 |
|
|
|
The Weekly E-Newsletter of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area
| January 10, 2013
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Prayer RequestsJanuary 13, 2013
 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 Teaching Elder Bill Livingston as he recovers from surgery.
- We pray for Teaching Elder Denise Dunbar-Perkins as she deals with illness.
- We pray for the families of Teaching Elders Carole Lloyd and Merle Strohbehn who passed away recently.
- We pray for Elder Ward Sessing (Ruling Elder, Presbyterian Church of the Way, Shoreview) who is dealing with serious health issues.
- We pray for Teaching Elder Gwin Pratt (pastor, St. Luke Presbyterian, Wayzata) and his wife A.J. as she deals with serious health issues.
- We pray for Teaching Elder James Sanders as he struggles with a neuro-muscular disorder called Pompe Disease.
- We pray for our New Church Developments, Chain of Lakes in Blaine and Familia de Fe in Minneapolis as well as their pastors, Paul Moore and Walter Chuquimia, as they share the good news of Christ in their respective contexts.
Pray for the PTCA: This week we are praying for First Presbyterian Church in Pine City, MN. To learn more about the congregation, please click 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 .
|
Ministry in a Changing WorldEverything Must Change (Including Churches). A Look at the Presbytery's Initiative to Renew Existing Churches.
There's a meme going around Facebook about someone from the 1950s going to our present. The 1950s person would say that we now have massively powerful computers that now fit in our pockets...and we use those computers to look at cat videos.
Things have definitely changed since the 1950s. We are at the point where a generation or two now live in the digital age, not knowing a time when there wasn't a computer at their fingertips.
Many institutions try to cope with the change. Some adapt and others don't. Churches are not immune from change. Some churches are trying to adapt to the changing culture, and others...well, not so much.
The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area believes it is important to provide resources to help congregations as they deal with societal change. In 2012 the Presbytery started the Ministry in a Changing World Initiative, a process that allows churches to take a good look at themselves and discern how to be church in the future.
This is an initiative of our Presbytery sponsored by the Church Development Team (CDT) and supported by a grant from the Synod of Lakes and Prairies and the General Assembly. Its purpose is to assist our churches in doing ministry in a changing world, and it is directly related to the Presbytery's vision, "We fearlessly follow the Holy Spirit into a Changing World." The two main components of this initiative are Cohort Groups and one-day Conferences for all churches. The Cohort Groups have four churches in each group and each church goes through an individual assessment, visioning, and implementation process with the assistance of a trained coach. The first Conference was held in April 2012 and two additional Conferences will be offered, one in 2013 and one in 2014.
Several churches have either taken part or are in the early stages of getting involved, including First Presbyterian in White Bear Lake, First Presbyterian in South St. Paul and Buffalo Presbyterian in Buffalo. Do you think your church would be interested? The Church Development Team has created at Frequently Asked Questions to learn more. You can view it at the Presbytery website or download an info sheet.
|
January 2013 Presbytery Meeting
Taize Worship, Discussions on the Budget, the Heidelberg Catechism and Kwanzaa's Northside Women's Space among the topics for the Meeting.
The first Stated Meeting of 2013 will take place on Saturday, January 12 at Presbyterian Church of the Master in Coon Rapids. The Presbytery Packet for the meeting is now available for download. For more information, please read our special information email which was sent out yesterday. The meeting will begin with a worship service in the style of Taize. Word has it the sanctuary will be full of candles! Among the issues being presented is a discussion on the changes to the Heidelberg Catechism which will be up for a vote at the March Meeting. Also, there will be five Breakout Sessions where you can learn about various issues affecting the Presbytery and the wider church. These include: |
- Presbytery finances - ensuring a sustainable, faithful future
| |
- Joint Religious Legislative Coalition - 2013 issues in
Minnesota
| |
-Youth Triennium - Should Purdue be in your future?
| |
-Bills and Overtures - Get ready to vote in March
| |
-PCUSA - Presbytery officers report on national meetings
|
|
The meeting starts at 9AM. While only Teaching Elders and Elder Commissioners can vote, all are invited to attend and learn where God is leading the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. Hope to see you there!
.
|
All Things Per Capita Everything You Want to Know About Per Capita (But Were Afraid to Ask).
Do you want to know more about Per Capita? Do you even know what this year's amount is?*
The Presbytery has a number of resources available for download to help you and your congregation understand this way of funding the work of the Presbyterian Church (USA) both in the PTCA and around the world. Go to our Per Capita page to learn more.*The 2013 Per Capita is $32.37 per member.
.
|
|
Presbybriefs
News Taking Place in the Presbytery and the wider Church.
Annual Reporting
PTCA Congregations: Don't forget to fill out their annual reporting forms! A letter by Stated Clerk Bill Davnie was sent in October explaining the process. You can read the letter online by
.
You can download the needed forms online. You can go to the
, or you can download them by click the links below.
Register for Presbyterian Youth Triennium (Deadline Extended One Week!)
Presbyterian Youth Triennium 2013 is just around the corner! Every three years, youth from around the country and world gather at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana to share in this extraordinary conference. PYT-2013 will take place July 16-20, 2013. Participants are called to experience the gift of Christ's hope through small group meetings, recreation, a spirituality center, worship, singing, and personal interaction with youth and adults from all over the globe. Triennium is geared toward high school youth (those who will be rising 9th-graders through those who will have just graduated high school as of summer 2013) with special emphasis on spiritual formation and Christian discipleship.
Registration to be a part of the 2013 Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area delegation is now open.
A $150 deposit should accompany each application. The $150 will be applied to the cost of Triennium ($469) if the youth is selected and returned if not. If a youth is selected as a delegate and misses both the overnighters and the mission event, the $150.00 deposit is forfeited. Please make the deposit check out to "Presbytery of the Twin cities Area." Applications are Due on Tuesday January 15th January 22nd, 2013.
There is no limit to the number of youth from your church that may submit an application. However, we reserve the right to limit the number of participants from each church if the number of applications exceeds the number of slots available to our Presbytery.
Questions?
Please send your questions to:
Derek Martin - 507-282-1618 or Martin.Derek@fpcrochester.org
K. C. Kye - 763-503-2600 or KC@cando.org
Are you an adult interested in helping to shape the faith of young disciples? Please download the Adult Volunteer Letter and Application today! Click here to access the files.
Find Out About Times and Locations of 2013 Meetings.
Want to know when and where Stated Meetings are taking place in 2013? You can find out in two ways: going to the Presbytery website or by downloading an Info Sheet.
Join the PTCA Church Educators Group!
 Are you a Christian Education or Youth Leader? Are you looking for ideas to help your youth group or midweek Bible Study? Would you like to meet other youth and Christian Ed workers from around the Presbytery? Then you might want to consider taking part in the Monthly Church Educators Gathering. They meet every second Thursday of the month from 11:30am-1:00pm in various locations within the Presbytery. The meetings are times to learn best practices and also fellowship with your fellow sisters and brothers in Christ. For more information, please contact Martha Rockenstein by email: martha.rockenstein@gmail.com.
APCE 2013  The annual event of the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators is planned Feb. 6-9 in Orlando, Fla., with the theme, "Let Us Play." Event details and registration information can be found at apce2013.com
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.
Upright Freezer and Piano Available ( more) United Church of Christ Youth Leader Praises Youth at Associated-Owatonna ( more) Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist and Undocumented Immigrant to Speak at House of Hope ( more) Discuss issues of race on MLK Day with Chain of Lakes ( more) ( more) St. Luke, Wayzata looking for Music Director and Accompanist ( more) JRLC Day on the Hill 2013 Set for February 21 ( 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 . |
|
|
 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
122 W. Franklin Ave.
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404
Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
