March 30, 2023
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.
Mission Stories
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.

Joys and Concerns around the Presbytery
In our prayers together this week:

  • Please pray for victims of the recent gun violence. Pray for the victims and their families.
  • Please pray for the Rev. Monica Styron and her family as her mother passed away last week. She was 99.
  • Please pray for everyone who is struggling with their 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: minister members of the Presbytery who are engaged in specialized ministries, who are at-large members, or who are retired.

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.
Around the Presbytery
The Interfaith Conference for Action and Healing (ICAH) is hosting a spring conference on the diverse religious, faith and spiritual traditions and beliefs that inform our thoughts and actions around Creation and our care of the Earth.

Please join us for Faith, Spirituality and Religion: How Do They Inform Our Care of Creation? on Saturday, April 15 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm at Zabriskie Hall, Wells College, Aurora, NY 13026 (location is handicapped accessible).

The day will include presentations and a panel discussion on our theme from various religious and faith traditions and includes morning refreshments and lunch. We are asking participants for a donation of $25 to fund the lunch and additional expenses though all are welcome and encouraged to attend regardless of the ability to make a donation. Additional donations are also welcome to help fund our expenses.

Around the 5 Presbyteries
Practical Resources for Churches Webinars
Thursday, March 30, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Leader - Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart
What difference does our worship make? How is Christian liturgy a political task? We'll explore these questions and more in this interactive session about what it means to engage in a worship that turns the world right-side-up.

New York State Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Webinars
You can take this training any time during the year
 
7 - 8:30 PM
 
3 - 4:30 PM
 
10 - 11:30 AM
Important Contacts
In the absence of a Resource Presbyter, please contact the following individuals:

Church or Clergy Transitions, conflict resolution, pulpit supply: COM Chairs Mike Depew (mdepew12@yahoo.com) and Shawn Reyburn (sdreyburn@gmail.com) as well as your COM liaison.

Questions regarding the work of the Presbytery: Moderator Garrett Anderson (revgarrettanderson@gmail.com), Vice-Mod Bill Newell (bnewell44@gmail.com), and Chair of Leadership Team, Patrick Heery (pastor@westminsterauburn.org)

And, as always, questions regarding church polity, minutes, parlimentary procedure should be directed to our Stated Clerk, Rev. Ben Fitzgerald-Fye (statedclerk@cayugasyracuse.org)
Church Streaming
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.

Please send links to CaySyrNews@gmail.com
Join in on these services virtually on Sundays:

LaFayette Columbian Presbyterian Church - Live on Facebook
Faith United Oswego - Live on Zoom (Meeting ID: 207 196 571)
First Presbyterian Church in Baldwinsville - Live on YouTube
First Presbyterian Church of Cazenovia - Live on YouTube
First Presbyterian Church of Chittenango - Live on Facebook
First Presbyterian Church of King Ferry - Live on Zoom
First Presbyterian Church of Mexico - Live on Facebook
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles - Live on Facebook
First United Church of Fulton - Live on Facebook
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.
Jamesville Community Church - Live on Facebook
Liverpool First Presbyterian Church - Live on YouTube
Marcellus First Presbyterian Church - Live on Facebook
Otisco Presbyterian Church - Email otiscopcusa@yahoo.com to receive weekly livestream links
Park Central Presbyterian Church - Live on YouTube
Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church - Live on Website
Robinson Elmwood United Church - Live on YouTube
Scipioville Presbyterian Church - Live on Zoom (Meeting ID: 836 3163 8403
Passcode: SPC13147)
Sennett Federated Church - Live on Zoom. To get the login information, email pastor@sennettfederatedchurch.net
United Church of Fayetteville - Live on website and Live on YouTube
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Auburn - Live on Facebook
Whitelaw Presbyterian Church - Live on Facebook

More to come...
Staff Information
Ben Fitzgerald-Fye, Stated Clerk, can be reached by emailing statedclerk@cayugasyracuse.org OR by calling or texting (315) 604-8535.

Sarah Buckshot, Communications Coordinator, can be reached by emailing caysyrnews@gmail.com.

Kristin Schierer, Bookkeeper can be reached by emailing finance@cayugasyracuse.org

Please Note: Our new address change -- PO Box 438, Syracuse, NY 13214 -- also applies to mail sent to the Bookkeeper.
Job Postings
Church Keyboard Musician at Park Central Presbyterian Church in Syracuse
Park Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Syracuse is seeking an experienced keyboard musician for its small, but growing, congregation.

The Church Keyboard Musician will play for all scheduled services of worship, providing hymn accompaniment, service music (prelude, postlude, music during communion, etc.), accompany instrumental and vocal soloists, and accompany choral singing.

The Church Keyboard Musician reports to the Director of Arts and Technology, and to the
Minister as head of staff. The position is part-time, requiring approximately eight hours per
week.

Please email a cover letter and a current CV to: music@parkcentralchurch.org. Subject line: Keyboard Search.

Solo Pastor at Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church in DeWitt

Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church is currently seeking a solo pastor who is spiritually grounded, intellectually curious, compassionate, and forward-thinking. PHPC has a history of community engagement and a commitment to social justice. Our congregation thrives on preaching that enriches and propels us to expand our thinking and motivates action. We are nourished through inspiring music and the loving nature of our faith community. We seek someone who is flexible, has a sense of humor, and flourishes in contexts where collaboration in leadership is the norm.

Position tasks include worship leadership & preaching, pastoral care, oversight of Christian education, moderating the Session, representing the congregation to outside groups that use our facility, assisting committees with guidance and insights as needed, participating and motivating members to become more active in social justice and mission projects.

PHPC was formed in 1956 in a suburb of Syracuse, NY. The church is located less than five miles from Syracuse University and Upstate Medical University, along with other institutions of higher education, multiple hospitals, and successful manufacturing facilities. The church is also situated within a very strong K-12 school system. We enjoy the benefits of a city with close proximity to the Finger Lakes, a pleasant drive to the Adirondacks, and a multitude of hiking and biking options in the immediate area, including those associated with the Erie Canal corridor. Onondaga County is on the cusp of major growth due to its selection as the site for an investment of $100 billion over ten years by Micron computer chip company. Finally, Syracuse was recently identified by FEMA as the safest city in the U.S. from natural disasters.

To receive more information or to express interest in the position, please email the Pastoral Nominating Committee at pncpebblehill@gmail.com. Website: https://www.phpchurch.org
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
Dates to Remember
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.
Around the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Stated Clerk calls on churches to be more vocal about gun violence
J. Herbert Nelson grieves latest shooting at a Christian school in Nashville

The headlines just keep coming. Day after day, week after week, people are dying because of gun violence. It doesn’t matter where you live, what you are doing or what your economic status is, the access to guns in this country has placed everyone at risk. My heart breaks once again for the loss of innocent lives in the latest shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday. Seven people are dead because one person decided to kill. Our hearts grieve for the children and families impacted by this latest tragedy.

Gun violence in this country has reached epidemic proportions, and we are known across the globe as a very violent nation. Something is wrong when a nation has the number of deaths we’ve had, where even 6-year-old children can get access to guns. This is not going to stop until there are regulations in place, and that starts with our lawmakers. As it stands, the gun industry has the right to sell to anyone at any time. The lawmakers that we elect to look out for our best interest must more forcefully regulate this industry and get the violence off the streets.

Deacons & ruling elders and the care of souls
Register now for Leader Formation webinar on April 27

By Fred Tangeman
Office of the General Assembly

The Leader Formation webinar series continues on April 27 (7 – 8:30 p.m. Eastern), with a conversation for ruling elders and deacons about care ministry within congregations.Register here for the free webinar by April 19.

Leader Formation organizer and Ruling Elder Martha Miller will host the event, with featured guests the Revs. Rachel Achtemeier Rhodes and Matt Rhodes. 

Rachel serves as senior pastor of Morrisville Presbyterian Church outside Philadelphia, and Matt has taught chaplains in Princeton as a Clinical Pastoral Educator with Penn Medicine Princeton Health. Together they will lead a conversation about what the Leader Formation registration page calls “the theoretical and practical realities of caring for one another in the church.”

P.O. Box 438, Syracuse 13214
(315) 632-5698
"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