EMerge from Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area

Mary Ann Lundy dies at age 92

LOUISVILLE - Mary Ann Weese Lundy, 92, died March 11 in Bloomington, Minnesota. Along with her longtime involvement in the Sanctuary movement, she led the Women's Ministry Unit in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), helped organize and put on the Re-Imagining Conference in 1993, and for four years beginning in 1995 was Deputy General Secretary of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland.

Cherokee Park Church Gathers Funds After Federal Cuts

Cherokee Park's Council authorized a special offering to go to MCC Refugee Services after we heard about cuts at the federal level to these essential services. We managed to gather $2,250 (which includes $500 from our peace offering fund).

Click HERE to read the letter sent by Cherokee Park Church.

Tax resources - The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

It has come to the attention of the Presbytery office that the Board of Pensions has stopped mailing tax guides and Annual Housing Allowance letters to individual members. You can still find that information at this link! Along with a list of other reliable sources for current tax information.

Pictures from Joanna Hipp Installation

Slats Toole is the one singing at the podium with TE Brian Entz on their left and Rev. Laura Viau (from New Castle Presbytery) on their right. They are all singing a Prayer for Illumination.

RE Elsa Kendig (Moderator for PTCA) is in the tan jacket asking the constitutional questions at the podium with Joanna Hipp on her right.

TE Joanna Hipp presiding over Communion on her Installation day at Plymouth Presbyterian Church, March 9, 2025

$100,000 Available for Congregational Development Grants

Has your congregation noticed a need in your community that you could address?
Do you have a new ministry idea to grow you congregation or deepen their involvement?
Have you started dreaming about partnering with a local organization to impact the world?

Is access to funding stopping you?

Consider applying for a Congregational Development Grant from the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. Entering its eighth year, the PTCA’s Congregational Development Grant Fund has already given out nearly $660,000 in grant funds directly to congregations. This year, $100,000 is available with a maximum of $20,000 for any individual congregation. Click on the application link below to apply. Applications are due Monday, June 2, 2025 with awards to be announced in September.

Successful applications will build on the gifts, abilities, passions and callings of congregations as they envision new or expanded ministries.

You Are Invited to Nominate a Person or Group

Donald S. Milloy Award for 2025

The Donald S. Milloy Disability Advocacy Award is presented every other year to a person or a group in the presbytery in recognition of their outstanding service as advocates for and with people who live with disabilities.

The deadline for receiving nominations is June 15, 2025.

The goal of the Disability Concerns Ministry is to promote the inclusion of people who live with disabilities in the life of congregations and in the Presbytery.

All Christians are valuable members of the Body of Christ and deserve access to the worship, fellowship, and leadership opportunities in the church. When barriers of any kind exist and make it impossible for persons with disabilities to participate fully in the life of the church, we are not being faithful to our calling or to the mission of the church. It is not enough to enable people with disabilities to enter the buildings. The Body of Christ is not whole when we are not able to embrace the gifts of all members.

Click HERE for the Nomination Form

SDOP Offering Coming Soon!

OKAY … Fat Tuesday is behind us … and, of course, all our indulgences

[dream on David!]

Our Ash Wednesday smudges … washed away,

but leaving an invisible reminder on our spirits!

I’m not sure what the first Thursday of Lent is called – but I pray it brings hope & peace & courage & strength to us all!

All that leads into a pitch for the Self Development of People Offering that is on the near Easter horizon. As we know, PTCA’s local SDOP projects [along with Synod & GA projects] are supported by your generosity when the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering [OGHS] is received at the end of Lent & beginning of Eastertide. I won’t try to explain the convoluted formula for dividing the OGHS receipts. Far easier to report that PTCA’s SDOP committee awarded $7600 in 2024. Those funds went to The Affinity Council for Burnsville High. The Affinity Council brings students of differing backgrounds, religious & cultural identities together to learn more about one another, build bridges across their differences to foster greater cooperation and respect for each other. Their motto says it all: Where Everybody Belongs!

Your SDOP is committed to assisting local organizations in their work to address the issues of inequity rooted in racism and economic exclusion. Your individual and congregational generosity makes it all possible. Unfortunately, 2024’s SDOP share of One Great Hour of Sharing was slightly less than 2023: Bottom-line, we were not able to fund one deserving project & had to reduce our awards to the Affinity Council.

SSSOOO… - HERE’S THE CHALLENGE: if everyone bumped their gift up by 5-10% for 2025, your open-handedness would increase hands-on mission and grass-roots ministry happening right here in our neighborhoods!

Questions … Answers … More Information: contact TE David Stewart

[at large & lovin’ it!]

hdavid.stewart@gmail.com

651.270.6756

July 28-31 in Louisville, KY

Presbyterian Youth Triennium

Theme: As if we were dreaming

July 28-31, 2025 (This year PYT is in Louisville, Kentucky!)

Delegates from the PTCA will travel by coach bus (approximately an 11 hour drive) and might need to leave on July 27.

Registration deadline to be part of the PTCA Delegation is April 1, 2025. Registration will be done online - details will be emailed directly to pastors and clerks of sessions. John Curtiss, Stated Clerk, is serving as the PTCA registrar.

Cost: $440 (student registration fee). This includes all conference fees and room/board. (This is not the actual cost of attending PYT. The PTCA subsidizes about 1/3 of the cost per student, plus provides transportation). Scholarships are available upon request.

Interested youth are encouraged to ask their home church to pay for half of this fee.

Key Dates to remember:

April 1, 2025 - Registration submitted (online form available soon) and a $75 deposit

May 15, 2025 - Presbytery Meeting to Commission the Triennium Delegation

June 1, 2025 - Half of Student Registration Fee due ($75 deposit plus $145 = total due of $220)

July 1, 2025 - Student Registration Fee paid in full.

There will be a delegation gathering in June (TBD) to go over expectations and other Triennium details.

If you would like to be an adult sponsor on the trip (PTCA will pay your way!), please contact John Curtiss (statedclerk@ptcaweb.org)

Email John Curtiss with questions - statedclerk@ptcaweb.org

Job Opportunities

A reminder that there are several job opportunities both within the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area and with our constituent partners. Find these listings on our website at:

https://www.ptcaweb.org/job-opportunities

EMerge is a newsletter of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. Through most of the year it is published biweekly and distributed to congregations, teaching elders, ruling elders, church members, committees and friends of the presbytery. Please send submissions and address corrections to office@ptcaweb.org

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