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].
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Nominating Committee seeks vice moderator; deadline is Feb. 28
The Nominating Committee of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area is asking all ruling and teaching elders to prayerfully consider if they sense a call to serve the presbytery as vice moderator. The  application deadline is Wednesday, Feb. 28. In an announcement issued recently to the presbytery, the committee noted, "In keeping with the presbytery efforts to have open communication and to identify and equip leadership, the [committee] is adopting a new process. Rather than ... inviting a small number to apply, the invitation is extended to all minister member of the [presbytery] and all ruling elders in its member churches to prayerfully consider possible service in this role." The complete announcement from the Nominating Committee can be found at "Vice Moderator Procedures."
Presbytery mission trip is full, accepting waitlist sign-ups; searches for a van
The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area is making plans for its mission trip to Denham Springs, Louisiana, but trip organizers are also searching for a  minivan or SUV to borrow for the week of the trip. Mission trip participants will assist in recovery, clean-up and rebuilding from the 2016 Louisiana flooding. While registration for the trip is full, wait-list sign-ups are being accepted. Planned in collaboration with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the trip takes place Saturday to Saturday, April 7-14. Complete details can be found in a note from the Rev. Brenda K. Alexander of the presbytery's Mission and Witness Committee. It's at "Mission Trip to Denham Springs." Anyone who is able to lend a minivan or SUV is invited to contact Alexander at [email protected] or Ken Wooley at [email protected]. The group will be commissioned at the presbytery meeting on March 10.
Ethics Committee seeks $25 Cub cards
for Northside Women's Space
What if you had but a few dollars to your name, and had to choose between paying rent or buying food? What if you were a single mom, out of food with two hungry children and no spousal support? What do you do then?
These are often the choices facing women served by Northside Women's Space (NWS), a ministry dedicated to helping women get out of the sex trade. To help support that work, the presbytery's Committee on Ethics is sponsoring a drive to collect Cub Foods gift cards. Right now, $25 Cub cards are mostly depleted at NWS; it's their greatest need.
The Committee on Ethics is partnering with NWS and the presbytery's Mission and Witness Committee to benefit those caught up in the sex trade. If the presbytery can make sure they have food, they might not have to go out on the streets to feed their kids.
Congregations can participate in this effort through mission committees or by simply taking a gift-card-collection on a Sunday morning. The effort is one way to help NWS intervene with women's immediate needs while also growing its mission to get women out of the sex trade.
NWS is also working with Thistle Farms, a Tennessee operation that trains women in small business ownership.
Gift cards can be brought to the presbytery's May 8 meeting. More information about NWS can be found at "Northside Women's Space."
Jeff's Jottings
Our faith depends on it
Jeff Japinga
Executive Presbyter
 I'm out-of-town today. It's my Dad's 88th birthday this weekend, and I'm in Michigan to join the celebration. So Jottings today comes to us from my friend Laura Cheifetz, deputy director of systems and sustainability at the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF). Laura wrote this piece for NEXT Church, a network of leaders across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who believe "the church of the future will be more relational, more diverse, more collaborative, more hopeful and more agile." And who will gather next week in Baltimore; I know a number of PTCA leaders will be there! So thanks, Laura. This is good stuff.
Leadership: Our Faith Depends on It
I don't know if we can blame this on American individualism, white Christianity, or a misunderstanding of what Jesus did and how he did it. We have a habit of thinking single leaders will save us. Whether it's deciding that the election of an African American stated clerk represents a turning point and then sitting back and waiting for change to happen (so what I'm saying is y'all better be showing up and doing your own work instead of waiting for the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson to magically transform the church by his lonesome). Or that an out gay Latino heading up PMA will be such an important change for the church (represents a change? Yes. WAS the change? That's not how change works.). Or that hiring a charismatic white under-40 pastor will do for the congregation what the congregation has not been able to do for itself.
We are not a church of individual leaders fixing things.
The complete Jottings are at "Depending on Leadership."
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Kim North will spend year
as PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer
Kim North, a member at large of Peace Presbyterian Church in St. Louis Park and a student at the  University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, will be a Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this fall. In a letter to the presbytery, she noted, "During my YAV year I hope to use my Spanish and communication skills to help the community I will become a part of. I will also be deepening my faith, going through a discernment process about my future and practicing simple living." Her YAV experience is funded through donations. Complete details can be found in her letter at "A YAV in Albuquerque."
Minnesota's JRLC plans 'Day
on the Hill' conference March 13
The Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, an interfaith organization that advocates for social justice, will convene its "Day on the Hill" conference March 13  at Central Presbyterian Church in St. Paul and the State Capitol. The event, titled "If not now, when?" begins at 8:30 a.m. The JRLC Legislative Network involves more than 8,000 citizens and volunteers who respond to action alerts and issue briefings, and organize activities to shape public policy. Last year more than 700 people from 64 of the state's 67 senate districts participated in the "Day on the Hill" event. Details and registration information can be found at "Day on the Hill."
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Resources, conferences ...
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Great Plains Wee Kirk Conference
set this spring in Nebraska
 The 2018 Great Plains Wee Kirk Conference is planned Monday through Wednesday, April 30-May 2, at Calvin Crest Camp, Conference and Retreat Center near Fremont, Nebraska. The conference includes worship, communion, workshops fellowship, relaxation and renewal. This year's plenary speaker is the Rev. Chris Walker, teacher, coach, pastor and principle writer for Evangelism Coach. Conference details are at "Great Plains Wee Kirk."
White Privilege Conference
planned
in April in Grand Rapids
"For the past 17 years the White Privilege Conference has examined challenging concepts of  privilege and oppression," according to its website, and the upcoming event is planned Wednesday through Saturday, April 4-7, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Conference, its website notes, "is open to everyone and invites diverse perspectives to provide a comprehensive look at issues of privilege including: race, gender, sexuality, class [and] disability." Complete details can be found at "White Privilege Conference."
Riders sought for 'Rally to End Racism'
The Wisconsin Council of Churches is sending buses to the April 4 Rally to End Racism in Washington, D.C., and is inviting riders from Minnesota. The rally has been organized by the National Council of  Churches to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Buses are departing from four Wisconsin cities, including Eau Claire, about 90 miles east of the Twin Cities. More information about the event and registration for a bus ride can be made at "Busing to the Rally." Registration at the site includes registration for the rally and bus ride. The bus ride is $250. The Wisconsin Council of Churches has requested that anyone completing online registration indicate they learned about the event through the Minnesota Council of Churches. The registration deadline is March 1. Questions can be addressed to Curtiss DeYoung at [email protected] or Julia Hobart at [email protected].
21st century transformation: Going beyond change; an April conference
Minnesota Valleys Presbytery is partnering with Midwest Initiative for Leading Transition to conduct a transformation training event for congregation teams Thursday through Saturday, April 5-7, at First  Presbyterian Church in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The event will focus on the complexity of leading churches through a transformation process. Faculty for the conference are the Rev. Dr. SanDawna Ashley, executive director of presbytery mission for Minnesota Valleys Presbytery; the Rev. Mitch Coggin, a hospital chaplain, installed pastor and transitional pastor for 37 years; the Rev. James L. Gale Jr., associate executive of the Synod of Mid-America; the Rev. Dr. Jeff Japinga, executive presbyter for the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area; the Rev. Beth Wagner, serving in her seventh transitional/interim position and currently pastor at Yorkfield Presbyterian Church in Elmhurst, Illinois; and the Rev. Mary Wright, has served in transitional/interim ministry for 13 years. The complete conference brochure, along with registration information, can be found at "Going Beyond Change."
Presbytery of Detroit seeks mission partners in 'Restore Hope in Detroit'
The Presbytery of Detroit's Hands on Mission project is inviting churches throughout the area to participate in its "Restore Hope in Detroit" effort. The mission  work revolves around community development, partnering with churches, urban gardening and more. The Hands on Mission project sets up service opportunities "based on the passions of the group and the needs of the community." Additional information is available at "Hands on Mission." Groups interested in participating in the "Restore Hope in Detroit" effort are invited to contact Michael Barconey at [email protected].
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Service opportunities ...
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Valley Community Presbyterian Church
is seeking a qualified candidate to help its associate pastor maintain and expand educational opportunities for adults, and a growing population of youth and young families with children. Valley Community is a growing congregation nestled in a suburban neighborhood just west of the Twin Cities. Qualified candidates will have the energy and enthusiasm to work in a dynamic system with energetic pastors. The complete position announcement is at "Educational Ministries Director." Cover letters and resumes should be sent to the Rev. Sarah Bigwood at [email protected].
Buffalo Presbyterian Church
is seeking a part-time administrative assistant. The individual's responsibilities will include communications, website and social media administration, and traditional clerical duties in a church setting. The complete listing can be found at "Administrative Assistant."
The Presbytery of Milwaukee is seeking an associate for ministry vitality to serve as part of the presbytery's staff. The primary function is to provide staff support and to help facilitate the work of the presbytery's Commission on Ministry. Cover letters and resumes or PIFs must be submitted by March 5. Position details can be found at "Associate for Ministry Vitality."
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Advocacy committees
submit letter
to Way Forward Commission
The Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns and the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns issued an open letter to the Way Forward Commission  last week expressing "profound concern" of proposed actions that may segregate "the material voice and vote of the advocacy committees." At question is the proposal by the Way Forward Commission and All Agency Review Committee to separate the corporate function of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) -- known as the A Corp -- from the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Currently, the A Corp board is made up exclusively of members of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board. The complete Presbyterian News Service story by Gregg Brekke can be found at "Advocating Voice and Vote."
PC(USA) review, restructure
discussions continue past GA deadline
Citing a decision by the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the  Way Forward Commission and All Agency Review Committee submitted reports by last week's deadline but left the door open for amendments prior to General Assembly. The two groups were formed by the 222nd General Assembly and asked to propose a more efficient structural model for the six agencies of the denomination and conduct a review of these agencies, respectively. Over the course of the past 18 months, there has been considerable overlap of the work of these two groups - so much so that several of the proposed recommendations coming to the General Assembly have been developed jointly. The complete Presbyterian News Service story by Gregg Brekke can be found at "Open for Amendments."
North Carolina faith leaders
press for clean DREAM Act
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and other faith leaders recently gathered at the Guilford Park Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, to urge their senators to support immigrant families facing deportation. Last September, President Donald Trump gave Congress until March 5 to pass legislation replacing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) before it ends. Immigrants who were children when they came to the United States face deportation if Washington cannot agree on a solution. Approximately 800,000 people are covered by the program. The complete Presbyterian News Service story by Rick Jones can be found at "DREAM Act."
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