FROM RACHEL YATES, PRESBYTERY EXECUTIVE
TRADITIONS, PART 1
It hardly qualifies as green bean casserole.  My husband fixes this traditional dish every Thanksgiving, but in a non-traditional way.  He skips the cream of mushroom soup.  (Only Campbell's thought that was a good idea.  Cream of celery, maybe, but not mushroom!)  Then, he adds cheddar cheese and bacon.  The bubbly goodness of melted cheese and bacon, with fried onions, makes my mouth water.  His version of the recipe has very little to do with green beans, but it's delicious!

We can count on a green bean casserole each November.  This holiday tradition is...(READ MORE)
PRESBYTERY PULSE
ADVENT ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES FOR USE AT HOME AND IN CONGREGATIONS
The Season of Advent begins this Sunday and we're here to help you usher in the light of Christ. Each week, we'll provide a link to activities and resources for children, youth, families, and adults focused on our theme Witness to Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. This link will take you to all the resources for Week 1: Witness to Hope. You can also find them on our Presbytery Advent webpage.

And to help you usher in the season with your own Advent wreath
check out our DIY guide:
Advent Wreath DIY
Advent Wreath DIY




We'd love to see your own Advent wreath creations! Please take a photo and send to agibbs@pbymilwaukee.org.
CALVARY BECOMES MATTHEW 25 CHURCH
Calvary Presbyterian Church has signed on to become a Matthew 25 church, joining Heritage, Tippecanoe, Southminster, and the Presbytery.  Jesus calls us to act boldly and compassionately to serve people who are hungry, oppressed, imprisoned and poor. By joining together on this journey, we are uniting in common mission to become a more relevant presence in the world.  We hope you'll consider becoming a Matthew 25 congregation, too!
PRESBYTERY OFFICE CLOSURE
The Presbytery office will be closed Thursday and Friday, November 26 and 27, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.  Presbytery staff will resume normal working hours Monday, November 30.
PRESBYTERY OF MILWAUKEE ADVENT CALENDAR
Join us as we journey toward Christmas by opening a door everyday on the Presbytery's digital Advent calendar.  You might be surprised and delighted by what you find behind the door.  The Advent calendar will be available on the Presbytery's webpage beginning December 1st.
IFC 50TH ANNIVERSARY VIRUTAL ANNUAL LUNCHEON
Thursday, December 3, 2020, Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Come sit at the Presbytery's virtual tables for the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee's annual lunch on Thursday, December 3rd, to reflect on the past 50 years.  IFC is excited to welcome this year's keynote speaker Dr. Reggie Williams, author of Bonhoeffer's Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance.  He will lead a discussion on his ideas related to Faith, Race, and Politics.  Registered guests will be able to participate in webinar discussion.  

Visit the IFC website to learn more.  Please contact Rachel Yates if you are interested in attending.
PRESS RELEASE: PRESBYTERY OF MILWAUKEE EXTINGUISHES $1.9 MILLION IN MEDICAL DEBT
The Presbytery of Milwaukee, a Presbyterian Church (USA) governing body for 41 churches in southeastern Wisconsin, launched a campaign to pay off $1 million in medical debt one month ago.
 
"We sent out the challenge in late September," said Rachel Yates, Milwaukee Presbytery Executive.  "Within weeks, we had enough donations from our congregations and members to wipe out about $1.9 million in debt, through RIP Medical Debt.  Though we will never know...(READ MORE)
PRESBYTERY GATHERING HIGHLIGHTS
Weren't able to make it to the last Presbytery Gathering, but interested in the good work happening in the Presbytery?  Checkout the Presbytery Gathering Highlights, a two-page synopsis of the November 12, 2020 Presbytery Gathering.

Find information about upcoming Presbytery Gatherings here.
MATTHEW 25: I WAS A STRANGER AND YOU INVITED ME IN...
OVERCOMING EVICTION
Haynie Smith faced significant uncertainty early on in his adult life.  It's a symptom of unaffordable housing that's known all too well in Milwaukee: eviction.  Even though Haynie was paying his bills on time, his landlord wasn't.  Imagine having your life turned upside down in a moment's notice, and to no fault of your own. 

Watch how Haynie overcame these struggles to ensure his family would never face something like this again.
PASTORS UNITED DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE
Wauwatosa Presbyterian Mission Minute: Pastors United Development Initiative


Wauwatosa Presbyterian Church has partnered with Pastors United to help rehab homes in low income areas.  Get ideas about how you can help through this video.
'BREAKDOWN WHITENESS' ONLINE RESOURCE EXPLAINS RACISM TO WHITE AUDIENCES
A group of academics in religious studies, history, and ethics recently joined together to develop Breakdown Whiteness, an online resource designed to explain structural racism to white audiences.

The site, breakdownwhiteness.org, launched Nov. 6. It serves as a clearinghouse of existing resources designed to dismantle white supremacy in America. Resources are categorized by age and subject. The site also includes a glossary of terms and actions that can be taken to stop the policies and practices, which enable systemic and structural racism.
NEWS FROM THE DENOMINATION
PC(USA): DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY THIS #GIVINGTUESDAY
Join the PC(USA) on #GivingTuesday for their first-ever, 12-hour live-stream designed to entertain, inform, and encourage greater giving on Tuesday, December 1.  The virtual event will include worship and reflection, prayer, mental health breaks, ministry area highlights, and a Hollywood Squares-like game called "Presby Squares."  Mark your calendars for what is sure to be a memorable event celebrating generosity!

Learn more about the PC(USA)'s #GivingTuesday event
ENGAGING OUR WORLD SUNDAY SCHOOL RESOURCE
This study of the UN's sustainable development goals gives snapshots into each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), some of their targets, and the ways in which the PC(USA) and its global partners have been working -- and continue to work -- to achieve this sustainable development agenda. 

Learn more about and download Engaging our World Sunday School Resources for UN Sustainable Development Goals
DECOLONIZING OUR CONSCIOUSNESS
When you examine scripture, how does the lens of colonization influence how you read and understand those passages? That's the question asked during Wednesday's broadcast of Good Medicine, a monthly online conversation with the Co-Moderators of the 224th General Assembly (2020).

The Reverend Gregory Bentley and Ruling Elder Elona Street-Stewart spoke with Jim Bear Jacobs, a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Nation, located in central Wisconsin. He also serves as pastor of the Church of All Nations, a multicultural community Presbyterian church, located in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, as part of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. Jacobs is also program director of racial justice for the Minnesota Council of Churches.
JUSTICE UNBOUND ADVENT DEVOTIONAL
Starry Black Night: A Womanist Advent Devotional is available from Justice Unbound.  Beginning November 29th, Justice Unbound will feature devotions and daily word reflections as a part of the Advent experience.  A PDF version of the devotional as well as an Advent calendar are available for download.
PRESBYTERIAN DISASTER ASSISTANCE ADVENT DEVOTIONAL
For Advent 2020, PDA has developed a four-week study, "Annunciations: Disruption and Invitation," using Biblical stories in conversation with documentary films from Story Ministry.

This four week Advent study explores the sacred stories of Advent and Christmas through the biblical narratives of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary in dialogue with short excerpts from film: particularly, the documentaries by the Story Ministry division of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, produced alongside the affected communities. Using brief clips as conversation starters and interweaving them with the biblical narrative and Advent themes, a dialogue is created between the Bible's sacred stories, our own human experience, and these also-holy stories from the films. Each week also includes a brief filmed interview connecting the day's topic with the unfolding impact of COVID-19. The films share stories that are drawn from the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami that killed 230,000, gun violence, refugee resettlement, immigration detention and environmental racism
ADVENT & CHRISTMAS DEVOTIONAL FROM PRESBYTERIANS TODAY
Check out Presbyterians Today's Advent and Christmas devotional, "Let Us Light Candles: Matthew 25 and the work of Advent." This extended online devotional - taking you not just through Advent but through Christmastide and ending with Epiphany, Jan. 6 - brings to you the inspiring words in Howard Thurman's poem "I Will Light Candles This Christmas."
REGARDING RULING ELDERS:
A MONTHLY SERIES FOR SPIRITUAL LEADERS

Ryan Landino has written the most recent installment of Regarding Ruling Elders, a monthly resource of the Office of the General Assembly.
ANYTHING BUT COVID-19 NEWS
CANADIAN PHOTOGRAPHER CAPTURES POLAR BEARS FROLICKING IN FLOWER FIELDS
We rarely see polar bears outside of a snowy Arctic environment, but these bears are no strangers to having fun in the summer! In a rare series of images by Canadian photographer Dennis Fast, these white giants are seen frolicking in a field of fireweed. The photos were taken in Northern Canada's Hudson Bay, near lodges run by Churchill Wild in Manitoba. 
'I WAS A TEACHER FOR 17 YEARS, BUT I COULDN'T READ OR WRITE'
John Corcoran grew up in New Mexico in the US during the 1940s and 50s. One of six siblings, he graduated from high school, went on to university, and became a teacher in the 1960s - a job he held for 17 years. But, as he explains here, he hid an extraordinary secret.
INVITATIONS
ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS MARKET @ IMMANUEL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
A favorite holiday tradition at Immanuel Church, the Alternative Christmas Market is moving online this year!  
 
Join Immanuel on Tuesday, December 1 at 7:00 p.m.  to hear a panel discussion including representatives from the ten local participating organizations.  The event will conclude with breakout rooms, one hosted by each organization, where participants will be able to ask questions and engage in further conversation.  
 
Click here for everything you need to know about this year's market including registration (required to receive Zoom link), shopping lists, an online order link, gift card samples and more!  
Can't attend on December 1st?  No problem. The event will be recorded and posted on the Immanuel webpage.
 
Gift orders may be submitted now through Christmas. Gift cards will be mailed out in plenty of time for Christmas for all orders received in the church office by December 11.
BENEATH THE SAME STARS BOOK STUDY
Daytime and evening studies beginning Monday, January 18, 2021
"August 18, 1862.
On the Sioux reservation in southwestern Minnesota, Indians desperate for food and freedom rise up against whites in the region. Sarah Wakefield, the wife of a physician, is taken captive with her two babies. Their fate falls into the hands of the warrior Ćaske, with whom she has slim acquaintance. As war rages, little does she know how entwined their lives will become.
Beneath the Same Stars is the gripping story of two people, caught between worlds, who are willing to do almost anything to defend those they care about-including each other. But the drama is bigger than themselves. Tragic forces have been set in motion...."
Presbyterian Women in the Synod of Lakes and Prairies is sponsoring a book study for women and men across the synod beginning January 18, 2021.  Daytime and evening study options are available, meeting every two weeks for five sessions led by members of the PWS Native American Concerns Committee.
MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES FOR CONGREGATIONS:
PROJECT RECOVERY WORKSHOP
The Wisconsin Council of Churches recently partnered with Project Recovery, a FEMA funded crisis counseling program that is active in Wisconsin for the COVID pandemic to present two webinars on their programming, how it works, tips for stress reduction, and common reactions in disaster situations. View the recording of the webinar and a compilation of Q&A. 
FREE REUSABLE MASKS FROM MILWAUKEE CITY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
The Milwaukee Health Department (MHD) is looking for partnership with local businesses, religious, and community organizations to provide them with free reusable cloth masks for those in need.  Contact program assistant, Violet Kryshak at 414-208-7800 to pick up masks or get masks delivered to your organization.  Program details can be found here.

Currently, residents can also pick up masks from any Milwaukee Public Library, Milwaukee health clinics, and Community Testing sites. city.milwaukee.gov/masks
RESOURCES TO HELP ADDRESS STRESS AND ANXIETY
Are you thriving or just surviving?  The COVID pandemic has created a concurrent crisis around mental health.  Everyone needs to be taking care of one another, but that includes ourselves.  This site from the Colorado Healthcare Ethics Resource Group offers information and resources to help address the anxiety and stress that can, if left unaddressed, deteriorate into a crisis.  The site was designed for healthcare workers, but has information that is applicable to everyone.

HOT LINKS
Grapevine - Presbyterian Women's Newsletter
Keeping In Touch - Newsletter from the Synod of Lakes and Prairies 
Life in the Labyrinth - Inspirational Website by Michelle Henrichs
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance - Current Information
The Sower -  August 2020 Newsletter for the Presbyterian Women in the Synod of Lakes and Prairies
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
FUTURE PRESBYTERY GATHERING DATES

Download the 2020-2021 Presbytery Gathering flyer 

  • TUESDAY, March 9, 2021
  • SATURDAY, May 22, 2021
  • WEDNESDAY, September 22, 2021
  • THURSDAY, November 18, 2021 

Presbytery of Milwaukee
414-292-2740
khopta@pbymilwaukee.org
http://www.pbymilwaukee.org