Blog Post by Rev. Dr. Craig M. Howard
Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy
Transitional Leader
"Building Systems of Peace"
(I’m writing this blog from Jerusalem as I am coming down the home stretch of my clergy study trip to the Holy Land. The trip is sponsored by the group,
Interfaith Partners For Peace
. The focus of the trip is to explore relationships between major religious and cultural groups. I am helping to lead the group of 14 African American pastors representing four denominations, four rabbis representing each branch of the major Jewish faiths, and one member of the ELCA. Our goal is to explore relationships between these major groups, along with Israeli and Palestinian conflict.)
We spent Sunday morning in worship at St. George Episcopal Church. The rector, Canon Naoum, met with us to describe the theological, political, and social challenges he faces as he does ministry in Jerusalem.
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Our Presbytery - Our Work
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This week's our prayer basket overflows
....
Please pray for travel mercies for our Transitional Presbytery Leader, Rev. Craig Howard as he travels; pray for Tracye who seeks a new job; and Darron who is struggling with his faith.
Click
here
to add a prayer slip to our basket, and please visit our prayer page often in unity and love of those who are listed there. You can find the page
here.
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Seeking Meals of Love
They will be starving students in August - but you can help! Click
here,
and then visit
UKirk
to see how you can connect with these students.
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Caritas Presbyterian Fellowship
Sat., Sept. 16 - 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Learn in person, or by viewing a live stream, about the genetics and environmental factors that increase a person's risk for mental health issues. Hear from a panel of people about their experience of severe and persistent mental health diagnoses like depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders. Receive training in how to have supportive conversations with people who may be struggling to accept mental health diagnoses or to pursue treatment for mental health issues.
Follow here for more information and to register.
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Presbyterian
Connections
The Parish Paper
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Resource Center Update
Barbi and Stephanie have been diligently working to update, add inventory, and labeling in the Resource Center. They are continuing to be supportive to all of our congregations and teams, by ensuring that each have what they need to build and maintain healthy vibrant ministries.
If you have resources out that have ben used, but are ready for return, please bring them with you the August 31 Presbytery Gathering at Washington Presbyterian Church. Stephanie and Barbie will be at a table that day accepting resource material.
Your help in utilizing and returning resource material gives strength to our presbytery.
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Upcoming Ministry Team Meetings
(All Teams meet at the Presbytery Center, unless noted)
Mon., Aug. 28
2:00 p.m. - Dismantling Racism & Privilege (Ladue Chapel)
Thurs., Aug. 31
12:30 p.m. - Presbytery Gathering (Washington Presbyterian)
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Call for the Stated Meeting
Has Been Sent & Papers Posted
The Call for the Stated Meeting can be found
here
.
If you have any questions, please let us know by emailing or calling Office Manager, Leigh Porter at
[email protected]
or 314-772-2395.
In honor of our host church please bring a gift of love in the form of canned fruit, spaghetti sauces or bread mixes. This will in turn be giving to the local food pantry they support. A simple gift of love!
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Presbyterians in Prison Ministry
Has your congregation ever considered the call to minister to people in prison but not known where to start?
Concordance Academy
invites the congregations in the St. Louis region to start right at home. 95 percent of the people sent away to prison will eventually return to society where they will seek to build new lives. We at Concordance seek to empower success in building new lives by providing opportunities for employment, housing, education, and new life skills. The deepest need people have coming out of prison, through, is a restored sense of community. For this, we call on our congregational partners to match each of our participants with a "support team" to walk with them for their first year back home.
The commitment these teams make is not financial--it is relational, and it can be as simple as treating someone like a person again, claimed and beloved by God. Our Presbytery has currently fielded five teams from Ladue Chapel, Second Presbyterian, Cote Brilliante (two of them), and First Presbyterian. Our goal is to recruit five more teams by the end of 2017. Please be ready to hear more from us soon!"
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15th Annual Life and Hope Golf Tournament
Please join St. Luke’s Hospital for the 15th Annual Life and Hope Golf Tournament, set for Monday, August 28, 2017, at the Missouri Bluffs Golf Club, located at 18 Research Park Circle, St. Charles, Missouri, 63304. Directions can be found here.
Registration, buffet lunch, putting contest will begin at 11 a.m. The driving range and practice green will also open at that time. Shotgun start, shamble format begins at 12:30 p.m. and there will be a post-tournament appetizer buffet, silent auction, and awards.
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Presbyterian Women Fall Gathering
Mark your calendars for the Presbyterian Women of Giddings-Lovejoy fall gathering. The theme is “Cloud of Witnesses” and will take place on Saturday, September 23, 2017 at New Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Charles, Missouri from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Rev. Joy Meyers will present the Fall bible study to all in attendance. Lunch is available for a small fee of $10 per person.
The registration deadline is Friday, September 15,
2017. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Ann Schmidt at 636-699-2142. Registration for the gathering can be found on page 4 of this month’s Linkletter. which can be found
here.
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2017 ST. LOUIS CROP WALK AND CONCERT
The 2017 St. Louis CROP Walk and Concert will be Sunday, October 1 at Eden Seminary, 475 E. Lockwood Ave. in Webster Groves 63119, starting at 5:30 pm with registration/check-in/walking, followed by the CROP Concert at 7:00 pm. In between, you may pick up supper from 2Girls4Wheels!, a food truck featuring St. Louis favorites. Everyone is invited to walk and/or sing to raise funds for CROP, the hunger-fighting wing of Church World Service, of which the PCUSA is a vital part. The CROP Concert features Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (see his contribution to GLORY TO GOD), along with Paul Vasile and the Eden Choir.
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Educational Opportunities
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E4 Faith Formation Conference
Educate-Empower-Energize-Engage
The 2017 E4 Faith Formation Conference will be held
October 22-24, 2017
at the Embassy Suites (Kansas City Airport) in Kansas City, Mo.
This year our theme is “Christian Education Renovation”, and we have built the schedule and planned our workshops with that in mind. Jason Brian Santos is the Mission Coordinator for Christian Formation (Christian education, children, youth, college, young adult, camps and conference ministries) at the Presbyterian Mission Agency. He also serves as the National Director of UKirk Collegiate Ministries. More information can be found
here
.
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Blessing the Waters of Life: Justice and Healing for Our Watersheds
The national biennial conference, held
September 26-29, 2017,
of Presbyterians for Earth Care will focus on water issues at the nexus of faith, climate change and indigenous people. Caring for and celebrating the “waters of life” has always been central to Indigenous people of the world much as water rituals and images in scripture are central in the Christian tradition.
Our keynote speaker is the Rev. Dr. Barbara Rossing, an ordained Lutheran minister, and seminary professor, who is active in public theology in both the scholarly academy and the church, working on climate justice and the Bible. The worship leader is the Rev. Dr. Paul Galbreath, a professor of theology at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte.
Please continue hear to read more.
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Historical Highlight
Bellevue Presbyterian Church in Caledonia, Missouri, the first Presbyterian church west of the Mississippi River, has a long and dynamic history. In the early 1800s, Robert Sloane settled in the area. Thirty families, along with their slaves, arrived in 1807 and camped by Sloane’s cabin. The next day, a Sunrise Prayer Service was held. Salmon Giddings organized the church, which was called Concord, in 1816, and built a log house of worship at the site of Bellevue Presbyterian Cemetery.
This church burned in 1838 and was replaced three years later with a brick structure. At this time, the name was changed to Bellevue Presbyterian Church. In 1872, the congregation relocated to Caledonia and built a new brick church. This building is on the National Historic Register and Registry of American Presbyterian and Reformed Historic Sites. The town of Caledonia makes for a nice day trip. It has a good restaurant, an original general store with great ice cream, an historic cemetery and several historic buildings, including a couple purported to be Underground Railroad stations.
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VBS Curriculum Available
St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Ballwin has Hero Central Vacation Bible School supplies with a full kit of leader’s guides and DVDs to share with another congregation.
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Small Congregation Seeking Pastor
Small congregation seeking part-time pastor. This community is in the western area of the Presbytery, approximately a one hour drive west of St. Louis.
Interest parties, please read the position description, found
here
, and then email the Clerk of Session, Cindy Koppelmann, at
[email protected].
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Seeking: An Excellent Tenor for a
FUN Church Choir!
Trinity Presbyterian church in University City seeks a qualified and versatile singer to serve as Tenor Section Leader for our chancel choir. Must have excellent sight-reading skills and sing comfortably in a wide variety of musical styles. Competitive compensation. For full details, please contact Vicki Carmichael, Minister of Music, at 314-725-3840 or email to:
[email protected]
.
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Children’s Ministry Assistant
First Presbyterian, Kirkwood is seeking a
Children’s Ministry Assistant will work closely with the Director of Children, Youth and Family Ministries, the Director of Music Ministries, the Children and Family Committee of Session, volunteers, and staff to facilitate the faith formation of the children of the First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood, MO. The Children’s Ministry Assistant will be supervised by the Director of Children, Youth and Family Ministries.
The position description can be found
here
.
If interested please email
,
[email protected]
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Keep Connected
We love to hear about the work of the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Congregations. Help keep us connected by simply emailing your information in to
[email protected]
Have an event, fundraiser, or concert and want to get the word out? Simply email that information in by
6 p.m. on Monday
of the week you want your event published.
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