Thank you for all of your prayers, and to all who shared condolences and concern over the loss of my spiritual director Charles Pfeifer. I am deeply moved by the outpouring of compassion from so many. It is a reminder that I serve a caring presbytery, and that I have personal relationships with many of you. The idea that we can cross boundaries of race, gender, and ethnicity and show genuine love for one another gives me great hope. Thank you again and may God richly bless each one of you.

Craig Howard

Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy

Current Guidelines on the Coronavirus

NOTE: In light of the Covid-19 Pandemic, meetings will be restricted to Zoom or conference call. If you are unsure how to participate, please contact your team moderator, or call the office 314-772-2395, and select Leigh Porter, Office Manager.

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Presbytery Upcoming Virtual Meetings

Friday, July 3 and Monday, July 6

The Presbytery Office will be Closed

Tues., July 7

12 p.m. - Interim/Transitional Pastors - Click Here

Wed., July 8

12 p.m. - Clerks of Session - Click Here

1:30 p.m. - COM - Click Here

Thurs., July 9

12 p.m. - All Pastors - Click Here

3 p.m. - Gathering Planning - Click Here

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Reminders will be sent the evening before, with Zoom link and call-in information. We look forward to seeing you!

Light for the Darkness

Meeting Day/Time Change

Join us Mondays at 7 p.m.

Feeling anxious or depressed, or know someone who is? Light for the Darkness has started a virtual group for anyone struggling with mental health to connect with others who understand and explore where God may be in the midst.Mondays at 7 pm. Please connect with Thirza Sayers, who is intimately aware of these struggles, if you have any questions at  [email protected]   or 404.313.4549. Learn more about Light for the Darkness by clicking here.

The Road to Unity:

Personal Reflections on

Racism Through History

Final Meeting July 2

Julie Nicolai, a member of Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church and the Presbytery's History Team and Dismantling Racism & White Privilege Committee, will be giving a three part virtual workshop, "The Road to Unity: Personal Reflections on Racism Through History." 

The workshop, hosted by Ladue Chapel, will be held virtually at 6:00 p.m. on the next three consecutive beginning Thursdays, June 18 and ending July 2.

Through slide presentations and group discussions, we will brainstorm to put an end to racism and white privilege. The workshops will focus on historic events in the St.Louis area in the context of the Legacy Museum, National Memorial for Peace and Justice and Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. Here's the link to the webinar registration: Register in advance for this webinar:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_61oKg530SoyJmVMWVis8Ww

The Road to Unity: Personal Reflections on Racism Through History. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

Racial Justice Summer Movie Series 

Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

AMEN St. Louis invites high school and college students to join us for a racial justice summer movie series featuring the films Just Mercy, The Hate U Give, Moonlight, and Whose Streets?. Watch the films and join AMEN staff for facilitated discussions via Zoom on Wednesdays at 7pm CST.

Zoom In - Click Here If you are calling in, please call 312-626-6799 and enter the meeting number 849 4257 5991, followed by the # sign. If prompted, the password is: 698732.

July 1st Discussion

on Just Mercy 

Just Mercy was released free for the month of June to educate people about systemic racism, especially in America's criminal justice system, and is based on the life of civil-rights attorney Bryan Stevenson.

Join us!

Mindful Listening:

A Transformational Act 

Tuesday, July 7 6:45 - 8:00pm      

We’ve been listening since we were born but most of us recognize that listening with full attention and an open heart and an open mind is a skill we keep learning our entire lives. In this Meet Up, we’ll explore ways to strengthen our ability to listen in service of strengthening our understanding and our ability to respond in appropriate ways. Facilitator: Coke Hennessy You may set up a free Zoom account on Zoom.us) A stable internet connection is needed. For more information: www.mercycenterstl.org   No experience necessary.

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Sacred Earth: Revealing the Divine

Through Nature Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins

Sunday, July 12 1:30-3:30pm 

Come appreciate and share your thoughts on Gerard Manley Hopkins evoking Earth as sacred. Allow Noeli Lytton, an eager facilitator of soulful poetry, to lead you through a gentle reading and discussion. Sessions will be hosted live online via Zoom. (You may set up a free Zoom account on Zoom.us) A stable internet connection is needed. For more information: www.mercycenterstl.org   

Calvary Presbyetian Church

Final Worship Service

To Be Held Through Zoom

Sunday, July 12 at 10:30 a.m.

NWCC Dreaming & Discerning

Tues., Aug. 18 at 7 p.m.

The Holy Spirit may also be firing the imagination of some of you around Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery to see visions and dream dreams of inviting disciples into Jesus’ loving mission and ministry through launching a completely new worshiping community. As you look around your corner of God’s creation, the Holy Spirit may be breaking your heart for hurting people you are being called to creatively serve through launching something new. The Giddings-Lovejoy New Worshiping Communities Commission would love to partner with you in discerning and supporting your visions and dreams for launching a new worshiping community. Learn more here.

Summer Camp 2020

Campers go to  https://moundridge.org/virtual-camp/ to register for this free program. We then send packages of supplies to the campers and they follow along online! Space is limited so please register asap!

Camp runs June 15- July 17th and the website is open until August 1st.

Medicaid Expansion On the Ballot

Many Missouri families are slipping through the cracks in our healthcare system — forced to choose between paying for life-saving care and putting food on the table or making a mortgage payment to keep their home. These families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid and not enough to be able to afford coverage on the health insurance exchange.

Medicaid expansion closes that coverage gap and ensures that hardworking Missourians will have access to affordable healthcare. It helps people nearing retirement who have lost their insurance, those with chronic medical conditions, and all Missourians who earn less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level (that’s less than $18,000 for an individual or $30,000 for a family of three). Medicaid expansion would provide healthcare to more than 230,000 Missourians - including more than 50,000 parents and 18,000 near retirees. Learn more here

Devotionals Welcomed

Pastors and friends,

Would you like to share a 3-5” YouTube devotional with a community of senior adults? Residents at Aberdeen Heights Sr Living would enjoy hearing different faces and voices for a brief morning devotional on our CCTV. Listeners would be residents and staff, mostly mainline Christian, with some Jewish and Muslim members of the community as well. If interested, please contact Chaplain Julie A Berger at  [email protected]   o r send me your YouTube link(s). Short and sweet, thoughtful and sensitive to all faith traditions is the idea.

Nicaragua Partnership Continues!

Although we are not able to make our annual visit to our partner community of Plan Grande #2 in July, some of us felt that we wanted to “show up” anyway! So a few of us made short videos – in SPANISH! – to share our greetings, news of from our homes and churches, and assurance of our continued love and prayers.

Please click here to read more and watch the video.  

Tips for Caring for God's Creation

Plant a butterfly bush!

The butterfly is a favorite symbol of new life. Yet they are some of the most threatened species on our planet due to loss of habitat and the use of insecticides. Pick up a plant (native to the area if possible) at your local nursery and plant it in your yard or your church's yard.

"TIPS" is brought to you by the Earth Care Team of presbytery composed of members from the eight certified Earth Care Congregations in the presbytery plus Mound Ridge Camp and Conference Center. To learn how your congregation can be one please contact:  [email protected] or (314) 941-9378.

This Day In History

On this day in 1968 Reverend Robert T. Newbold, Jr. preached a sermon titled “Bridges of Understanding” in an attempt to explain the riots in Baltimore following the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. We have recently digitized that sermon and made it available on Pearl our digital collections database. You can read the full sermon online here:  https://buff.ly/2BQcWVN .

Social Action

Did You Miss Friday's Blog?

Devote Yourself to Something That Can Help

by Barbara Bowyer, Presbytery Moderator

During the past several weeks, we have been encouraged by our local congregations, Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery, and PC(USA) to get involved in current events especially as they relate to racial justice. Reverend Travis Winckler, pastor of Second Presbyterian (my home church), acknowledged to his congregation that, for many of us, marching in the streets during this time of pandemic is not a viable option. Frankly, I count myself among those who are hesitant to take to the streets .   Click here to continue to read