Iowa Religious Media Services, in partnership with the Mid-Iowa Council of the Boy Scouts of America, will once again host the Bethlehem Peace Light during this Advent season. For more than 1,000 years, lamps have been continuously lit in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and now the same flame can shine in your sanctuary too.  Since 1989, Boy Scouts from Austria have facilitated the distribution of the Bethlehem Peace Light from the Grotto of the Nativity in the small town of Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. Lighting their lamps from that flame, the Scouts then distribute the Light across Europe and North America. Church representatives are invited to bring a lantern or oil lamp to IRMS through Wednesday, Dec. 23, between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., or by special appointment on Dec. 24, to light from the Bethlehem Peace Light flame. Additional details are available by contacting Alan Strohmaier, Central Iowa Peace Light coordinator, at alan.strohmaier@gmail.com.  More information about the Bethlehem Peace Light is available at "Peace Light."

Winter, Summer Pastor Schools

are on schedule in Nebraska

Winter Pastors School, sponsored by the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation and Quad Presbytery Consortium is just around the corner. Sam Hamilton-Poore, pastor at Collegiate Presbyterian Church in Ames, Iowa, will speak on "Spirituality for Ministry" at the retreat and educational event that runs Feb. 1-4 in Hastings, Neb. Details and registration information are at "Winter Pastors School." And Summer Pastors School is also on the horizon. It runs June 5-11 at the Hastings College Hazelrigg Student Center. Early bird registration runs through April 20. Details and registration information for the summer version are at "Summer Pastors School."

The brochure is out and online registration will soon be available for the annual Stewardship Kaleidoscope event planned Feb. 29-March 2 in San Antonio, Texas. The two keynoters for the event will be Karl Travis, pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth, Texas, and Grace Duddy Pomroy, financial education specialist for Portico Benefit Services. Cynthia M. Campbell, pastor at Highland Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Ky., will be the worship leader. The complete brochure can be found at "Kaleidoscope."

NEXT Church is looking for those

with an idea to present at conference

The NEXT Church website asks the questions, "Got an idea you feel called to offer to the conference? Want to raise some provocative questions for reflection? What's your angle on this movement we call the NEXT Church?" The NEXT Church National Gathering runs Feb. 22-24 in Atlanta, and the questions above regard "Ignite" presentations, a feature at the gathering "in which 10 participants give quick, tight, thought-provoking presentations designed to spark imaginations and get people dreaming and scheming about the church." Pitches to be one of the 10 presenters are due Jan. 15 and one of the submissions will be entered in a drawing for free registration to the gathering. Details are at "NEXT Church Ignites."

 

Disciple-Making Church Conference

slated in January in Florida

Writing in The Presbyterian Disciple, Ray Jones, coordinator of the Presbyterian Mission Agency's Office of Evangelism, noted the upcoming Disciple-Making Church Conference will be "focusing on rhythm and practices that allow us to create margin in our lives, discover how to truly engage in the ministry of disciple-making out of our relationship with God." The conference takes place Jan. 18-21 at St. Pete Beach, Fla. Details are at "Disciple Making."

 

Regarding Ruling Elders resource

addresses ruling elders, treasurers

The Rev. Ted McCulloch, stated clerk for the Presbytery of Lake Huron since 2010, writes this month's installment of the Office of the General Assembly's resource, Regarding Ruling Elders. McCulloch notes, "Back in the days when circuses traveled the land, there was a strongman as one of the sideshow acts that would demonstrate his power before a large audience. Toward the end, he squeezed the juice from a lemon between his hands. He then said to the audience, 'I will offer $200 to anyone in the audience who can squeeze another drop from this lemon.' A thin, scholarly looking elderly woman with glasses on a chain around her neck, came forward, picked up the lemon, squeezed it hard, and managed to get a drop of juice out of the lemon. The strongman was amazed. As he paid the woman the $200, he said, 'I've got to ask, 'What is the secret of your strength?'' 'Practice,' the woman answered. 'I was the treasurer of First Presbyterian Church for 32 years and have always had to squeeze something out of nothing!'" McCulloch's complete column can be found at "Regarding Ruling Elders."

 

'Being Reformed' adult study

addresses topics of grace, gratitude

A new "Being Reformed: Faith Seeking Understanding" study for adults explores two important aspects of Reformed and Presbyterian identity and conviction: "Grace and Gratitude." Written by the Rev. Dr. Charles Wiley III, coordinator of the Presbyterian Mission Agency's office of Theology and Worship, "Grace and Gratitude," which consists of a participant's and a leader's guide, the latter written by Eva Stimson, explores what some church people say is a fast-disappearing part of the worship service, the confession of sin. Wiley, bucking the prevalent trend, says people cannot fully know they belong to a God of grace, nor live grateful lives without confessing their sin and hearing the good news. The complete Presbyterian News Service story is at "Grace and Gratitude."

 

Christmas story will kick off

2016 Presbyterian Youth Triennium

It's not exactly Christmas in July, but the 2016 Presbyterian Youth Triennium opening night theme is based on a passage in the gospel of Luke that is traditionally read at Christmas Eve worship services around the country. An anticipated 5,000 Presbyterian youth attending the 2016 Triennium July 19-23 are invited to consider again the Christmas story of shepherds terrified in their fields, when an angel of the Lord comes to visit them. Rodger Nishioka, a Christian education professor at Columbia Theological Seminary in Georgia, is particularly interested in faith formation for youth and young adults. Presbyterian News Service caught up with him to discuss the significance of opening the "GO" Triennium theme with the shepherds' Christmas story. The complete story is at "Christmas at Triennium."