A prayer for Chile's people
God
of comfort, God of compassion,
make your presence known to
the people
of Chile as they seek
comfort from the destructive forces
of the recent
earthquake.
Comfort all who grieve.
Work healing in those who are
injured.
Guide all who work to rebuild.
Make your presence known to the
people
of the world that we might respond to
our sisters and brothers
with compassionate generosity.
Use us as your servants.
We pray in
Jesus' name.
Amen.
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Presbytery Project
Please
organize a kit making project in your church and bring completed kits
to the Presbytery Meeting on April 24 at First Presbyterian Church in
Lansing. Click here for more information . Instructions for
making and packing the kits is at the CWS website, www.churchworldservice.org.
Funds are needed to help with shipping costs. Please note that $3.00
for each box of kits can be sent with the kits to Lansing and $2.00 per
kit can be sent separately to the CWS office in Indiana (instructions
of the website). Checks can be made payable to Church World Service.
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Board of Pensions Seminar
Lake Michigan Presbytery is sponsoring a Board of Pensions Seminar for ministers who have retired. The First Presbyterian Church, Lansing will host it on Friday, April 16, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The
only cost is $7 for lunch. There is room for 30 participants, 15 are
presently registered. You may still register past the March 12th
deadline as long as there is room. The deadline is for the preparation
of the right number of printed materials.
In order to register, go to the Board of Pensions on line registration site.
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"Do you love me? ... Feed my sheep."
Like the vast
majority of Presbyterian congregations, your congregation probably
receives One Great Hour of Sharing, but do your members give simply out
of habit? This year we encourage you to engage them more deeply in
understanding and connecting with the ministries of this offering. Most
congregations receive One Great Hour of Sharing on Palm Sunday and/or
Easter. If your offering is similarly timed, please take a moment now
to help ensure its success this year.
Here are a few ways you can do
that:
- Forward
this e-mail to members of your session and committees responsible for
promoting the offering.
- Watch the video What Can
I Do to Change the World? and embed it on your
congregation's Web site.
- Send
a letter to your congregation encouraging members to consider how they
will contribute to the offering through your congregation -
or, if they won't be present when your congregation receives.
the offering, to give online now. Find a sample letter that you can
adapt.
- Visit the One Great Hour of Sharing Web site.
- Make
sure your congregation has received their offering materials
- contact Alan Krome if you have
questions.
- Make copies of the
Lenten devotion guide available in your narthex
and encourage members to use it.
- Find tools that can help your congregation
promote the offering, such as ads for use in newsletters and minutes
for mission.
Because we can change the world -
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Coaching Seminar - April 19-20
A coaching seminar with Dr. Laurie Ferguson is scheduled for April
19-20, 2010, Monday noon to Tuesday noon, at the St. Francis Retreat Center in
DeWitt, Michigan.
Dr. Laurie Ferguson is a nationally known leader and trainer of
coaches. She is the Director of the Auburn Coaching Institute, a consultant,
and a PCUSA minister.
This event is part of the Healthy Congregations series and is
supported by a Lilly Foundation grant through the Sustaining Pastoral
Excellence program at St. Francis. The event is being planned by Lake Huron
Presbytery. Neighboring Presbyteries of the Synod are invited to participate.
A brochure with details and costs will be available soon. Scholarship
assistance is a possibility. We invite you to consider this seminar. Coach
training fits perfectly with one of the emerging goals identified through the
discernment process begun in our Presbytery last June. Contact John Best if you are interested in this opportunity.
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Clerk's Corner
by Janet Magennis, Stated Clerk
CONNECTIONS,
CLERKS, COMMISSIONERS & CALENDARS
The use of Skype is growing around the
office and around the presbytery. I am equipped for such a CONNECTION and
have more experience with it all the time. If you want to use
Skype to chat with me, just look for clerkmagennis on the contact
list. Skype is a free download that allows email to email contact
with voice and live camera if you are so equipped, or you can just type
conversations. I don't have a camera yet but can plug in a headset.
We can even conference with this technology.
The Clerk's Page is now up on the presbytery
website and we will tweak it a bit as time goes on, but the basics are
there. It is under the POLICIES header on the home page and should
provide access to every form or piece of info a Clerk of Session needs
throughout the year. Coming soon is a Handbook for Clerks,
now in the pre-printing final review.
Our General Assembly Commissioners are a focus right now. There are
about 100 overtures plus special committee reports on the New Form of
Government and the Mideast that are available. We will be keeping
ministers Ericka Parkinson-Kilbourne, Tony Patrick and Tim Marvil, and
elders John Cox, Drucilla Wrasse and Ruth Brown, plus our Youth Advisory
Delegate Kenny Sparks, very busy from now right through to the end of
GA on July 10th. We are arranging travel and housing
and planning a group orientation. Keep these commissioners in
your prayers, please.
With my decision to consolidate the review
of Session minutes from 2009 (and earlier if that applies) to fewer
gatherings, I had a flash of clarity and decided to align the congregations
in the same regional groups that our Committee on Ministry uses.
You might call it a lapse of clarity after all this time, but,
nevertheless, I am setting up the Calendar for offering three regional review opportunities.
If the gathering in your region does not match your schedule, go to
another gathering - it's that easy. Those dates will be available
at the April 24 Stated Meeting at Lansing First. It will require
a compelling tale of woe for me to review your books privately!
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Youth Video Contest
Youth Groups create a 2-4 minute
video with their interpretation of John 7:38, "Out of the believer's
heart shall flow rivers of living waters," which is the theme of the 219th
General Assembly, then post their video to ymiLIVE.org. Video
submissions will be accepted March 15 - June 1. On-line voting by
youth group members, leaders, parents, friends and families will
continue through June 7. During that time, on-line voters will narrow
the field of video entries to a group of 10 finalists. Final selection
of the two winning videos will made by a vote of the General Assembly
Youth Task Force and announced during the 2010 General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July.
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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 Policythen 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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Resources
Board of Pensions Newsletter
Presbyterian Communicators Newsletter
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Church Happenings
Nola Patterson wins Ionia First's annual "Souper Bowl of Caring" soup recipe contest! Click here to see the recipe!
Westminster Grand Rapids distributed 'talents' ($20) to congregation members to encourage growth in mission.
Tell us what is happening in your congregation. Email news@lakemichiganpresbytery.org
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Free Weekend at Camp!
Join us May 1 and 2 for a week end of fun, fellowship and clean-up. Join us Friday, April 30 for a good nights sleep and a warm hearty breakfast Saturday morning. Stay until Sunday afternoon for worship and meals. Contact the office at office@campgreenwood.org
for reservations.
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Women's Pre-Council (WPC)
which will take place from June 14 to 17. The WPC is being hosted by women from North American member churches of WARC and REC and offers a unique opportunity to gather women from Reformed churches and ecumenical partners worldwide. If you are interested in attending, contact Rev. Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth, psb@warc.ch |
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Heaven on Earth
An Agrarian Road Trip to the U.S. Social Forum, June 13-26, 2010
Heaven
on Earth is a road trip to the U.S. Social Forum organized by the
Presbyterian Hunger Program. We will travel through several states
making stops along the way to visit local food and food justice
projects. The trip will celebrate the decentralized, grassroots
sustainable food and agricultural revolution that is sprouting up
everywhere. Click here for more info. |
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Alma Calvin Sermon Winners
Keith Geiselman, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Ypsilanti, Mich., was
awarded the $500 first prize for his sermon titled "You Go Nowhere By
Accident."
Winning the $300 second prize was Robert Carlson, pastor at The Presbyterian Church of Okemos, Mich. Jeff Garrison, pastor at First Presbyterian Church of
Hastings, Mich., was awarded the $200 third prize.
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Directory Staff Corrections
Rev. John Best's cell phone: 269.615.0562
Stated Clerk, Janet Magennis's cell phone: 616.490.4989 and home: 616.494.0716
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Communication Corner:
The Congress is intended for an international, interfaith audience of
religion communicators who gather to explore new territory, find
solutions to challenges, make new friendships and renew old ones. Click here to learn more
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