Developing, Nurturing
& Supporting Leaders
|
Mark Your Calendar!
Synod Meeting
July 18-19
Urbana, Ill.
Synod meetings are open to anyone who wishes to attend
Global Village Interfaith Youth Camp
A New Generation of Peacemakers
July 31-August 3, 2008
Stony Point, N.Y.
Lombard Center, Here I Stand: Leading Change Through Self-Differentiation
August 19-21, 2008
Wheaton, Ill.
Presbyterian Communicators Network Regional Conference
August 25-27
Stronghold Conference Center
Association of Trained Intentional Interim Ministers Meeting
October 1-2
Starved Rock Lodge
Utica, Ill.
Synod Meeting
October 17
Urbana, Ill.
Synod meetings are open to anyone who wishes to attend
Commissioned Lay Pastors Conference
October 22-24
Montreat, N.C.
Apply for a SOLT scholarship
MALT Interim Executive Training
October 31 - Nov. 3
St. Louis
Check our website or contact the synod office for details!
|
|
|
|
Synod Meets July 18-19Synod commissioners and others will gather this Friday and Saturday for their regular quarterly meeting in Urbana, Ill. In addition to conducting the business of the synod, activities will include meetings of the synod standing committees, worship and study. Attendees should download documents from the Meeting Papers page on the synod website; copies will not be available at the meeting. Synod meetings are open to anyone who wishes to attend; contact the synod office for more information. |
 |
 A Word from the Co-Exec
Synod Co-Execs Serve in Whitewater Valley
The Synod of Lincoln Trails has once again decided to try a new thing. Carol and I have agreed to serve as interim interim co-presbytery executives of Whitewater Valley Presbytery for the next six months. While synod staff has assisted each of our presbyteries in many different ways over the years because it is one way we put life into our connectional tissue, I am fairly certain we have never tried anything like this before.
One of the priorities listed in our narrative budget is Synod Collegium. This strange term is what we call the fellowship of all the executive staff in the synod. It is also where the combined staff share the work Christ has called us to do regionally. Sometimes that means literally sharing the staff responsibilities of our colleagues. It definitely means different activities at different times. For now it seems we are called to walk with Whitewater Valley for a short time. Carol and I know the staff, many of the leaders and what needs to be done before a permanent Executive Presbyter arrives. Because their office is located in Indianapolis we are able to be physically present.
This is a great example of your synod mission dollars at work. Whitewater Valley will not pay us any additional dollars for our services because our salaries come from the synod budget. Whitewater Valley mission dollars will now go farther and they will also be ready for new leadership next year.
Dave Crittenden
Synod Co-Executive
|
 McCormick Seminary
Honors Synod Stated Clerk
S. Kim Leech recently received McCormick's Jenkins Constitutional Services Award. He is pictured on the seminary's website with Clifton Kirkpatrick (right), former PC(USA) General Assembly stated clerk, who was also honored. Leech is also stated clerk for Whitewater Valley Presbytery.
|
PC(USA) General Assembly Moderator, Stated Clerk, Executive Director Write to Congregations
Bold and Unabashed Hope
In a letter dated July 15, Moderator Reyes-Chow, Stated Clerk Parsons and Executive Director Valentine write:
We hope that you will share with us a bold and unabashed hope, firmly grounded in the solid foundation of our faith, that is daily confirmed for us in seeing how God is at work in and through our PC(USA).
Every day, we hear story after story of new churches and fellowships, of immigrant and multicultural ministries, of large churches joining with smaller ones to support and encourage each other.
Everywhere there is a new and growing hunger to hear and to tell the Good News. The commitment to "Grow Christ's Church Deep and Wide" - overwhelmingly approved by the assembly - grew out of that very hunger to say "no" to a climate of decline and say "yes" to declaring a church wide commitment to participate in God's activity in transforming the PC(USA).
Read the entire letter...
|
Scholarship Assistance for CLP Conference
If you are interested in networking and learning with other commissioned lay pastors, then the Montreat CLP Conference is for you. The synod's Standing Committee on Leadership Development is offering scholarships for this October 22-24, 2008, conference. In order to receive a $30 discount offered by Montreat Conference Center, please apply by August 27, 2008.
Download a scholarship application
Learn more about the conference
|
20-Foot Cross AvailableFirst Presbyterian Church of Freeport (Ill.) has a large Celtic cross to give away. There is lighting on the interior of the cross which illuminates the wall behind it. The cross has been mounted on the outside of the church's former Christian Ed building. The cross is free for the asking, to be picked up in Freeport. Contact Interim Pastor Dick Harmison for more details.
|
Interim Executive Training
Oct. 31 through Nov. 3, St. Louis
The Synod of Lincoln Trails and the Synod of Mid-America will offer interim executive training again this fall. Training sessions will include 20 hours of instruction.
Visit the synod's Interim Executive Training web page for more information.
|
|
|
|
 What's Up With Your Ministry?We'd love to share the news! Contact Marta at the synod with updates from your presbytery, congregation, camp, or other organization.
We'll spread the word! |
|
|
