Muskingum Valley Presbytery
Weekly Update

March 7, 2013

This week...
Save the Dates!
MVP News & Materials
Tax Guide for Ministers and Federal Reporting
Human Trafficking Awareness Training Seminar
Consider Detroit...
Opening in the Presbytery of Detroit
Loving God & Loving Thy Neighbor
Maundy Thursday at Creston
Daylight Savings Time
Seek the Shalom...
Lenten Retreat/Stated Presbytery Meeting
From East Hills, Mansfield
Presbyterian Youth Triennium 2013 Info
From the Office of General Assembly
Haiti teaching mission trip
Help with Hurricane Sandy Recovery
Prayer Requests/Updates
Join Our Mailing List 

Save the Dates!

 

Wednesday March 13th, 5P

until 

Thursday, 

March 14th, 5P

   

Registration  

begins at 4:30P

 

Lenten Retreat/

Stated Presbytery Meeting

Inner Shalom

 

Christ 

Presbyterian Church

530 Tuscarawas Street West 

Canton, OH 44702

  

 

  -------------  

 

Saturday,

April 20th

 

9:00A-4:00P

 

Registration  

begins at 8:30A 

  

Ministry Options in the 21st Century

with George Bullard

  

Unity Presbyterian Church

130 N. 7th Street

Cambridge, OH 43725

   

  -------------

 
Questions?
Comments?
Corrections?

  

800.693.1147
330.339.5515

 

  

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

MVP News:

 

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2013, the standard mileage rates will be:

56.5 cents 

per mile for business miles driven.

 

2011-2013
Book of Order
$9.00 each

*NEW*
2013 Mission Yearbooks
are now on sale at the
Presbytery office.
$15.00 each


Per Capita 2013 
GA
 6.87
Synod
 3.25
Presbytery
18.36
Total
28.48
 




Now Available:



Human Trafficking Awareness Training Seminar

 

April 11, 2013  

 

The all-day, interdisciplinary "continuing education" programming is strong, with experts coming from the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Freedom Network, and PC(USA).

 

Any questions, call: 330.956.4627

Andrew Hubsch

Mission Ministry,

Christ Presbyterian Church

 

We are excited to bring together such talented and committed people, on the dais, and in attendance. And to strive for hope amid an otherwise mournful subject matter.

 

April 2013 Human

Trafficking Seminar Information (.pdf)




Consider Detroit as a
Location for your next Youth or Adult Mission Trip 
 
Detroit Presbytery Service Initiative is a program run by the Hands-On Mission Work Group of the Presbytery of Detroit, 17575 Hubbell, and Detroit, MI 48235.

Nature of Work:
A variety of service opportunities in partnership with area congregations, community agencies and social service organizations.
Work projects include and are not limited to demolition, construction, human services, Vacation Bible Schools, Habitat builds, nature conservancy and many others.



Opening in the Presbytery of Detroit for Transformation/New Church Development Consultant

 

Please send PIF or resume and cover letter to Executive Presbyter 

Al Timm at, [email protected], by March 11.



Loving God & Loving Thy Neighbor:
New Hymns for
Peace & Justice

A Workshop by Pastor/Hymn Writer Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

Learn about
how new words to familiar
hymn tunes can encourage your
congregation in their love of neighbor.

Cost: $5/person to cover cost of
presenter travel and refreshments.
(C.O.W. students and those under 18
yrs. of age are free)

Location:
The Meeting Place at
Westminster Presbyterian Church
353 Pine Street
Wooster, OH 44691

RSVP: Carly Jones at
[email protected] or
(330)263-2398 by March 29th



CRESTON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
INVITES YOU TO JOIN US ON
MAUNDY THURSDAY, MARCH 28 at 7:00pm

We will be celebrating Christ in the Passover. Our special guest will be a Messianic Jewish Rabbi from Cleveland, OH, Rabbi Eric Lakatos Messianic Jews believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior...believing He is the Messiah.  They worship on the Sabbath and appreciate their Jewish roots. We will celebrate the Messianic Passover with teaching of how Jesus is present in the Passover Supper. We need to have an estimate of the number of people coming.
PLEASE CALL THE CHURCH OFFICE AT 330-435-4262 TO MAKE RESERVATIONS.

THIS IS NOT A FULL MEAL, SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU EAT SUPPER BEFORE YOU COME!
 

 


Daylight Savings time begins Sunday, March 10th. Please turn your clocks ahead one hour.
Also, remember to change your batteries in all smoke detectors. 
 
 

Seek the Shalom...

 

Shalom. Such an evocative word, rich in meaning, but not easily translated! Peace, but more than peace, Shalom speaks to the welfare of the community. Prosperity, but more than financial prosperity, Shalom is wholeness of body, mind, and soul.  Shalom, do you not yearn for it in the very core of your being?

 

Scripture is clear, we are to seek the Shalom of the communities to which we have been sent in exile, for in the community's Shalom will we find our Shalom (Jeremiah 29:7).   We know this and live this out in so many ways, through so many forms of ministry and service.

 

But still we find ourselves in exile. Physical Exile, as communities undergo deep and discontinuous change.  Emotional Exile, as traditional structures of family, institution, and church are re-formed.  Spiritual Exile, as core virtues are challenged by consumerism and distorted values born more of our culture, than God. Still, as we are coming to know first hand, there is hope as exile.

 

In Western culture, in particular, we have developed a flawed notion that we can define ourselves as individuals apart from community. The African notion of "Ubuntu" has much to teach us about our mutual inter-dependence and responsibility. We cannot know personal Shalom apart from communal Shalom.   Africa, through the sin of apartheid, learned: "I am what I am because of who we are." Bishop Desmond Tutu defines Ubuntu as:

... the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our inter-connectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu).  

 

Learning how to practice "Ubuntu" may well be a first step toward seeking Shalom.

 

Last month, a delegation from the Westminster Presbyterian Church went to South Africa to learn how to more faithfully practice Ubuntu. Their encounters were powerful. Their learnings deep. Their testimony profound. But, we do not need to go to South Africa to begin to grapple with the reality that God's call to seek Shalom requires that we begin by naming our inter-connectedness. We cannot know God's Shalom apart from the Shalom of our communities. In the words of NT Wright, we are called as "stewards in the project of creation" (Surprised by Hope).

 

Below is the docket for next week's meeting. The question has been asked: What time is the business meeting? Our business is to seek the Shalom of our communities. Our time together is intended to nurture, challenge and encourage as together we heed God's call. Muskingum Valley Presbytery has been on a journey. A journey that has led us to set aside our regulatory structures that we might learn anew how to be and make disciples, nurture our faith, and serve the needs of the community.

 

Take some time to pray through the docket. Pray by name for those who will be leading us in our time apart. Ask God how you can best prepare for this time apart. And get ready to ponder the reality of Shalom found not in returning to what we have known, but in the exile of God's new.

 

I look forward to seeing you all next week!

 

 

 

Debbie Rundlett, general presbyter
[email protected] 

 

 

 

Seek the Shalom

Seek the Shalom of the communities to which you have been sent in exile,

for in their Shalom will be your Shalom. Jeremiah 29:7

 

Wednesday, March 13th 

4:30pm           

Registration

 

5:00pm

Gathering with Prayer-Jon Carlisle, moderator

Worship & Table Time with Parishes: Roots

Renewal of Baptismal Vows led by Connie Humphrey & Mark Nutter

 

6:00pm            

Soup Supper hosted by John Knox Presbyterian Church

 

7:00pm

Seek the Shalom: The Fourfold Journey-Debbie Rundlett, gp

Testimony: Donna Westfall, The Presbyterian Church, Coshocton

 

8:30pm            

Candlelit Compline Service with Labyrinth Walk led by Ben George, Keith Leach and Barbara Morrison 

 


Thursday, March 14th 

8:00am

Breakfast of Bagels, Yogurt and Fruit (and yes, coffee and tea!)

 

8:45am            

Sung Morning Prayer with David Kienzle led by Deb Lilley, Mark Unrue and Donna Westfall  

 

9:30am            

Seek the Shalom of the Community: The Reality of Exile

 

11:45am          

Testimony: Mike Humphrey, First Presbyterian Church, Cambridge

 

Noon

Lunch with Blessing by Jim Gibson

 

1:00pm            

Seek the Shalom of the Community: An Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry

Testimony: Best Sand... One Company's Story of Community Transformation

 

3:30pm            

Annual Meeting of the Corporation: Looking Back... Living Forward

 

4:00pm            

Closing Eucharist led by John Lane, Herb Perry and Eldon Trubee

 

4:30pm            

Depart to love and service the Lord!

 
 

 

Lenten Retreat/

Stated Presbytery Meeting

Inner Shalom

 

Wednesday, March 13th, 5pm-

Thursday, March 14th, 5pm

 

Christ Presbyterian Church/

McKinley Hotel**

 

Presented by: Council & Parish Elders with Musician David Kienzle

Our journey begins with a Lenten Retreat as we nurture "Inner Shalom" yielding ourselves a new
to the Triune God through intentional focus on the Inward and Upward Journeys.

 
*Please contact Shawn Dawko at The McKinley Hotel, 330-580-5816 to book your reservations. To receive discount, state that you are attending the MVP Lenten Retreat. You must call the hotel ahead to reserve room(s).   
Another option for overnight stay:  
Our leaders in the local area have graciously opened their homes to house anyone who is interested in a bed for the night. Please contact Shauna at 330-339-5515 or by email, [email protected], to reserve a bed in a home.   

 

 
February 21, 2013
From East Hills Presbyterian Church, Mansfield
 
As you can tell from our annual report information, we are a small group of workers for Christ, but we do what we can with what we have.

The information we would like to include in our annual report does not seem to have a slot to put it in.

Our church of sixteen members, some of whom are in assisted living situations, does mission work for a local entity called Harmony House. Harmony House is a refuge from the storm for many homeless men, women and children in this area. Our little group helps provide groceries, hygiene items, warm clothing, and money for transportation for those at the shelter who have a job but no transportation; household items for those who are able to leave and start a household again; and school supplies, toys, games, books, and special holiday remembrances for the children, like Easter Baskets. One of the church members, who is in her nineties, has made several quilts for them, and many child-size quilts have been made by others for children.

You can see why the request was made to somehow include this information in our annual report.

Thank you for your work that you do on our behalf - we appreciate it.

East Hills Presbyterian Clerk of Session,  
Sharon Radabaugh 
 

 

PRESBYTERIAN YOUTH TRIENNIUM 2013 
July 16-20, 2013 
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 

 

NEED MORE INFORMATION?


Visit the Youth Triennium web site to watch a video about past Trienniums (www.presbyterianyouthtriennium.org). If you have questions, or would like to arrange a visit for someone to talk to your youth about Triennium, please contact Shauna Engeldinger at the Presbytery office (330-339-5515 or [email protected]).  

 

 

On Wednesday, March 6th, 2013 the Office of the General Assembly announced a major restructuring with associated staffing changes.  A press release giving background and information about the new structure can be found at the following link:  http://www.pcusa.org/news/2013/3/6/office-general-assembly-announces-reorgani

 

We have appreciated your prayers and support through this process.

 

Peace,

 

Tom

               

Thomas D Hay

Director of Operations

Associate for Assembly Operations

Office of the General Assembly

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

           

 

 

 

If you or anyone you know is interested in a Haiti teaching mission trip, please contact Kathy Adams,

 

 

Help with Hurricane Sandy Recovery

First Presbyterian Church in Wooster Ohio is sending a group to New York City to help with Hurricane Sandy recovery.  We will leave on April 28th and return on May 4th.  Individuals are responsible for their own travel.  The cost is $40 per person per night.  Please contact Bruce Ballantine by email ([email protected]) or phone (330-264-9420) for more information or to join the group.  You must be over 18 years old to join us on this trip.   

 

 
Prayer Requests/Updates

 

Please pray for Eight Days of Hope as they are in LaPlace, Louisiana, for the next 10 days as they rebuild 349 homes, eight churches and provide the lodging and feeding of 2,481 people.  

Visit their website to learn more: www.eightdaysofhope.com  

 

Barb Amon, moderator of Presbyterian Women, is very sick and is need of prayer.  

 

Please pray for John Scheurer from the New Harrisburg Church is in Woodlawn Rehabilatation Center after spending time at Aultman Hospital.  His Parkinson's Disease is causing increased health problems.    

 

 

   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