The presbytery office will be closed on Monday, February 20 following the Saturday, February 18th Presbytery Gathering. If you need immediate assistance, please email communication@glpby.org.

Did you know if you live in Missouri and donated to Isaiah 58 Ministries in 2022 you are eligible for a tax credit from the state of Missouri? Following are the guidelines for receiving the credit.

Eligible Applicants: Any taxpayer (individual, corporation, or trust) that makes a donation of cash or food supplies to a local food pantry, homeless shelter, or soup kitchen may receive a credit of up to $2,500 per taxpayer, per year. The taxpayer may take a credit of 50 percent of their donations.

To claim the Food Pantry Tax Credit, the claimant must attach the following to their Missouri tax return: A completed Miscellaneous Income Tax Credits Form (MO-TC); and a completed Food Pantry Tax Credit Form (MO-FPT: https://dor.mo.gov/forms/MO-FPT.pdf) or documentation from the food pantry which specifies the name of the food pantry.

Mid-councils and congregations are invited to register for “Antisemitism, Israel-Palestine, and the Church: A Conversation.” The online event will be at 11:30 a.m. Eastern on February 16 and will feature the Rev. Denise Anderson, Director of Compassion, Peace & Justice, and Rabbi Alana Suskin, co-founder of The Pomegranate Initiative. (The event will take place on Zoom and will not be live-streamed.) 

With a million species at risk of extinction, Sir David Attenborough explores how this crisis of biodiversity has consequences for us all. EXTINCTION: The Facts is a 2020 documentary film by the natural historian David Attenborough which aired on the BBC. Attenborough and academic experts comment on the sixth mass extinction, caused by humans, and the consequences of biodiversity loss and climate change. Humans are causing an animal and plant extinction rate roughly 100 times faster than has previously occurred. One million out of eight million species on the planet are at risk of extinction. It also suggests positive action which can be taken to halt or reverse these effects.

Click Here for a shareable flyer - Share with your friends.

Conversation to follow the film TO REGISTER FOR ZOOM LINK: https://bit.ly/FET16Feb2023 For more information: (314) 521-8418, carletonstock@aol.com

New Horizons Presbyterian Church, located at 9424 Everman Avenue, would like to invite the community to come together for Pancakes and Prayers on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month at 9:00 a.m. We invite anyone and everyone to join us! Dates for February and March are as follows: February 25; March 11 and 25. We will joyfully partake in pancakes and sausage followed by lifting our hearts together in prayer. Please come join us as we come together in prayer because we all stand in the need of prayer! Directions found here

The New Horizons Presbyterian Church, 9424 Everman Avenue, invites you to join us for a journey through Lent. Our theme will be “The Music of the Passion.” We begin our journey with Ash Wednesday service at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 22nd. Then we continue with our weekly Lenten lunches. We will begin our luncheon at 12:00 noon with a soup luncheon. We will provide soup and drinks. If you would like something else to go with the soup, feel free to bring it with you. Following a time of food and fellowship, we will have a devotional and a time to reflect. We will meet on the following dates: February 28, March 7, 14, 21, and 28 (all are Tuesdays). If you have any questions, please contact us at (314) 427-0841. We will meet in Jubilee Hall. Enter through our Ramp entrance. Please mark your calendars and come join us on our journey through Lent. Directions found here.

The Lenten journey is long and winding. Companionship on the road makes the journey through the wilderness, through the events of Holy Week, and to the empty tomb on Easter morning more meaningful. You are invited to join the pastor, founder, and creative executive director of A Place of Grace, Julie Gvillo, as she guides you through these days with scripture, art, coaching, wonder, and worship. Click Here to Learn More

Join Bread for the World, JustFaith Ministries St. Louis, Catholic Relief Services, and other faith and hunger organizations to learn about hunger, the impact of federal policies like the Farm Bill, and how your church can advocate for a more just world. You’ll hear about and connect with others in the St. Louis area who are involved in advocacy and justice ministries. And you’ll leave with information, ideas and inspiration—equipped to hold an Offering of Letters (letter-writing event) to Congress and other impactful actions with your small group or faith community!

Register at https://forms.office.com/r/19Z6J2wJrE.

3310 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63118 (map)

St. Pius V Catholic Church, Singler Hall is located near the intersection of I-44 and Grand Blvd. Enter from Utah St.

The First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood, welcomes the Concordia Symphony Orchestra, of Concordia University (Irvine, CA) on February 28th.

The orchestra will present a concert while on its annual tour. Admission is free but an offering will be collected to help defray expenses. Learn more about the Con Spirito Concert Series by visiting the website:

FPC-Kirkwood is located at 100 E. Adams Avenue, Kirkwood, Missouri (Click here for directions)

To support their local schools they will be collecting school supplies to celebrate this special occasion. Florissant Presbyterian Church is located at 660 Charbonier, Florissant, Missouri. The directions can be found by clicking here.

Doors open at 6 pm and trivia starts at 7 pm. There will also be a silent auction, games, and prizes. Participants may bring their own beverage of choice –water and soda will be provided. Look for the registration forms on the Youth Table in the Narthex and on the St. Mark website, www.discoverstmark.org

At the February 2 Presbytery Gathering, the presbytery voted overwhelmingly to become a Matthew 25 Presbytery. (Not too hard since we already have 20% of our congregations opting to be a Matt 25 Congregation!) About half of the nation's presbyteries have done the same. Presbytery Leader, Ryan Landino reminded us that the primary focus themes of Matt 25 congregations and judicatories are: dismantling racism, addressing poverty, and revitalizing churches. The Earth Care Work Group of our presbytery would remind you that being a Certified Earth Care Congregation is also on the list of qualifications for being a Matt 25 congregation with an emphasis on "greening" the congregation and addressing environmental injustice at every level.

"TIPS" is brought to you by the Earth Care Work Group of the Public Witness Team of presbytery: Contact: carletonstock@aol.com or (314) 941-9378. 

A Place of Grace does Mission Madness Retreats. Our Mission Madness Team works with local agencies to support their work in the community. We are currently working with Community Hope Center, Hoyleton Youth & Family Services, Operation Blessing, Riverbend Family Ministries, and Uni-Pres Kindercottage once each quarter and again during Mission Madness Week in late May/early June. Our team is made up of people from a variety of denominational backgrounds with different skill sets. We would love to have you join us on a 2nd or 4th Wednesday of the month from 9 a.m. to noon and share in the work Christ has called us to do! Call or text APOG pastor Julie Gvillo at 618-410-5060 to see where we're going!

Tuesday, March 7^th •  9:00 am - 4:30 pm

The planning team is pleased to welcome Scott McKenzie and Kristine Miller of Horizons Stewardship. Both Scott (Horizons Partner) and Kristine (Horizons Senior Vice President and Partner) bring a combination of experience & energy to the ministry of stewardship and are delighted to lead us in a day of learning.

Is your church choir interested in learning about the history and power of African-American Spirituals so that they can better sing them during worship? Would they like to participate in a community gathering of other singers with a similar desire? If your church choir is near the St. Louis area and is interested in an intensive workshop on singing spirituals, culminating in a live public concert, they are welcome to register either as a group or as individual singers for this year's Festival of African-American Spirituals on February 17-18. This yearly event is back after a two-year COVID hiatus and is sponsored by the Legend Singers choral ensemble (follow the link below for more information about this historic choral group and the registration link).

 The Legend Singers are excited to bring as their educator and conductor Roland Carter, world- renowned composer, arranger, educator retired from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, and owner of the MAR-VEL publishing company, which focuses on promoting the choral music of African-American composers and arrangements of spirituals.

For a $25 per person registration fee, participants will receive music and rehearsals on Friday night starting at 7:00 p.m. and then Saturday morning starting at 8:00 a.m., with a public concert at 3:00 p.m. that Saturday. There's also a fireside chat that one can attend virtually on Thursday night with leaders in the African-American choral community. The rehearsals in concert will be held at Second Presbyterian Church in the Central West End part of St Louis.

Information on registration found at https://www.legendsingers.org/our-events

The four-person delegation, which includes representatives from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Presbyterian World Mission, will visit Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and (tentatively) Ukraine, from Jan 26 through Feb. 10. Learn more here.

Save the date for May 7-10 for an in-person Activist Council gathering at the Heartland Center outside Kansas City, MO.

Do you know a pastor-to-be who is or will be enrolled in a Presbyterian Church (USA) seminary in 2023? The Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation supports congregations and their leaders through a scholarship for Master of Divinity Students. Five Apollos Scholarships (of up to $8,000) will be awarded in 2023. Scholarships are renewable for up to three years of enrollment, with a total maximum potential of $24,000. The application deadline (for all materials) is April 17, 2023, at midnight CST.

There are many ministry team positions available in the coming year, and we just know you would be a good fit for a committee or commission

Please fill out and return the form below.

GLPby App Form (Word) | GLPby App Form (fillable PDF)