This edition of Presbytery Matters was delayed due to technical difficulties with Constant Contact. I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience. - Sarah Buckshot, Communications Coordinator

We are asking our churches to share this newsletter with your members each week. Click the button below to forward the email or to obtain the newsletter link.

Thank you! 

In Christian Sympathy

The Rev. Donald C. Byers passed peacefully on Wednesday, June 26, 2024.

Don served the Synod of the Northeast (PC USA) as Associate Synod Executive for Stewardship and funding for the synod and its 21 Presbyteries, as a Capital Campaigns consultant, and on the Board of Directors at Stony Point Center.

"Don's life was one of love, laughter, and service," according to his obituary.

A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 14, at Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church.

In our prayers together this week:

• Please pray Douglas Russell's daughter Mary who suffers from RSD and is having a very difficult time with it right now.
• Pray for Ed and Brenda Peck. Ed is in the VA Hospital with dementia waiting to be transferred to a long-term care facility and his wife Brenda is suffering from RSD and multiple complications.
• Pray for 14-year-old Jerry Armstrong who has been diagnosed with bone cancer. He attends Whitelaw Presbyterian Church with his family.
• Pray for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
• Please pray for unity and peace in America during an already tumultuous election season.
• All those in Ukraine.
• All those in Israel and Gaza.
• All those who are homebound.
• All those who battling addiction.
• Keep all those who battling cancer and other chronic illnesses 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: Columbian, LaFayette; First, Liverpool; First, Marcellus; First, Mexico; Morrisville Community Church

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. "

The Presbytery is putting together a bulk order for 2024-2025 Presbyterian Planning Calendars to get a reduced cost. Please use this link to let us know how many 2024-2025 Planning Calendars you would like. Calendars will be $9.75 + $0.60 S&H. Once your order is placed, Kristin Schierer, Presbytery Bookkeeper, will invoice you.  Orders are due by September 27^th, and calendars will be distributed at the Presbytery meeting in November.

Ordering Link: https://forms.gle/6tHmezwR5NHZ8X169

From the Presbytery of Susquehanna Valley: You're Invited

Axioms of Teaching in the Church:

Affirmations & Reflections with the Rev. Dr. Donald Griggs

Tuesday, August 27, 1 p.m. on Zoom

All are invited to an online “coffee chat” with Don Griggs focused on his recent book, “Axioms of Teaching in the Church: Affirmations of a Veteran Church Educator”.

“Axioms” summarizes a lifetime of insights and experience teaching children, youth, and adults in the church, creating lessons and Bible resources, and training teachers and pastors.

In Don’s 60+ year career as a church educator, he has served in a variety of roles. They include:

• Associate Pastor at three large churches
• Professor at the Presbyterian School of Christian Education
• Implemented the Workshop Rotation Model at Westminster Presbyterian, Sacramento
• Popular seminar leader and teacher trainer
• Co-editor with his wife Pat of the Faith for Life LOGOS curriculum
• Kerygma Editor and Board Member
• Co-author of the Bible from Scratch series
• Publisher and writer at Griggs Educational Service with his wife Pat
• Author of numerous books and Bible studies with Westminster-John Knox and Abingdon Press

Don is perhaps best known as a workshop leader, teacher, and author who guides participants, students, and readers with theories, activities, and resources that they can implement in their own settings.

For nearly three generations, Don’s creative lessons and gentle leadership have been a gift to Presbyterians and church educators across the denominations.

Please register at https://susvalpresby.org/register or click this link:

https://forms.gle/gC9WmZeALDX7Yfta7

To join the Zoom meeting online: https://bit.ly/4cu6KP5

To call in on the phone: (+1) 646-558-8656

Meeting ID: 873 2903 0001

Passcode: PSV

Questions? Contact Ruling Elder Scott Kindig at cclefchair@susvalpresby.org or call the presbytery office, 607-323-4477.

Background checks for incoming Ministers of the Word & Sacrament are now conducted through Praesidium.

https://www.praesidiuminc.com

To request a background check, please contact your COM liaison.

LaFayette Columbian Presbyterian Church is holding a Chicken BBQ To Go on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Theology Basics at Marcellus First Presbyterian Church

September 18th at 6:00 p.m. the Marcellus First Presbyterian Church will begin a new Wednesday night study focused on Christian theology. The study will be referencing Shirley Guthrie’s “Christian Doctrine.”

Here are a few of the topics the study will be exploring:

• How can we find God?
• What does God want with us?
• What are we doing here?
• And much more…

"So come join us as we explore, discuss, and deepen our understanding of God. Church affiliation NOT required, ALL ARE TRULY WELCOME!"

PRC's Summer & Fall 2024 Online events

All webinars are recorded. Click the title to register or read the description.

AI and the Church

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leader – Dwight Lee Wolter

Intergenerational Ministry Interest Session with GenOn

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leaders: Liz Perraud, Betsy Dishman

Hope is Here! Spiritual practices for pursuing justice and beloved community

Thursday, September 19, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leader - Rev. Dr. Luther E. Smith, Jr.

Wait, is this racist?

Thursday, September 26, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leader – Kerry Connelly

Managing Stress Before it Manages You

Thursday, October 3, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leader – Charles Stone

Healing Fractured Communities

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leaders - Jessica L. Anschutz, Douglas Powe

Christian Nationalism and the 2024 Election

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 pm EST

Leaders -Brian Kaylor, Beau Underwood 

This is a follow-up webinar to

Responding Effectively to Christian Nationalism RECORDED

Leaders -Brian Kaylor, Beau Underwood

New York State Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Webinars

You can take this training any time during the year

charlaine@prcli.org

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

10:30 am – 12:00 pm EDT

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

10:30 am – 12:00 pm EDT

Thursday, November 14, 2024

3:00 – 4:30 pm EST

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

7:00 – 8:30 pm EST

Join the Synod-Wide Indigenous Mission Day!

Get ready for an incredible day of service, connection, and cultural immersion! We are excited to announce the Synod-Wide Indigenous Mission Day on September 28, 2024, and we invite you to be a part of this transformative experience. The Synod-Wide Indigenous Mission Day is a dedicated day of action and solidarity, where we come together to support our Indigenous brothers and sisters. The event will feature hands-on building repair projects, opportunities to build meaningful relationships, and immersive cultural experiences.

Why Should You Get Involved?

1. Make a Tangible Impact: Participate in building repair projects that directly benefit Indigenous communities. Your skills and efforts will help improve living conditions and community spaces.
2. Build Lasting Relationships: Engage in activities that foster understanding and partnership with Indigenous community members. Learn from each other and build friendships that go beyond this one day.
3. Experience Indigenous Culture: Immerse yourself in the rich traditions & stories while celebrating their heritage and resilience within the community.

How Can You Help?



We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join us. Whether you're an expert or just willing to lend a hand, your help is valuable. Bring your skills in construction, carpentry, painting, or general handyman work to help with repair projects.

Spread the Word & let's make the Synod-Wide Indigenous Mission Day an unforgettable and impactful event, together!

Our Address: PO Box 438, Syracuse, NY 13214

Click Here for Staff Contact Information

Click Here for a list of Live Streams from our churches

Click Here for a list of Past Editions of Presbytery Matters

Are you hiring?

If your church is hiring, please send an announcement and job description to Communication Coordinator Sarah Buckshot at caysyrnews@gmail.com

Please Note: Hiring announcements will run in Presbytery Matters for 3 weeks and then moved to our website. If you have a hiring announcement from 2023 and are still looking to fill it in 2024, please send a new announcement.

Thank you, Sarah Buckshot, Communications Coordinator.

September is a new season for small churches

Congregations with fewer than 100 members reimagine Christian Formation Week

By Beth Waltemath

Presbyterian News Service

September is a month where “we begin new things, restart or reconnect in our small churches,” said Sandy Safford, a Christian educator and commissioned lay pastor who recently served a small church for 10 years.

At the invitation of the PC(USA)’s Office of Christian Formation, Safford facilitates a community circle for leaders of small churches. Educators, volunteers, pastors and commissioned pastors serving congregations with fewer than 100 members meet regularly to discuss the particular triumphs and trials of small church ministry. The community circles are held as open office hours, so anyone who registers can attend, whether or not they’ve attended in the past. The next meetups are in October and November.



At the August meetup, the launch of the Christian Formation year — known as Christian Formation Week — was on the minds of many. “While it may not be an official kickoff, or what larger churches might call a ‘Rally Sunday,’ I think for most churches, even small ones, it is a beginning of a new season,” said Safford, who called it a time to “put something new forward.”

A leader in a church with membership under 30 shared how her church approaches a new season through a gradual celebration of the theme. With only a few school-age children, the church doesn’t hold Sunday school but offers a coloring table during worship, and the worship leader engages those who sit at the table in a special dialogue on the Scripture during the service once a month. In September, her church will use the resources for a Season of Peace. As the peace-themed coloring sheets are completed, they will hang them around the sanctuary like banners until the church is clothed in peace-inspired art culminating on Oct. 6, World Communion Sunday.

Continue reading..

‘If I showed up at your church, somebody other than Jesus would be happy to see me’

Co-Moderators, Stated Clerk team up to share their insights during worship at the Presbyterian Center Chapel on Wednesday

By Mike Ferguson

Presbyterian News Service

With Ephesians 2:10 as their scriptural basis, the co-moderators of the 226th General Assembly, the Rev. CeCe Armstrong and the Rev. Tony Larson, joined the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Jihyun Oh, to lead a hybrid worship service Wednesday in the Chapel at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky. One by one, the three recently elected denominational leaders spoke on “Created,” “Called” and “Commissioned.”

Put your hand in front of your face, Armstrong suggested. Inhale and then exhale, blowing air at the hand. “Do you feel anything? That means you have breath in you, and breath means you’ve been created by God,” she said.

Put your hand in front of your face, Armstrong suggested. Inhale and then exhale, blowing air at the hand. “Do you feel anything? That means you have breath in you, and breath means you’ve been created by God,” she said.

Continue reading...