Presbyterian Planning Calendars for 2014-15 - If you would like to order calendars through the Presbytery office at the price of $8.50 each, please place your order by Friday, May 2nd. Click here Order Form or go to our website and look under Forms and Documents: Order Forms. 

Do you have a suggestion for an inspiring preacher/presenter for a presbytery gathering?   Is there a topic you'd like the presbytery to discuss and explore together?  Would your congregation like to host a presbytery meeting?  The council's meeting and worship planning team invites your input as we continue to plan "vital and compelling" gatherings for our life together.  Contact Rob Ater with your ideas and suggestions.  Meeting Planning Team:  Sara Miles, Jim Rand, Rob Ater, Julie Craig, Ben Johnston-Krase, Leigh Anne Fraley, and Cathy Manthei      

Mark your calendars!  Attend Synod School!  

"Becoming God's Next Church" - July 27-August 1,2014

BuenaVista University- Storm Lake, Iowa   

Calling all campers!!  Session Partnerships will again be offering scholarships for any youth attending summer church camps.  Please click here for the application form.  Deadline is May 2nd and applications are considered on a "first come first serve" basis, so don't delay!   

• Kay Pavlovich, wife of Treasurer Detlef Pavlovich, as she undergoes spinal surgery next Tuesday in Florida.  
• Bill Dummer, Honorably Retired Teaching Elder, and his wife Kathy, as they deal with Bill's increasing health issues.  

Beginning January 2015, the approach for determining Traditional Medical Dues will change

• Medical dues for coverage in the Traditional Program will increase from 23 percent in 2014 to 24.5 percent of effective salary (subject to the medical participation minimum and maximum and based on the standard full-time equivalent (FTE) calculation) for Member + Family coverage.
• Medical dues will be 23 percent for Member-only coverage.
• Churches and other employing organizations may ask the member to pay up to the maximum allowable dues share of 1.5 percent of effective salary if a member chooses Member + Family coverage, subject to any presbytery policy regarding terms of call.

Earlier this week while on my way to a much anticipated appointment with a good friend, I happened on an interview with yet another author who has researched and written a book on historical Jesus. He sounded thoughtful, and his research seemed credible, but his findings have gradually pulled him from his evangelical moorings to solid agnosticism. Listening to the interview I picked up on some different ways of looking at the context of Jesus' life, and I was alarmed. Do I have to share these new snippets of information with my confirmation group? I almost wished I had turned off the radio. Then in a flash of self-awareness I knew the confusion of those sweet confirmation kids when I share new (to them) information about Jesus. But, it's okay if I do it because we want full disclosure for the kids, right?

We do, but there are limits to the sharing if for no other reason than their energy level. So I try to choose elements of context ,and of belief, wisely to inform and engage them. A couple of the things we've discussed. Jesus was Jewish. That nugget has taken us down some interesting paths several times. I have also (tried) to explain the fully human and fully divine paradox. Very interesting.

The discussion of Jesus' life is good. It makes him more real. But in that time with my trusted friend, after hearing the unsettling interview with the author, I realized that every gathering needs a dose of something that develops their awareness that God loves them. Otherwise it's just history. The timing is right. The unit about Jesus wraps up tomorrow and the plan is to talk about Good Friday and Easter, and how Holy Week makes a Christian a Christian. I'll also introduce a new discussion that will become a deliberate, regular part of our time together - how do you know that God loves you? Let's pray for that awareness for all of us as we enter the week that confirms that truth.     

Denise Fried

COM Co-Moderator