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The Weekly E-Newsletter of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area
| January 31, 2013
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Prayer RequestsFebruary 3, 2013
 - We pray for Teaching Elder Bill Livingston who is back in the hospital after a health concern.
- We pray for Teaching Elder Tammy Rider who is dealing with health issues.
- We pray for the family of Elder Jerry McKinney (Ruling Elder, Westminster, Minneapolis) who passed away recently. Jerry was active at Christ and later Westminster-Minnepaolis as well as in the Presbytery, chairing the Personnel Committee. A memorial service was held on January 30.
- 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.
We now have a new weekly prayer email that arrives in your inbox on Tuesdays. Click here to find out this week's prayer concerns or go to Presbytery website to get a monthly printable version of the prayer calendar.
If you have a prayer concern you'd like to share with the wider Presbytery, please contact us by email at communications@ptcaweb.org .
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"A Season of Spiritual Preparation"Lent Starts February 13.
We might just be packing away the last our Christmas decorations, but Lent is just around the corner starting with Ash Wednesday on February 13. The season of Lent is a 40-day period of prayer, fasting and self-examination in preparation for the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord at Easter.
In the early chur  ch, Lent was a time of preparation for the celebration of baptism at the Easter Vigil. In many communities of faith it remains a time to equip and nurture candidates for baptism and confirmation and to reflect deeply on the theme of baptismal discipleship.
Below are links to resources that can help you and your congregation as they journey together through Lent.
If your church is planning out the worship services during Lent, you might want to go to the Lenten Worship Resources page of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
The PC(USA) Church Store has a number of devotionals and books to keep you busy during the Season.
The Presbyterian Mission Agency has a number of resources available including:
A Lenten Fast: In Lent this year, we are asking Presbyterians to sit with what global partners and some U.S. farmers are saying by reading meditations, study questions and analyses that illustrate one aspect of this crisis in five nations for the five Sundays of Lent.
Tread Lightly for Lent: As part of the reflective season of Lent, Environmental Ministries is offering a calendar that encourages Presbyterians to learn about ecojustice issues and take action on the issues of waste, energy, water, consumption and food. Each of the 40 days of Lent has a topic to learn about or a suggested action for individuals and congregations.
Stations of the Cross Service: This multisensory, peripatetic service in the tradition of the stations of the cross includes scriptures appropriate for a Reformed church.
Ways to Celebrate the Three Days: Use these ideas to observe Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.
Eco-Palms: Palm Sunday is March 24. Many churches use palm branches for the day. In 2007 the PC(USA) teamed up with Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services and the University of Minnesota to offer congregations the option of purchasing responsibly harvested Eco-Palm branches for Palm Sunday. The palms come from communities in Mexico and Guatemala where workers are paid fairly and engage in sustainable harvesting in order to protect the local ecosystem. Learn more about the benefits of Eco-Palms. Congregations should consider ordering Eco-Palms right away to make sure your palms arrive on time.
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Informational Gathering on Proposed Amendments
Find Out About all the Proposed changes to the PC(USA) Constitution including the Heidelberg Catechism.
On Saturday, February 16, Bills and Overtures will host a gathering at The House of Hope Presbyterian Church from 9 am to 11 am. The purpose of this gathering is for the Committee to listen to those wishing to speak on the amendments and the Heidelberg translation, and answer their questions. The material presented at the January Presbytery meeting will be available.
At the March meeting, the Presbytery will vote on the Heidelberg Confession translation and all other amendments.
The Bills and Overtures Committee have materials to help you and your congregation as we prepare for the upcoming votes on the amendments. You can go to the Bills and Overtures Page to download the documents or you can click here.
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Presbyterian Youth Triennium Update The National Registration Deadline is February 1. (That's tomorrow.)
This message is to encourage all churches that have youth interested in attending Triennium 2013 to immediately contact either KC Kye,kyung1000ah@hotmail.com, or Derek E. Martin, Martin.Derek@fpcrochester.org
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The deadline for national registration is approaching fast (February 1st) and we want to make sure we have all youth registered! If you know of youth wanting to attend, please contact us with the information so we can add them to the list.
Thank you for assisting us and have a great day!
KC Kye - Church of All Nations
Derek E. Martin - FPC Rochester
2013 PTCA Youth Triennium Registrars
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Annual Reporting: DUE January 31!
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
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You can download the needed forms online. You can go to the
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Synod of Lakes and Prairies Calls Interim Exec
David Crittenden Will Start in March.
 The Synod of Lakes and Prairies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has named the Rev. David Crittenden, at right, to serve as its transitional synod executive beginning March 1.
Crittenden, who most recently served as director of stewardship for the Presbyterian Mission Agency of the PC(USA), will provide executive leadership to the synod as it moves forward, responding to its existing and emerging ministries and mission.
The Rev. Phil Brown, who had been the Lakes and Prairies synod executive since 2004, retired at the end of October.
Crittenden, who has served the Presbyterian Mission Agency since January 2011, had been on the staff of the Synod of Lincoln Trails in Indianapolis, Ind., for 16 years, including his last 10 years there as one of that synod's co-executives.
"The church is going through a time of immense change," Crittenden said. "We need to figure out how we are going to be with God and with God's people as we move forward. Presbyteries and synods will be a part of discerning the church's role regionally."
As director of stewardship for the PMA, Crittenden worked to inspire, equip and connect Presbyterians to faithful financial giving as an act of Christian discipleship with a particular focus on leadership development. The PMA stewardship position ended Dec. 31.
"My experience and my joy have been working for a mid-council," Crittenden said. "With God's help I want to be a part of how the church continues to work together."
Crittenden served as associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church inLexington, Neb., after he completed his Master of Divinity degree from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in 1974. He later served as pastor of churches in Danvers, Ill., and Washington, Ind., before joining the staff at the Synod of Lincoln Trails.
The Synod of Lakes and Prairies, with its office in Eagan, Minn., is one of 16 in the PC(USA). It covers a wide area of the upper Midwest, including the complete states of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North and South Dakota, and it also includes central and eastern Nebraska, and small portions of Michigan and Montana.
A mid-council of the PC(USA), the synod includes 16 presbyteries, including 15 geographical presbyteries and one non-geographic presbytery. There are about 870 churches with 138,000 members.
Presbytery Resources
 If you want to download the latest Presbytery Form, or Policy, want to know what Per Capita is this year or the Presbytery Minimum for Pastors, please remember the button to your left. It's found on the font page of our website and will lead you to a page that has links to all the resources you need. Try the button now (it links to the website resource page) and find the help you've been looking for!
Save the Date #1
PTCA Forum on Sex Trafficking in April.
 The Kwanzaa Task Force of the Mission and Witness Committee will hostCritical Conversations: the local mission effort to deal with sex trafficking and the prostitution of children in the Twin Cities on Tuesday April 2, 6-8PM at Valley Community Presbyterian Church in Golden Valley. Speakers will include Rev. Alika Galloway of the Northside Women's Project and Dr. Lauren Martin from the University of Minnesota. More information to come.
Save the Date #2
Presbyterian Women Spring Gathering in Rochester. 
The Spring Gathering of the Presbyterian Women of the Greater Twin Cities Area will be held on April 13 in Rochester, MN at the First Presbyterian Church. The event starts at 9:00 a.m. with check-in, coffee and conversation. Registration forms will be available in the next Connections publication.
The speaker this year will be Linda Hora, a Synod Representative from Boone, IA. She participated in the 2011 Global Exchange to India and will reflect on projects, people and experiences she had while there.
Mark your calendars and plan to attend this special event which has been prepared just for you as women of faith. It is a great experience to meet people from other churches in our presbytery and share with them the missions we support, the accomplishments we have made, and the impact we have had on our own community in the name of Jesus Christ.
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.
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News of the Kirks
What's Happening in PTCA Churches.
| 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 . |
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 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
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