Newsletter
February / 7 / 2023
A Pastoral Statement on the Judges 19 Hebrew Exegesis Ordination Exam
Statement by Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Leadership

Rev. Dr. Ruben Rosario Rodriguez, Committee on Preparation for Ministry Chair
Rev. Elizabeth Kanerva, Associate Presbytery Leader
Rev. Ryan Landino, Presbytery Leader
Our Presbytery - Our Work
Weekly Prayer Basket

  • Please pray for...please pray for PC(USA) delegation headed to eastern Europe in support of Ukraine.
  • Please pray for...please pray for the nations of Turkey and Syria as they work tirelessly to find survivors of the earthquake that has destroyed thousands of dwellings.
PC(USA)
Quick Connect
Support Ministry
Help Wanted
Upcoming Ministry Team Meetings
This Week
Next Week
Wed., Feb. 8
11 am Transit Pastors Click Here
12 pm COM Click Here
Thurs., Feb. 9
9:30 am History Team (Southminster)
3 pm Gather Planning-Click Here

Mon., Feb. 13
7 pm DRAWP - Click Here
Tues., Feb. 14
11 am NWCC Click Here
4 pm Administration Click Here
Thurs., Feb. 16
10 am Public Witness Click Here
1:30 pm Vision Team-Click Here
Called to Gather on Sat., Feb. 18
Schedule of the Day
9 am to 12 pm
(End time is approximate)
 --- --- ---
9 am - Open in Prayer
9:10 am - Business Begins
12 pm - Close in Prayer

News & Updates
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
pancakes.jpg
Pancakes & Prayers
at New Horizon Presbyterian
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 11 and 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
Journey Through Lent
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.
February Prayer Art Retreat
Thurs., Feb. 16
Join us for our February Prayer Art Retreat at Von Dell Gallery & Studios, 102 E Ferguson Ave., Wood River, IL, 6 to 9 (ish) p.m. Worship unfolds, and art is in response to scripture. No artistic experience is required; if you can form letters to write, you can tangle. Pastor and Certified Zentangle Teacher, Julie Gvillo, will lead the retreat. Supplies will be provided. Masking is welcome, but not required. Communion will be served. A Place of Grace is offering-based. Register via the Event RSVP form on this page (https://www.aplaceofgrace-juliegvillo.net/upcoming-events.html) by the end of the day 2/14 to reserve your spot.
Walk to Jerusalem
Beginning February 22
with A Place of Grace! Twenty minutes of intentional movement equals one mile. Join the APOG community to "walk" the 6414.5 miles from Dorsey, IL to Jerusalem, Israel between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday. Participants can log into a private Facebook group or their email inbox for a daily prayer prompt and log their mileage in the same place. Last year, it took 53 of us 11.5 weeks to make the trip. The goal this year is to increase the active participants by a minimum of 10% and to decrease the time by 10%. Join us, and invite a friend!
Hunger and the Farm Bill:
Education and Advocacy Training
Saturday, Feb. 25th, 10am – 12pm.
St. Pius V Catholic Church, Singler Hall

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!
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.
Rev. Hannah Zyla Installation
Sun., Feb. 26 | 3 pm
Rev. Hannah Zyla will be installed as the Pastor to Affton Presbyterian Church on Sunday, February 26th at 3 pm.
The installation will be hosted by St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, which is located at 5905 Loughborough Ave., St. Louis, MO 63109. Directions can be found by clicking here.
Celebrating 75 Years!
Sunday, March 5
Florissant Presbyterian Church welcomes you to join them in celebrating 75 years of outreach and ministry, on Sunday, March 5, with worship at 10:30 am, followed by luncheon and an Open House.
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.
ST. MARK TRIVIA NIGHT IS BACK!
Sat., Mar. 11 at 7 pm
Grab 7 of your closest trivia-loving friends and head to St. Mark on Saturday, March 11th, 2023
The cost is $160 per table – that’s just $20 per person!
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
All proceeds benefit the 2023 St. Mark Youth Group Summer Mission Trip to Puerto Rico.
Tips for Caring for God's Awesome Creation:
Become a Matthew 25 Congregation!
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. 
What We Do
A Place of Grace does Mission Madness Workshops. We create gifts to give to local agencies for their Christmas Shopping Extravaganzas. In the last few years, we have given more than 4,000 hand-knitted hats, upcycled Christmas cards and gift tags, gift bows, paper dolls, and bandana pillows, and we are completing several sleeping mats for the unhoused out-of-plastic grocery bags. A Place of Grace pastor, Julie Gvillo, has worked with congregations in three different cities to offer opportunities for mission work outside the usual mission framework. Your family, small group, organization, business, or church can also give back by hosting a Mission Madness Workshop where your folks can gather and share in this labor of love. Call or text Julie at 618-410-5060 to secure a date. A Place of Grace is offering-based. Offerings help support this work in our presbytery and beyond. PayPal.me/JulieGvillo
Spirit of Stewardship Conference
Generosity & Stewardship
in a New Day

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

The Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Conference Room will serve as one of the four synod regional host sites. The office is located at 1001 Craig Rd., Ste. 170, Saint Louis, Missouri 63146.
  • Cost: $25 per person and includes lunch and refreshments. The registration deadline is February 28th. Late Registration: $35
  • Scholarships are available to Giddings-Lovejoy members
  • Registration is online and available by clicking here.
 
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.
Both are seasoned stewardship leaders. Kristine’s stewardship passion is rooted in her days serving on her church’s stewardship team. She is a self-described “stewardship junkie. Scott, an ordained minister, developed his ministry over the last 25 years to focus on stewardship. He is a trained ICF coach and certified fundraising executive. 
History & Power of
African-American Spirituals

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
In Solidarity and Support
A Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) delegation will travel to Eastern Europe this month in a show of solidarity with people in and near Ukraine as the war with Russia continues to create death, destruction and displacement.
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.
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship Announcing…..
After three long years of not gathering in person -- PPF will gather our community once again into one place.
Save the date for May 7-10 for an in-person Activist Council gathering at the Heartland Center outside Kansas City, MO.
This is a great opportunity to get to know PPF, even if you are not an Activist Council member. There will be opportunities for building relationships, slowing down, and for deepening our commitments to nonviolence and abolition. More details and registration, coming soon!
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.
Called to Serve? We Need You!
Have You Considered Presbytery Service?
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)
Current Support Ministry Position Openings
(PT) Coordinator Christian Education - Southminster Presbyterian, Crestwood, MO

Head of Music - First United Presbyterian, Collinsville, IL


Off Hours Help Needed? Contacts Found Below
Rev. Ryan Landino
Presbytery Leader

314-409-9002
Rev. Liz Kanerva
Associate
Presbytery Leader
314.779.6809
Rev. Joy Myers
Stated Clerk

815.501.5522
Leigh Porter
Office Manager
314.225.9470
Janice McMillen
Communications Associate
573.578.3960