Matthew 25 Summit:

An Invitation to Innovation

Join us in Atlanta, GA, following Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, January 16–18, 2024, for a first-of-its-kind event! 

The Matthew 25 Summit will bring mid-councils, churches, and individuals together to explore this vision. What does it mean to eradicate poverty; how can we begin dismantling systemic racism; how will we...

Join me in congratulating Tammy Strickland on the healthy arrival of her granddaughter, Lucy Layne Strickland, born to son Kyle and daughter-in-law, Courtney on January 7, 2024. Welcome to the spinning planet, little one! You are already loved!

Sue Westfall, General Presbyter

NEXT Church Winter Workshop Burst 

https://nextchurch.net/product/winter-workshop-burst/

Five timely topics for church leaders based on feedback we have received from individual conversations concerning the needs on the ground: 

• Power Mapping: Building Skills for Community Organizing
• Enneagram 101: How Personality Types Impact Leadership
• Preaching as Disruption
• Transformation Within and Beyond
• How to Tell a Story

It’s only $29/person for all sessions or $25/person for each session. Our hope is that this low cost will provide access to as many leaders as possible.

Preaching for Change

https://nextchurch.net/preaching-for-change/

We received a Lilly Grant to support our initiative, Preaching for Change, and are excited to launch our pilot program in 2024. Cohorts can be composed of leadership within a congregation or colleagues with a common goal. All participants will engage with our resources (Cultivated Ministry and Crossroads video series), receive 1:1 and group coaching quarterly, and attend the 2024 National Gathering.

National Gathering 

https://nextchurch.net/product/2024-national-gathering/

From April 8-11, 2024 we will gather in Falls Church, VA to move the needle in our contexts. Participants will engage with practitioners and coaches in one of six different areas:

• Community Organizing
• Building Community Partnerships
• Intersectionality/Embodying Welcome
• Identity and Coalition Building for People of Color
• The Preaching Moment
• Leading Change

Friends,

12 years ago, I accepted a call to be your regional Ministry Relations Officer at the Presbyterian Foundation. Over the past 12 years I have had the privilege of getting to know you, walking alongside you, and supporting you and your ministries. After 12 wonderful years, I will conclude my service as your Ministry Relations Officer at the end of December. In January, I will be joining the team at Columbia Theological Seminary as the Vice President for Business and Administration. You can read more about Columbia and my role in this press release.

During this transition and beyond, the Presbyterian Foundation still stands ready to support you and your ministries in stewardship and investments. Here are some resources available to you:

• Stewardship Navigator
• Church Financial Leadership Academy
• Online Giving
• Investments

During the transition, if you need to speak with a Ministry Relations Officer, please reach out to Stephen Keizer (stephen.keizer@presbyterianfoundation.org and 269-277-3688).　

The search for your next regional Ministry Relations Officer has already started. If you are interested in serving the church in this way or if you know of someone who would do a great job, please let Stephen Keizer know.　

It has truly been a privilege to serve you. Thank you for allowing me to walk alongside you. Many blessings to you and your continued ministry.

Peace,

Robert Hay, Jr.

Senior Ministry Relations Officer

Southeast Region 

APCE Annual Event, January 24-27, 2024 in St. Louis, MO

The theme for the Association of Partners in Christian Education event is "Come All who are Thirsty," and registration is open now. Look for details on workshop offerings, speakers, scholarships and registration here. This event is available in person, online, and online in Spanish. Due to the partnership between the Christian Formation Office in the PC(USA), Global Language Resources, and APCE, there is no cost to participate in AE Online in Spanish.

Congo Mission Network

Save the Date for the 2024 Conference

“Education for Transformation: Equipping Congolese Youth for the Future” is the theme of the 2024 Conference. Save the date, March 14-16, 2024, for this dynamic get-together. Click here for a Save the Date flyer in English, and here for French.

Registration is now open for Living River Summer Camp

and for scholarship application.

Presbyterian Home for Children News

Presbyterian Home for Children was just featured in the Presbyterian Women's Annual Mission Fund Promotional Resource!  

In May of 1963, Whitfield Cottage was dedicated on the campus of the Presbyterian Home for Children in Talladega, AL. In May of 1963, Doug Marshall - PHFC’s President was born in Meridian, MS. Please help PHFC renovate Whitfield Cottage so that the Home can open it up for 7 more at-risk families in its Secured Dwellings Program to provide healing and hope.  You can donate at www.PHFC.org/donate/

Exploring the Legacies and Lessons of the Civil Rights Movement in the US South: 

A Pilgrimage to Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma, Jackson, the Mississippi Delta and Memphis / May 28 – June 6, 2024

The events of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, occurring largely in the U.S. South, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, profoundly changed the course of our nation’s history, leading to the abolishment of legalized racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement. Through the non-violent, peaceful means of marches, protests, walk-outs, sit-ins, boycotts and demonstrations, citizens and movement leaders resisted continuing oppression and engaged in a hard-fought struggle to expand civil rights and dismantle the structural racism of their time.

Pro Ecclesia 2024 Conference

https://www.pro-ecclesia.org/

Click on the registration link below for all the conference details

We are excited to announce the details of our next annual conference, “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic? Championing the Marks of the Church in an Age of Polarization and Ecclesial Confusion,” to be held here in Birmingham, June 10-12, 2024. We hope you will join us!

Please register and book a room by clicking on the button below and following the instructions we have laid out for you. We look forward to welcoming you. We promise you will you have a good time of learning and fellowship in service of the church.

Rev. Ed Hurley will be leading the final prayer at the end of the conference.

Please be sure to check out the job openings around our Presbytery at the bottom of this page.

Newsletters, Bulletins, News

• Presbyterian Outlook
• A pastor-less future?
• Second Sunday after Epiphany
• Third Sunday after Epiphany
• Scotland Calling
• Living Waters for the World Newsletter
• January in Montreat

PRESBYTERY OPERATING FINANCES November 2023 YTD