Read more and leave a message or memory by clicking here.

If you have recently received an email requesting a gift card, credit card information or any other financial request from the Presbytery office or a Pastor within our Presbytery-someone is Phishing. No one, either in our office or our member churches, will ever solicit funds in this manner. Please notify any party, by phone, if you receive any suspicious email or text message.

What is Phishing?....a scam by which an Internet user is duped (as by a deceptive e-mail message) into revealing personal or confidential information which the scammer can use illicitly

How to recognize and avoid it? Scammers use email or text messages to trick you into giving them your personal information. But there are several things you can do to protect yourself. Click Here

Although we will not be able to hold our annual Christmas concert, you can still enjoy us at this special virtual concert. Register today at www.homefortheholidaysstl.com.

The 14^th annual Advent Vespers of Second Presbyterian Church will be presented virtually beginning on Sunday, December 6. The Vespers will highlight the relevance of Psalm 130 and include readings and choral anthems plus handbell and organ music.

To watch the Vespers, go to https://secondchurch.net/music/couts-music-series/ The Vespers will be available for viewing from December 6 though December 20. For further information call 314-367-0367 or email [email protected]

Presbyterians Today wants to see your light shine this holiday. Submit pictures of the candles you are lighting (actual candles or how you are shining light in the world by living out the words of Matthew 25 to give water to those who thirst, visit those in prison and clothe the naked). Include your name, church and a brief description of the picture. Send to Donna Frischknecht Jackson at [email protected].

(Produced by Light for the Darkness: Learn more here.)

Even in the midst of a raging pandemic, people of faith can enjoy a holiday that respects God's incredible creation!: Make homemade items to eat or use; Use natural materials rather than plastic; Decrease spending and waste; Give to the Christmas Offering of the Presbyterian Church.

(TIPS are brought to you by the Earth Care Team of the presbytery, composed of representatives of the nine certified Earth Care Congregations of the PC(USA) in our presbytery. Contact: [email protected] or 314-941-9378 to learn how to become an Earth Care Congregation.)

St. Mark has three working server switches at the church, and our Technology Committee would like to offer them to any other churches who might need them. We just did an upgrade, but they are all in good working order. We’d prefer donating them (since they are costly) as opposed to recycling. Do you know of anyone who might need them? Please contact Rev. Dr. Dave Burgess by email here.

In Illinois - Click Here | In Missouri - Click Here

To assist congregations with the preservation of church history, the Presbyterian Historical Society awards annual Heritage Preservation Grants to PC(USA) congregations, covering up to $500 of the cost to digitize official church records. Qualifying congregations must be at least 50 years old.

For 2020, applications are due on December 15. Grants must be used within a two-year time period. You might want to share this with your congregations, especially older and smaller churches. Learn how to apply.

The COVID 19 pandemic has created an unprecedented loss of jobs and hardship on families within the geographical boundary of the presbytery. Food pantries connected to our presbytery and PCUSA congregations are reporting a much higher demand than usual. As we enter the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, the presbytery is making available Hunger Program grants to hunger programs connected to our congregations or those programs that partner with the presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a program called the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) to help nonprofits and faith-based organizations prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks.

Here are several examples of projects the NSGP funds: Surveillance equipment; Physical protective measures such as fences, blast-proof windows, and concrete barriers; Active Shooter Training; Security Training for employees, or members/congregation

PDA is here to assist in the 2021 application, which is always a difficult, complicated and time-bound process. If you are interested in learning more, please let PDA know by November 30, by contacting David L. Myers, Senior Advisor at [email protected] or by calling 502-200-4878.

Please submit your grant request to [email protected]. Note in the subject line Second Wave Grant.

By the way, First Wave Grants are still available. Please contact Liz Kanerva at the above email for more information. (Learn More Here)

The Lombard Mennonite Peace Center will present a Conflict Transformation Skills for Churches workshop which is scheduled for Saturday, January 16, 2021. With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, that date will be upon us before we know it. If you have colleagues who you believe might benefit from this training, would you please remind them that the discount deadline for this event is Dec. 31, 2020 (barely three weeks away).  If someone whom you refer eventually registers for any session of CTS — Jan. 16, Feb. 13, March 22, or April 10 — then we would like to thank you by allowing you to register free of charge for The Language We Use, a 90-minute webinar on the morning of December 16.  Learn more here

Registration is open for the virtual event hosted by the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators, to be held February 4–6. Explore “Anything But Ordinary Time” with APCE, from the comfort of your own home.

What does it mean to care for creation? Are Christians called to respond to climate change? Is it possible to LIVE SUSTAINABLY for the benefit of future generations? Theologically curious high school students are invited to apply before January 1, 2021 for the 2021 Lux Summer Theological Institute. Safety permitting, the program will be held in-person at Presbyterian-related Monmouth College (Monmouth, IL)

Funded by the Lilly Endowment, the Lux Institute is an opportunity for students to engage with a topic of global importance and participate in a living-learning community through study, worship, service, recreation, and vocational exploration.

Scholarships are available to cover all program expenses for the two-week program, with the exception of travel. A free shuttle to/from Chicago airports is provided.

For more information: lux.monmouthcollege.edu