Keeping in Touch

SYNOD MEETING SET OCT. 3-5: The next stated meeting of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies runs Sunday through Tuesday, Oct. 3-5, at the Mount Olivet Conference & Retreat Center, Farmington, Minn. The agenda notes that Mark Sundby, executive director of the North Central Ministry Development Center, New Brighton, Minn., will lead an educational session on pastor health issues Oct. 4. Sundby is a licensed psychologist and an ordained pastor in the Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church. He holds a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Minnesota. Also at the meeting, the presbyteries of Central Nebraska, Des Moines and Minnesota Valleys are on the schedule for "Presbytery Show and Tell."

RETIREMENT OPEN HOUSE PLANNED FOR SHARON JOHNSON: A retirement open house is planned Sunday, Nov. 14, for the Rev. Sharon Johnson, right, who is retiring at the end of the year from her call as executive presbyter in the Presbytery of Northern Waters. Johnson, who announced her retirement in August, has served the presbytery for the past 18 years. When she announced her retirement, she wrote that her call there was the "highlight of my 30 years of ordained ministry." The open house takes place at the Spirit Mountain, 9500 Spirit Mountain Place, Duluth, Minn.

ORDINATION ACCEPTED OF SUDANESE WOMAN PASTOR IN MINNESOTA VALLEYS: Writing in the Sept. 21 edition of The Valley Bridge, the newsletter of the Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys, Karen Lange stated, "You know you're in for a unique presbytery meeting when it begins with a procession with bagpipes." The story reported the presbytery examined and then transferred the ordination of the Rev. Elizabeth Tot, left, a Sudanese woman, to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with "standing, clapping and tears." Lange wrote, "She was the first woman ordained in Southern Sudan and now is the first ordained Sudanese woman in our presbytery, in our synod and perhaps PC(USA)." The presbytery met Sept. 18 at First Presbyterian Church in St. Cloud, Minn. In other parts of Lange's story, she provides information about the St. Cloud church's history, its work with the African Women's Alliance for its textile training cooperative that will provide occupational training to refugee and immigrant women, and the music of the Sudanese Fellowship, which she noted, "sang with heart and soul and their whole being." The complete story can be found at "Minnesota Valleys."

KEELY SPEAKS OF 'ROOT CONNECTION' AT ARMSS EVENT IN TWIN CITIES: For the Rev. Barbara Anne Keely, left, the Christian's journey can be described through an analogy with trees - trees she grew up around in the northwest and others she watched in winter at Montreat Conference Center in North Carolina. Keely, associate professor of Christian education and congregational spirituality at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in New Brighton, Minn., delivered keynote addresses Sept. 10 and 11 at the 2010 convention of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Association of Retired Ministers, Their Spouses or Survivors in Bloomington, Minn. Beginning with the root system and moving outward and upward, Keely used trees as a metaphor for Christian life. The complete Presbyterian News Service story can be found at "Root Connection."

KWANZAA COMMUNITY CHURCH GROWS ON 'BEQUEATH AND LEGACY:' The Rev. Alika Galloway, upper right, always has the words "bequeath" and "legacy" on her mind. The two words recall the beginning of Kwanzaa Community Church, the church she serves with her husband, the Rev. Ralph Galloway, in Minneapolis. Kwanzaa Community Church, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregation, is in the church building that once housed the now-dissolved Highland Park Presbyterian congregation. It's a story of bequeath and legacy - a bequeath that allowed one congregation to grow out of another and a legacy of community service. It's also the story Alika Galloway and Elder John Ivers, lower right, shared in Bloomington, Minn., earlier this month in the workshop, "The Revitalization of an Older Congregation: The Kwanzaa Story," at the 2010 convention of the Association of Retired Ministers, their Survivors or Spouses (ARMSS). The complete story can be found at "Kwanzaa Community Church."

FEMA'S SITUATION REPORT NOTES FLOODING IN MINNESOTA, WISCONSIN: Don Hampton, an Iowa response team member of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, provided a copy of the Friday, Sept. 24, National Situation Update of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which referenced the Sept. 23 rain storms that caused serious flooding in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The report noted, "A line of severe thunderstorms passed through Wisconsin and Minnesota, producing between 3-8 inches of rain, causing localized flooding." The complete report can be found at "FEMA Report."

FELTMAN OFFERS THOUGHTS ON CHURCH BUDGETS, MISSION: Writing in the Sept. 16 issue of the newsletter of the Presbytery of North Central Iowa, the Rev. David Feltman, general presbyter, wrote: "Several years ago, I moderated the December session meeting for a small church without a pastor. They felt some urgency in December to create a budget for the New Year; this is the epitome of planning. ... Finally, when everyone is tired and grumpy, there is the mission line(s) of the budget. There are the comments and questions - 'Where does that money go anyway?' 'We need that money locally; there is mission work in this community.' 'Let's do what we did last year, after the bills are paid here.'" Feltman's complete column can be found at "A Missional Question" (page 2 at the link).

IOWA CHURCH PARTNERS WITH BOYS, GIRLS CLUBS: The story in the Sept. 14 issue of Out & About, the newsletter of the Presbytery of East Iowa opened this way: "The last bell of the day has rung at school and children are walking to their homes in the neighborhoods surrounding First Presbyterian Church in Davenport, Iowa. Many of these kids have few positive activities to participate in before dinner. That is if dinner will be served at all. That's why the partnership between the congregation and the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Valley is crucial." The complete story can be found at "Partnership."

SUDANESE PASTOR SCHEDULED TO SPEAK IN FOND DU LAC: The Rev. John Tubuwa, a Sudanese Presbyterian minister and a coordinator for Serving and Learning Together, which works for peace among the Sudanese people, will make several speaking appearances in Fond du Lac, Wis., beginning next week. Tubuwa, who grew up in Southern Sudan, became one of the "lost boys" of Sudan when he was recruited as a child soldier into the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army in the 1980s. His message is titled "Peace and Justice is What We Need." Tubuwa speaks Friday, Oct. 1, at noon at the University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac; Saturday, Oct. 2, at noon at First Church, 1225 Fourth St., Fond du Lac, in an appearance sponsored by Just Fare Market; and Sunday, Oct. 3, in both 8 and 10:30 a.m. worship services at First Church. Questions about his presentations can be addressed to the church at 920.922.0425 or Mike Petersen at 920.922.7576.

TWO LAKES AND PRAIRIES PASTORS WRITE IN SEPT. 5 ISSUE OF OUTLOOK: The Rev. Sam Massey, pastor of First Church, Iowa City, Iowa, and the Rev. Gordon Stewart, stated supply of Shepherd of the Hills Church in Chaska, Minn., authored stories in the Sept. 5 issue of The Presbyterian Outlook magazine. Massey wrote about same-gender marriage issues and Stewart wrote about Middle East questions. Massey's article can be found at "Purpose and Paradox" and Stewart's article is at "The Space of God's Inner Life."