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.
 

Among the new items in the Resource Center are the following:

From Advent's Alleluia to Easter's Morning Light, a new book of poems by Ann Weems; The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christiainty Can Reach the West Again by George Hunter;  99 Ways to Raise Spiritually Healthy Children by Kathleen Bostrom;  Living the Questions DVD about covenant that features Walter Brueggemann; DVD studies on the book of Revelation and the Apostle Paul

For details and complete descriptions, please visit the Resource Center page on our website.  It is under the Resources tab.
 

The PC(USA) has the complete Book of Order available free on their website.  Click here to go directly to the online version.  You may also find the link to this on our website in several places, including: the Resources page and the Committee on Ministry page.
 

 Alica and CJ Merriman, members of Lapeer-First, are going to South Africa in April and are hoping to collect items for Velakukhanya Primary
School which is located in the Zululand
area of KwaZulu-Natal province of South
Africa.

"While there in 2007 we saw the really terrible conditions that so many black people endure. We saw from a distance the townships and a few of the schools. From what we observed it is our impression that if you are white, life in S.A. is very good. If you are black it is likely that you are in poverty. When we decided that we would return to the country we began exploring ways we might help. Safari Club International has a humanitarian effort called the Blue Bag project. Through this project people are encouraged to take extra luggage (blue bags) with humanitarian supplies for local people, primarily children. We will be participating in this project when we travel this spring."

They are looking for basic items like: pencils, pens, crayons, rulers, toothbrushes, etc.  They are also accepting monetary donations.

For detailed information on the mission and how you can help, please click here.

CJ and Alice can be contacted at 810-441-0444 or e-mail at
africaproject2011@gmail.com.

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

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.
 

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.
 

Curious about the radical Jesus?

Weary of talk?
 

Join us April 7-9

This is not a normal conference, but a working meeting for peacemakers from across the church to plan together for effective advocacy and action.

Experts will be on hand as we focus on the following topics to learn more and strategize together for more creative and effective peacemaking.

Along with workshops to deepen our understanding, we employ "Open Space Technology" to allow space for creative planning and generative work.

• Gun Violence Prevention
• Colombia Accompaniment
• Israel-Palestine
• Becoming a "Peace Church"

Come to find new insight, new energy, and new friends as we do the hard work of peacemaking together.

April 7-9, 2011, Cost: $230* 

Stony Point Center, Stony Point, NY

* Scholarships may be available

Click here to register
 

As a Baby Boomer who long ago wearied of being lumped, categorized, treated as a laboratory experiment, and marketed to endlessly, I am not too big on "generation" talk.

Trying to define any generation - from the so-called "Greatest Generation" to "Boomers," "Gen X," "Gen Y" and whatever today's children will be called strikes me as largely pointless.

It's obvious that each generation has some common elements, mainly age and certain macro-level events (wars, storms, celebrity doings) which attended their years of formation. Beyond that, any body of millions is too complex and diverse to submit to bullet points.

Here, for example, is a wine maker's take on how to market Gen Y (folks in their 20s):

• Listen and don't talk. That's the biggest problem for everybody, especially with this demographic.


• Understand that they inherently want to explore as many things as possible. Way too many people think that this generation is simple. Their DNA has shown me that they are far more exploratory than any other generation.


• You've got to be able to tell your story quickly and the story has got to be relevant. Way too many people in the wine business want to come out and talk about how many barrels they use or what the terroir is. The millennial generation would much rather know about the name of the dog that runs around in the vineyard. That's much more personal.


• People want to put the millennials in a square peg. Don't fight the market. I think (marketers) are really struggling with that. They don't like the transparency. They don't like that there are so many places you have to talk to them. They don't like the fact that they can't control the message. They don't like it, but you know what, it's the way it is.

(Source: http://blogs.reuters.com/small-business/2011/01/19/4-tips-for-marketing-to-millennials/)

I read a list like this, and I see Boomers I know, too, and 30-somethings. Cultural shifts are affecting many people, not just occupants of a certain age niche. In fact, one reason to focus energy on Young Adults Ministry is that it will make the congregation more effective with all age groups.

We all face the same shifts in culture, technology, politics and economics.

I began stressing "listening church," for example, almost a decade ago, because I sensed that many church folks were tired of being talked at and not known, and not hearing their questions being answered.

Diversity in exploration is happening everywhere I look. That's one reason I suggest congregations get beyond Sunday morning. Doing just the one thing won't respond to any generation.

Time is an issue for everyone. People have lost patience with institutions that don't honor the stresses and constraints in which people are living.

I don't doubt that the wine maker's analysis is correct. He has accurately described the Gen Y folks I know. But he also has described middle-agers and older folks, too.

It could be that Gen Y folks won't just resolve our graying problem. They'll also help us understand better the world in which we all live.

Sign up for the Morning Walk Media Blog and other great e-mails from Tom Ehrich by clicking here.
 

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.