Presbytery of Lake Huron
Bi-Weekly Brief 
 
"The mission of the Presbytery of Lake Huron is to partner with congregations, helping people to know, grow, share and serve as disciples of Jesus Christ." 
 

July 27, 2016 

Summer Lovin'

Give me the sun on the hazy horizon,
the sherbet color morning sky above
give me a clear cloudless day
then you'll know ~ why God I love.

Give me the shade of the golden willow,
the Good Book for me to read
give me something refreshing to drink in
and I'll have close ~ to all I need.

Give me a creek's memorizing humming,
chirps coming from a robin's nest
give me a green pasture with my Lord
well ~ you can picture the rest.

Give me the sounds of children playing,
the laughs and giggles of youth
give me the peace of a summer's sigh
when God reveals to me ~ another truth.

Give me the soft breeze of the ocean,
as I watch the sun paint its dazzling set
give me a cool night in the moonlight
and I'll be as close to heaven ~ as I can get.

Give me a day in the radiant Son shine,
let me bask in God's glorious love
give me a summer day to spend reflecting
on all the splendor ~ He sends from above!

 Copyright 2013
Deborah Ann Belka 
 
We Pray For 
We Lift Up In Prayer... 

New:
The Rev. Seth Normington (former LHP member) on his recent engagement. Seth served as Pastor of Linden and is now serving a congregation in his home state of Washington.

Update/Ongoing:
Kim Strunz (member of Caro-First and an Inquirer Under Care of the presbytery) asked to pass along her thanks and immense gratitude for all who sent cards and well wishes and prayed for her since she fell and broke her hip last month. She has been cleared to walk without a walker and will be cleared to drive later this week. She will soon be driving to University of Dubuque Theological Seminary to resume her studies.

Mission Co-Workers:
The Rev. Cathy Chang and family who are serving in the Philippines.

Michael and Rachel Ludwig, our Mission Co-Workers who are serving in Niger.

   
  
 

 

For those Teaching Elders (Ministers of Word and Sacrament) and Commissioned Ruling Elders (CREs) who are celebrating Ordination or Commissioning Anniversaries in July and August:

The Rev. David Blackburn (7/1) - Honorably Retired
The Rev. Tom Brackbill (8/31) - Pastor of Alma-First
The Rev. Lindsey Carnes (7/29) - Co-Pastor of Fenton-First
The Rev. Robbie Carnes (7/29) - Co-Pastor of Fenton-First
The Rev. Bert Clark (6/5) - Honorably Retired
The Rev. Annie Duncan (7/27) - Temporary Supply Pastor of Swartz Creek-Mundy
The Rev. David Eshleman (8/3) - Honorably Retired
The Rev. Glenn Grant (8/15) - Pastor of Grand Blanc-Kirkridge
Elder Shaun Hardimon (8/11) - Commissioned Ruling Elder of Holly and Swartz Creek-Mundy
The Rev. Ken Hetzel (8/16) - Pastor of Croswell-First
The Rev. Charles Marquardt (8/29) - Member-At-Large
The Rev. Ted McCulloch (8/20) - Pastor of Saginaw-First and the presbytery's Stated Clerk
The Rev. Dr. Rhonda Myers (7/28) - 20 years - Pastor of Midland-Chapel Lane
The Rev. Jim Neumann (7/1) - Pastor of Saginaw-Second
The Rev. Jim Offrink (7/25) - 45 years - Honorably Retired
Elder Kathleen Rowe (8/1) - 1 year (in current commissioning) - Commissioned Ruling Elder of Tawas
The Rev. Dr. Tom Schacher (7/17) - Pastor of Midland-Memorial
The Rev. Dr. Steve Shugert (8/1) - Honorably Retired and Pastor Emeritus of Mt. Pleasant-First
The Rev. Dr. Noel Snyder (7/31) - 5 years - Alma College Chaplain

Presbytery Office
Dan Saperstein
From the Lions' Den

In the 1991 movie City Slickers, a group of buddies from New York facing various mid-life crises goes on a quest to find direction and meaning for their lives by signing on to a Texas cattle drive. In one key scene, Mitch (played by Billy Crystal) has a conversation with Curly (played by Jack Palance), the seasoned trail boss who embodies the kind of confident manhood to which Mitch and his buddies aspired. Curly offers Mitch some important advice:

Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is? [holds up one finger] This.
Mitch: Your finger?
Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don't mean s***.
Mitch: But, what is the "one thing?" 
Curly [smiles]: That's what you have to find out.


 
"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing," wrote Stephen Covey in the best-selling book The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People.  First published in 1989, the book has become an iconic text on principled leadership. The "main thing," of course, is your personal mission informed by your core principles. A dozen years later, Jim Collins translated the habits of personal success into principles of organizational success in his own best-selling Good to Great. Collins studied major corporations that had continued success over decades to determine what made them successful. Collins called one key factor "the Hedgehog principle." It says that successful organizations operate out of their core mission, lying at the conjunction of three overlapping circles representing the questions: What lights your fire? What could you be best in the world at? And what makes you money? In other words, where is your passion? What are your gifts? What sustains your work?

It was put even more simply by the award-winning novelist and Presbyterian minister Frederick Buechner, who wrote, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

We have a theological word for that place: vocation. It means "calling." As Presbyterians, we believe that God calls us not only to salvation but to service. We are not just hearers of the Word, but doers of it as well. Unlike the secular meaning of the word, our spiritual vocation is not just our work; it is the source of our joy as we discover and fulfill God's will for our lives. It is our "one thing," our "main thing."

The Presbytery of Lake Huron is at a mid-life crisis of sorts. We are looking for a renewed sense of purpose and vocation.  We are doing this by engaging in holy conversations at our presbytery meetings, focused on successive themes of presbytery identity, presbytery mission, and presbytery partners.

As we look toward our next meeting in mid-September, we are considering our mission. What is the "one thing" we are called to do as a presbytery and as congregations? How do orient our churches and presbytery to undertake that faithfully? Where is our passion? What are our gifts? What sustains us in our work?  Answering these questions is more than just an exercise in organizational management; it is key to our sense of joy and fulfillment in our koinonia, our shared life in Christ.

Summer provides us with time for reflection on the path of our lives and ministry. This summer, let us consider what the "one thing" in our individual lives might be, as well as the "main thing" in our spiritual calling as congregations and as a presbytery.
 
Faithfully,

Dan Saperstein, Executive Presbyter
 
Communications Corner
Headlines of Interest
   
Here are links to articles that we hope you will enjoy and perhaps spend some time discussing them with others. Click on the title to read the entire article.
  
 
Almost all of my presentations, lectures, youth talks, and sermons incorporate some kind of pop culture reference. The examples that I choose-mostly drawn from movies, television shows, pop music, and comic books-say something about the kinds of cultural texts I turn to for entertainment and inspiration. Almost every teacher and preacher I know has their own canon of classic or pop culture sources that they draw from on a regular basis.
I use pop culture in my teaching and preaching because these cultural texts provide accessible and often well-known illustrations and examples of the themes or ideas I'm working with. But there is also something theological happening in these pop cultural references.
 
Nobody likes to see something great go to waste. If you bought a $700 ski boat, you wouldn't want it to just sit in the dock to collect dust and barnacles-otherwise that hefty chunk of change would be for nothing!
Or even worse, what if it was your church website collecting dust in the world wide web? You've spent countless hours creating content and building the site from the ground up, but now feel like you've ended up wasting time, energy, and even money building this for your congregation. And they just don't seem to be interested. *Sigh.*
 
On the seventh floor of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter and his friends discover a particularly magical room. Called the Room of Requirement, it emerges whenever it is needed. As Dobby the Elf explains to Harry, "Sometimes [the room] is there, and sometimes it is not, but when it appears, it is always equipped for the seeker's needs."  My church contains such a room, just off the balcony, at the top of the stairs and across from the elevator. As far as I can tell, our room-unlike its Hogwarts counterpart-does not disappear and reappear. But there is a bit of a mystical nature to its existence. "I never knew that closet was there!" I've heard more than once, from volunteers or staff who had walked by it many times but had never cracked the door.
 
 
NOTE: The articles listed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of or intended to be an endorsement by the Presbytery of Lake Huron but are shared to encourage discussion of various topics.
Connections
Desk
Connect With Other Churches In The Lake Huron Presbytery

There are so many wonderful things going on in all of our congregations.  Several of our churches have set up Facebook pages to help spread the good news not only to their members but to all who may be interested.  Liking other church Facebook pages is a great way to connect with others in the presbytery and to share ideas with each other.  Here are some of the churches that have Facebook pages:
Tawas
Vassar-First
Yale-First

If your congregation has a page and it is not listed here, please contact Staci Percy at spercy@presbylh.org. 

FB2
'Like' Us On Facebook

The presbytery has a Facebook page and would like you to join us.  Get updates and information faster. Connect with others to share ideas and to post information about events happening in your congregation.  Join us today! 

Contact Information

Staci Percy

Communications Manager/Recording Clerk

spercy@presbylh.org 

989-799-7481 x2
In This Edition
In Our Prayers
From The Lions' Den
Get Talkin'
Connect With LHP Churches
Join Us On Facebook


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Bi-Weekly Brief

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Personnel Team
August 4
10:00 am



Coordinating Team
August 10
10:00 am



Commission on Preparation for Ministry Retreat
August 16-18



Commission on Ministry - Full Team
August 17
9:30 am
(Please note date and time change)



Personnel Team
August 22
10:00 am


 

Details on these meetings can be found on the presbytery's website on the calendar.