Click on links below to read newsletters from some of our congregation that send their publications to the presbytery office electronically. (If your church newsletter is not linked here, contact the presbytery office to ask how you may be included)

  

Alpena

Bellaire 

Beulah 

Big Bay

Escanaba 
Florence 

Gaylord

Harbor Springs

Houghton

Marquette 
Northern Lakes Community Church

Petoskey
Pickford

Rogers City 

Sault Ste. Marie

 

 

 

Once again, an appeal goes out to churches across the Presbytery to bring good, clean winter coats to the Presbytery meeting at Presbytery Point Camp in September, so we can transport them to provide warmth to the people of the Keweenaw Peninsula.  Clean out your closets and help this wonderful project supported by our Presbytery to meet the great needs of those they serve.

 

Don Mead, Chair

Stewardship and Mission Committee

 

Coordinating Council voted to affirm the appointment of Ruling Elders Jean Fought, Daniel Richards, and Connie Watson; and Teaching Elders William Lane and James Pollard to the Interim General Presbyter Search Committee. The committee elected Ruling Elder Jean Fought chair. 

Council also approved the job description for the IGP.  The timeline offered by the Search Committee is as follows:  

 

*Post IGP position no later than September 1, 2013 

*Applications due no later than January 6, 2014

*Applications to Search Team January 8, 2014

*Committee conference call 1 pm January 9, 2014

*Committee will review applications and provide   supplementary questions to possible candidates to interview by January 13, 2014

*Questions completed and returned to committee no later than January 23, 2014

*Telephone (preferred) or Skype Interviews February 17, 2014

*Committee conference call February 19, 2014

*Face to face interviews week of March 10 , 2014

*Position filled April 1, 2014

 

 

Retired Presbyterian Minister, Rev. Homer Nye and his wife Becky Mang recently received Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan's Mary Stanton Award, in part, for their tireless efforts and leadership with the Food Rescue program, which they were instrumental in establishing in the region.  They saw a need to feed the hungry at the same time food was being thrown away.
Food Rescue, established in 2008, takes food from markets that would normally throw it away and distributes it to food pantries in the area. 

When Homer and Becky first got Food Rescue up and running, they collected 600 pounds of food a week and delivered it to families in Grand Traverse County.  Today Food Rescue is collecting and delivering 33,000 pounds of food a week and feeding many, many hungry people in five counties.  It had to start somewhere, and it started with these two people!

  

The pair are known throughout the community for their involvement in all kinds of volunteer work and leadership.  They helped their church begin hosting Safe Harbor, the area's ecumenical approach to sheltering the homeless during winter months and are caretakers of Traverse Area District Library's Little Free Library in their neighborhood.

It has been twelve years since we were attacked by those who hate our country, our people, and those church goers who especially profess Jesus as their Savior.  The day of infamy since Pearl Harbor, was September 11, 2001.

Immediately after 9/11 millions of Americans were running back to God, flooding into churches, to escape the terror that was invading our borders. Many of us can remember the events unfolding  in our nation as planes crashed into the ground and buildings, killing hundreds of innocent citizens.  We were stunned, horrified, and breathless with what was taking place.  Many could not believe what we were seeing as we stared speechless at our television sets.

Most of us remember where we were when our nation was attacked.  Those of us remember where we were when President Kennedy was assassinated. You old timers recall where you were on December 7, 1941.  These are dates in our memory banks of history.  They were dates of tragedy and loss.

This month we realize that Christ Jesus is our hope.  He is now and always has been God's answer to our oppression, our fears, poverty, and certainly our grief.  When we think about the deaths of all of those in the Twin Towers, we look for heroes and long for their deeds and efforts on behalf of others.  The firemen, policemen and medics who ran with uncertainty to rescue those who were innocently trapped in crumbling buildings, were the victims of hatred.

Jesus was given to us to proclaim freedom.  No words coming from our mouths can do what the Lord Jesus has done.  Who else can actually know the pain of those who died while trying to save others than he who died to save sinners?  No program, no government, no words of human beings can do what Jesus can do.

We will never see the same New York skyline we witnessed before 9/11.  Even the tower replacement will not dot the horizon like the Twin Towers did. However, as the ashes and smoke was still dominate, and if you were at the right location, you could see something in the distance that would take your breath away.

From a particular vantage point one could see our symbol of freedom, our majestic lady of grace, the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.  Let us pray that our nation and all of us who can see the gospel of Christ fulfilled, in a New Day of liberty, and freedom for America, forever and ever. May all of God's followers help us bring a revival to our land that will enshrine our gifts of this great country.

 

  

Please plan to join us at Evergreen Ministries on Sept 12-14, 2013 for "From Embers to a Flame: Revitalizing Churches". All of the information about the event and how to register can be found on the attached e-brochure or at http://calvinseminary.edu/emberstoflame.

We are pleased to announce that we've redesigned pensions.org, making it easier than ever for you to find information and resources.

 

The new navigation and content are designed with you in mind. You can quickly get what you need by using the intuitive navigation throughout the site. Whether it's the main navigation, drop-down menus, or sidebar menus, the site has a simple and consistent layout that makes additional information and resources just a click away.

 

The latest news and topics of interest are still on the home page, so you can be sure you'll get updates as soon as you visit the site. You then have options for finding what you want. You can look for information specific to members, employers, seminarians, and retirees, as well as other audiences. Or you can navigate based on the plan or program you are interested in, or the type of resource you want, such as forms, booklets, or featured articles.

 

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