Muskingum Valley Presbytery
Weekly Update

November 21, 2012

This week...
Save the Dates!
MVP News & Materials
Per Capita 2013
Debbie's Weekly Message
Holy Habit: Gratitude Journal
From the Stated Clerk's Desk...
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance - Hurricane Sandy
Formational Prayer Seminar
Journey Java
Prayer Requests/Updates
Join Our Mailing List 

Save the Date!

 

Tuesday,

November 27th

  4:00P - 8:00P 

 

Registration  

begins at 3:30P

 

Stated Presbytery Meeting

Advent Worship

 

Click to view Documents for Presbytery Meeting

 

College Drive Presbyterian Church  

2 W. High Street

New Concord, OH 43762

 

Please RSVP by following link: 

   

  

  ------------- 

  

Questions? 
Comments? 
Corrections? 

  

800.693.1147 
330.339.5515

 
 
MVP 
Office Hours:
Monday thru Thursday
8:00A - 4:30P

MVP News:

 

The MVP Office will be closed Wednesday, November 21st at NOON and Thursday, November 22nd for the observance of Thanksgiving.

2011-2013
Book of Order
Please contact
Shauna today!
$9.00 each

 The *NEW* 2013 Mission Yearbooks will be on sale at the November Stated Presbytery
for $15.00 each


 

Per Capita 2013

GA
 6.87
Synod 3.25
Presbytery18.36
Total 28.48


Gratitude is the heart's memory...

 

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15

 

My father's favorite holiday was Thanksgiving.   I think what he loved the most about Thanksgiving was having his whole family home ready to watch football and sit by the fire.   An interlude before the chaos of Christmas descended.

 

As we grew older and obtained our driver's licenses, we were often sent out after special food items to be found across Westchester and Fairfield counties.   Smoked Salmon from Mt. Kisco (don't ask me why it was better than the smoked salmon in Bronxville, but it was. Just ask my father!)... The turkey from Gozzi's Turkey Farm in Westport... The cheeses from the Cheese Shop (that was it's name!) in Poughkeepsie... The wine, from the discount wine merchant in Scarsdale who was way ahead of his time with case discounts. Over time, it became quite a race to see who would arrive home first.

 

We drove my mother crazy, as she had already done the prerequisite shopping for Thanksgiving, and did not see the need for additional food items. But my father gloried in the joy of sending us out on a Thanksgiving scavenger hunt. We always had stories to tell of people we met and incidents we witnessed that made Thanksgiving dinner all the more entertaining.

 

But food hunts aside, the real joy of Thanksgiving for my father was having his family home-gathered from across the country. He was happiest when we were all home. Proud as he was in our going off the college and getting our first jobs, what he liked best was having us all under the same roof.

 

There is an old French Proverb that says gratitude is the heart's memory. For what are you thankful this Thanksgiving?

 

Thanksgiving blessings to you and your family!


    

 

Debbie Rundlett,  

General Presbyter 

 

 

Holy Habit: Gratitude Journal

 

Did you know that there is a crucial component of happiness that is often overlooked? Robert Emmons-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Positive Psychology-examines what it means to think and feel grateful in Thanks! and invites readers to learn how to put this powerful emotion into practice. Scientifically speaking, regular grateful thinking can increase happiness by as much as 25 percent, while keeping a gratitude journal for as little as three weeks results in better sleep and more energy. But there's more than science to embrace here: Emmons also bolsters the case for gratitude by weaving in writings of philosophers, novelists, and theologians that illustrate all the benefits grateful living brings.  Why not start a gratitude journal today? It need not be fancy or complex! Just a simple list made daily of those things for which you are grateful. What are you truly grateful for? What is your heart's memory?

 

 

From the Stated Clerk's Desk                  November 20, 2012

 

I picked up the Canton newspaper yesterday morning and the front page headline caught my attention: Food pantry visits up by nearly 50%. The accompanying photo showed Dan Flowers, president/CEO of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank hugging Pastor Lovie Moore of New Life Missionary Baptist Church in Akron after she delivered a truckload of food collected at her church.

 

I am sure that this headline could probably speak for all of the food distribution programs throughout each of the counties that make up Muskingum Valley Presbytery. Here in Minerva where I live the local Boy Scout troops have recently completed a food drive to help fill the shelves of the Salvation Army service center. Each month, members and friends at First Presbyterian Church in Minerva collect a different food item (i.e., peanut butter, boxed cereal, pasta, canned soup...) and deliver them to the Salvation Army where families line up hours in advance for the monthly distribution of food distribution.

 

At next Tuesday's presbytery meeting each of us will have an opportunity to bring non-perishable food items and paper products to help the volunteers at College Drive's Food Pantry serve increasing numbers of individuals and families who do not have enough to eat. Every donation, large and small, is important. May each of us, mindful of this season of thanksgiving; share the bounty with which God has blessed us.

 

Please be generous!

 

 


What You Can Do

We ask that you stand in the GAP for those who are being affected by this devastating storm:

 

GIVE. Even after the clouds have lifted, long-term challenges brought by Sandy will be faced by millions; we ask that you prayerfully consider giving online to DR000187. You can give $10 now by texting PDA to 20222.

 

ACT. Assemble Gift of the Heart kits-clean up buckets, baby kits, hygiene kits, and school kits. Contact the PDA Call Center at (866) 732-6121 for details on how to volunteer your team's skills to efforts on the ground.

 

PRAY. Please pray for those who have already been impacted by the storm, including those who will face the additional challenges brought by further inclement weather. Pray for affected families and those who will help with emergency, relief, and recovery efforts. Pray that the hope of Christ will be evident in our response.

 

Read more about how PDA is responding 

 

 

 

Formational Prayer Seminar...How we Can Change!

  

The Formational Prayer Seminar may appear to be a hefty title, but indeed it is four days of life changing experiences, learning to walk with Jesus and seek and obtain the glory, guidance, and reassurance of the Holy Spirit. In our first seminar, the very necessary process of forgiveness and putting wounds in perspective takes place with self-forgiveness, healing of old wounds, and short and long term hurts begin with one's self and extends to others. It is the beginning of a process and a journey!

Guided, led, and taught by Dr. Terry Wardle of Ashland Theological Seminary, who has a no holds barred, reveal all attitude about his own and shared experiences, we were guided to begin our own search and realities in a program of learning, combined with daily, meaningful worship. There could never be a kinder, more empathetic way through the hand of God!

 

Attending the second seminar proved to be an even stronger, more involved, self-reflective journey, led by Dr. Wardle, but further enriched by other leaders in their fields of expertise in different learning sessions. We were enriched in our journey, as we walked with Jesus daily, were led by the Holy Spirit, encouraged in daily study, daily prayer, and the use of many recommended resources. A further gift was the connections made with others making the journey, and coming from many different fields of work and areas of the country. We have been encouraged to "tell our story," and to "continue the journey." For those of us in this Presbytery with our theme of "Journeying with Jesus," these experiences are life changing helping us to make changes in our own lives to better help and encourage others to change theirs and continue the walk to enhance our own lives, other lives and the world. I believe for me, these seminars have been not only a large blessing, but a permanent life change in my personal and religious life, providing great direction and joy!

 

Kathy Adams,   

Ruling Elder Commissioner,  

East Hills Presbyterian Church, Mansfield, Ohio.

 


 

Formational Prayer Seminar 

January 16-19, 2013. Registration begins at 8 a.m. 

Wednesday and seminar concludes at 4 p.m. Saturday.

 

Link to Formational Prayer Seminar at Ashland Seminary

 

**Please note the $100 discount when registering as an MVP leader for Formational Prayer Seminar. 

 

 

  

Journey Java
 
Contact Jim Spain at [email protected] to order or for more information.

 

Journey Java Varieties:

"Cup of Excellence"

$16 per pound

"Fair Trade Organic" & All Other Regular Coffee

$12 per pound

"Fair Trade Organic" General Presbyter's Dark Roast Blend

$12 per pound

"Natural Process"

$10 per pound

"Decaffeinated"

$14 per pound

Varieties change on a regular basis due to harvesting dates in coffee producing countries!

Please give one weeks notice for roasting.

Fund raiser for churches available.
All proceeds support MVP mission!!

The Journey Java is a way to bring attention to the plight of the oppressed countries that withhold a fair wage to their employees for the sake of a larger profit. "Journeying with Jesus" coffee is to also help the good employers around the world that take an extra effort in the growth of "FINE" coffee with GREAT "cupping" qualities that honor our earth with organic farming while paying employees above poverty levels.

Journey Java also provides an income for mission within and designated by the Muskingum Valley Presbytery. Profits from the sale of this "FINE" coffee go to the mission of the Presbytery. 

 

 
Prayer Requests/Updates

On the morning of Wednesday, November 21, Jackie Pinkowski, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in New Philadelphia, had surgery on her shoulder.  Please pray for a successful surgery and a quick recovery.
   

   If you or someone you know has a prayer request,

 please send them to: Shauna at [email protected]   

  

      

  

Journeying with Jesus to touch the world...
Empowered by the Spirit to:
Make Disciples, Nurture Our Faith, and Serve the Needs of the Community! 
 

Shauna Engeldinger, Administrative Assistant

  

Muskingum Valley Presbytery

109 Stonecreek Road NW

New Philadelphia, Ohio 44663 

330.339.5515

1.800.693.1147

Fax: 330.339.6225

 

 Visit our website: www.MVPJourney.org

   

 Regular Office hours

Monday - Thursday

8:00A to 4:30P  

 

We will be closed on Wednesday, November 21st at NOON and on Thursday, November 22nd for the observance of Thanksgiving.

We will reopen on Monday with our regular office hours.