Each week we pray for a ministry or ministers in the PTCA.    Click on the button below to find who we are praying for this week.

• We pray for Teaching Elder Sung-Joo Park and the congregation of Korean Presbyterian Church of Minnesota in Brooklyn Park.  Sung-Joo will be installed as pastor on Sunday, February 26. 
• We offer prayers for Micah Gebbengreen, son of Teaching Elders Julie and Phil Gebbengreen (Edgcumbe, St. Paul) who is on the mend after breaking a leg  last weekend.
• We pray for the congregation of Randolph Heights Presbyterian in St. Paul as they discern their future.
• We pray for Daniel Vigilante who has been chosen by the Elders of  Grace-Trinity Community Church and the Session of Westminster Presbyterian in Minneapolis to serve a new ministry in the Uptown neighborhood at Grace-Trinity.  
• We give thanks for the birth of Landon Antonio, the grandson of Teach Elder Walter Chiquimia (Familia de Fe, Minneapolis). 
• We continue to pray for Rochelle LeTourneau, a Ruling Elder at First Presbyterian in South St. Paul, who is recovering from open heart surgery at Regions Monday 2/13.
• We offer prayers to Ruling Elder Jerry McKinney of Westminster Presbyterian in Minneapolis, as he continues chemotherapy treatment for cancer.   
• We pray for Ruling Elder Jack Reddan of First Presbyterian in White Bear Lake as he slowly continues to recover from surgery late last year.   
• We pray for Teaching Elder Joy Smith, pastor of Church of the Apostles in Burnsville, as she deals with illness. 

Pray for the PTCA

If you have a prayer concern you'd like to share with the wider Presbytery, please contact us by email at communications@ptcaweb.org  .

The 2012 Mission and Witness Grants are now available to help congregations in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area engage in ministries of justice and care. You can find out more about this year's grants  or fill out the grant application by going to the  Grants Page at the Mission and Witness website.   The deadline for applications is April 1, 2012.

Any questions should be directed to committee chair, Rev. Teresa Roberts at mission@ptcaweb.org.  

Amy Blumenshine, a nationally recognized speaker and writer on the concerns of returning military personnel and their families, will be the keynote speaker for a morning workshop at Community Presbyterian Church in Rochester on February 25, 2012 from 9:30-Noon. Keep reading... 

The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area Nominating Committee is now accepting applications for the position of Stated Clerk, with election for a 3 year term being held at our Annual Meeting on May 8, 2012.  A link to the  Position Description follows.

To apply, please send a Cover Letter, Resume, and Contact Information for two Reference persons to office@ptcaweb.org by April 2, 2012.  A search committee from the Nominating + Personnel Committees will review the applications.  We hope to be able to name a candidate one to two weeks before the May Presbytery meeting.

Stated Clerk Position Description 

Our presbytery requires all teaching elders and commissioned lay pastors to participate in Level 1 Healthy Boundaries training approved by the PTCA's Advocates for Integrity in Ministry (AIM) within one year of beginning one's ministry in this presbytery.

This year the PTCA will offer Level 1 Boundaries training on Thursday, April 12 and Saturday, October 27.  You may register on-line through the PTCA web site.  Check-in will begin at 8:30 am.  Instruction will begin promptly at 9 am and conclude at 2 pm.

The training site this year is North Presbyterian Church in North St. Paul. The cost is $50 which includes materials and lunch.  You can pay at the time of the training.  To register, please click on the link below. 

PC(USA) Public Witness Director Visits PTCA:  J. Herbert Nelson, Director of the PC(USA) Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC visited the presbytery in late January as part of Martin Luther King activities sponsored by Kwanzaa Community Presbyterian and Westminster Presbyterian in Minneapolis. Elder Rollie Baldwin wrote and took photos of Nelson's weekend in the Twin Cities.  Read more...

Dying Well, Honoring Choices Class @ Plymouth: How can faith communities help as individuals and families face profound spiritual, medical, and ethical questions at the end of life? Leaders in end-of-life care will explore these questions with us. Multiple leaders, including Brian Rank, medical director for HealthPartners Medical Group and Rob Ruff, director of chaplaincy services at Regions Hospital.

Dates: Tuesdays - March 6, 13, 20, 27; April 10

Times: 7:00-9:00 PM

Location: Plymouth, Plymouth Presbyterian Church

Cost: $100.00*

Registration required: Register online at www.unitedseminary.edu/CommunityPrograms/academy.asp or call Renee Flesner at 651.255.6138.

For this class, we offer a congregational/multiple registrant discount of $85.00 each for persons who register as a group. Contact Renee Flesner atrflesner@unitedseminary.edu or 651.255.6138 to receive this rate.

Workshop on Ministry Set For March 31: The Presbyterian Partnership Task Force is proud to sponsor the Presbyterian Partnership Workshop which will be held on March 31 at First Presbyterian Church in White Bear Lake from 9AM-Noon.  

Under the theme "Networking and Collaborating Together in Ministry," the event will include breakout sessions on such topics as church communications, facilities/building management, Christian Education and Mission. Information on cost and registration will follow shortly, but you can download a flyer, bulletin insert and graphics from the Presbytery website at www.presbyterytwincities.org/presbyworkshop.  

The Presbyterian Partnership is made up of six Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations in the Northern Twin Cities Metropolitan area.  These include: Arlington Hills Presbyterian in St. Paul, Chain of Lakes New Church Development in Lino Lakes, North Como Presbyterian Church in Roseville, North Presbyterian in North St. Paul, Presbyterian Church of the Way in Shoreview, and First Presbyterian Church, White Bear Lake.

Rural Ministry Conference: Wartburg Theological Seminary's 31st Annual Rural Ministry Conference is being held on March 4th - 6th, 2012.  This year's focus is "Courage in a Caring Community."  The Rural Ministry Conference outreach is continuing to grow and has become an ecumenical conference for those working in small town and rural parishes throughout the Midwest.

 Click here to download a detailed brochure.  

Feasting on the Word:  Easter through Pentecost 2012

This is a one-time opportunity to explore the use of the commentary, Feasting on the Word, with one of its co-editors, Rev. Dr. David Bartlett. David currently is Professor of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, in Decatur, Georgia, and Lantz Professor Emeritus, Yale University. Formerly he was the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Lantz Professor of Preaching and Communication, Yale Divinity School. David is a friend, colleague, professor and mentor to several clergy here in Minnesota. He was Senior Minister of University Baptist Church (UBC), Minneapolis, 1973-1975, where he will be preaching on Sunday, March 4th.

 

This is a free seminar. It is intended primarily for clergy, but others are welcome to attend.  

Space is limited. Advanced registration is requested by emailing Rev. Howard Bell hbell@mayflowermpls.org or Call: (612) 824-0762 ext 140. Deadline for registration is Monday, February 27th.

Co-Sponsors of this event are: Mayflower Church UCC, University Baptist Church, Wayzata Community Church, Minnesota Conference UCC, and United Theological Seminary.

Worship Band Music Workshop: North Presbyterian Church in North Saint Paul will host a modern worship band workshop on Saturday, March 3rd from 1-5 pm.  Here's a link to the registration through DeepWater Music:

http://deepwate.tmdhosting940.com/wptemp2/?page_id=1787 

  

This event is designed for established modern worship bands to improve in every facet of their musical leadership or for those worship leaders looking to get an idea of what it takes to create a modern worship band in their church.

Interested in a Conference or Workshop, but don't have the money? The Mission and Witness Committee of the PTCA is ready to help! A new streamlined 2012 Application for Scholarships to Conferences in the areas of Peace and Justice, Missions, Education, Disability Ministry and Leadership Development, is available online throughout the year. You can fill out the application online by going to www.presbyterytwincities.org/presbyteryforms.

Common Prayer: As many of you know, the staff of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area gathers daily for prayer and devotions.  Join us every Tuesday at 10AM to pray! Called "Common Prayer" we will come together as we discern God's message for us and lift each other and the whole world in prayer. Join us at the Presbytery office for Common Prayer. We are located at 122 W. Franklin Avenue  in Minneapolis. 

 

Synod School 2012:  Synod School 2012, the annual midsummer ministry of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, takes place Sunday through Friday, July 22-27, at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. Synod School offers fun and mind-stretching courses, worship and singing that will be long remembered, and time for both fellowship and private reflection. Carol Howard Merritt, at right, author of "Tribal Church: Ministering to the Missing Generation," and "Reframing Hope: Vital Ministry in a New Generation," is this year's adult convocation speaker. Merritt is associate pastor for Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. Landon Whitsitt, vice moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and executive for the Synod of Mid-America, is the youth convocation speaker. Whitsitt is the author of "Open Source Church: Making Room for the Wisdom of All." For more information, click here.

Forum on Sex Trafficking @ Church of the Apostles: Monday, February 27, 2012 at 6:30PM. Panel Discussion on Human Trafficking in Minnesota hosted by iCAN and The Center for Wholeness at Presbyterian Church of the Apostles. Experts on the issue in Minnesota will discuss recent data on human trafficking in our community, legislation that has already been passed, and what needs to be done to end trafficking in our state. Read on...

Congregational Ministry Seminar Scheduled for April: April 28, 2012 at Valley Community Presbyterian in Golden Valley. Please save the date  for the one-day Our Ministry in a Changing Worldseminar for pastors and church leaders of all churches in the presbytery - an opportunity to help your church leadership recognize and realize your church's potential for ministry. More information to follow. Sponsored by the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area.

Find out about other events taking place in our presbytery by going to www.presbyterytwincities.org/calendar.