We have been informed of the passing of a former Minister member of Lake Huron Presbytery on December 31.  The Rev. Al Juterbock served Rosebush Presbyterian Church from 1992 to 1995.  He was pastor when their church burned down and during the short time that he served Rosebush their membership increased by 20%.  He is survived by his wife of 65 year, Dorothy.  For Dorothy's contact information please call the presbytery office.  A May or June memorial service is being planned.

Help!  Our Organist/Choir Director needed more time for her family.  Now we need a new Organist/Choir director!

We are looking for an organized team player who is also the best organist out there, a phenomenal choir director, will bring a creative approach to enliven our worship services, and of course will work for less than they put in the offering plate.

Now that we have your interest: We do have an organ and piano. We have a bell choir, and a vocal choir, along with some talented musicians. We need someone to lead us in music for worship.

Interested? Call Grand Blanc-Kirkridge at 810-694-3321

The Rev. Stacey Steck, Associate for Congregational Development for the Costa Rican Presbyterian Church (IEPC) will be the special guest at a Potluck dinner at the Flushing Presbyterian Church (5010 North McKinley, Flushing) on Tuesday evening, January 25 beginning at 6 p.m.  Folks from across the Presbytery of Lake Huron are invited to this great opportunity to hear news of current happenings in our IEPC partners  in Costa Rica and the hunger ministry supported through our Presbytery's "Two-Coins a Meal" funding. 

We hope you and others in your congregation will be able to join us. Reservations are not required.  We ask that you plan to bring a dish to pass and your own table service.  If you have questions, I can be reached via e-mail at jsmcdowell@charter.net or by phone at 989-839-6926.

Looking forward to seeing you in Flushing on January 25.
 

February 15-17

St. Francis Retreat Center

DeWitt, MI

Conference for Clergy and CLP in new calls or Interims.  If that describes you then you are strongly encouraged to attend this event that is being held at the St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt, MI.  Click here for a brochure.
 

Staci Percy either via e-mail at spercy@presbylh.org or at the Presbytery Office at 800-621-6905 x2 or 989-799-7481 x2.
 

• The deadline for submitting all information is February 23rd.
• Reports only need approval by the session and not the congregation
• As the deadline for entering statistics online gets closer, the system starts really slowing down.  Enter early and make corrections if needed later on.  If you are entering information close to the deadline, log on early in the morning before the rest of the country starts to wake up and get online.

Links to the online reporting site and the form that need to be filled out and returned to the presbytery can be found on the Annual Statistics page of our website.  We are here to help you so should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact either Staci Percy or Ted McCulloch at 800-621-6905 or 989-799-7481.
 

March 11-13
The Alma Youth Mix is a Senior High youth event sponsored by Alma College, Lake Michigan Presbytery, and Lake Huron Presbytery. It is held on the Alma College campus in central Michigan.

The Alma Youth Mix is held annually to provide a Spiritual event for youth and to provide a fun time to meet Senior High youth from other Churches in the Area. We provide a Keynoter, Small Group activities, Music, Free time, Dance and plenty of excellent food.

The event begins on Friday at 8:00 and ends Sunday at 12:30. We sleep on the floors of the gym and the weight rooms and eat at the Hamilton Commons Cafeteria. There is time for fellowship, spiritual growth, playing and relaxing.

We are very excited to announce that Marianne Grano a Youth Director from Rochester Hills will be the Keynoter for the 2011 Alma Youth Mix.   We look forward to this years program.

The Praise Band 'NEXT EXIT" will be providing music this year.

Come join your fellow Senior High Youth at Alma College for a weekend of Christian Fellowship, Music, Great Food, Spiritual Keynotes & Small Group discussions.

For more information, please visit their website www.almayouthmix.com or contact John Zipp at jazipp@cablespeed.com.
 

Each Thursday, Saginaw Warren Avenue has the privilege of hosting a wonderful group at their church, Women of Colors.

Women of Colors, Inc. (WOC) is an independent nonprofit organization that has been an active community partner since its inception in 1993.

WOC takes pride in our womenhood individually and collectively.  We care about the development and growth of our community.  We work together to improve youth, women and families.  WOC is funded through grants, fundraising, membership dues and donations.

Our mission strives to promote multi-cultural diversity and enhance community relations in Saginaw County by performing community service, mentoring youth, and collaborating with other organizations.
 

Empowering Members:

 

WOC provides an opportunity to build new friendships and to personally empower members who are encouraged to share ideas. We promote sisterhood, identify and enhance gifts, talents and skills of members.  

WOC collaborates with schools, churches, agencies, and other organizations to provide a variety of resources to help  youth, women, and families in need.
 

Please visit their website for more information.

February 6th will be a day when the Croswell Presbyterians experience almost everything a congregation can experience.  The congregation will celebrate the sacrament of communion.  We will receive new members: 6 adults/5 family groups; and 6 Youth/Communicants.  Included in these new members will be one family in which the husband joins by reaffirmation, the wife joins by confession of faith and adult baptism, the teen-aged daughter joins by confession of faith and baptism, and the preschool son is baptized.  Then following worship, the congregation will convene in its Annual Meeting, during which 4 deacons and 3 elders will be elected.  Following their election and at the close of the Annual Meeting, two deacons and 2 elders will be ordained to office, and all installed to office to serve the church.  Then, exhausted but celebrating, the congregation will retire to the scheduled fellowship time.

Continuing the air of celebration and special worship services, the congregation will host the Boy Scout troop which has met in the church for over 70 years, for Boy Scout Sunday on February 13th.  During the service the scouts will lead a significant portion of morning worship.  And the congregation will host the scouts and their families during fellowship time following worship.

Here are just a few ways that the Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study can energize your congregation: 

• Encourage members and church leaders to use the Mission Yearbook as a daily devotional
• Pray with the Mission Yearbook to begin church meetings and classes
• Leave copies in every pew so members can learn about mission as they prepare for worship
• Give Mission Yearbooks as gifts to new members so they can see how mission dollars make a difference
• Periodically invite a church member to give a minute for mission in worship, based on the Lord's Day minute for mission in the yearbook.
• Encourage members to prepare for mission trips by reading about their destination in the Mission Yearbook.

For more than 119 years, the Mission Yearbook has led our denomination in prayer and study for mission. Discover how this wonderful resource can draw your members into the heart of Presbyterian mission and ministry!

Sign up today to receive these daily readings in your inbox.

This New Year, give the ministers in your presbytery the gift of great congregational resources by pointing them to the new Congregational Resource Guide (CRG). We are a project of the Alban Institute and funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc., as a free gift to America's Congregations. We serve pastors as well as lay congregational leaders by identifying and pointing them toward the very best resources in the areas of pastoral care, education, worship, leadership, management, outreach, evangelism, among others.

CRG has a long relationship with the Presbyterian Church, and I'd like to share with you what one Presbyterian leader has to say about what we offer. Deborah Bruce, Associate Research Manager of the General Assembly Mission Council, has writing that the CRG provides: "Practical resources, up-to-date features, and a wealth of useful tools and engaging commentary-all in one place.  The CRG does the heavy lifting for congregational leaders, sifting through the great quantity of materials to find and highlight those that will be most helpful to congregations." 

I invite you to become familiar with the CRG, to sign-up for our weekly newsletter (we update the site daily with new information-the newsletter ensures you're always kept abreast of these changes), and to share with the congregations in your charge this rich resource.

Below are examples of what you will find in the new CRG site:

• In-depth resourcing pieces that deliver a range of materials to aide you in your work. Each piece provides a wide range of perspectives and types, allowing you to decide what materials are best suited to your congregation and needs. From brief articles and podcasts, to online materials and video clips, and the high-quality books the CRG has long been known for locating, we aim to make it as easy as possible to find the right resource fit for you.
• A robust search feature that will quickly identify the resource materials you desire by name, type, title, or keyword.
• Classic CRG features produced in easy-to-use PDF format.
• Resource pages that provide not only the useful descriptions of the materials you've come to expect, but a range of related materials that make it easier for you to expand your search for the resources you need.
• An advisory board of six individuals-all working ministers or former ministers-who work regularly with CRG to identify the best new materials available and topics that are of pressing interest to ministers and lay leaders.
• A blog, Creative Resourcing, has been added to our site, allowing you to engage CRG staff and our advisory board about the most important issues facing congregations.
• Real-time Twitter feeds allow you to keep track of the stray resource gems that we post on Twitter ahead of producing fuller treatment on the CRG site.

We've done our best to make the new site user-friendly and easy to navigate. But we're always looking to improve. We welcome your suggestions and ideas.

So welcome to the new CRG-we look forward to working closer with you.