airfare, up to $125 per ticket.                        

  • For those traveling long distances by car, SLPN is offering to subsidize 25% of gasoline cost, up to $50. 

  • We expect the designated funds to be depleted early, so we apologize if a subsidy is not available for your transportation.   (You may be able to ask your congregation or Presbytery to offer a subsidy/scholarship for part of the cost of your travel.)   If you wish to receive a subsidy, please email your airfare receipt to Edgar McCall at mccalledgar1@gmail.com after you complete the registration form below.

HOTEL

Participants may stay at a hotel within walking distance to the Seminary.  A block of rooms has been reserved.  Two hotels occupy the same building at 4808 Sharon Rd, Charlotte, NC 28210: 

A full breakfast and free parking are included in the room price. There is a fitness center, spacious lobby, onsite restaurant, and other amenities. 

If you need to cancel, cancel before September 14. 

REGISTRATION FORM

registration is a 2-part process:

1) FILL out and submit the form below and

2) pay your registration fee; see the “payment options” section above

The Annual Gathering schedule is listed below the Registration Form

Annual Gathering 2026 Schedule

September 16-18 | Union Presbyterian Seminary, Charlotte, NC

Our purpose: Mutually Encouraged by One Another’s Faith 

Items with an *asterisk* will be live-streamed via Zoom for our online participants. Times listed are U.S Eastern time.

September 16 - Wednesday                   

1:30-3:00pm – Registration at Union Presbyterian Seminary

*3:00-4:30pm – Welcome, Introductions, and Opening Worship

4:30-4:45pm – Break

*4:45-6:00pm – Dr. Martin Accad, President of Near East School of Theology, Beirut, presentation and discussion: “The Near East School of Theology: How a Small Urban Seminary at the Heart of Beirut Pursues Its Calling to be Salt and Light for God’s Vision of Peace for His Children Everywhere”

6:00pm – Catered Middle Eastern dinner at the seminary

*7:15-8:00pm – Bible Reflection and Prayer: The Upside-Down Nature of God’s Activity, I Corinthians, chapter 1:25-31

September 17 - Thursday  

Breakfast at the hotel

*9:00-11:30am – Zoom Conversations with Partners in Lebanon and Syria

  • Rev. Joseph Kassab, General Secretary of National Evangelical Synod of Syria-Lebanon (9:00-9:45am)

  • Rev. Mathilde Sabbagh, Pastor of Al-Hassakeh Church, Syria (10:00-10:40am)

  • Rev. Rabih Taleb, Pastor of Sidon Church, Lebanon (11:00-11:40am)

12:00pm – Lunch together at local restaurant

*1:30-2:30pm – Zoom Conversation Focused on Advocacy with the Carter Center Conflict Resolution Team

  • Dr. Rana Shaab and Nancy Azar

 2:30-2:45pm – Break

 *3:00-4:15pm – Dr. Martin Accad, presentation and discussion: “Politics and Economics: Lebanon at the Crossroad of Regional and Global Politics and Economics”

 4:15-4:30pm – Break

 *4:30-5:45pm – Dr. Martin Accad, presentation and discussion: “History of Eschatology: The Middle East Region as the Meeting Point of Eschatological Doomsday Scenarios in Zionist Jewish, Zionist Evangelical, and Shiite Muslim Visions of History”

6:00pm – Dinner together at local restaurant followed by informal fellowship at hotel to strengthen our connections with one another as we work together in partnership

September 18 - Friday

Breakfast at Hotel

*9:00-9:30am – Annual business meeting including adoption of 2027 budget and election of officers for SLPN

 9:30-9:45am – Break

 *9:45-10:45am – “Mission Partners in Dialogue” Discussion with Presbyterian Pastors in Lebanon and Syria

 0:45-11:00am – Break

 *11:00-11:45am – Closing Worship with Dedication of Pledges and Holy Communion

The Syria Lebanon Partnership Network (SLPN) brings together Presbyterians from around the United States to facilitate partnerships with the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon and church-related ministries in Syria and Lebanon. SLPN is a 501c3 nonprofit organization under the PC(USA).