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 Ruling Elder Cindy Hanson (Edgcumbe Presbyterian, St. Paul) as she recovers from surgery and battles cancer.
• We pray for Honorably Retired Teaching Elder Dan Graham and his wife Judy, as they mourn the passing of Judy's mother, Carolyn Peterson.
• We offer prayers of healing for Teaching Elder Terry Roos (First United Presbyterian, Farmington) as she recovers from shingles.  
• We pray for all fathers, uncles, brothers and other men who play important roles in the life of our community, nation and world.   
• We continue to pray for those who are experiencing illness at this time including Dan Johnson (Teaching Elder, Honorably Retired), Joy Smith (Teaching Elder, Church of the Apostles), Ward Sessing (Ruling Elder, Church of the Way),Larry Patee (Ruling Elder, Buffalo), Mary McNamara (Teaching Elder, Honorably Retired and Tim Held (Teaching Elder, Honorably Retired).  

Every year the Self-Development of People Committee of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area gives  grants to organizations that are initiated by and for the  people in the geographic boundaries of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. The Committee for the Self-Development of People is eager to establish partnerships with groups who are oppressed by poverty or social systems and want to take charge and decide what to do to create systemic change. The deadline for applications for 2012 is August 24, 2012.   

You can download an application form either in Microsoft Word or in a PDF and email it to sdop@ptcaweb.org. Questions?  Please call Karen Kennerly at (651) 735-9691 or email the committee at sdop@ptcaweb.org. You can find out more about SDOP and to download the application  by going to www.presbyterytwincities.org/sdop .          

After 3 hours of debate and discernment, the Presbytery adopted a substitute motion as the Gracious Separation Policy. Submitted by Teaching Elder Tim Hart-Andersen of Westminster Minneapolis, the substitute motion (which became the main motion) asks that "the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area commits itself to apply the provisions of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) fairly and faithfully, always seeking reconciliation with any congregation or teaching elder questioning their ongoing relationship with the denomination. Further, the presbytery commits itself to use the proposed policy on gracious separation as a suggested guideline in implementing the constitutional provisions." The substituted document was approved by the Presbytery 94 to 62.

The full minutes of the meeting will be available in the coming days. 

A Home for the Homeless in Chaska: Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church in Chaska will become a temporary home for the homeless in the Southwest suburbs starting in early 2012.  To read the article about the new endeavor, click here.

Washington Post Columnist at Westminster on June 15: E.J. Dionne, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and a columnist at the Washington Post will be this month's guest at the Westminster Town Hall Forum at Westminster-Minneapolis on Friday, July 15 at 7pm. You can find out more by going to the Town Hall Forum website. 

No Ifs, Ands or....?: The first notice came through Facebook as an invitation to something called "Benevolent Pork Butt Fundraiser." It added, "The First Presbyterian Church Deacons are selling smoked pork butts (or pork shoulders if that's what you're used to calling them) to raise money for the Benevolence Fund." The First Presbyterian Church is inHudson, Wis., and the Rev. Stephanie Anthony opens the story of the fundraiser this way: "We had some Southerns move north and join our church two years ago. It's drive-through BBQ." Anthony's complete story is at "Pork Butts."    

The Committee on Preparation for Ministry (CPM) will host a one day "seeker" seminar for individuals exploring a sense of call to Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA) on Saturday, June 16, 2012 at

 Valley Community Presbyterian Church in Golden Valley, MN.

This seminar provides a structured way of meeting with and orienting seekers to the opportunities, challenges and responsibilities that lie ahead should they pursue a formal relationship with the CPM...

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