Emergeheader2011
The Weekly E-Newsletter of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area
 
August 24, 2012
In This Issue
Prayer Requests
Focus: New Worshiping Communities
Following the Sun (and Son)
Presbybriefs
News of the Kirks
Prayer Requests
For the Week of August 20, 2012 

 

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

           

 

  • We pray for Ruling Elder Cindy Hanson (Edgcumbe Presbyterian, St. Paul) as she battles cancer.  
  • We give thanks that Ron Grittman, husband of Ruling Elder and former Stated Clerk Nancy Grittman (Buffalo Presbyterian, Buffalo) is doing better following recent health problems.
  • We pray for Teaching Elder Barbara Anne Keeley, who continues to heal from a broken arm (NOT a broken leg as reported last week). 
  • We pray for all those taking ordination exams this weekend including Cyndi Wunder (Lake Nokomis-Minneapolis) and Joa Sevlie (Church of the Master, Coon Rapids).    
  • 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) and Tim Held (Teaching Elder, Honorably Retired).  

Pray for the PTCA: Find out what church, person or ministry we are lifting up in prayer this week by clicking here.

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

 

 

Focus: New Worshiping Communities
New Presbyterian faith communities are popping up all around the county including the PTCA.   

 

"We are seeing something being born."

 

That's what PTCA Executive Presbyter Chaz Ruark noted in his remarks to a crowd of about 70 people on Wednesday, August 22 to celebrate the purchase of property for Chain of Lakes Church, a new church development in Blaine serving the North Metro. 


At this point there nothing on the 8.9 acres of land save a cross and some signs pointing out Chain of Lakes' future home.  While it will take some time to plan and raise money for building on the site, Organizing Pastor Paul Moore noted that one can imagine what will take place on the that spot as well as what will sprout from it.  "At Chain of Lakes New Church we want this gift to be a gift that keeps on giving," Moore said.  "This gift is not a deposit-it's an incubator. We want our new congregation to pay it forward down the road. We dream of being able to purchase new property for churches that we help start or other new churches that are started. With the Holy Spirit's help we want to continue the tradition of starting new churches."     Currently, Chain of Lakes is made up of about 40 families. Starting September 9 at 10:30am, the new church will start worshiping at Davinci Charter School which is near the Chain of Lakes property. "We made this decision because we wanted to be closer to the people of this neighborhood," Moore said. 

Moore wrote about the celebration on his blog.  Communications Specialist Dennis Sanders took photos of the event and you can see them at the Presbytery website.

1001 Worshiping Communities What's going on in the Northern Twin Cities Metro is part of a larger movement of church planting taking place throughout the Presbyterian Church (USA).  Early in the summer, 1001 Worshiping Communities launched with a website full of stories of new faith communities sprouting up.  The role of 1001 Worshiping Communities is to provide a platform where presbyteries and churches can plant new faith communities in new and creative ways.  On its "About" page it states the role of 1001: "Presbyterian Mission Agency, the Office of the General Assembly and the other PC(USA) agencies seek to create the conditions that will allow our existing worshiping communities to flourish, and give birth to over 1,001 more in the next ten years."

Can the PC(USA) do this?  Locally, can the PTCA work to create more new churches in the next few years?  It remains to be seen how the Spirit will work within the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area and how open people will be to the workings of the Spirit.

To learn more about 1001, please go to their website: www.onethousandone.org. You will find stories about these new faith communities being born and how you can take part.  In March of this year, Christian Century had a cover story on calling new pastors to new churches.  You can read that by going here.




 

I'll Follow the Sun (and Son)
Cherokee Park in St. Paul dedicates its new solar panels.   

 

(L to R: Karen Smith Sellers, Chaz Ruark, Rep. Carlos Mariani, Rev. Tim Johnson)
Cherokee Park United Church, a dually affiliated United Church of Christ/Presbyterian congregation in St. Paul was praised on Sunday, August 19 for the installation of solar panels on its south roof in a dedication ceremony.   

Chaz Ruark, Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, brought congratulations on behalf of the Presbyterian Church(USA), with which Cherokee Park is dually affiliated and underscored the case for stewardship of God's creation. Karen Smith Sellers, the Conference Minister for the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ cited the congregation's exemplary role in the redemption of God's creation. Sellers' prayer was that the story of this congregation's actions would be demonstration and inspiration to countess others.

Congrats to Cherokee Park for doing its part in caring for God's world!


Alison Bents of the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ contributed to this report.  For more pictures, please click here .
 
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Presbybriefs
News Taking Place in the Presbytery and the wider Church. 

 

2012 Mission and Witness Grants
Does your congregation have an idea for a mission or ministry, but can't do it for lack of money?

The 2012 Mission and Witness Grants are still  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 PTCA website.

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

Healthy Boundaries Training Takes Place October 27  

 


stop sign The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area will host a Level One Boundaries  Training Event on Saturday, October  27 at North Presbyterian Church in North St. Paul  from 9am to 2pm. Lunch will be provided and the cost for the event is $30 which will cover materials and lunch.  

 

This training is presented two times a year, April and October, by Advocates for Integrity in Ministry Committee (AIM).  All clergy are required to take the training.  New incoming pastors have a year from their reception to fulfill the requirement.  Churches are encouraged to send elders, deacons, all staff, lay and clergy, and any other persons engaged in any form of ministry in or on behalf of the church.

 

You can sign up for the event by filling out the registration form and new this year, you can now pay online as well!  To register, please click here. 

 

 

Ordination and Installation of Sara Berry Hein
 

The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area and the Presbyterian Church of Le Sueur in Le Sueur, Minnesota invites you to a Service of Ordination and Installation of Sara Berry Hein. The service will take place on Sunday, September 9 at 3PM at the Presbyterian Church of Le Sueur, 404 Turril St., Le Sueur, MN 56058. Refreshments will follow the service. Ordinations of pastors are events of the whole presbytery. You are welcome and encouraged to attend this event. Such times answers to much prayer and a cause for great celebration. Come share the joy!

News From the Resource Center for Church 

 

With fall just around the corner, many churches are starting to think of what kind of Christian Education offerings to have at their congregation.  The Resource Center for Churches, one of the Presbytery's Mission Partners, offer these suggestions:

 

 


awakening of hope

 

The Awakening of Hope:  Why We Practice a Common Faith(Zondervan, 2012) is a new six-session DVD study from Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Shane Claiborne, co-authors of Common Prayer:  A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.  A short book guides discussion of six ancient practices.

 

 

 

 

We've recently added many new DVD studies:  The Journey of the Universe film, education series and book; Animate, a seven-session offering from Sparkhouse; new titles in Morehouse Educational Resources' Embracing series from Kathleen Norris and Walter Brueggemann; Thin Places:  Six Postures for Creating and Practicing Missional Community; The Next Christians:  How to Live the Gospel and Restore the World; and more:  contact us to consult or reserve.

 

work of the people Theworkofthepeople.com creates and distributes a huge array of short videos for use in teaching and liturgy, available for download.  Preview these resources at the website.  The RCC has several of their studies to offer on DVD:  On Our Way, Care for Creation, Knowing and Loving Our Neighbors of Other Faiths, Living with Death, Redefining the Health and Wealth Gospel, and The Story of God.

 

 

New Curriculum

 

The RCC has samples of new curriculum from Sparkhouse, Cokesbury, FaithInkubators and others, and we welcome educators to visit for review or contact us for consultation.  Many of our members have appreciated Sharon Ely Pearson's curriculum charts, available at buildfaith.org/resource-room/curriculum-center.

 

For more information, check out the RCC's website at www.resourcesforthejourney.org.  


 

 

Find out what's going on in the larger world of the Presbyterian Church (USA) by reading the latest stories from Presbyterian News Service.  Click here to read new and recent articles. 

News of the Kirks
What's Happening in PTCA Churches. 

 

Church of the Master in Coon Rapids takes part in National Night Out (more)

90th Anniversary Celebration at Lake Nokomis in September (more)

Blessing of the Animals Service at Church of the Way on September 8 (more)

Worship Banners Available from Community, Rochester (more)



Looking for a job or open pulpit? Visit our employment page to see our job listings.Find out what events are taking place in our presbytery by going to the Presbytery Calendar.

 
 
Quick Links
 

EMerge is a weekly publication from the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area (PTCA). Recipients include congregations, teaching elders, ruling elders, church members, committees, and friends. Please send submissions and e-mail corrections to Dennis Sanders, editor, at communications@ptcaweb.org .  Usual distribution: Thursdays. You can find out more at the PTCA website: www.presbyterytwincities.org 

 


 

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