|
| |
Chris Rice, Go Light Your World
|
|
|
|
You are receiving the new offer of "The Wave" for February 2015. This is the electronic newsletter of Tres Rios Presbytery in the Synod of the Sun of the Presbyterian Church (USA). You are invited to read the articles about the visit of the General Assembly Moderator to our area, the report of the last General Assembly of the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators, the report of the Study Seminar Voices from the Border and Beyond. Learn about the new pastor received as member in our Presbytery meeting. Know about the decision of Westminster church in Odessa. Please, let us know your opinions, comments and suggestions, and forward The Wave to those who may be interested in the work of our Presbytery. |
|
THE VISIT OF THE 221 GENERAL ASSSEMBLY MODERATOR DR. HEATH K. RADA - PART 1
Visita del Moderador de la 221 Asamblea General Dr. Heath K. Rada - Primera parte
By Elder Kay Long, Presbytery Stated Clerk
Moderator Dr. Heath K. Rada and his wife Peggy visited the Midland area on February 10th and 11th, and were honored with a reception and dinner in the home of Rev. Mary Beth Anton and husband, Jeff Hewett. A group of 23 leaders and pastors of the presbytery were present to enjoy a delicious dinner, and delightful conversation and fellowship.
At a working breakfast on Wednesday morning, Moderator Rada and his wife Peggy met with Jim Nelson, CEO of Caterpillar in Midland and member of First Presbyterian Church in Midland. The breakfast was also attended by Rev. Steve Schorr, Senior Pastor of First Midland, Bart Teeter, Presbytery moderator, Rev. Dan Saperstein, Synod of the Sun Co-Leader and Rev. Jose Luis Casal, Presbytery General Missioner. The conversation was around the actions of the last General Assembly, specifically the divestment action approved and the Fossil Fuel divestment now in study.
Later that morning, the group visited St. Andrews Mission in Midland where the staff, the moderator of the board of directors and five board members provided an overview of the work of the mission, and gave a guided tour of the facilities including the food pantry, children's library and classrooms. The children and teachers were also given the opportunity to meet and inter-react with the moderator and his wife.
On Wednesday evening, First Presbyterian Church in Midland hosted an event for the area churches with the moderator. Approximately 130 pastors and members representing First and Grace Midland, Coahoma, First Big Spring, St. Paul San Angelo, First Fort Stockton and Westminster Odessa attended the event. The evening started with a barbecue dinner provided by First Midland at 5:15 pm, and was followed by a worship service in which Dr. Rada preached and shared his experiences as moderator in visiting with churches within our denomination and with ecumenical leaders around the world. His message was one of hope, and reminded us that the reformed stance allows for a variety of legitimate perspectives, and called for us to continue to respect each other's viewpoints as we seek together to find God's will for the future of our denomination. Also participating in the service were Steve Schorr, Senior Pastor; Jose Luis Casal, Presbytery General Missioner; and Marj Carpenter, Moderator of the 207th General Assembly. A question and answer session followed the worship service in which the moderator also responded to a number of questions about the decisions of the last General Assembly.
|
|
THE VISIT OF THE 221 GENERAL ASSEMBLY MODERATOR DR. HEATH K. RADA - PART 2
Visita del Moderador de la 221 Asamblea General Dr. Heath K. Rada - Parte 2
By Rev. Jayne Ruiz, pastor of Divine Savior
We were excited about the visit of Dr. Heath Rada to our Presbytery, as well as his wife Peggy, our Synod Co-Executive Rev Dan Saperstein, our General Missioner Rev. Jose Luis Casal, his wife Cecilia, and many visitors from other churches.
Since I was not a part of the whole visit, I can mainly inform of his visit to El Divino Salvador / Divine Savior-El Paso on Sunday, Feb. 15 for the last part of Worship and for a time for Questions and Answers. It was a world wind day with the Moderator preaching first at University Presbyterian and then at Grace before coming to Divine Savior.
The congregation was excited about the visit and worked well together to prepare for the visit. The Children and Young People prepared on Saturday for over 2 hours to do a mime to the song, "He is Exalted." I set in on the practice and was so proud by the high level of cooperation and shared leadership of our Young Adults of Fernando Cordova, and Laura and Rene Fernandez who all worked together so well.
Jacinto Ramirez, our musician, the congregation and I all practiced a medley of songs including "He is Exaltado" in Spanish. I spoke with the congregation about the role of the Moderator of the PCUSA since our people had never met a moderator of our church.
Josefina Duran and Linda Paquian coordinated the food. The day of the visit people brought food from our church and from many other churches in El Paso. Our people shined in warmth, hospitality and cooperation. So many people Young and Old all worked together to prepare and serve the food and refreshments and to welcome everyone.
The Question and Answer time was lively and at times humorous, but very respectful. People listened attentively to the stories of the Moderator's visits and experiences over the past 7 months that he has served. There were questions and concerns about how they could assist with the plight of others.
Many responded to how humble and nice the Moderator was and were impressed and so honored that he came to their church. There were concerns about how to keep Young People losing connection to the Church, and a concern if there was a place in the greater church for small racial ethnic churches whose culture, theology, and economical situation can be different from other churches.
Thank you for including us in the visit of our Moderator!
|
|
FEAR NOT!
No Teman!
By Rev. Cheryl Homsher
"Fear Not" was the timely theme of this year's APCE conference (Association of Presbyterian Church Educators) which was held in Baltimore, Feb 4-7. If you ever want to hang out with a bunch of creative, upbeat, inspiring, hard-working people, this is the group to hang out with! Jinny Forbes (University, El Paso) and I have been to several of these conferences over the years and they are always excellent.
Key-note speakers this year were Dr. Brian Blount, president of Union Theological Seminary, in Richmond, VA, and the Rev. Carol Howard Merritt, noted author and church consultant. Their addresses were based on Mark 4:35-41 and Mark 16:1-8. Both speakers challenged us to consider what we as the church are afraid of, what to do with the calm, how might we address our fears with hope, and the importance of learning to tell a different story about the church than the one we are telling now. How often do we tell ourselves the story of a dying church? How can we change the story and tell it in a compelling way?
In addition to the keynote and worship experiences I attended some excellent workshops. In one workshop peace activist David LaMotte had us riding the bus with Rosa Parks as we explored how movements for change work. The other workshop I found informative was led by J. Herbert Nelson, who staffs our denomination's Washington Office of Public Witness. He had us trying to develop a budget for a family of 4 who live on two minimum wage incomes, and talked about the theological underpinnings of our Presbyterian Public Witness.
I am very grateful for opportunity to attend these national church events - they pull me out of my rut, and remind me of the breadth and depth of the body of Christ, and the joy we have in being part of it! Next year's APCE event will be in Chicago. Jinny and I hope to see you there!
|
|
|
PRESBYTERY RECEIVES REV. CHERYL KINCAID AS PASTOR OF FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN ODESSA
El Presbiterio recibe a la Rev. Cheryl Kincaid como pastor de la Primera Iglesia Presbiteriana de Odessa
Taken from First Odessa newsletter 
Rev. Cheryl Kincaid is an ordained minister of the PC(USA). She born in San Diego, CA and has one sister and one brother. After High School she had an internship with a local Christian theater company. Attended San Diego City College and got a Degree from San Diego State University in Child Development and Family Studies. Studied marriage and family therapy at Bethel Seminary in San Diego and earned her Master in Divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary.
Rev. Kincaid served for 2 years as solo pastor in Sacramento, CA and 7 years presently at Clifton Presbyterian Church in NJ. She has been involved in discipleship, evangelism, small Bible groups, has acquired rape crisis training, been a foster parent and worked with women survivors of violence. Her passion is evangelism and nurturing others in the love of God in Jesus Christ.
Rev. Kincaid is a published author of three books with a 4th to be completed late spring or early summer dealing with foster care. Her books are: "Hearing the Gospel through Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol'" a scholarly work designed for small Bible study groups; "The little candle that was frightened of the Dark" and "The Little Clay Pot" are children's stories designated for family devotions.
|
|
Synod of the Sun Leadership Convocation
|
|
DECISION OF WESTMINSTER CHURCH IN ODESSA
Decision de la Iglesia Westminster en Odessa.
After several months of researching and discussing the actions of the
2014 General Assembly, Westminster Presbyterian Church of Odessa came to the conclusion that these issues may divide the church, and that neither side would be able to sustain itself. They felt it would be better for the unity of the church to not go any further with these issues. On February 3, 2015 the church had a congregational meeting with about 54 members present, where a motion was made, seconded, and passed to not discuss these denominational issues any more.
|
VOICES FROM THE BORDER AND BEYOND
Voces desde la Frontera y mas alla de la Frontera
By Rev. Jose Luis Casal 
I was part of a group of 15 Presbyterians from different cultural, racial and generational backgrounds who visited the Mexico/USA border, Guatemala/Mexico border and Guatemala/El Salvador border from January 23 to February 1, 2015. We visited, shelters, Presbyterian and ecumenical organizations, mission partners and official entities. Immigration touches all of us regardless of where we live. The current wave of immigration is rooted in decades of poverty, failed government policies, broken families, lack of protection for children, and violence plaguing Central America's northern triangle - Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. We heard testimonies of women, men and children sharing why they had to make the difficult decision to head northward to US. We were engaged in biblical/theological reflections about the driven causes of the current exodus. As a result on these conversations here are some thoughts:
1-The border is a land of encounter. People come from many places with dreams and frustrations looking for something different for them and their families.
Immigration is a human right of every person. Immigration is not the problem, the problem is the unjust law system we use.
2-Is not the American Dream what attract the people from Central America but the simple human aspiration for a better world without hungry, exploitation and discrimination. Nevertheless the realities of their undocumented condition wake them up from their dream very soon increasing the level of frustration.
3-Drug trafficking and immigration are not the same. Many times the immigrants are simple scapegoats of the big cartels of the organized crime and or the police or border patrols along the immigrant route from Central America to US. We need to combat organized crime with strong hand and extend our compassionate hand to those whose only crime is to be poor and needy.
4-The actual conditions of many of these countries we visited are precarious. What they need is not dollars injections from our part but fair trade agreements that distribute the wealth among all sectors of the society, especially protecting those with less possibilities.
During our time in El Salvador Pope Francisco declared Monsignor Oscar A. Romero (former Archbishop of San Salvador) martyr of the church, one step forward to his canonization as saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor Romero denounced many time the exploitation and violation of the human rights in El Salvador demanding from the military forces, respect for the poor and abandoned people of his country. Romero was fatally shot on March 24 1980 while celebrating mass at a small chapel in a hospital. When he finished his sermon walked to the center of the altar and in that moment was shot. I am sure that the day when his ideas may come true no more people will have to risk their lives crossing borders to a promise land, because the real God's promise will be tangible in their own land.
|
|
|
|
|
