Connect this week
with the
Presbytery of New Covenant
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Announcements and Events
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
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There is no special designation in the PCUSA Planning Calendar for July 23.
This week's image is found here.
How does your congregation determine what is "wheat" and what is "weed"?
Join the conversation at ncconnect.org
How well do you know your neighborhood? Demographic studies for congregations
using Mission Insite can be accessed here.
View as Webpage
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Highlights from the Presbytery Meeting
Many thanks to the staff and volunteers from Spring Branch Presbyterian Church for hosting Saturday's meeting! The planning and execution contributed to a fruitful gathering for commissioners and visitors. The homemade lunch was refreshing. We are grateful!
Rev. Ted Foote preached the morning worship service with a sermon titled, "When Our Entropy Is Met by the Prodigal God's Negentropy." Ted is retiring from First in Bryan at the end of this month.
We welcomed Rev. John Judson (HR) and Rev. Daniel Vanek (St. Thomas) to the presbytery. Corresponding minister members included Lemuel Garcia (PCUSA-ASG), Rachel Watson (Mission), Sheldon Sorge (Pittsburgh), Tammy Wiens (Pittsburgh), and Steve Shive (Synod of the Sun). Exhibitors included the PC(USA) Matthew 25 Initiative, Mo-Ranch, CarePartners of Texas, United Campus Ministry of Greater Houston, U Kirk @ UT-Austin, and Presbyterian Childrens' Homes and Services,
Workshops were offered by Connie Nyquist on Building Healthy Teams; Dave Coles offered an Intro to Mission Insite; Interfaith Ministries shared about refugee resettlement; and Kathleen Davies subbed for Matt Morse on Intergenerational Worship and Congregational Life. (Thank you, Kathleen!)
- The examination of Tamar Wasoian (Webster) was sustained to be ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the PC(USA). Tamar has been called to serve the Common Cathedral in Boston, an outdoor ministry to reach those who live on the streets. She was ordained on Sunday, July 16.
- A service of retirement was held for Rev. Ted Foote and Rev. Laureen Suba.
- A motion to allow Rev. Bobby Daniel to take an alternative form of examination in the area of reformed theology did not pass by the 3/4 majority needed. The Committee on Ministry will continue to work with Rev. Daniel to help him pass the written ordination exam. Rev. Daniel is an ordained Southern Baptist minister serving as the Parish Minister at First in Orange.
- Ordination exam readers were approved, as well as a slate of people to serve on various committees of the presbytery.
Meeting materials are found here. The Evangelism and Church Growth report is found here. The recording of the meeting is available on our Facebook page. The offering was given for Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston Refugee Resettlement. Your donation can be made electronically using this QR code.
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Choosing Curriculum Roundtable - July 25 @ 1:00 CDT
Join with fellow educators as Tori Smit, Regional Minister for Faith Formation
Synod of Central, Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda, offers tips, insights and tools on choosing curriculum fitting for your time and space in your ministry! You will leave this roundtable with definitive tools and resources to move into the new program year! Register for the Zoom call here.
Shifting from Many Ages in Worship to Worship for All Ages
SCRAPCE Fall Event 2023 - September 25-27
Join onsite or online.
- Learning from soft space gone wrong.
- Reimagining intergenerational ministry.
- Preparing worship that actively engages and equally values all ages.
More information is found here. Registration link is found here.
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SoulShop Suicide Prevention Workshop
October 10 @ Covenant, College, Station
Coming Tuesday, October 10, 2023 (9-4:30p) at Covenant Presbyterian Church, College Station, is a workshop called 'SoulShop'. This is a (reformed) faith-based suicide prevention workshop for all persons of the church (ordained ministers, ordained ruling elders, and lay persons) (www.soulshopmovement.org) . The cost is $35/person and includes lunch to be catered by local restaurant. Dietary restrictions can be communicated through the eventbrite registration. Please make this invitation to any persons connected to your various faith communities.
A PDF of information is found here. Please follow the link (https://Soulshopcollegestation.eventbrite.com). Registration will close the first week of September.
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Download the 2023-2025 Book of Order;
Planning Calendars Are Ready for Purchase
Now that the amendment voting is complete across the country, the new 2023-2025 Book of Order is available for purchase or free download. It looks like the Office of the General Assembly is still working on translating the resource into Korean and Spanish.
An order of up to 9 copies costs $10 (each) + shipping. 10-24 puts the price down to $9.00 each + shipping. 25-49 are $8.50 each + shipping. More than 50 are $8.00 each + shipping. Please email Lynn Hargrove if you would like to bulk order with the presbytery. It would be helpful if you could come pick them up at the office.
Additionally, the 2023-2024 Planning Calendars are available for purchase. An order of 9 or under is $16.95 each + shipping. 10-49 drops the price to $14.50 each + shipping. 50+ makes it $9.75 each + shipping. Please let us know if you would like us to bulk order. We can make arrangements for pick up.
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Talking about Climate Change and the Church's Response
Have you ever looked at the effects of climate change and the apathy of so many Christians around you and wondered, "What are we missing here?" "Why has the U.S church struggled so mightily to understand the climate crisis as a moral and gospel issue, and instead so often abandoned it to the domain of the culture wars?"
Rev. Kyle Meyaard-Schaap, Vice-President of the Evangelical Environmental Network and author of Following Jesus in a Warming World, will offer some insights into these questions and other topics related to climate action at the St. Philip Summer Lecture Series on Saturday, August 5.
Visit http://saintphilip.net/Summer_LectureSeries.html for more information. Contact omar@saintphilip.net with any questions.
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Believing for Brigitte
As many of you know, Brigitte Daniel, the wife of Rev. Bobby Daniel (Parish Minister at First Presbyterian Church of Orange), is still recovering from a long battle with pancreatitis. She has been in the hospital for seven months with acute care. She was recently moved to a long term acute care facility for additional healing and therapy. She has been clinging to the word STEADFAST and Lamentations 3:22, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.”
From that, a shirt was created not only to have a visible representation to show our love and support, but to provide financial support during this time. All profits from the t-shirts sales go directly to them. Follow this link for a t-shirt. If you wish you may also contribute to the Daniel Love offering online at http://firstpresorange.com/give. We also ask you to join us for an intentional time of daily prayer from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Pray wherever you are…home, work, or at play.”
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What Did He Do??
Do you remember the WWJD bracelets that were all the rage in the 1990s? Maybe you even wore one… or maybe you still do. Those bracelets were a serious discipleship thought experiment. If you are not familiar with the history, here is how the phenomenon began.
A youth group leader named Janie Tinklenberg at Calvary Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan, began the grassroots movement. She hoped the bracelets would help the teenagers in her group remember the “What would Jesus do?” phrase. The idea was that when confronted with one of life’s dilemmas, the bracelet would remind them to ask themselves, “What would Jesus do?” For example, should I befriend an unpopular kid in school?… What would Jesus do? Is finders-keepers an acceptable way to deal with lost property?... What would Jesus do?
The WWJD concept works as well for adults as those teens in Janie’s youth group. For example, suppose someone holds a governmental position and misuses the position for financial gain. Should they be prosecuted and punished to the full extent of the law? What would Jesus do?
Read more here.
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Jim Currie Shares "A Tale of Two Saints"
This column is about two Presbyterians who lived about 150 years apart and in very different places. The one was born in 1791 in Midway, Georgia and died in 1857 in Austin, Texas. The other was born in 1960 in Houston, Texas and died in 2023, also in Houston.
The one graduated from Hampden-Sydney College and Princeton Seminary, the other attended a Catholic school before graduating from Stephen F. Austin High School in Houston and taking continuing education classes at the University of Houston.
The one traveled much across this country teaching, preaching, evangelizing, serving as a pastor at times and is recognized as one of the 19th century giants in the Presbyterian Church. The other lived in Houston her whole life and whose grandparents and mother were charter members of a congregation that was formed intentionally as a fully racially integrated church.
The one was Daniel Baker who served as pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia, First Presbyterian Church in Holly Springs, Mississippi, and First Presbyterian Church in Galveston, Texas. In between those pastorates he preached in churches across the South. In 1840 he moved to Texas, stopping to preach in New Orleans. In Texas he preached throughout the state from Houston to Victoria, Cuero, Goliad, New Braunfels, La Grange, Palestine, and Brownsville. He founded what is now Austin College, located first in Huntsville, Texas and later in Sherman, Texas. He served as the second president of that school (the first being Samuel McKinney who had been recruited by Baker). His son, William Mumford Baker, was also a Presbyterian minister and was the organizing pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Austin.
The other was Carrie Walker, a member of University Presbyterian Church in Houston, a church in which she grew up. She was born in 1960 and that church was organized in 1965. Located near the campuses of Texas Southern University and the University of Houston, it hoped to serve students from both campuses as well as the greater Houston area. Over the years of the life of that church Carrie served as elder, clerk of session, treasurer, scheduler of pulpit supply preachers. At the end of that church’s life she filled all those positions, being the last member there. When that church closed, Carrie became part of First Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, Texas.
Read more here.
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Spaghetti Lunch - July 22
Woodforest Presbyterian Church will be having a Spaghetti Dinner fund raiser on Saturday, July 22nd from 11 - 3 (Or until we run out of food). Dinners include spaghetti (with or without meatballs), salad and bread, for $10 a plate. The event will also include a bake sale and silent auction.
All proceeds go to church mission projects.
Woodforest Presbyterian Church
15330 Wallisville Rd.
Houston, TX 77049
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The 2023-2024 PW/Horizons Bible Study Overview
Sacred Encounters
The Power and Presence of Jesus Christ in Luke-Acts
By Olive Mahabir
There will be one in-person overview on
Saturday, August 12, at John Knox Presbyterian Church,
2525 N. Gessner Rd, Houston TX 77080.
Registration and refreshments at 9:30am, followed by overview from 10am to 12noon
Register with Debbi Englade at 713-398-2299 (call or text) or email dmenglade@yahoo.com.
If you would rather attend a virtual overview,
there will be an overview via Zoom on Saturday, August 19, at 10am to 12noon.
You may email Patti Nanney at pananney@sbcglobal.net, and she will email you the Zoom link.
All overviews will be presented by Patti Nanney, R.E., Spring Branch Presbyterian Church
It will be helpful if you bring your copy of the Bible study to the overview.
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Seeking Vendors for Market Day at John Knox
The congregation of John Knox Presbyterian Church seeks vendors for their:
Oktoberfest and Market Day at John Knox
2525 N. Gessner Rd., Houston, TX 77080
Saturday, October 14, 2023
1:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Benefitting the Spring Branch Color Run and the Mission of Yahweh
Vendors may sign up online at www.johnknoxhouston.org
Items for sale do not need to be home/handmade. For franchise type seller, the first one that signs up/pays is the one that gets the spot. It should be a great day under the oak trees at JKPC!
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Seeking Commissioners for GA 226 in
Salt Lake City!
The next General Assembly is a year away to be held in Salt Lake City, June 25-July 4, 2024. Committees will meet online for their work (June 25-27), and then the commissioners will meet in person for plenary (June 29-July 4). The Presbytery of New Covenant sends 4 commissioners, two Ruling Elders, and two Teaching Elders (Ministers of Word and Sacrament). Please consider how God might be calling you into this work. Applications are due by July 31 for consideration by the Nominating Committee. Click here for Ruling Elders, click here for Teaching Elders. Please return completed application forms to Helen DeLeon and Lynn Hargrove.
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Upcoming Educational Opportunities
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Churches Seeking Pastors
First, Bryan, Interim (full time)
First, Caldwell (part time)
Gulf Prairie, Jones Creek/Freeport (part time)
First, Livingston (part time)
St. Paul's, Needville
First, Rosenberg (part time)
First, Tomball (part time)
First Congregational Church (UCC), Houston (full time)
To apply, use this link.
OTHER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Education Beyond the Walls seeks a Director for Lifelong Learning. This person will lead the development, implementation, promotion, and management of educational opportunities to fulfill the mission of Education Beyond the Walls at Austin Seminary. The person in this position needs curiosity and imagination; the ability to think theologically, strategically and tactically; demonstrated commitment to the church as it is and is becoming; the capacity to thrive in the spaces between academy, church and emergent realities; facility in moving from idea to action; and skills in program execution.
Find the full job description here. The application information is found here.
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In Our Thoughts and Prayers | |
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For the family and friends of RE Marshall Bookman Peters who died on July 2.
The memorial service was held on July 10 at First, Bryan, where he had been a longtime member.
For Brigette Daniel, wife of Rev. Bobby Daniel (Orange, First), as she continues
her recovery from medical complications. (see the story above)
Donations to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance can be made here.
For peace and safety for the people of Ukraine, the Middle East, Sudan,
and in other parts of the world.
Each week we offer up congregations and a retired pastor for general prayers.
This week, please pray for:
Trawick, Nacogdoches
Trinity, Port Neches
Rev. Ray Gearing, Honorably Retired, living in Livingston.
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We recognize those celebrating their "ordiversaries"!
David Peterson - July 20, 1972
Suzanne Gulick - July 22, 2018 (5th in 2023)
T. Stewart Coffman - July 24, 1960
The Lord your God will bless you in all your work, and in everything you put your hand to.
Deuteronomy 15:10
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