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EMerge is a newsletter of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. Through most of the year it is published weekly and distributed to congregations, teaching elders, ruling elders, church members, committees and friends of the presbytery. Please send submissions and address corrections to office@ptcaweb.org.

July 15, 2016

Presbytery news

Hope, concern, reflection

dominate presbytery meeting

By Bill Davnie

Stated Clerk

Oak Grove Presbyterian Church once again provided location, hospitality and nourishment in food and music, as the Presbytery gathered July 12 for its Stated Meeting. We all appreciate its generosity in making its building available for many Presbytery purposes.

Three themes dominated the meeting: hope, concern and reflection.

Regarding hope, opening worship drew on a question asked at the recent General Assembly by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s co-moderators: Where do you see hope in the church? It also included responses from General Assembly participants Mara Emmons, Sue Rutford and Steve Robertson. The commissioning of participants in the 2016 Youth Triennium continued this motif of hope and venture into the future. And the Presbytery rejoiced in the successful examination of Alanna Simone Tyler, in the photo above, a member of Kwanzaa Church, for ordination. She will become associate pastor at Park Methodist Church in Minneapolis.

The complete meeting summary can be found at "Three themes."

21st Century Academy students'

response read at presbytery meeting

At the Tuesday meeting of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, the Rev. Alika Galloway, a pastor at Kwanzaa Community Church in Minneapolis, offered a reflection created out of the hearts and

experiences of the young

people of Kwanzaa's

21st Century Academy. The

Academy, part of the Northside Achievement Zone in Minneapolis, works with families and schools to help children raise their grade levels as they form meaningful relationships with adults.

Jeff Japinga, transitional executive presbyter, wrote, "During this time of tension and reflection following the shooting of Philando Castile, and in the broader cultural climate in which we live, these are words we need to hear as a Presbytery and members of it."

The letter begins:

July 8, 2016

Dear Police Officers Everywhere and other Grownups,

We are scholars of 21st Century Middle School Academy. Today we write with immense emotion. We feel sorrowful, scared, disappointed, and angry. Our culture and our race have been put on police bullets. We don't feel that it is ok for you to shoot innocent people. ... You do not have the right to shoot because of the color of our skin. Why do you want to be a police officer if you are capable of shooting innocent people? Approach us as human beings, instead of with weapons and guns.

The complete letter can be found at "Sorrowful."

Jeff's Jottings

It's been a week ...

By Jeff Japinga

Transitional Executive Presbyter

A week ago, my Jottings column already written, I awoke in Chicago to the news of the shooting death of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights. I added a brief prelude to the column, acknowledging the shooting and its possible implications for us in the presbytery.

I had no idea.

I had no idea of the breadth and depth of what those few sentences meant, or, more accurately, needed to mean.

I'm not sure I do now. In the ensuing week - a week that saw the ambush and assassination of five Dallas police officers last Thursday; the ongoing, roiling protests here in the Twin Cities; and comment from virtually all quarters of our society on what these events mean for us as a society and as a church - I don't know that I've gained clarity on the way forward. Not certainty, to be sure. But maybe, just maybe, I've found greater resolve, to do the work we need to do. ...

I am grateful for and deeply moved by the heartfelt responses offered in our PTCA churches this past Sunday morning. The stories I've heard are incredible - orders of service scrapped and re-written, sermons re-done, prayers from our knees, individual initiatives for change. Thank you all for your witness. I hope you've read the pastoral letter the leaders of your presbytery released on Saturday. I want you to read the statement we heard at presbytery from the young people of Kwanzaa Community Church's 21st Century Academy that we've published in this EMerge. I'd like you to read this brief piece from my friend and colleague Craig Howard of the Presbytery of Milwaukee, and this one and this one from our PC(USA) co-moderators Denise Anderson and Jan Edmiston. All of this is the life-giving fruit of being a connectional church.

The complete "Jottings" can be found at "A Week."

Offering at presbytery

benefits The Sheridan Story

The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area generated $788.62 for The Sheridan Story through an offering collected at the presbytery meeting Tuesday. The Sheridan Story is a network of weekend food

programs,

commonly called backpack programs, operating in multiple schools in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The Sheridan Story, according to its website, "provides logistical expertise and project execution while leveraging community partnerships for funding and volunteers." According to the Rev. William Chadwick, pastor of Oak Grove Presbyterian Church, the site of the presbytery meeting, the donation "will pay for an entire year's worth of weekend supplementary food for more than five kids."

Around the presbytery ...

Burnsville church will present

5th annual Summer Salon on Sunday

Presbyterian Church of the Apostles in Burnsville will be host to its fifth annual Summer Salon this Sunday, July 17, with a silent auction beginning at 3:30 p.m. and a chamber concert at 4 p.m. The concert features vocal and instrumental music by friends and members of the congregation. Julie Amacher of Classical Minnesota Public Radio will be host of the concert. More details at "Summer Salon."

Andrew Riverside launches interfaith intentional community house

Andrew Riverside Presbyterian Church

is launching an interfaith intentional community house for students and young adults. The home is built on the values of organic social networks, entrepreneurship, self-governance and interfaith work. This is a pilot year and Andrew Riverside will be developing programming with residents. Andrew Riverside is actively seeking residents for immediate move in. The home is located in Prospect Park near the University of Minnesota. Rent is subsidized to support students and recent grads. Humor, kindness and grace are encouraged. Interested individuals are invited to contact house manger Matthew Fitzgerald at

matthew@andrewriversidepresbyterian.com

Service opportunities ...

The First Presbyterian Church of Belle Plaine, Minn., has an opening for a �- time pastor. The church's official mission statement is "Welcome, Learn, and Serve," but its unofficial slogan is "Small but Mighty." Those who are interested in the position are invited to submit their PIF or resume to ep@ptcaweb.org. A more complete listing is at "Belle Plaine Pastor."

News of the wider church

Church leaders seek peaceful

solutions following week of violence

Presbyteries in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas are working to help their communities respond in the wake of several shootings this week that have once again sparked debate over gun violence, racism and use of force by police.

Earlier this week two white police officers shot and killed Alton Sterling, an African American, outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The shooting, captured on video, has fueled protests and outrage across the country. The next day, the shooting death of another African American, Philando Castile, by a police officer in Falcon Heights, Minn., has garnered the same response. Castile's girlfriend broadcast his death live on Facebook. ...

Faith leaders in the Twin Cities are addressing the issue of racial justice in light of Castile's shooting death. Thousands rallied outside the Minnesota governor's mansion last week Thursday calling for action.

"Because there has been a large, inclusive presence of people at events such as clergy, teachers, workers, people who live in and outside Minneapolis and St. Paul, this is seen as a large community response saying we have got to stop this," said Elona Street-Stewart, synod executive for the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. "When there is evidence that there is a bias against African American men, how can we be safe when the people who are supposed to protect us are doing this?"

The complete Presbyterian News Service story is at "Seeking Peaceful Solutions."

PC(USA) stated clerk speaks out

on Sterling, Castile killings

J. Herbert Nelson, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), responded last week to the shooting deaths of two African American men -- Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La., and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minn. His response begins, "Once again the nation, and the African American community, in particular, is faced with two more high-profile killings of African American males. Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge, La., and Philando Castile of the Twin Cities area of Minnesota are the latest among a long list of publicized and unjustified killings by law enforcement officers in the United States. The questionable nature of African American males and females dying at the hands of police in our streets and in police custody is so pervasive in the United States that the U.S. Justice Department is leading the investigation in the Sterling case and has been asked to investigate the Castile case." Nelson's complete response can be found at "Engaging the Truth."

Forum addresses race, class,

gender, power in food system

The Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF), an organization that promotes the sustainability and the well-being of people, animals and planet through food and agriculture systems, held its 14th annual forum recently in Louisville, Ky. Its work closely aligns with the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP). The PHP associate for national hunger concerns, Andrew Kang Bartlett, who serves on the SAFSF steering committee, helped introduce this year's forum and was among an extensive list of speakers during the three-day event. The complete story can be found at "Sustainable Agriculture."

Summer Board Bulletin

available at pensions.org

After each regular meeting of the board of directors of The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Board publishes The Board Bulletin, reporting on actions taken at the meeting. The current edition contains information presented and actions taken at this summer's meeting that affect plans and programs of the Board. The current Board Bulletin is at "Key Information." In addition, the new Benefits Connect website is now active. It's at "Connect."