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Lake Michigan Newsletter
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May 15, 2010
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Greetings!
This note was received by the Presbytery Office in response to the kits collected at our past stated meeting.
Thank you for your participation in the
Church World Service Kit collection we had in April. The response
was overwhelming! Little did I know when I decided to do this
that the Kits would come by the car load. Question:
How many boxes of CWS Kits can you stuff into an SUV? Answer:
A lot! I picked up boxes and bags of Kits from meetings; folks
brought them to our office; we stopped to pick them up if a staff person
was in the area - all in all we collected a total of 5,678 Kits.
There were 4,827 Hygiene Kits, 504 Baby Care Kits, 329 School Kits and
18 Emergency Clean-up Buckets with an estimated dollar value of
$73,000+.
On April 26 five MSU Spartan football
players came to help us load the truck. They toted those heavy
boxes like they were full of feathers. They loaded over 6,000
lbs. of Kits onto the truck that was headed for New Windsor, MD.
The Kits that you all so lovingly assembled are now in the warehouse
at the Brethren Service Center being made ready to ship. Where
do CWS Kits go? The end of the journey for some may be Africa
or the Middle East, Central America or somewhere in the United States.
Just know that the Kit you assembled will make a difference in someone's
life.
Would you like to learn more about what
happens to the Kits after you make them? Join me for the 7th
Learn & Serve Bus Trip to New Windsor, MD and Gettysburg, PA Oct.
25 - 29, 2010. It is a great opportunity to do mission work
close to home. Contact me at 888-297-2767 or pfolkers@churchworldservice.org for more information.
Thank you again for participating in
the Michigan CWS Kit collection. Together we can make a difference!
In peace and hope,
Pam Folkers
Michigan Church World Service
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This email newsletter is produced by the Presbytery of Lake Michigan.
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. Sincerely, Your Presbytery Staff
888.271.6567
news@lakemichiganpresbytery.org
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 From the General Presbyter,
Recently upon news of my mother's death, many of
you showered
me with emails, cards, and greetings of condolence. Thank
you! You demonstrated to me the power of being a
colleague in ministry. It means a lot! As
partners with Christ, united in Christ and
colleagues in ministry, continue to support one another in love. Some
upcoming events when we can do so are: Join the North Presbyterian
Church in Lansing on Pentecost Sunday afternoon, at 3 p.m. in celebrating
the life and witness of their
building as they move from it to worship and minister with the
Westminster
Presbyterian Church in Lansing. An Administrative
Commission has worked
quickly to assist the North
Church in selling the
building, which was too much for them to continue to maintain. It is
being sold
to another church and the keys will ceremonially be handed over to them,
then
those who are able will walk to Westminster's
sanctuary to conclude and to share in fellowship. This
will be an historic occasion felt
deeply. Join us if you can!
Join the Presbytery of Lake Michigan at the upcoming
Installations Services: - of the
Rev. Beverly Francis (Fran) Lane-Lawrence as pastor of First
Presbyterian
Church in Niles,
at 3 p.m. Pentecost Sunday, May 23rd;
- of the
Rev. Patricia (Pat) Lock as associate pastor of First Presbyterian
Church
in Grand Haven, at 4 p.m. June 13th.
- of the
Rev. Steve Kaszar as pastor of the White Pigeon Presbyterian Church
at 3
p.m. Sunday, June 13th.
Steve will continue to serve the congregation in Cassopolis
part
time as he takes up this additional responsibility.
- of the
Rev. Karen Fitz LaBarge as designated pastor of the Allegan
Presbyterian
Church, at 5 p.m., Sunday June 13th.
Like you, I haven't figured out how to be at more
than one
place at a time. Some of these events
overlap, but together we can show our support on these very special
occasions
in the life of our Presbytery. May we be joined in
prayer for Betty Devries as
she mourns the
death of her husband of 66 years, the Rev. Dr. Simon Devries, who
died on Easter
Sunday, April 4th. Her
address is 2500 Breton Woods SE, Unit 2028
Grand Rapids, MI 49512
for these congregations
and their
pastors as they enter new era together; for our newly retired
ministers:
Jan Van Lear, John Munson, Doug Peterson, Wayne Conners, and soon
to be
retired: Harry Johnson and Jim Troust. for the congregations
in transition
of pastoral leadership; for the GA
Commissioners who are
now reading, praying and preparing; for our Synod Executive
Search
Committee on which I am serving; for our Presbytery
Staff, some of
whom just had annual work reviews; for Presbytery Ministry
Team and
Committee leaders and members and
thanksgiving
for all they do. for the Greenwood
Agency and Staff
as they prepare for the camping season. To read my reflections on this time between
Ascension day
and Pentecost, and collegiality, read my blog at http://jbestblog.blogspot.com/ God Bless, John Best, General Presbyter |
 College
students: apply for scholarships
The Student Opportunity Scholarship serves
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) college students in select majors by
providing aid for the expenses of the third and fourth years of an
undergraduate program. Up to $3,000 is available to full-time students
in good academic standing who demonstrate financial need and are
majoring in one of the following: Education, Health Service/Science,
Religious studies, Sacred Music or Social Service/Sciences.
To promote diversity, preference in this
program is extended to racial ethnic students. The application
deadline is June 1. Learn
more and apply today. |
Register
now- Covenant Gathering!
July 4, 4:00 pm to July 9, 11:00 am
"Then shall the trees of the forest sing for
joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth." 1 Ch 16:33
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 Church Happenings -
Lansing North Presbyterian Church - Special Dedication on Sunday, May 23 at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 23 there will be a special dedication
service at North Presbyterian Church, 102 West Grand River, Lansing,
Michigan. This service will celebrate and honor the long history of
North, as well as symbolically hand over the keys to the new church that
will be moving in. North's last service will be on Sunday, May 30 All churches and members of Presbytery are invited to attend. There
will be historic tours of the building and refreshments starting at 2:00
p.m. Westminster Lansing - The United Voices of Detroit in concert to support Advent House
Ministries at June 13, 4pm. Click here for more info.Westminster, Grand Rapids - There has been a challenge raised by a long- time member who recently
passed away, Peggy Hertel, a staunch supporter of the Heartside area. To learn what members of the church are doing with the challenge, view their facebook page!
Pine Island, Kalamazoo - Rev. Debbie Chase, a!
PC(USA) mission co-worker serving as dean of studies at the College of
Theology of the University of Livingstonia in Ekwendeni, MALAWI, is
visiting Pine Island Church June 11-15. On Sunday,
June 13, she will be
preaching at the 10:00 am service, followed by a power point
presentation at about 11.30. On Saturday, June 12 from 2-5 pm, there
will be an open house for those who would like to meet and visit with
her at the home of Bob and Edith Rasmussen, 2307 S. Rose Street in
Kalamazoo. Others interested in talking with her may make an
appointment to see her on Saturday, Sunday or Monday by calling at the
Rasmussens at 373-8891. Debbie plans to return to Malawi in July. Tell us what's going on in your congregation!
Give or Take
Available:
Two large aluminum communion trays (each holds
approx. 40 cups) available from Sturgis. Contact Katie Clemens, sturgisfirst@verizon.net (5/13/2010) Needs
Microsoft Office 2003. --Particularily interested
in full small business suite with Microsoft Publisher and Access. 1-5
licenses for Allegan First. Contact Rev. Karen Fitz La Barge, kflabarge@gmail.com
(5/13/2010)
Blue Presbyterian Hymnals. Got some extras that
you are not using? Allegan First would love to put them to use.
Contact Rev. Karen Fitz La Barge, kflabarge@gmail.com
(5/13/2010) Tell us if your congregation is looking for some thing or
has some thing needing a new home?
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Comings and Goings
- Honorably Retired:
Rev. Wayne Conner, Associate at Kalamazoo First, effective April 25,
2010
- Received by the Presbytery:
- Rev. Beverly F. Lane-Lawrence from Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery, as
Pastor and Head of Staff at Niles First;
- Rev. Patricia Locke ordained
by Chicago Presbytery, as Associate Pastor at Grand Haven First;
- Rev.
Karen Haak from Western North Carolina Presbytery, Honorably Retired
- Dismissed:
- Rev. Helen
Jo Taliaferro, to Twin Cities Presbytery;
- Rev. Andrew Meyers to
Presbytery
of the James - in process
- Changes:
Karen Fitz LaBarge to Designated Pastor at Allegan First
- Moved from Interim to MAL:
- Rev. Richard Campbell, who served at Grand Haven First
- Rev.
Katherine
Culpepper, who served at Allegan First
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Introducing
our new Stewardship Program
Building Hope
Be Sure To
Be There At The Unveiling!
June 8 Presbytery Meeting
Fairplain
Church, Benton Harbor Building Hope is a new stewardship program
created by the
Administrative
Ministry Team. It's a multi-media, multi-faceted approach designed
to be used with a wide variety of groups and a wide variety of ages.
Included are worship resources, bulletin inserts, bible studies, DVDs
and more. It helps us focus on our role in building hope founded
on God's love and grace.
Each segment of the program
(6), we actively commit to building hope
in the lives of others as we learn how our gifts to the larger mission
of the church builds hope in lives across our globe. DVD segments
explore our individual commitment, the commitment of our congregations,
presbytery, synod and general assembly. Our stories together build
an altar of praise and thanksgiving to God.
The program will be introduced
to the presbytery at the June 8 meeting,
and we will have an opportunity to experience it together. Each
congregation in the presbytery will receive a complete copy of the
program
and DVD. Please contact the Rev. Dr. Patricia Ramsden at firsprespastor@qtm.net or call her at First Presbyterian,
Buchanan 269-695-6151.
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Good Idea  |
ICE - In Case of Emergency
Which of the numbers stored in your cell phone should be called in case of emergency?
A simple initiative, conceived by a paramedic in Britain, has gained
momentum on both sides of the Atlantic to try to solve this problem.
Cell users are being urged to put the acronym ICE -- "in case of
emergency" -- before the names of the people they want to designate as
next of kin in their cell address book, creating entries such as "ICE --
Dad" or "ICE -- Alison." |
The Presbyterian
Leader.com is excited about an opportunity to offer General Assembly
attendees a brief glimpse into what our site has to offer. To that end,
we have decided to make our 219th General Assembly (2010) materials
free to all visitors of the site. Create a free
account and then download the desired material. We'll keep you
posted as new resources are developed.
The Leader Readers below, normally only available to our subscribers,
will give you all the information you need to know about General
Assembly and ensure that your experience at GA is a rich one. The
included study by Matthew Skinner on the theme of this year's event,
"Rivers of Living Water," is discerning and engaging. And the nine
devotions used throughout the assembly can be found here starting on
June 30. These materials provide just a small sampling of the benefits
you'll enjoy with a subscription to the Presbyterian Leader.com. |
 World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)
From June 15 through June 17, 2010, world leaders in Reformed
thinking will
gather in Grand Rapids, Michigan for a global conference, "Reformed
Mission
in an Age of World Christianity."
The conference, co-sponsored by Calvin College and the International
Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education (IAPCHE), is
designed to strengthen the intersection between Reformed Christian faith
expressions and global movements in world Christianity. The goal is to
learn
how Reformed Christian faith and work can effectively support the hopes
and
address the challenges encountered across a variety of contemporary
cultures.
The conference has already attracted registrants from 42 countries.
Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, will deliver the
conference keynote address at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, 2010, in the
Prince
Conference Center. The conference will also include a number of breakout
sectionals, which will weave together four core themes: living roots for
living
water; translation across borders; the covenantal community and roles at
the
table of the church. They will focus on Christian understanding and
action in
the church as well as social and natural environments. Sectional leaders
will
include educational, ministry and public leaders from around the world.
For
example, one of the sectional leaders, Augusto de la Torre, is a former
head of
the Central Bank of Ecuador and now chief economist for World Bank in
Latin
America and the Caribbean.
Read more...
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 Presbyterian Church Store Open for BusinessNow it is
easier than ever to get books, curriculum, DVDs, and many other
resources from the Presbyterian Church office in Louisville. The newly
redesigned website for making purchases from the PC(USA) is easier to
use, has a better search capacity, and it is easy to make purchases
through a shopping cart. Another great feature is the ability to
purchase PDF files or online resources directly on the site. Shoppers
can review resources and give instant feedback on the site. Many free
or low cost resources are available. To use the store, go to store.pcusa.org or go www.pcusa.org and click
on Resources and Publications on the side and then select Presbyterian
Marketplace. Another way to find it is to type pcusa.org/marketplace
into your browser. |
Columbia's
S3 Project Offers Group Study Grants to Clergy and Church Professionals Decatur,
GA-Group project applications are being accepted through September 30
for
participation in Columbia Theological Seminary's S3 (Sabbath, Study and
Service) Project. S3 offers small, self-selected groups of clergy and
other
church professionals the opportunity to design and participate in
learning
projects that strengthen their practice of ministry. Groups will receive
$500
per person to fund their self-directed group work. Participants must
attend two
retreats, one in February, 2010, at the beginning of their year-long
project
and another in February,
2012. More information |
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Newsletters and Resources
Transformations Spirituality Center The Presbyterian Leader
Presbytery Pastoral Care Network
Presbyterian Communicator's Network Synod of the Covenant
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The Presbyterian
Leader.com is excited about an opportunity to offer General Assembly
attendees a brief glimpse into what our site has to offer. To that end,
we have decided to make our 219th General Assembly (2010) materials
free to all visitors of the site. 