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February 1, 2010
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Presbytery E-Bulletin
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Moderator's New Blog!
"Last Thursday, Jan 21, Leadership Team met at First Pres Lansing for a
retreat. We reflected on Phyllis Tickle's book the Great Emergence
before continuing discernment of our priorities shared at previous
meetings this past year.
Tickle chronicles periods of great
change our Christian church in the sixth and eleventh centuries, then
the Great Reformation (16th c.). And we're living through another
similar period of change..."
Read more of Seth Weeldreyer's new blog!
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Presbytery Meeting
Click here to download the Presbytery Packet or make a reservation.
We will have an extended lunch for additional fellowship or to attend on the following workshops:
Workshop A: Presbytery E-Communications - Jane McGookey
Workshop B: Board of Pensions General Information - Ernesto Badillo
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Cherry Valley
When a faith community closes we pray that its faithful life will take root in other forms.
We grieve and yet we live by the promise that God will open new paths
before us. The Cherry Valley new church development closed on December
31, 2009. The legacy of Cherry Valley is the rich nurturing of persons and community that was the unique ministry of the Rev. Dr. Clint Cozier and the people of Cherry Valley. We give thanks for all those ways in which pastor and people responded to the call of God to be faithful.
The
legacy of Cherry Valley will also live on in the furniture and equipment that is available to resource the vision and ministry of
other congregations. Those items are currently stored in a Grand Rapids warehouse. The items may be viewed on Saturday, February 13 and Wednesday, February 17, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day. If you wish to make an appointment to see the items on either February 13 or February 17 please contact Rich Lichti by phone 616.283.6197 or by email: rlichti@lakemichiganpresbytery.org
Click here to view the list of items available.
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Clerks Corner
No stress, folks, but there
IS a deadline coming up!
Yes, all congregations need to ensure
that they have filed their Annual Statistical Reports with the denomination
by mid-February. Give the Stated Clerk a shout if you're having
trouble so I can help you meet the deadline. The screens start
by early February to get very slow, and as of today, only 18
of 70 congregations in our presbytery have filed and less than 20% nationally.
Make sure you send a copy of the Clerk's Annual Questionnaire to me
at the presbytery office. Don't delay getting your online filing
completed.
NEW FORM FOR ANNUAL REVIEW
OF MINUTES in 2011
I heard your common complaint about having
to write multiple page numbers on the form in next-to-no-space and found
a better form, courtesy of the Presbytery of Cincinnati. It's
already online on the website AND will be in the church folder at the
presbytery meeting next week. The caveat?? If you wait to fill it out
at the end of the 2010 it will be a huge task. If you fill it out each
time the Session approves minutes this year, the form will be a cinch.
The good thing is that you will clearly see which Book of Order requirements
of a Session annually are still open items for Session agendas.
SPEAKING OF ANNUAL REVIEW............
This year brings a change in how we do
that. I am scouting four regional locations where we will have
review meetings. We do this by peer review, gathering in groups
and exchanging minutes and registers with another Clerk of Session.
Any Clerk can attend the gathering that meets his or her schedule.
I will set up the dates and locations and each Clerk of Session will
receive a letter and an RSVP to select the gathering you will attend.
We will begin these gatherings in April and hope to have the task completed
by June.
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Synod Request for Medications for Haiti
Every year Glen
Echo Presbyterian in Columbus coordinates a medical
mission trip to Fort Liberte, Haiti in the northeastern corner of the
country. This year the trip is scheduled for February 12-February 20. They are having some problems securing the
following medications in bulk: - Mebendazole (Vermox generic) for intestinal parasites
- Cipro
- Metronidazole (Flagyl generic)
- Doxycycline
- Amoxicillin pills & suspensions
- Clarithromycin
- Fluconazole (Diflucan generic)
- Chloroquin
- Antibiotic ointments
If you can help conact Rev. Lee Platt , 614.262.4866 (church), 614.286.6221 (cell) lelandw@msn.com
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2010 Ecumenical Advocacy Days Register Now
for 2010 Ecumenical Advocacy Days, A Place to Call Home: Immigrants,
Refugees, and Displaced Peoples, March 19-22, 2010, Washington, D.C.
Jesus had no place to lay his head. Neither do tens of millions of
migrants, refugees and displaced persons. Ecumenical Advocacy Days is
an action weekend that will address this reality. Join hundreds of
faith-based advocates in taking action on U.S. legislation that will
welcome immigrants, protect refugees and prevent displacement of
millions. Participants will worship, study and dialog together. There
will be special events for Presbyterians as well as times for people to
meet and plan in state groups. On Monday, participants will visit
Capitol Hill to advocate for our members of Congress to remedy these
global injustices. Learn more and register now for this important faith-in-action event.
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YOUTH AND YOUTH LEADERS
WHEN:
Sunday, June 20
- Saturday, June 26, 2010
WHERE: Gowen, MI
- North Of Grand Rapids, MI - ½
Hour
COST: $225
(all inclusive except for transportation)
INCLUDED: Complete program set-up by our staff.
Lodging in modern cabins
with a bathroom.
All
home cooked meals for the week.
Speaker, small group
and praise and worship daily.
Four days of serving,
the 5th day at a water/ride theme park.
FREE
TIME: Swim, fish, boat,
hike, sports, campfires & more.
CAMP
GREENWOOD
"Where
Christ is Spoken"
13564 MacClain Road
Gowen, MI 49326
Greg
Hoekman, Camp Director - Cell - 231-224-3059
www.campgreenwood.org OR office@campgreenwood.org
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Stewardship Conference
Funding Mission Today and Tomorrow
March 15 - 17, 2010, Indianapolis, Indiana Hilton Indianapolis Downtown
Are you looking for more ways to share the theological and spiritual meaning of stewardship? Are you looking for new ideas for stewardship campaigns? Do you want to infuse the discipline of stewardship with joy and reverence?
For more information visit
www.stewardshipkaleidoscope.org
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Happenings
Lake Michigan Presbyterian Women give over $19,000 to missions! Read the details...
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Ionia - Tuesday Evening Lenten Program -Join
with your fellow brothers and sisters in a special time of prayer,
liturgy and singing each Tuesday evening as we prepare our voices and
hearts towards the road to Jerusalem, culminating in Easter on April 4th.
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PW
Spring Gathering 4/17/10 - Okemos Presbyterian. Theme "Faith-Journeys
-Empowerment of the Women's Spirit". Highlighting Mid-Michigan
Presbyterian Women of various cultures. All welcome!
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Read more about what's going on in our congregations...
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CONNECTIONAL and CONNECTED!
Thanks to technology we have the ability to not only be a
connectional denomination, but also to be connected! The staff of the
Presbytery of Lake Michigan wants to ensure that members in every
congregation are included when we send out news about the things you need to know. We especially want
to reach out to the leaders in the congregations -- pastors, elders and
deacons, key office personnel, Christian Educators, Clerks of Session and Treasurers often
need to receive directed communications. Please say "YES" when invited
to be on our "Constant Contact" lists! Our lists are private, never
shared, and you will notice with "Constant Contact" that there is no
lengthy list of other email addresses when you receive something from
the presbytery.
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About Us
Presbytery of Lake Michigan is a middle governing body of the Presbyterian Church (USA) serving over 70 churches . If you wish to have something included in the newsletter, please read our Electronic Communication Policy then use our online form. Deadline for this newsletter is the 12th and 27th of each month.
Presbytery of Lake Michigan
1511 Helen Avenue
Portage, Michigan 49002
888.271.6567
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2010 Mission to the USA focuses on Middle East
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Opportunities
Position Opening for Church Secretary/Administrator, First Presbyterian Church, Lansing, MI
This is a full time , salaried position
with fringe benefits. Duties include managing the church office, finance
management and reporting, publishing and personnel supervision. A complete
description may be obtained by writing to:
Administration and
Personnel Committee
First Presbyterian
Church
510 W. Ottawa
Lansing, MI 48933
Applicant resume
and letter of personal interest must be received no later than
March 1. Questions? ------------- Chancel furniture available.
Items include: Chancel table, lectern and Baptismal Fount. They are
wood with a natural oak finish, and are in great shape. We would love
to see them go to a church in need of these items. There would be no
cost except the expense to pick them up. There are pictures available
and additional information can be obtained by contacting Tim Bullerdick
at 616-846-5888 (cell 616-402-8793) or tpbullerdick@hotmail.com. ------------- |
Communication Corner:
Are you tired of traveling for meetings?
Do you want to save your church and/or committee money?
Have you ever worked on a document with another person (or group of people) then have trouble locating the 'current' version?
Have you ever accidentally left one of your committee members off an email?
If you answered 'Yes' to any of these questions then please plan to attend one or both of the upcoming E-Communication learning opportunities.
A 25 minute mini-workshop will be held during the lunch break at the upcoming Presbytery meeting ( Tuesday, Feb 9). An hour long "lunch and learn" training opportunity will be held, Monday, Feb 15, 1pm-2pm at the Presbytery Office. Here are the topic we'll be learning about: Skype, a free internet phone calling system, you can conference call with up to 25 people! Dimdim, a free web conferencing tool, allows attendees to view documents, presentations, surf the web or brainstorm on the virtual white board.
Google Docs allows you (and others) to edit and share files on online while keeping track of all changes made to the document.
Google Groups provides online committee collaboration by creating a single email address for the entire committee, storage of all email discussions, repository for committee documents and web pages.
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 Are you on Facebook? Join our Group!
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PC(USA) responds to Haitian earthquake
As
the whole world knows by now, a powerful earthquake hit Haiti on Jan.
12, resulting in catastrophic damage and thousands of deaths in an
already very vulnerable country. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has
long had ties to Haiti and is responding to the disaster in several
ways. We ask for your support: please give, act and pray.
GIVE
Presbyterian
Disaster Assistance (PDA) is rushing $100,000 from the One Great Hour
of Sharing special offering and designated funds to provide immediate
emergency relief. These funds will be sent through our ecumenical and
local partners in Haiti. On Jan. 14, a PDA staff worker from Central
America will join an international team to establish sanitary water
systems in Haiti and assess the initial damage.
While
immediate assistance and relief are critical right now, this will be a
very long recovery effort and funds are needed to help in both the
long-term and short-term.
Gifts are gratefully accepted online through the PDA Web site.
Funds can be given to support the overall work of PDA or specifically
to support work in Haiti (account number "Haiti - DR000064").
PresbyTel, at (800) 872-3283, is accepting credit card donations by
phone from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern). Donors can also send checks to:
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, P.O. 643700, Pittsburgh, PA
15624-3700.
ACT
Congregations
and individuals can put together baby kits and hygiene kits to be
distributed through our ecumenical partner, Church World Service. See
details online. For church bulletin inserts, videos and other tools, see the resource section of the PDA Web site.
PRAY
The people of Haiti and those trying to assist them need your prayers. A prayer adapted from the Book of Common Worship can be found on the PC(USA) Web site, but all prayers are welcomed.
PC(USA) People in the Quake Zone
Presbyterian
World Mission has accounted for mission workers in Haiti. The security
team has reported that Sharyn Babe and her husband, Rodney, have been
located. Sharyn was injured and is receiving medical attention. Mark
Hare and his wife, Jenny, have been contacted and are safe. Rob and
Donna Martsolf, former mission workers, have been heard from and are
safe at a hotel.
Mission
groups from at least three congregations were in the region during the
quake. The groups - from First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, Ga.,
from Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church, Lawrenceville, N.J., and from
Warrenton Presbyterian Church in Warrenton, Va. - are all accounted for
and safe.
For additional information and updates, see Presbyterian News Service and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Web sites.
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