The latest Foothills Presbytery news for you

August 18, 2022

Foothills Newsletter

We are so grateful to those of you who were able to attend the Small Church Gathering at Unity Presbyterian Church on August 9th.

Some photos from our time together:

Nominations

The Nominating Committee prepares the slate of new committee members to present at our November Presbytery Meeting each year. We solicit suggestions for elders, pastors, and church leaders from our member churches.

A description can be found on the Nominations Committee Suggestions Form for each committee. Committee members are asked to serve at least one three-year term. Committees typically meet once a month. You do not have to make a suggestion for each committee.

Some factors to consider when suggesting yourself or others to serve as church officers:

Church involvement: regular attendance at worship, active participation in church activities, offices held and leadership rendered, evidence of commitment to the church and its mission, understanding of and commitment to Presbyterian polity.

Christian life: evidence of grace and compassion in common life, evidence of maturity and effectiveness of ministry in the world.

Personal qualifications: cooperativeness, willingness to listen, readiness to learn, ability to follow through on assignments, organizational ability, creativity, openness to new ideas, maturity of judgment, freedom to express ideas and thoughts.

Other factors: occupational background and life experience, service in other organizations, interest in particular causes, offices held and quality of performance in them, education and training in the duties and responsibilities of that office.

***Please note: You may access the PDF version of this form simply by clicking on the form title above or here: Nominations Committee Submission Form. To begin completing the form, you should use "Save as ..." to create a new file (i.e. "NomForm.pdf") then attach it to an email or print and return by September 1 to: [email protected]

Thank you!

Your State-Wide Campus Ministers

need your help!

Fall semester will start soon, so we are looking for ways to connect with your high school grads and other college students.

UKirk/PSA Campus Ministries want to be prepared to offer a place for our students to engage in fellowship, worship, inspiration, and service. (Note: we will not share this information with any other student groups or associations)

Please send the following information to the appropriate contacts below:

Name
Email
Home Address
Name of Home Church
Year in School

This will allow us to connect them with their local campus ministry group!

Thank you for your help!

Rev. Erin Foster Farry

Furman UKirk Campus Minister

[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/ukirkfurman/

www.ukirkfurman.org

Rev. Colin Pettigrew

Associate Pastor for University Ministry

[email protected]

http://clemsonpsa.org/

Rev. John Daniel DeBevoise

Associate Pastor for Youth & Campus Ministries

[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/spartanburgukirk/

Antiracism Ministry Team, Foothills Presbytery

Resources we have found challenging and inspirational:

Antiracism Resources on our website:

Click here for more information.

Foothills Peer Ministry

Youth Leaders Roundtable

Thursday, August 25

10:00 - 3:00 pm

at Camp Fellowship

Please let Pressley know if you can attend.

Christian Educators

The next lunch gathering is

Monday, August 29, 12 noon

at First, Anderson

302 W. Whitner St., Anderson

(Lunch plans to be decided)

Commissioned Ruling Elder (CRE) Peer Group

Wednesday, September 7

at 12:30 pm

Location TBD. Lunch offered.

All current CREs, those interested in CRE training, and any Elders interested in the CRE track are invited to attend.

Music Ministry Leaders

The Music Ministry Leader's

next meeting is

September 14, 9 am

by ZOOM.

Young Clergy Lunch

Wednesday, September 21

12:00 pm

Willy Taco, Greenville

The Foothills Presbytery

Antiracism Ministry Team

Invites you to a

Screening of

“At the River”

Monday, September 12

6:00 pm

Fourth Presbyterian

703 Washington Street, Greenville, SC 29601

"At the River" Filmmaker, Carolyn Crowder will lead us in a discussion following the film.

“At The River” is a feature-length documentary about a certain time and place in the deep south. In the Civil Rights era of the 50s and 60s, most Presbyterian ministers stood on the banks of the cultural river of segregation and white supremacy. Some opted not to stir the waters in their congregations and communities by speaking out. However, a few young southern Presbyterian ministers braved those currents through their sermons, community organizing, and participating in marches and protests. They faced dangerous, hate-filled consequences for these actions. "At The River" chronicles their lives and their decisions, as well as director Carolyn Crowder’s firsthand experience as a young white southern girl from Montgomery, Alabama. During those mean and turbulent times these ministers, through their love and example, had a huge impact on her life in helping her overcome her southern racist brainwashing.

As Christians, we have good news to share!

This year’s theme is Planks and Pieces: Surviving and Thriving based on Acts 27, Paul’s trip to Rome, which included a shipwreck. Join others in our presbytery Saturday, August 27 for this awesome event.

S.T.E.P.S. provides opportunities for you to grow in your Christian faith through experiences of worship, learning, and fellowship.

Some of the workshops available at S.T.E.P.S. are:

The Cosmic Trinity: A Contribution to the Trinitarian for the 21st Century
Introduction to Enneagram
Book Discussion: Rediscipling the White Church: From Cheap Diversity to True Solidarity by David W. Swanson
Extending the Circle of Compassion: Caring for the Caregivers
Preaching in These Times and For These Times: How Theology Can Help.

Believe it or not, this is not all the options available.

Go to the presbytery website to register/download a brochure or check with your pastor or clerk of session for a printed copy of the brochure.

Hope to see you August 27!

Connecting During Times of Crisis:

Sharing Stories of Support

To serve Presbyterians of South Carolina in the development and preparation of Presbyteries and congregations for manmade or natural disasters impacting our congregations by the connection of our stories.

Saturday, October 29, 2022

10:00 am - 3:00 pm

(registration and fellowship beginning at 9:00 am)

Cherokee Presbyterian Church

3622 August Highway, Gilbert, SC 29054

Church: 803.892.6740

Cost of attendance: $10.00 per participant.

Registration closing date: October 15, 2022

Mission Trip to the

Ferncliff Disaster Assistance Center

Little Rock, AR

October 8^th – October 15^th

** Please share this in your church communications. **

This trip is open to all Foothills Presbytery church members & leaders! Time will be spent preparing Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Gifts of the Heart Kits and working with area mission agencies such as food banks, soup kitchens, agencies assisting women and children, etc.

(Work available for all physical abilities.)

Cost is $350 per person (Cost of lodging and food on travel days to be determined)
Trip capacity is 24 people with accommodations in the Williams Lodge, motel style, three-person rooms.
Registration deadline is September 8
Initial Deposit due with registration ($120)
Deposit due 9/8 ($120)
Final payment due 9/30 ($110)

Please email Peggy Swann or Pressley Cox

for more information!

Information & Registration

Click HERE for more information & to purchase tickets!

Wee Kirk Conference 2022

Bearing Much Fruit

October 17–19, 2022

The Wee Kirk conference aspires to provide Christ-centered opportunities for inspiration, encouragement, and community among leaders of small membership churches so they can do the same in their congregations and regions.

Click HERE for leadership, rates & registration.

Minister & Educator Retreat

(Sponsored by the five Presbyteries in SC)

October 24–26, 2022

Montreat, NC

Theme: Leadership Development Is Great And All That, And What I Really Need Is Some Time Rest, Refresh, & Renew!

How are you feeling these days? Really feeling? Energized, excited, and engaged in ministry? Or are you dragging your feet into the pulpit? Contemplating the communion table might be a nice nap location? Or are you mentally designing an escape hatch in your office for that next visit with the pastor? Where is your spark for ministry? Is it possible to lead from a place of wholeness? Is there room for creativity, imagination, and play? How can you experience the fullness of life and living and leading? as Children of God?

See more details HERE, including leadership, registration, accommodations, and daily schedule.

Around the world, more than 2.2 billion people do not have access to safe water. In many countries, women and children walk more than three miles to gather water for their families. Oftentimes, the water collected is unsafe to drink.

But there is hope.

Join us for the 2022 Walk for Water-Greenville. Together, we will raise funds and awareness to fight the global water crisis by building safe water solutions for people in need around the world.

We walk, so others don’t have to.

Walk for Water Event - Click here to learn more.

www.watermission.org

Grace Covenant Presbyterian is a sponsor for a Walk for Water for the Water Mission. We will have a team walking from our church and there will be a team from John Knox walking also.

October 6-8, 2022 | Bloomington, MN

A Hybrid Event: Attend In-Person or Virtually

Up to 9 CEUs Available

Presbyterian Women in the

Synod of South Atlantic

Click below for more information about the PW Gathering in October at Epworth on St Simons Island.

Presbytery PW will have scholarships for those who attend. Women can contact Jane Frost if there are questions at [email protected].

Registration & Information - OCT. 21-23, 2022 PLUG IN & RECHARGE

PW Synod of SA Newsletter

Introducing the

2022–2023 PW/Horizons Bible Study

The 2022–2023 PW/Horizons Bible study, Celebrating Sabbath: Accepting God’s Gift of Rest and Delight, by Carol M. Bechtel, is truly buzzworthy! That’s why this series of emails has taken flight! Don’t miss an update—check your inbox often. This is the third in the series!

POAMN is thrilled to offer this retreat at a significantly discounted rate! Your conference registration includes lodging, meals and retreat programming. Pastors, educators, volunteers and all of those that work with and among older adults are encouraged to attend this retreat.

Need a change of scenery?
Come hear the Good News!
Live in Hope!
Connect!
Love to Work with Older Adults?
This is the retreat for you!
All meals included
Single rooms $300 per person before Sept. 9
Double rooms $200 per person before Sept. 9
Commuters $150
Discounted rates for POAMN members

Registration is open for Stewardship Kaleidoscope, an annual conference offering outstanding plenary speakers, informative workshop leaders, provocative worship experiences and unparalleled networking opportunities for all who are passionate about stewardship and generosity. Scheduled from Sept. 26-28, the in-person program of this year’s hybrid conference will be held in Savannah, Georgia.

Drawing leaders from across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and other ecumenical partners, Stewardship Kaleidoscope is designed to ignite generosity in faith-based communities, give practical tools for cultivating generosity in congregations, expand the leadership capacity of those who lead stewardship initiatives, and cultivate adaptive approaches for funding Christ’s mission.

More information and Registration

For more information, visit: https://www.soapapce.org/

Considering a call to seminary?

Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA (next-door to Atlanta) is a PC(USA) seminary with a diverse and inclusive community that offers a robust education and full scholarship programs for all masters-level degree students. A seminary education can lead to careers to congregational ministry, chaplaincy, non-profit leadership, education, and so much more. All of our students share one essential characteristic: God has called each one to faithful discipleship and leadership in Christ’s Church.

If you’re interested in more information or a discernment conversation, please contact Sarah Kate Bumgarner at [email protected].

See more at https://url.emailprotection.link/?bE44vPyvFJ4QLV57bnzKCAKXdmU-hG727pMav8smt4y_Cy4eaASCZ3819ZCZ8xVhYuZXRrbpJsvEBWtdVr7uJDA~~

APCE

2023 ANNUAL EVENT

January 25–28, 2023

Birmingham, AL

Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)

www.apcenet.org

Want the J&P calendar for the entire year?

Click here to download the PDF or visit the Justice and Peace webpage at presbyterianwomen.org/justice, where you can also find additional bits of help.

Unity Church (Spartanburg) is in process of cleaning up their facilities. They have 25 adult choir robes and stoles in good condition. They also have binders that were used to hold the choir music, also in good condition.

Free to a good home!

Please contact Betsi Tuner for more information, [email protected].

Mediation Skills Training Institute

or Church Leaders

You are invited to attend Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders, a 5-day event that helps participants deal more effectively with interpersonal, congregational, and other forms of group conflict. The next in-person session is on November 14-18, 2022 at the beautiful Franciscan Renewal Center in Scottsdale, AZ. The next online session will be March 13-17, 2023. Registration is now underway at https://lmpeacecenter.org/all-events/.

We would also like to introduce our new one-day event called Restorative Conversations. Devon Miller, LMPC Associate Director and the author and facilitator of this course, describes it this way: Restorative conversations are useful when working through difficult or polarizing topics, processing shared painful experiences, building community, and dealing with certain levels of conflict in the church setting. The workshop will benefit all levels of leadership including pastors, lay leaders, youth leaders, and Sunday school teachers. Three sessions of this workshop have been scheduled for next year: Feb. 23, May 23, and Nov. 2, 2023.

Please contact the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center (630-627-0507 or [email protected]) with questions about this or any of our outstanding workshops.

Click here to see the

Available Jobs

postings on our

website.

Subscribe to Covenant Connections

Townville Presbyterian Church Labyrinth Project

Aug 11, 2022

In 2021 Townville Presbyterian Church’s Isabel Moran was awarded one of the Foothills Presbytery Staying Connected Missional Grants. The goal of these grants was to assist our churches in faithfully responding to the COVID-19 climate as they join in God’s work in their respective communities and further the spread of the gospel. Isabel chose to build a community labyrinth as her project.

“I started thinking about the pandemic and the prior school shooting at the school just next door to us. I thought this could be a way to bring peace and healing to our community.”

The project took nearly a year to complete but has finally come to fruition as the Townville Community Labyrinth. Isabel, a 2022 graduate of St Joseph’s Catholic School in Greenville, hopes to leave this as a legacy from the Townville Church family to the local community. She hopes that the labyrinth will be a place for people to find rest, peace, hope, joy, and gratitude in an increasingly troubled world.

The labyrinth is located at the rear of the church’s property on highway 24 in Townville, adjacent to the playground of Townville Elementary School, and appears listed on the World-Wide Labyrinth Locator. Thanks be to God for this wonderful gift!