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 [email protected].
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Presbytery plans mission
trip to Louisiana in April
The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area is planning a mission trip experience to Denham Spring, Louisiana, to assist in recovery, clean-up and rebuilding from the 2016 flooding. Planned in collaboration with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the trip takes place Saturday to Saturday, April 7-15. The cost of the trip is $150 per person, with a $50 deposit due by Feb. 16. Complete details can be found in note from the Rev. Brenda K. Alexander of the presbytery's Mission and Witness Committee. The note is at "Mission Trip to Denham Spring."
Meeting offers info about 'Move to Amend' effort to reverse Citizens United
The "Move to Amend" effort, a non-partisan movement to overturn the Citizens United decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for political communications by corporations and other organizations, will offer ways to participate in the movement at a one-hour luncheon Wednesday, Jan. 31, at Central Presbyterian Church in St. Paul. According to the invitation to the meeting, "The Move to Amend process ... will overturn Citizens United, help get money out of politics, and restore democracy." The meeting takes place at 11:30 a.m. and $8 is the suggested contribution for lunch. The complete invitation is at "Luncheon Invitation."
Boundary training offered
in January by Committee on Ethics
 The presbytery's Committee on Ethics will be host to a Level 1 boundaries training, entitled "To Bless the Space Between Us," on negotiating interpersonal boundaries, ethics, power dynamics, confidentiality, and self-care in a ministry context. This training is required for all teaching elders when they join the presbytery, and is also appropriate for other church leaders. The training is slated Monday, Jan. 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Oak Grove Presbyterian Church in Bloomington. The complete announcement is at "Boundaries." Registration can be completed at "Boundaries Training."
 Jeff's Jottings
Happy New Year
By Jeff Japinga
Executive Presbyter
Happy New Year. The calendar has turned to 2018, and typically with it, our focus likewise turns to the year ahead. That process for me has been interrupted this week with whatever crud is making the rounds in Minnesota. So I am postponing the future until next week.
That doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about it; I have been, quite a lot, and I'm sure you have been too, both looking back and looking forward. In that, I learn from others, my thoughts shaped in part by the wisdom of others, famous and not so much.
The complete Jottings are at "New Year."
|
Westminster plans to open
doors Jan. 14 on expansion
 Westminster Presbyterian Church will open the doors on an expansion to its historic building on Nicollet Mall on Sunday, Jan. 14. The expansion is part of Open Doors Open Futures, an initiative to transform Westminster's presence in the city. The day begins with 10:30 am worship celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. followed by the inauguration of Westminster Hall with a premiere of a commissioned choral work and tours of the building. "Westminster is a church open to creative new ways to serve and engage the city," says senior pastor Tim Hart-Andersen. "This new wing gives us the tools to do that: easy access, multi-use space, enhanced technology, inspired green design, and much more." The complete story can be found on Wesminster's website at "Expansion Opens."
Le Sueur Presbyterian
announces final service
The Presbyterian Church of Le Sueur will conduct its final worship service Sunday, Jan. 28, at 1:30 p.m. Cake and coffee will follow.
|
Resources, conferences ...
|
'Facing Racism' resources celebrate
legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
In January 2017, remembering his legacy and recalling the "Dr. King's Unfinished Agenda" conference at the Montreat Conference Center, Denise  Anderson and Jan Edmiston, co-moderators of the 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), urged the church to work to stand against "racism, poverty, war, and materialism" by issuing the "MLK Weekend: A Call to Action" letter. As part of the denomination's 'Facing Racism' campaign, this commemoration and call to action recalled a turning point in the struggle for Civil Rights and the inclusion of a broad swath of mainline Protestants, including Presbyterians, in the work of creating what Dr. King called "the beloved community." The complete Presbyterian News Service story by Gregg Brekke can be found at "Facing Racism."
New 'Book of Common
Worship' arrives in 2018
 Five years, 200 people, a bajillion emails and a whole lot of prayer. That's what it takes to make a new "Book of Common Worship." You might ask: Why do we need a new one? A changing church needs a worship book that reflects contemporary concerns and offers new liturgies, fresh language and a good deal of flexibility. The revised publication does just that, making room for new ways of being church while staying grounded in the best of Reformed and ecumenical practices. The complete story by Kimberly Bracken Long can be found at "Book of Common Worship."
Clearwater Chrysalis planned
at Clearwater Forest in February
 The Rev. Denise Dunbar-Perkins, a member of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area who has been a local, national and international speaker, teacher, preacher, and workshop and retreat leader, will be the keynote speaker at Clearwater Chrysalis, when the women's winter retreat takes place at Clearwater Forest Friday through Sunday, Feb. 23-25. Chrysalis is a balanced, faith-building program of Clearwater Forest, a Presbyterian camp and conference center in the heart of Minnesota lake country. The vision of Chrysalis is to nourish and support the body, mind and spirit in community with other women. Details can be found in the flyer at "Clearwater Chrysalis."
Griner, Wuflestad will lead young
adult ministry retreat at Clearwater
Lyle Griner, youth ministry instructor at Augsburg College and Concordia University in Twin Cities, and  Lee Wuflestad, music ministry coordinator at Timberwood Church in Nisswa, Minnesota, will lead a two-day young adult ministry retreat at Clearwater Forest, a Presbyterian camp, conference and retreat center near Deerwood, Minnesota. The retreat is scheduled Friday evening and Saturday, Feb. 9-10. The retreat, according to its flyer, "is about people skills -- how to listen, care, welcome, guide and affirm in all life situations." The complete flyer can be found at "Young Adult Ministry Retreat."
Winter Pastors School set
in February; now in new location
 The 2018 version of Winter Pastors School, the annual winter education event of Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation, is slated Feb. 5-8, and this year takes place at Calvin Crest Retreat Center near Fremont, Nebraska. The featured speaker is Gene T. Fowler, a pastoral theologian and church pastor who currently serves the Irondequoit Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York. More complete details can be found at "Winter Pastors School."
NEXT
Church gathering slated Feb. 26-28
 Registration for the 2018 NEXT Church national gathering is open. Titled "The Desert in Bloom," the event takes place Feb. 26-28 in Baltimore. The gathering features church leaders, both pastors and lay people, sharing stories of their experiences of ministry, new ideas, and conversations about ministry in today's environment. Creative worship centers us around God's presence. Complete details and registration information can be found at "NEXT Church 2018."
 Presbyterian
Clergywomen
plan
conference at Montreat
The National Association of Presbyterian Clergywomen will conduct their triennial conference at the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat, North Carolina, April 23-26. Conference details and registration information can be found at "Triennial Conference."
Presbyterian Women plan
for national gathering in August
 The church-wide gathering of Presbyterian Women is planned Aug. 2-5 in Louisville, Kentucky, with the theme "Arise, shine, your light has come!" Participants will engage in workshops, tours, forums and resource gathering, plenary sessions, worship and more. Initial plans for the gathering can be found at "National Gathering."
|
Threats of deportation
jeopardize congregation
No one likes to lose a church member. Now imagine the prospect of losing 70 percent of a congregation. Marturia Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New Hampshire, is facing such a reality as its Indonesian members have fallen under the focus of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Marturia began in 1997, when a small group showed up at First Presbyterian Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts. A member of the group had found an old PC(USA) calendar showing that the Presbytery of Northern New England had office space at the church. The group wanted to discuss joining the presbytery. The complete story by Teresa Waggener and Donna Frischknecht Jackson can be found at "Threats of Deportation."
Sexual harassment: Creating
a place for truth-telling
When the news about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's history of sexual harassment became public, women flooded social media with the hashtag  #MeToo. In solidarity with women who were harmed by Weinstein, women shared their personal stories of being emotionally and physically demeaned by men. I searched my Facebook and Twitter feeds to see how many of my female pastor friends would share their stories. The stories included a colleague who was forced out of her call after telling the session about repeated sexual harassment by a beloved staff member; colleagues in my female pastor support group who frequently talked about men in their congregations who referred to them as "honey"; and a colleague who was kissed on the lips by a male pastor in a room full of pastoral colleagues. The complete story by Susan Maxwell Rothenberg can be found at "Creating a Place."
Writers Guild seeks nominations
for its Best First Book award
The Presbyterian Writers Guild is accepting nominations for its 2018 Best First Book Award, 
honoring the best first book by a Presbyterian author published during the calendar years of 2016-2017. The award is given biennially and will be presented June 21 during the 223rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in St. Louis, Missouri. Deadline for submissions is March 15. The complete announcement from the Presbyterian Writers Guild
is at "
First Book
."
|
|
|
|
|
