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The Weekly E-Newsletter of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area
| March 15, 2013
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Prayer RequestsMarch 17, 2013
 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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March 2013 Presbytery Meeting HighlightsThe March meeting was off to an energetic start.
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Several former campers and counselors from Presbyterian Clearwater Forest led and energetic worship service on Saturday morning.
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 In January the Presbytery Meeting started off with worship in the style a Taize, a time of quiet contemplation. There was nothing quiet about how worship was lead at the March 2013 Presbytery Meeting which was held March 9 at North Como Presbyterian Church in Roseville, MN. The Presbytery started at 9:00 a.m. with prayer by Moderator Barbara Lutter. An energetic worship service led by Presbyterian Clearwater Forest Director D.J. Jeremiason, with participation by camper and counselors Hallie Lutter, Ruth Rutford, Peter Buller and Laura Twedell got the crowd moving and dancing on an early Saturday morning. Click here to find out what happened after the dancing stopped.
From the Resource Center for ChurchesThe March Resource Pick.
Learn how the early Israelites, Jesus of Nazareth and the #Occupy movement today occupied in more than one sense. The resource includes online summaries and study guides with videos for each chapter of Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite's
#Occupy the Bible: What Jesus Really Said About Money and Power (Astor+Blue Editions, 2013). The RCCis a project of Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal and UCC Churches in Minnesota. Their
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InPrint Returns!
The PTCA's journal of mission and ministry focuses on new and renewing congregations.
InPrint, the Journal of Mission and Ministry in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area is now available. You can either read the magazine online or download it for reading or sharing. Please click on the links below to start the download.
This issues includes:
- Stories on Chain of Lakes New Church Development and the Revival of Grace-Trinity
- Making Presbytery Meetings Millennial-Friendly
- Mission taking place in Austin, Albert Lea and St. Paul
- Lenten Thoughts
- and much more.
Have a story to share? We are looking for stories of mission and ministry taking place in the PTCA. Please send your stories ideas and completed copy to communications@ptcaweb.org. The due date for copy for the June 2013 issue is at the close of business on May 15, 2013.
Please let us know what you think of InPrint and how it fits into the media ministry of the PTCA. Feel free to send an email to communication@ptcaweb.org
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Healthy Boundaries Training
April 4 at Church of the Apostles in Burnsville.
The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area will host a Level One Boundaries Training Event on Thursday, April 4 at Presbyterian Church of the Apostles
in Burnsville from 8:30am 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 (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.
1. All youth leaders who wish to attend Triennium are required to take this training.
2. All participants are required to attend the entire day of training, from opening welcome and worship through closing, or no credit will be given.
You must sign-up for the event online before the close of business on Tuesday, April 2.
If you have any questions, please contact the Sandra Stuart Gray or Peter Soulen, co-chairs of the Advocates for Integrity Committee at aim@ptcaweb.org.
Click here to register for the event.
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Fiscal Fitness Forum for Seminarians April 19 at Westminster-Minneapolis.
How fiscally fit are you? Join us for a first call seminar designed to get you on the path to financial well-being.
This seminar is for: 
- Seminary students, candidates, and inquirers
- Recent graduates and area early-career clergy
- A guest (covered partner, spouse, fiance/e, etc.)
Sponsored by the Presbyterian Board of Pensions.
Click here to register.
A Note About Mission and Witness Congregational and Scholarship Grants
Send those applications in early.
A note about 2013 Congregational and Scholarship Grant requests:
Please plan ahead!
The M&W Committee has determined that it can only consider church or scholarship grant applications that arrive prior to the date of an event. Requests made through the online applications should be submitted with proper approvals at least 6 weeks prior to the date of the event. The next meeting of M&W is March 21st, regular meetings are the 4th Thursday of every month.
To apply for either grant online, please click here.
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One Great Hour of Sharing Offering
Thank you for your continued dedication to the important work of the church done through the Presbyterian Hunger Program, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, and Self-Development of People ministries which are supported by your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing which collected during Lent and Easter.
Below is information to help you in promoting the offering in your congregation:
- Standing orders for the One Great Hour of Sharing have been shipped. If you have not received your order please call 800-524-2612 or e-mail mpds@pcusa.org to inquire about your order.
- Access the One Great Hour of Sharing website's Art page for reproducible ads and fun facts about the Offering for your newsletter.
- Last year we introduced the ability to give via text messaging. This option still remains for those unable to give when the offering is received at your church. Individual $10 gifts can be made by texting OGHS to 20222.
Thank you. Your support of One Great Hour of Sharing continues to make a difference in the lives others!!
SDOP 2012 Grants
SDOP Committee Offers $17K in Grants to Two Minneapolis Organizations.
The Self Development of People Committee of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area awarded grants in 2012 to an organization that provides food to persons living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases and a local co-op that aims to provide culturally specific products and lift people from generational poverty.
The two organizations chosen to receive grants were: Bountiful Growers, Minneapolis, MN, $6,209 and The Aliveness Project, Minneapolis, MN, $11,209.
Bountiful Growers, located in North Minneapolis, is a grass roots organization of a core group of 5 multi-generational women who own and control this co-op. They specialize in growing and harvesting cultural specific and celebrated produce. The harvested products are used to produce natural, organic skin care that includes lip balm, body butter and soap .
Bountiful was established in order to create safe and natural products for the community, to celebrate and utilize cultural knowledge, and to educate the community on best business practices and break cycles of generational poverty.
Located in South Minneapolis, the Aliveness Project was founded in 1985 as an alternative source of support and services for persons living with HIV/AIDS. Aliveness offersa Food Services Program to supplement daily nutrition, Meetings & Speakers services to provide creative ways of helping people cope with issues concerning HIV/AIDS, as well as Complimentary Therapies to augment current modes of AIDS drug therapies.
The Self Development of People Committee receives funding from the One Great Hour of Sharing special offering. The funds are granted to grass roots organizations that work to empower the economically poor, oppressed, and disadvantaged people seeking to change the structures that perpetuate poverty, oppression and justice.
Self Development of People grants are for any grass roots organization within the boundaries of this presbytery. PTCA churches and individuals are asked to encourage grass roots organizations to apply for funding. The application and criteria for funding are on the presbytery website.
March is Minnesota Foodshare Month
Helping Local Foodshelves.
 During the month of March, congregations in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities will join people of good will from across the state of Minnesota to help alleviate hunger. Minnesota FoodShare's March Campaign is the largest food drive in the state, and faith communities, including PTCA churches are the heart of the campaign. Last year the campaign raised a record 9.1 million pounds and dollars for Minnesota's food shelves. In 2013, it is hoped that $1million will be raised to support foodshelves in Minnesota. Participating PTCA congregations will be collecting both food and cash contributions throughout the month of March for your local food shelf. If your congregation has not participated, you can do so by getting materials from Minnesota FoodShare: Is your church taking part? If so, drop us a line at communications@ptcaweb.org. We'd like to know what your doing to "Be a Hero" in the fight against hunger in Minnesota.
Ordination on March 17
At Church of the Master in Coon Rapids.
The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area and Church of the Master in Coon Rapids, MN invites you to a Service of Ordination and Installation of Katie Whipple. The service will take place on Sunday, March 17 at 4PM at the 789 Northdale Blvd., Coon Rapids, MN 55448. Refreshments will follow the service.
Katie has been called to be the associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Sioux City, IA in the Prospect Hill Presbytery.
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!
Critical Conversations
PTCA Forum on Sex Trafficking in April.
 The Kwanzaa Task Force of the Mission and Witness Committee will host Critical 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. For more information, please read this article by Teaching Elder Bebe Baldwin.
"God's People Crying Out for Justice"
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.
The cost for the event is $15. For more information and also to register for the event, download the Spring 2013 issue of Connections, the Newsletter of Presbyterian Women in the PTCA.
The Wired Church
Communication and Technology Forum on April 13.
 Are you in charge of the audio/video for Sunday morning service? Or maybe you put together the church newsletter or website? Do you have questions on how to do your job better or do you have tips to share with others. If you are involved in either technology or communication in your church, we hope you will take time to come to the Wired Church, a forum on the role of technology and communication in congregations. It's a time to come with questions or tips on how to improve your ministry. Join us April 13 at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis from 9AM-Noon. The event is free, but we would like you to register. Registration for the event is now available! Please click here to register.
Shampoo and Toothpaste Needed
For Refugees coming to Minnesota.
Imagine (if you can) flying internationally without any money or even a credit card, only to find out your hotel doesn't have any toiletries like shampoo or toothpaste. MCC Refugee Services prepares apartments for newly arriving refugee families with all the basics to give families a warm welcome to Minnesota and give them a chance to settle in without having to worry about basic necessities. We are in need of full-sized shampoo and toothpaste to share with the many new arrivals that we're expecting. For a full list of accepted items, visitthe Minnesota Council of Churches-Refugee Ministries website. Donations can be delivered to the MN Church Center (122 Franklin Ave W, Minneapolis) during business hours.
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.
Conference for Mainline Christian Educators Set for October ( more)
Two PTCA Congregations Granted "Green" Seal of Approval ( more)
Lenten Art Exhibit at First-South St. Paul ( more) Kwanzaa Task Force to Host Conference on Sex Trafficking in April ( more) Board of Pensions Postpones Medical Care Dues Recommendation to June ( 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 . |
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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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