Dear Friends of Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery,
Welcome to this week's edition of our e-letter, Presbytery Matters. Our goal is to highlight things going on throughout the Church: within our Presbytery, in our congregations, as well as in the Synod of the Northeast and across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We hope that these are things that will be helpful, informative, challenging, encouraging and supportive. In other words, we hope that these things will matter. Your input is valued, and your comments are always welcomed.
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Spreading Christmas Joy with music
The String a Longs gave a Christmas performance at the Presbyterian Manor.
Manor Board member, Dianne Camarda, is a violin player in the group and organized the concert. The residents were thrilled and enjoyed the show.
The String a Longs will be back in the spring for an outdoor concert.
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We want to hear about the mission stories from our Presbytery's worshiping communities. What mission work are you involved in? How are your members working in the community? What story would you like to share with others in the Presbytery?
Send any mission stories from your congregation that you would like to share to: CaySyrNews@gmail.com.
Deadline is 12 p.m. on Wednesdays for the current week's edition of
Presbytery Matters.
We want to share your stories, missions, activities and more. Also, make sure to like our Facebook page by clicking the "Facebook" icon at the top of this newsletter.
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Joys and Concerns around the Presbytery |
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In our prayers together this week:
- Please pray for Frank Campagna from the Cazenovia Church. Frank was diagnosed with cancer. Please keep him, his doctors and his family in your prayers.
- Please pray for everyone who is struggling with mental health and mental illnesses.
- Keep all those who battling cancer in your prayers. Please ask God to be by their side and to be with their doctors and families.
In the cycle of prayer our Presbytery, please pray for these congregations, faith communities, and individuals: Isaiah’s Table, Syracuse; Korean Church of Syracuse; Park Central, Syracuse; Robinson Elmwood United Church, Syracuse; First, Weedsport; Whitelaw
If you'd like to share a particular joy or concern with the Presbytery, please contact: CaySyrNews@gmail.com. Please note, prayers will be featured for three weeks, unless a specific time frame is requested.
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Please welcome our new Bookkeeper
Kristin Schierer was recently hired as our new Bookkeeper.
Kristin is also the Office Professional and Financial Assistant at the First Presbyterian Church in Cazenovia. She has served in the position for six years.
Kristin lives in Cazenovia with her husband and two children. When not transporting kids to and from various activities, she enjoys knitting and crocheting.
Welcome, Kristin!
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A message from Gordon Howard, Presbytery Treasurer --
For the entire Presbytery, I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Paula Lamberson for her dedicated, passionate and professional service to the Presbytery for the last 12 years.
Our records have always been complete, up to date, accurate and praised by auditors for being free of errors. Paula has made my job as treasurer a breeze. She instructed me, informed me and was always willing to ensure - even though it may not be her job - that all aspects of Presbytery finances were taken care of the right way.
Moreover, Paula was always willing to help member churches with bookkeeping intricacies and guide Presbytery leaders through the Presbytery finance processes.
Personally, Paula, it has been an honor to work with you. I wish you all the best in your well-deserved retirement in Pennsylvania and great joy when you are cuddling those new baby grand kids.
Thank you again, Paula. You have been an important part of this Presbytery’s ability to serve member churches and worship God.
God bless you and we hope you will visit when you can!
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From the the Rev. Karen Chamis |
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Friends, as of December 31st I am no longer your Resource Presbyter. Although I am continuing my membership in this presbytery, I'll be keeping strict boundaries in regards to discussions about the future work of this presbytery and her member churches. As part of my "rewiring", I'm planning on scaling back significantly on social media as well. I'll still be posting at www.karenchamis.blog but chances are pretty good it will be more about writing, knitting, gardening, and faith than organizational church stuff. Thank you so much for your kindness these last few years. I'm grateful for you all.
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In the absence of a Resource Presbyter, please contact the following individuals:
And, as always, questions regarding church polity, minutes, parlimentary procedure should be directed to our Stated Clerk, Rev. Ben Fitzgerald-Fye (statedclerk@cayugasyracuse.org)
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Tuesday, January 17, 2023, 2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Wednesday, January 18, 2023, 2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Thursday, January 19, 2023, 2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Leader - Kay Kotan
Have you ever wondered how to effectively form cooperative parishes that result in healthy ministries and positive community impact? In this three-part webinar series, you will walk through the steps for cooperative parish discernment and how to truly cooperate through a shared vision. In addition, you will discover what it means to cooperate through ministries and resources for Kingdom impact in a healthy and an effective cooperative parish model.
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
2:00 - 2:30 PM EST
Leader - Melissa Gepford
Dandelion Marketplace is a digital multivendor platform that provides reliable progressive spiritual formation resources for families and communities. Dandelion serves as a colander, offering the most reliable progressive faith formation resources to families and churches, without having to sift through fundamentalist search options. Additionally, this marketplace platform provides a tried-and-true location for progressive authors to house and sell their own materials that will increase their sales and personal brand.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Leader - Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund
Join author, advocate, and pastor Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund for conversation, stories, and practical steps about how faith communities can offer support and hope to children, teens, and their families living with mental health challenges.
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EPIPHANY SERVICE: The magi, led by the star, brought their gifts to the baby Jesus during the Epiphany service on Sunday morning at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Auburn.
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Do you live-stream your service on Sundays?
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We are compiling a list of live-stream links to feature in Presbytery Matters. This will allow others to join in on your services.
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Join in on these services virtually on Sundays:
Faith United Oswego - Live on Zoom (Meeting ID: 207 196 571)
Isaiah's Table will send a link for people to join our hybrid worship at 10 a.m. on Saturdays. Send email to isaiahtable@gmail.com by Friday evening.
Scipioville Presbyterian Church - Live on Zoom (Meeting ID: 836 3163 8403
Passcode: SPC13147)
More to come...
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Teens in 9th to 12th grade from any church and any school district are welcome to join. Youth group leaders, teachers and volunteers are also welcome. Please reach out to Bob or Craig for more details. |
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Ben Fitzgerald-Fye, Stated Clerk, can be reached by emailing statedclerk@cayugasyracuse.org OR by calling or texting (315) 604-8535. Ben will be out of the office from Monday, December 26, 2022 through Monday, January 9, 2023.
Sarah Buckshot, Communications Coordinator, can be reached by emailing caysyrnews@gmail.com. Sarah will be on vacation from Sunday, December 25th to Saturday, December 31st.
Please Note: Our new address change -- PO Box 438, Syracuse, NY 13214 -- also applies to mail sent to the Bookkeeper.
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Administrative Assistant
Jamesville Church seeks energetic administrative assistant, 10 hours/week, $15/hour. Perfect for someone with children in school! Mature faith, skilled in MS Office, people lover, self-starter, good planner, team player, problem solver, task finisher.
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Are you hiring?
If your church is hiring in 2022 or still looking to fill a position from 2021, please send a new or updated announcement and job description to Communication Coordinator Sarah Buckshot at caysyrnews@gmail.com
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Stated Meeting - Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 7 p.m. on Zoom
Annual Meeting - Saturday, May 6, 2023. Time and Location TBA
Stated Meeting - Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 7 p.m. Time and Location TBA
Stated Meeting - Saturday, September 16, 2023. Time and Location TBA
Stated Meeting -Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 7 p.m. on Zoom.
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Around the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) |
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From passwords to payments, protect your church, says Presbyterians Today columnist
An online security refresher for the new year
By Richard Hong
Presbyterians Today
The start of the 2020 pandemic saw many churches scrambling to do ministry digitally, leading them to hastily create a plethora of online accounts. Now that the pressure has subsided, it’s time to review these accounts to not only assess what’s working, but also to ensure that your organization’s online security is not vulnerable to attacks. In this column, we will address passwords and payments.
Let’s begin with a word on passwords. In addition to your email passwords, you probably have accounts with Zoom, Facebook, YouTube — not to mention online banking, shopping, the Board of Pensions, etc. Hopefully you have a record of your passwords with each account, and you are not using the same password for every account. But there’s something new in the world of passwords that’s becoming almost universal and can create future problems. It’s two-factor authentication.
Two-factor authentication is where a login is followed by a code that is sent by text message to a cellphone. If the cellphone is a staff member’s personal phone, what happens if the person leaves, particularly on unfriendly terms? Consider having a church-owned phone to which all two-factor authentication codes are sent. Also, audit your online accounts to see how you would access them if someone was suddenly incapacitated. Imagine an employee or volunteer leaving, only to discover that you cannot log in to an account without a six-digit code that was sent to their phone. Some sites will allow you to have an organizational account that can be accessed by more than one person. But also, beware of the level of privileges assigned to secondary users on an account. There are stories of employees who had administrator privileges on the church Facebook page removing admin privileges from everyone else, effectively stopping the church from updating their page.
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More Americans stay
away from church as pandemic nears year three
COVID-19 gave them a reason to let go completely, according to a new survey
By Religion News Service
t the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly every congregation in the United States shut down, at least for a while.For some Americans, that was the push they needed to never come back to church.
A new report, which looked at in-person worship attendance patterns before the beginning of the pandemic and in 2022, found that a third of those surveyed never attend worship services. That’s up from 25% before the start of the pandemic.
The pandemic has likely led people who already had loose ties to congregations to leave, said Dan Cox, one of the authors of the new study and a senior fellow in polling and public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute.
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P.O. Box 438, Syracuse 13214
(315) 632-5698
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"I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them
bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
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