• Be Jewish or Presbyterian students from Bay, Saginaw or Midland County, MI
• Show financial need
• Plan to enroll in full-time undergraduate study at Delta Community College or Saginaw Valley State University for the entire 2012-2013 academic year

Application deadline is April 15th.

For more information, please click here or call 507-931-1682 or e-mail shintz@scholarshipamerica.org.

This article appeared in the Winter 2012 Insurance Board newsletter and is used with permission. The Insurance Board is the insurance carrier for the presbytery. 

Texting, tweeting, YouTube, Facebook and the internet are the "new norm" for families who are active, mobile, and often worlds apart. For many churches, the use of the internet and social media is becoming the norm to inform congregants and capture prospective members.

While the dangers of social media are well-known with respect to predators and financial scams, less heard about are the risks around "intellectual property" to include music, art, and literature.  While there is a "religious service exemption" for copyrighted materials, the use of the material outside the sanctuary is not covered, in particular, transferring material to web pages.  Here is what happened.

A lady wrote a poem.  It became a hit, especially in funerals and memorial services. She created an internet business around the poem and added related writings and products.  It is quite alright to quote the poem as part of a religious service. However, some churches published the poem on their websites. After the Insurance Board received two claims from the author regarding said poem, an investigation has determined that she employs staff to find and enforce copyright violations, and demand compensation. She is entitled to enforce her copyright.

Recently a pastor asked about putting sermons on YouTube. She explained that her sermons commonly contain quotations of others' copyrighted materials and musical performances. While we support the use of social media to further the interests of the church and its ministries, we have advised her to purge them of copyrighted material in the authorship phase if she wishes to post them online.

If sermons are to have a life past the sanctuary they must be e-Ready! e-Safe! e-Legal!

The Insurance Board frequently has free webinars regarding topics such as copyright compliance, use of social media, and preventing child and sexual abuse. Because the presbytery is covered by them, all their materials are also available to our congregations.  Click here to go to a listing of upcoming and recent webinars (Select Webinar Information on the right side of the page). To view a webinar that has already aired, click on Public Sessions (if it does not already direct you there), Click on the Join tab them click on the Open button of the one you would like to view. Please note there are 2 pages of listings and most of the ones regarding the above mentioned topics are on the second page.

Alma College proudly presents "Resonance: A Celebration of the Performing Arts" at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 4, 2012 at the historic Detroit Opera House in downtown Detroit. The Alma College Choir, Percussion Ensemble, Pipe Band and Highland Dancers join guest high school performers from the Detroit area for an exhilarating performance in one of Detroit's most elegant venues. Join us for an exciting concert that will resonate with our alumni, friends and future students.

Tickets are now available online at www.alma.edu/resonance as well as the Detroit Opera House Box Office, and Ticketmaster outlets. Complimentary tickets are available to high school students and may be obtained at www.alma.edu/resonance. For questions or additional information, please contact the Alma College Alumni Office by calling 989-463-7245 or emailing alumnihouse@alma.edu.

Please share information about this concert with your congregation. A bulletin insert is attached; please consider distributing it in your worship bulletin.

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, Freetime, 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 weightrooms and eat at the Hamilton Commons Cafeteria. There is time for fellowship, spiritual growth, playing and relaxing.