Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy Weekly Newsletter

Newsletter

November / 29/ 2022

The Expected, Unexpected Savior

What brings us hope? Real hope? Hope comes from Faith: faith that God has our back amid despair, cancer, divorce, pain, grief, and any other situation in which we may find ourselves. Hope comes from knowing we never have to go through anything alone; God is always just a prayer away. Although we wait for Christ’s coming, we have hope, because God‘s promises are true and dependable. Hope grounds us in this world of tragedy and lets us see the light of Christ in the darkness.

Rev. Wendy Downing, Steelville Presbyterian Church

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Our Presbytery - Our Work

Weekly Prayer Basket

Please pray for...please pray for those struggling with loss as the holidays approach, and for those in the hospital away from their families.
Please pray for...those battling addictions, with the additional stresses of the holiday season

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Quick Connect

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Help Wanted

Positions Available Found Here

From the Presbytery Leader

As many of you faithfully complete your stewardship planning for 2023, this is a great opportunity for questions about the kinds of things that your per capita and mission giving supports, so you can embrace the kind of impacts your giving to the larger church is making. In appreciation for your giving and your desire to strengthen your ministry witness, here is a list of 100 THINGS THAT OUR PER CAPITA AND MISSION GIVING SUPPORTS. This is not a complete list, but is only a glimpse of the different ways that your giving provides for our regional witness as a presbytery. May this be a helpful aid to you as you discern what your mission giving might look like as you live out the mission to which God has called you. Thank you for your giving!” – Rev. Ryan J. Landino, Presbytery Leader

https://glpby.org/wp-content/uploads/100-Things-Our-Per-Capita-and-Mission-Giving-Supports.pdf

Here is also the presentation given at the last Presbytery Gathering about the finances of the presbytery, which includes helpful information on the approved budget for 2023 and per capita information that may be useful to your sessions! Presbytery-Leader-Report-Ryan-Landino-110622-Gathering-COPY.pdf (glpby.org)

Upcoming Ministry Team Meetings

This Week

Next Week

Thurs., Dec. 1

1:30 pm CPM - Moderator Sending Link

Clerks of Session

Statistics Review

See Below

Save the Date - Holiday Open House

Presbytery Office Open House

Hybrid Open House

(at the Presbytery Office and on Zoom)

Thursday, December 15 | 4 pm to 6 pm

Join Zoom meeting by clicking here:

If using the Zoom App, enter

Meeting ID: 822 2319 3110

If joining us in person, this event will be held in the Oaks Building First Floor Meeting Room, next door to the Presbytery Office, located at 1001 Craig Rd., Ste. 170, St. Louis, MO. Directions Here

News & Updates

What is Giving Tuesday?

GivingTuesday is a Movement that Unleashes the Power of Radical Generosity Around the World. GivingTuesday reimagines a world built upon shared humanity and generosity.

This global network collaborates year-round to inspire generosity around the world, with a common mission to build a world where generosity is part of everyday life. Whether it’s making someone smile, helping a neighbor or stranger out, showing up for an issue or people we care about, or giving some of what we have to those who need our help, every act of generosity counts, and everyone has something to give

Click on Giving Tuesday above, to give to one of

the missions or ministries of the presbytery.

End-of-Year Statistical Reporting

for Clerks of Session

Be on the lookout for an email from the presbytery with the presbytery forms to be completed and attached. A Zoom call will be available on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, at 6:30 pm and Thursday, December 8, 2022 at 2:30 pm, which will cover specific details related to the statistical reports. The zoom information is the same for both meetings. Come to whichever is most convenient for you. I will also send an email reminder next week with the following link. Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84513566307

Meeting ID: 845 1356 6307

The Annual Statistical Report (https://ogaapps.pcusa.org/soc/AdvancedSearch.aspx) will be available to you beginning December 2, 2022, for the 2022 statistics information for the Office of the General Assembly. The deadline for completing the report is February 14, 2023.

We will have open office hours at the presbytery office on Monday, January 23, 2022 and Monday, February 6, 2022 from 10am – 2pm if you would like to drop by and receive help with your statistics. You can bring your laptop, or we can use ours. Both Joy Myers and Leigh Porter will be available to assist you during these hours or anytime by phone at 314-772-2395.

My friends ...

It is Advent One. I had plans for this Advent. I was planning a season much like Lent was with a walk to Bethlehem and regular artwork videos and Children and Worship retreats and was exploring a digital 11 p.m. Christmas Eve service. The day that was set aside to get that information out and start registrations, we found my mother had passed quite unexpectedly in her sleep. The last ten days have been bittersweet. The family has gathered. The prayers of friends have kept us upright. The flood of food has nourished us in body, mind, and spirit. We have put one foot in front of the other to do the things that had to be done. But planning beyond a service that was a week out and the subsequent Thanksgiving holiday where we gathered with gratitude for being all together and gratitude that Mom was no longer in pain and was indeed with God and that we still had each other was mentally impossible. And so we land on this first Sunday of Advent, and I am not prepared. Yet, preparation is what Advent is all about. This is the time of preparation. I would have preferred to be prepared ahead of time for what was to come, but we cannot be prepared for all things in every way at every time.

The first offering is the Walk to Bethlehem. If you are interested, please reply to this email. We'll start tomorrow. I'll email out/post on Facebook a daily prayer prompt for your focus as you "walk." One mile equals twenty minutes of exercise. Participants will report their daily mileage via email or the Facebook group I will set up for that purpose, and I will let you know how far we travel each week. The goal is to make it to Bethlehem by Christmas. It will be a challenge because the distance from the APOG office to Bethlehem is great, but if we gather a LOT of people, we can do it! And oh, what a joy and a blessing it would be to have a community in search of a Christ child together. If nothing else, I can attest to the sustenance of communal traveling through a challenging journey at this particular moment in time. So join us, if you'd like, on this Advent journey, in whatever way appeals to you, and know that God-with-us is indeed already with us as much as God-with-us is still coming, and this is the hope of Advent, the hope of light in the darkness. Thanks be to God!

New Horizons Annual Quilt Sale

Sun., Dec. 4 from 1 pm to 3 pm

We have many beautiful handmade lap quilts to sell. There are quilts for all ages from infants to adults. They will make great gifts for the holidays. All proceeds from the quilt sale will benefit the Church Mission Program. Please come join us and get some holiday shopping out of the way.

Be sure to invite friends and neighbors!

If you have questions, please contact our office at (314) 427-0841 or by e-mail at [email protected].

New Horizons Presbyterian Church, located at 9424 Everman Ave. in Overland, directions can be found by clicking here.

Community Cantata

"A Promise, The Blessing of Christmas"

Saturday, December 10th at 3:30 p.m.

New Horizons Presbyterian Church, located at 9424 Everman Avenue in Overland, will be hosting this community cantata. Click here for directions.

You will definitely be in the Christmas spirit after listening to the beautiful message of Jesus and His birth. After all, Jesus is the Reason for the Season! Invite your friends and neighbors. We would love to have you join us! If you have any questions, please contact our office at (314) 427-0841 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Celebration of Service & Ministry

Sunday, December 11 at 3 pm

By a vote of the congregation, the First Presbyterian Church of Cuba, Missouri, has decided to end its ministry. They will hold a closing worship service on Sunday, December 11 at 3 p.m. The church is located at 701 W. Main, Cuba, Missouri. Directions may be found by clicking here.

New Home for Choir Robes (FREE)

Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church would like to find a new home for its choir robes. There are 16 green robes (fabric: polyester; style: Symphony; sold by: Cokesbury; manufactured by: Collegiate) with 15 matching cream-colored satin collars. We also have 8 gold robes. Photos are available upon request.

If interested, please leave a message with Saint Andrew at (314) 353-0979.

Fraught & Flummoxed, a conference for those seeking courage and creativity as they elevate the Gospel. Join us January 30–February 2, 2023, as we engage mind, body, and spirit in the analysis of anti-racism.

Have you been trying to engage your congregation in conversations on anti-racism in light of the myriad of issues brought to light over the past two years? These are important - albeit hard - conversations to be having, and we want to do everything we can to help support ministers and lay people alike as their congregations tackle issues of social reform in an ever-polarized political landscape.

Association of Partners in Christian Education APCE Annual Conference

January 25-28, 2023

Birmingham, Alabama

Come – join us for a few days as we gather (online and in person) to grieve the losses we have endured due to illness, fear, convenience, laziness, complacency, workaholism, and comparison. Jesus is calling us to rest – really rest. It is our hope that you will find rest and company during the Annual Event.

Learn more by clicking here.

Calvin Symposium on Worship

February 8–10, 2023

Register now for the Calvin Symposium on Worship, held on the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

This annual, ecumenical conference gathers worshipers from across Canada, the US, and beyond; brings together people from a variety of roles in worship and leadership, including pastors, worship planners and leaders, musicians, scholars, students, worship bands and teams, organists, visual artists, preachers, chaplains, missionaries, liturgists, council and session leaders, and more; and encourages leaders in churches and worshiping communities of all sizes and settings.