Pappy’s Revelation: From Burnt Ends to the Great Ends of the Church!

Blog post by the Rev. Dr. Craig M. Howard

Transitional Leader of the

Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy

      

Every other month I meet with the large church pastors in our presbytery over lunch. This month it was decided to eat at Pappy’s, the popular barbeque restaurant near St. Louis University campus. I will admit that St. Louis has some of the best barbeque in the country. Yes, even better than Chicago and Kansas City! Continue here to read on. 

Tips For Caring For God's Creation

Turn off lights, electronics, small appliances, and chargers when not actively in use. A TV set that's on for three hours and in standby for 21 hours uses about 40% of its energy in standby mode.

("TIPS" are offered by the presbytery's Earth Care Action Team, composed of members from the 9 certified Earth Care Congregations in the presbytery. Contact: [email protected] or 314-941-9378.)

History Team Highlight

Historic Bellefontaine Cemetery in north St. Louis, founded in 1849 in the wake of a major cholera epidemic, is the burial site for quite a few local Presbyterians. The Second Presbyterian Church lot holds graves of significant clergy and church members. The White monument memorializes a territorial governor of Florida. He and 200 others were moved from the old First Presbyterian Church cemetery to Bellefontaine. A part of the original First Presbyterian monument has been incorporated into it. There is also a description of First Presbyterian on the marker. Thanks to Dan Fuller, Events & Volunteer Coordinator, Bellefontaine Cemetery, for this information. To find out more about the cemetery, please click here.

Kaleidoscope Scholarships Available

The Stewardship Team approved ten $100 scholarships to the 2018 Kaleidoscope Conference.   Priority will be given to lay leaders. Names and contact information should be sent to Liz Rolf Kanerva [email protected] no later than July 1st. 

Kaleidoscope will be held in St. Louis this year, and full details of the conference can be found here.

Church Financial Literacy

and Leadership

Part of the Lilly Endowment Inc.’s National Initiative to Address Economic Challenges Facing Pastoral Leaders, helps to equip and train pastors and church leaders in their financial management and leadership for congregations. The opening for the acceptance of grant applications and the subsequent deadlines will be listed here.

These resources help pastors navigate the changing cultural context they face as they seek to strengthen the financial vitality of their congregations. Grants for finance-related educational activities are available, through Lilly Endowment Inc., as seen in the link above.

Mound Ridge Retreat

& Mission Center

Summer Overnight Camp Scheduling has begun! Click here to find the perfect summer experience for your family. In case you missed it, Mound Ridge was also featured in last week's news from the Presbyterian Mission Agency.Find the complete article, From Death to Life, here.

PLEASE NOTE: The Oaks Conference Room (Oaks) and St. Andrews Conference Room (St. Andrews) are both located at the new Presbytery office, 1001 Craig Rd., Suite 170, St. Louis, MO 63146.

(Oaks) is on the first floor (St. Andrews) is on the second floor

Directions can be found here.

Beware of meeting schedule changes for General Assembly. Ministry Teams will not meet June 11-25, so members can volunteer and participate in GA#223 activities. Staff will still be accessing email, however with delayed response. General inquiries can be sent here.

Want to Attend Some GA#223 Events?

Please see this Schedule of Events.

Hands and Feet Celebration

featuring Kirk Whalum

Be sure to purchase your tickets to be part of the Hands and Feet Celebration featuring Grammy Award winning artist Kirk Whalum for Thursday evening, June 21, at the 223 ^rd Meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Tickets are $15 and can be purchased as a part of General Assembly Registration . For more information, continue here.

UKirk - St. Louis

Are you a college student spending the summer in the St. Louis area? UKirk (the Presbyterian Campus Ministry in St. Louis) hosts fellowship gatherings for college students like you! E-mail Pastor Miriam ( [email protected] ) to get on our contact list about planned events. (A June pool party is in the works!) Our last gathering for this summer is on July 31 from 7-9 p.m. at Trinity Presbyterian Church; we'll meet for dinner and an information session about the Montreat College Conference (January 1-5, 2019). 

" Plastic Paradise " Eco Film Night

On Tuesday, May 22, at 7 p.m. the eco film, "Plastic Paradise" will be shown at the St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Ferguson. It provides an informative, timely, and relevant look at the consequences of plastic consumption in the U.S. and the world. (Please reduce the use of plastic as much as you can!) Free and open to the public. Full details found here . These Video Nites are sponsored by the Ferguson Eco team and includes several churches and organizations in the area, including members of First and Second Presbyterian. Contact: [email protected] or 314-941-9378

Leadership in Ministry (LIM) Workshop

 

The workshop will be held in Kansas City, and is a fall and spring commitment, be held October 22 - 24, 2018 and March 11-13, 2019, and is intended for pastors, rabbis, other congregational staff members, interim pastors, chaplains, lay leaders, denominational workers, pastoral counselors, public school counselors and early childhood educators.

The Leadership in Ministry workshops will apply Bowen Family Systems Theory as further developed by Edwin Friedman, author of Generation to Generation and A Failure of Nerve, to ministerial and organizational leadership. The majority of time is spent in small group case studies led by participants and facilitated by experienced faculty coaches. As such, participants work to apply the theory to the “real world” realities of their ministry context. More information can be found here.

Seeking Part-Time Custodian

The Second Presbyterian Church, located at 4501 Westminster Pl, St. Louis, MO 63108, is currently seeking a part-time custodian to work approximately 15 hours per week. If you, or anyone you know, might be interested, please email [email protected] , or call them at is 314-367-0366. 

Seeking Musicians

We provide worship services for several area nursing homes. Most of these people have been involved in worship all their lives, now they find themselves in nursing homes and unable to worship. So we are currently seeking a guitar player, a piano player, any instrument that the old folks can sing to!!! We are not fussy.

We have these opportunities to serve:

Tuesday at 2 p.m. in West country; Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. in DesPeres; the first and third Sundays in Kirkwood at 3:30pm.

If you find God calling you to use your skills in this very needed service, please call Jeanne Zimmerman at 314-707-4003.

Part-Time Administrative Assistant

Pacific Presbyterian Church in Pacific, MO, is requesting applications for the part time position of Administrative Assistant. The purpose of the position is to provide administrative and secretarial services to the pastor and other church staff. Continue here for more information .