The following article will appear in an issue of  "Presbyterians Today" magazine next year.  Congratulations to the congregation and preschool of Tawas Area Presbyterian Church!

For years the Tawas Area Presbyterian Church (a 19 year old congregation near the shores of Lake Huron) wanted to have an active program for youth. The largely retired congregation of 161 members provided Christian learning experiences for youth through Sunday School and by pairing up with local churches and First Presbyterian Church in Bay City, and by sending youth to church camps and the youth Triennium.

Because of local need last year, the church went through the long process of becoming licensed by the state of Michigan as a Pre-School / Day-Care. Now there are 25 preschoolers Monday through Friday morning in a Faith based program directed by Trisha Evans. Our program mission statement, logo, monthly newsletter, details and calendar are now on our church website: http://www.tawaspresby.org/preschool.htm

In addition, there is a Day Care program at 11:30 am each day, followed by a latch-key program complete with tutors. "We are now on the public schools' bus route, and our church is providing ministry to over 50 children daily from 7:00 am to 5:45 p.m." says Pastor Rick Vogeley. The program is operating at full capacity.

Social networking sites Facebook and Twitter are revolutionizing the way people connect with each other and churches are beginning to use them not only for communication within the congregation, but also for evangelism and outreach to those outside of the church.

Frank Ciapperino, pastor of an independent community church in Minnesota, posted "10 Reasons Why Your Church Should Be On Facebook ".  Ciapperino points out that people are already using Facebook and are more likely to read communications from the church on their Facebook account than they are to read snail mail or email. He also observes that a church website is a one way conversation, but on a church's Facebook page the reader can see "regular people, just like them, posting thoughts, sharing photos, and interacting with one another." Facebook also makes it easier for church members to invite others to join them at church and makes the "unfamiliar seem more familiar, thus helping people muster up the courage to visit on a Sunday." Being on Facebook helps the church celebrate success and rally the troops using a free and fun social networking tool.

-Jody Harrington, a Presbyterian elder who blogs at Quotidian Grace

 

Get up to speed for tax season. Join us for our free education Webinar designed to help ministers and churches understand what's new for 2010 reporting and filing.

Featured speakers will be guest clergy and church tax expert Richard R. Hammar and Board of Pensions education specialist Steven Fleming. They will review these and other topics:

• recent tax law changes that will affect ministers and churches
• expenses that are and aren't deductible
• 10 steps to remember for year-end preparations
• common clergy housing allowance issues

The Reverend Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), today announced the availability of the report, "Living Through Economic Crisis: The Church's Witness in Troubled Times"

This social involvement report, written by the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP), was approved by the 219th General Assembly (2010). The assembly also directed the Stated Clerk to make the report available to all PC(USA) congregations.

Along with this report, the assembly authorized ACSWP, a standing committee of the General Assembly, to develop a study with recommendations on "the long term implications of our current economic trends and practices, including their impact on the church itself."

The Advocacy Committee on Racial Ethnic Concerns and the Advocacy Committee on Women's Concerns will be consulted in the formation of this study.