PC(USA) General Assembly Last Week
|
|
A Funny Thing Happened on the
Way to GA
Guest Blog by Rev. Jeff Snell
Trinity Chapel Presbyterian
June 20
th
was supposed to be the start of the 224
th
General Assembly in Baltimore, MD. I was excited because not only was this the first time being a GA commissioner, I was headed back to my old stomping grounds. I am a Marylander, born and raised. I was excited about going to Charm City and seeing old friends and making new ones. But along comes COVID-19 and all plans were scrapped. Instead of meeting in person, we were going to have GA over three days on Zoom. Imagine having a Zoom meeting with 700 of your closest friends.
|
|
Presbytery Upcoming Virtual Meetings
Friday, July 3 and Monday, July 6
The Presbytery Office will be Closed
Tues., July 7
12 p.m. - Interim/Transitional Pastors -
Click Here
Wed., July 8
Thurs., July 9
|
|
Calvary Presbyterian Church
Final Worship Service To Be Held Through Zoom
Sunday, July 12 at 10:30 a.m.
Please email Rev. Emma Holley at
[email protected]
- if you would like to be added to the Zoom invitations of the final worship service. We hope you will join us!
|
|
Medicaid Expansion On the Ballot
Many Missouri families are slipping through the cracks in our healthcare system — forced to choose between paying for life-saving care and putting food on the table or making a mortgage payment to keep their home. These families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid and not enough to be able to afford coverage on the health insurance exchange.
Medicaid expansion closes that coverage gap and ensures that hardworking Missourians will have access to affordable healthcare. It helps people nearing retirement who have lost their insurance, those with chronic medical conditions, and all Missourians who earn less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level (that’s less than $18,000 for an individual or $30,000 for a family of three). Medicaid expansion would provide healthcare to more than 230,000 Missourians - including more than 50,000 parents and 18,000 near retirees.
|
|
Devotionals Welcomed
Pastors and friends,
Would you like to share a 3-5” YouTube devotional with a community of senior adults? Residents at Aberdeen Heights Sr Living would enjoy hearing different faces and voices for a brief morning devotional on our CCTV. Listeners would be residents and staff, mostly mainline Christian, with some Jewish and Muslim members of the community as well. If interested, please contact Chaplain Julie A Berger at
[email protected]
o
r send me your YouTube link(s). Short and sweet, thoughtful and sensitive to all faith traditions is the idea.
|
|
New Worshiping Communities
Dreaming and Discerning
Tues., Aug. 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Although many of our buildings may be closed for now, our churches are creatively open, continuing and even expanding the reach of their mission and ministry, with God’s Spirit inspiring many of us to see visions and dream dreams in ways we might not have imagined a few short months ago.
Learn more here.
Please RSVP your interest to Leigh Porter at
[email protected]
. A Zoom link will be sent to you before the meeting in August.
|
|
Social Action
The Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy has a new tab on the home page of their
website
,
dedicated to Social Action. If you have questions on how you can engage in the work of combating racial inequality and injustice, please visit the resources under the Social Action tab.
If you have questions or suggestions of additional resources, please email:
[email protected]
|
|
Kids Bored? Consider Virtual Camp
|
|
Summer Camp 2020
Campers go to
https://moundridge.org/virtual-camp/
to register for this free program. We then send packages of supplies to the campers and they follow along online! Space is limited so please register asap!
Camp runs June 15- July 17th and the website is open until August 1st.
|
|
Self-Care and Mental Health
|
|
Light for the Darkness
Meeting Day/Time Change
Join us Mondays at 7 p.m.
Feeling anxious or depressed, or know someone who is? Light for the Darkness has started a virtual group for anyone struggling with mental health to connect with others who understand and explore where God may be in the midst, Mondays at 7 pm.
Please connect with Thirza Sayers, who is intimately aware of these struggles, if you have any questions at
[email protected]
or 404.313.4549. Learn more about Light for the Darkness by
clicking here.
|
|
Spiritual Practices
The spiritual practice for July is discernment. Discernment is about more than understanding or decision-making. It is about the holy process of listening for God in a way that seeks to understand God's will and align one's self with it.
Practicing discernment requires a yoking with Christ ... a walking alongside in order to learn from him.
This week, practice reading scripture for understanding instead of affirmation of your previous beliefs, and then applying this new understanding to your actions.
|
|
Let's Talk about Self-Care
These days, it is more and more clear there are those who know the practices of self-care and those who don't. In this short video, Synod Executive Landon Whitsitt offers a brief introduction to caring for our bodies, minds, and spirits.
Click here
|
|
FREE 24 Hour Counseling
Pastors and other Board of Pension members, Cigna is offering a separate 24-hour toll-free help line, to support resiliency during this time of high stress and anxiety, and can be reached by calling 866-912-1687 to connect with qualified clinicians, including licensed social workers, professional counselors, and psychologists, who can provide support and guidance.
|
Mindful Listening:
A Transformational Act
Tuesday, July 7 6:45 - 8:00pm
We’ve been listening since we were born but most of us recognize that listening with full attention and an open heart and an open mind is a skill we keep learning our entire lives. In this Meet Up, we’ll explore ways to strengthen our ability to listen in service of strengthening our understanding and our ability to respond in appropriate ways. Facilitator: Coke Hennessy You may set up a free Zoom account on Zoom.us) A stable internet connection is needed. For more information:
www.mercycenterstl.org
No experience necessary.
---- ---- ----
Sacred Earth: Revealing the Divine
Through Nature Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins
Sunday, July 12 1:30-3:30pm
Come appreciate and share your thoughts on Gerard Manley Hopkins evoking Earth as sacred. Allow Noeli Lytton, an eager facilitator of soulful poetry, to lead you through a gentle reading and discussion. Sessions will be hosted live online via Zoom. (You may set up a free Zoom account on Zoom.us) A stable internet connection is needed. For more information:
www.mercycenterstl.org
|
|
Keep Connected
Presbytery COVID19 Response
|
|
Our web page resource.
What will you find there?
|
|
Matthew 25 - In Difficult Times
|
|
We want to hear your stories!
- How is your congregation remaining or becoming even more vibrant?
- How are you reaching out to your neighbors in creative ways?
- How have you participated in the Presbyterians Care Movement?
Send us your comments to
[email protected]
o
r call 314-772-2395. We hope to hear from you soon!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
