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The weekly newsletter from the
Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys
March 25, 2020
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We are congregations who seek to be a collective expression of the Body of Christ, joyfully participating in Christ's ongoing life and work. "Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing."
(I Thessalonians 5:11)
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Congregation of the Week of March 29 - April 4
Crosslake Presbyterian Church
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Pastor: Rev. Tony Oltmann
Clerk of Session: Arleen Steele
Session: Karen Butler, Amy Bloch, Bonnie Miller, George Young, Tom McCormack
Office Administrator: Judy Regan
Custodian: Amy Bloch
Our Mission Statement:
We are an ecumenically enriched congregation that seeks to serve faithfully, follow God's word courageously, care for the environment intentionally, and nurture the human community willingly.
Our prayer is that through this Lenten season we can journey into the wilderness of our souls and “through our wandering we remember who we are and whose we are”.
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Merciful Lord,
We seek you in these days of confusion and panic perhaps similar to how the disciples felt after Jesus' death. But help us to remember that we are a resurrection people. We know the hope, the promise and the salvation of the empty cross. Almighty God, we know you are with us in all things. Help us to remember to be with you, to seek you and to trust in you. In your blessed name we pray, Amen.
Submitted by Rev. Beverly Brock
First Presbyterian Church of Foley
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The Old Testament text for March 29 is Ezekiel 37:1-14. Verses 3-6 say:
“The Almighty said to me,
“
Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered,
“
O Lord GOD, you know.” Then he said to me,
“
Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD.”
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Over the years, I have preached this text many times. Always, I am amazed by the question Ezekiel is asked, "Can these bones live?" Can you imagine the God of the Ages asking you what do you think is going to happen? Just this week, our 5-year-old granddaughter asked about the "sickness," she was speaking of the COVID-19. She wanted to know how much harm the virus could do and whether the virus would prevent our family vacation later this summer. It is a profound question from a 5-year old as it is a daunting question for us all. In the text, Ezekiel provides an honest response, "I don't know." The answer to what shall be is beyond our limited knowledge. However, the answer to what can be has unlimited possibilities. Repeatedly, the news has reported how fast the Coronavirus is spreading. Over again, we hear it depends on our direct response—shelter in place, practice good hygiene, and take the virus seriously.
Beyond what we have already heard, the Lectionary text on Sunday speaks of two different occurrences when death is overcome. The Gospel text is John 11:1-45. In this text, Jesus confronts doubts that God acted too slowly, and questions if this could all have been prevented. Mary and Martha are asked if they believe that God can bring Lazarus back to life. Jesus says there is purpose in all the chaos; in the end, God's name will be glorified.
I strongly believe the Church's call is to provide words of grace in this crisis. We are agents of peace and hope. We have something to say. We may not have the power to command, "peace be still." However, like Ezekiel, our prophetic words of grace can revive the soul. Let us join together in inviting people to live. Living is not based upon circumstances…living comes with knowledge…that travels from head to heart. A less known prophet Habakkuk in his book chapter 3:17-18 wrote:
Though the fig tree does not blossom,
and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails,
and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold,
and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exult in the God of my salvation.
While in hiding in the Coburg Castle during 1530, Martin Luther wrote an extensive commentary on Psalm 118. On the wall of the room where he worked was written his motto: "I shall not die, but live, and recount the deeds of the Lord" (118:17). This motto inspired Luther's militant faith. John Calvin introduced the theology of Realized Eschatology in his Institutes. Realized Eschatology means we have salvation by faith right now. We do not have to wait until the afterlife to begin living. I will add we do not have to wait until things are perfect to live.
Living will take effort on our part. Could it be our Lenten work is to gain a new attitude about living? Living comes when we turn away from temporal things in life and begin valuing those things that make for peace, righteousness, justice, and love. Living is a mindset, as well as a reality. How do we talk about ourselves? Do we see ourselves as God sees us? As a community faith, do we see ourselves strong? As individuals, do we see ourselves blessed? Even if you are sick, do you see yourself well? If you are alone, do you know you have a companion that sticks closer than a brother?
As are move towards Resurrection Sunday, and we know how the story ends. Jesus is raised from the dead. He conquers death, hell and the grave. We live because Christ lives. Christians across the world are praying the Lord's Prayer together today. The request came from
Pope Francis
so let pray together the prayer Jesus taught us saying…
Peace for the Journey,
SanDawna
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Online worship opportunities in our presbytery
Edgerton: 10:30 Sunday mornings Worship on church Facebook Page, and 11:30 Sunday mornings Worship Audio Version available on church website
Ellsworth Zion, and Rushmore Emmanuel and First are worshiping using Facebook Live at 9:05 a.m. on Sunday mornings and 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday evenings during Lent. We also have a conference call set up for those who do not have Facebook set up for 3:05 p.m. on Sundays and 7:05 p.m. on Wednesdays. We are using Start Meeting for the conference calls.
Fergus Falls: our sermon available on our website
(
www.federatedff.org
)
and our YouTube channel (
FF Federated Church
)
Friday afternoons. We will also post a devotion video in the middle of the week.
Lismore: 9:00 Sunday mornings - Worship on church Facebook Page
Litchfield: 10:00 am Sunday mornings and Tuesday morning Bible study by Zoom. Contact
Gordy Pennertz
for instructions.
Luverne: 10:15 am Sunday mornings on Facebook Live. Also carried by local cable company.
SUNDAYS on Facebook
10AM sermon/prayer with Pastor Lindsay
10:20 (ish) Children's Time with Bailey DeVetter
10:30 (ish) Music Selection by Ben Marti posted
Randall: 10:00 am Sunday worship service is on Facebook and
webpage
Redwood Falls: 10:15 am worship on Facebook Live on First Presbyterian Redwood Falls page and 6:30 pm Lenten Service (same)
Saint James: Facebook Live worship @ 10:15
Spicer Hope: Facebook live at 10:00 link on Hope Presbyterian Church
website
.
Also services are uploaded there later in the day.
Willmar: Facebook Live at 10:00 am Sunday mornings
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J. Herbert Nelson and Diane Moffett release a pastoral care video for Presbyterians
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Coronavirus/COVID-19 Resources for Congregations and Members
Updated March 24, 2020 1:52 p.m. ET
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? —Psalm 27:1
Along with our brothers and sisters all around the world, we’re now coming to terms with the “new normal” brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. It is our hope and goal to equip churches and worshipers with useful information and resources during these trying times. Please check back often for updated information. If you have ideas or resources that might be of interest to the wider church, we invite you to email them to us at
[email protected]
.
1. Livestreaming and Online Worship Resources for Congregations
There are several things to consider if you’d like to arrange digital worship for the first time, including technology, platforms and even legalities (such as music copyright laws) – plus how amenable your members would be to this kind of worship. Here are some PC(USA) and ecumenical resources to help you:
2. Digital Worship Services for Members — Listings and Resources
If you’re looking to participate in a scheduled service, there are many options available to you.
3. Worship and Sacramental Celebrations
- The PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship has provided basic, copyright-free orders of worship for the Service for the Lord’s Day for leaders and people. These are coordinated with the liturgy in the 2013 “Glory to God” hymnal (pp. 1–13), omitting the Lord’s Supper. Worshipers who have the hymnal at home may wish to follow along in the hymnal, with leaders announcing hymn and page numbers; otherwise they may download and print the people’s version of the service. These orders of worship are also coordinated with the resources found in the 2018 “Book of Common Worship.” Leaders may use or adapt those materials or may follow the leader’s version provided here.
- How can leaders continue to engage the Matthew 25 vision of building congregational vitality, dismantling structural racism and eradicating systemic poverty? Pastors may wish to use or adapt the sermon suggestions for “A Year with Matthew for a Matthew 25 Church” for online services. The preaching prompts may also be used as discussion starters for online Bible study, either through a video chat or discussion thread.
- As noted in a recent Advisory Opinion from the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, congregations should reschedule and refrain from sacramental celebrations (baptism, Lord’s Supper) until congregations are able once again to gather in person.
- For funerals, the PC(USA) Office of Theology and Worship sought guidance from Thomas G. Long, author of “Accompany Them with Singing: The Christian Funeral” and “The Good Funeral: Death, Grief, and the Community of Care” (with Thomas Lynch), and provides the following guidelines based on his response. At the time of death, have a very small group of family accompany the body/ashes to the place of interment. Once people are gathering in public again, have a memorial service that begins with recounting the story of the earlier interment. The body of the deceased is honored and accompanied; concerns about public health are met; and there will one day be a time for a wider, public witness to the resurrection. See other useful information from the National Funeral Directors Association.
4. Stewardship Resources
Many congregations depend upon weekly offerings for current cashflow. Look for other ways to collect the offering:
5. Documents and Helpful Information from the PC(USA) and the U.S. Government
From the PC(USA) and its agencies:
From the U.S. Government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
6. Responding to Community Needs
- During a protracted shutdown, there are needs everywhere! Check local newspapers and agencies/local service organizations for opportunities to partner and volunteer.
- Wheaton College’s Humanitarian Disaster Institute has prepared an excellent strategic guide: “Preparing Your Church for Coronavirus (COVID-19): A Step-by-Step, Research-Informed and Faith-Based Planning Manual.”
- Congregations with food ministries are developing ways for the safe distribution of food. See other food/hunger tips from the Presbyterian Hunger Program.
- Is there a way you can help feed children who rely on meals at school when school is closed?
- The nation’s blood supply is at a critical level, and the American Red Cross is calling for people who can donate blood to do so.
- Justice — whenever a new disease emerges, humans have a tendency to blame groups of people. This is unjust and wrong. In the case of COVID-19, please do not give any oxygen to unkind thoughts or comments about people from China, Italy, South Korea or other countries where the virus has been spreading significantly.
- Education ideas and resources during COVID-19 for families with children, adults and congregational study – from PC(USA)’s Presbyterian Publishing Corp. - March 23, 2020
- The Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Compassion, Peace & Justice ministry area has compiled a live document that contains many COVID-19 community-focused resources including emergency financial assistance, food/hunger, free or low-cost internet, spiritual self-care, mental health, prison outreach, refugee support, anti-racism work and more.
- PC(USA) Mental Health Ministry COVID-19 Mental Health Resources for everyone, children, congregations, clergy, church leaders, mid councils, people with pre-existing mental health concerns. PMHN One Sheet- March 24, 2020
7. Pastoral Opportunities to Stay Connected With Members and Colleagues
Some ideas:
- Livestream worship — conducted on Sunday morning from an empty sanctuary except for ministry staff and perhaps a musician. See Section 1 above.
- Post prerecorded sermons or pastoral reflections on Facebook to watch on demand or to be shared on the church’s website or by email.
- Build “phone chains” to help people stay connected and in touch, perhaps weekly.
- Send cards regularly to vulnerable members such as people who are seniors, home- or hospital-bound, in nursing homes, college students away from home and new parents.
- Record daily devotional videos (or audio podcasts) to share with your congregation. A pastor in Connecticut is doing this using the Presbyterians Today Lenten Devotional. There are also services of daily prayer — such as those found in the “Book of Common Worship” or “Glory to God” hymnal, or in the PC(USA) Daily Prayer app — that are good options for the order of worship when a congregation is gathering in virtual space. The primary ingredients of such services are psalms, Scripture, and prayers of thanksgiving and intercession. A sermon or meditation may be included after the reading of Scripture.
- Some congregations are planning drive-in Palm Sunday or Easter services. People drive to the church parking lot, and the church ministers broadcast the service using a low-power FM transmitter.
- Congregational participation: Make use of the features of your chosen media platform to provide for congregational participation through comments, posts, likes, shares, etc.
- Do you have a plan in case the pastor is quarantined or sick?
- Some presbyteries are hosting virtual lunchtime get-togethers via Zoom call.
- Check out platforms to hold essential meetings and functions via video or audio conference calls, including Zoom (free and paid plans available), GoToMeeting, Skype, FaceTime, Facebook, WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams. You might also consider sharing access with the groups that normally meet in your building.
8. Connect with God, Nature, Each Other and the Blessings that Sustain
It looks like we’re in this for the long haul. Be gentle with yourself and with others, and continue (or start) practices and simple joys that sustain your soul. Nurture your friendships and human connections. Pray daily and trust God.
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COVID-19 Pastor Conversation
Tuesday, Mar 31, 2020 02:00 PM
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Sheltering in Place Zoom
Sheltering in Place: Maintaining Hope, Community and Belonging
is an opportunity sponsored by the Synod of Lakes and Prairies and LeaderWise to provide a space for pastoral leaders
to gather for hope, resilience, and support by Zoom. There will be three Sessions beginning on Thursdays, beginning March 26 at 2:00 p.m. Register at
https://synod-of-lakes-and-prairies.events.idloom.com/sheltering-in-place
to receive the code.
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The May 12 Stated Presbytery Meeting has been canceled.
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Report from Our
Visitors to Guatemala:
Libros para Niños/Books for Kids
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by Edith Alvarez, Ruling Elder
Lakes Area Presbyterian Church of Baxter MN
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Can you imagine a schoolroom without reading books available for the students? Welcome to many of the classrooms in Guatemala. Seeing this as a need for the schools and the community, in 2016 Western North Carolina Presbytery started “Libros para Niños.” They were told that at one time the wife of one of the Guatemalan presidents gave 20 books for a school with about 500 students. When they asked to see the books, they were told that they were locked away and not available to the kids. After talking to the school principal; receiving permission from the Ministry of Education; writing up an agreement; getting the approval of the presbytery with which they were partnered; training the teachers to be included; praying for the program, the teachers, and the children; they started to provide books. The schools were public schools, not Christian schools, and the people providing the books did not go in as “missionaries” to not have problems with the Ministry of Education, but they did show the love of God and word got around about the people providing their beloved books.
Most churches/organizations may not have the resources to partner with a school, but it is possible to donate money so that those that do have a partnership can provide more books to those involved. Make checks out to:
Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and indicate it is for EO52177 – Libros para Niños (Ministry of the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala – IENPG) This is through Presbyterian World Mission.
Send to: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
PO Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700
An interesting new initiative is the Read Aloud Program of the Polochuk Mobile Library, a backpack full of books carried by an individual who reads books to a classroom, with the permission of the school principal, then moves on to another school. A local young man is spearheading this with great enthusiasm of both teachers and students. God has provided His people with limitless, creative ways to share His love and His ministry.
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Prayer List
- From Rev. Steve Boots: Just an update on Betty’s recovery. We do have home health care and continued support and prayers from family, friends and our community of faith. Blessings to all who are feeling the stress of lives upended and an uncharted future.
- For Rev. Mark Chamberlain, retired pastor, Willmar
- For Rev. Bob Bartlett, First Presbyterian Churches of Brewster & Round Lake
- For Rev. Michael Roys, retired pastor, Winnebago
- For Rev. Elaine and Kent Boyd at First Presbyterian Church of Amboy
- Rev. Araceli Itzep from the Occidente Presbytery
- For Bety Cifuentes, the treasurer of the Partnership Committee, who is beginning chemotherapy
- For the "Men in the Mirror" program. Men from Occidente that MVP supported financially to attend the classes a couple of years ago are going to share the information they gained with different churches in the eastern and central parts of Guatemala. They, along with the chaplains of the national Presbyterian church, will also be training Christian policemen in what they learned from "Men in the Mirror."
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Transformation Going Beyond Change Survey
We have created a survey to help us understand benefits and insights gained from our Transformation Going Beyond Change events over the past year. Will you please take a moment and answer the question in the survey we have linked?
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8GKLCM2
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Easter Is a New Way of Life
The Stated Clerk, J. Herbert Nelson and Presbyterian Mission Agency President, Diane Givens-Moffet will hold an online Easter service from the chapel of 100 Witherspoon in Louisville for those of you who would like to be part of a national experience. Easter is a new way of life — in which we are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11) and called to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). Live Streaming Information to follow in the next couple of weeks.
Letter from the PC(USA) National Offices
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Four Students from Dubuque Seminary Looking for Summer Internship
Are you open to serving as a ministry learning site? If so, students from Dubuque Seminary are looking for summer placements. Congregations will provide housing and a monthly stipend. Summer internships are paid at the rate of $1,000 a month. The work-week includes 40 hours, Sunday and mid-week worship leadership, mission engagement and mentor conversations. Students will receive training in pastoral ministry, sit on the session with voice, participate in the presbytery, be assigned to a presbytery commission, engage in community outreach, and participate in the presbytery transformation training. Additionally, interns will receive a mentor.
A successful internship will include a learning experience that prepares new leaders to serve the church with a greater sense of vocational clarity. Interns will gain cultural competence, develop skill in adaptive leadership, and grow in their pastoral identity.
For More Information:
Rev. Dr. SanDawna Gaulman Ashley
Executive Presbyter
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From the Presbyterian Outlook:
LIVE PRESBYTERIAN OUTLOOK WEBINAR
Thursday, March 26 at 1 p.m. Central Time
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An Invitation to Spiritual Leaders
This is your invitation to submit a short video of yourself offering a meditation of your favorite passage from the Bible for the Presbytery YouTube channel. If you are interested, please contact Steve Tyykila
(
[email protected]
)
or Andy Davis (
[email protected]
). We'll give you more parameters and information, but we are looking for informal (not from the pulpit), personal, short (less than five minutes) videos on your favorite passage that you can record from your phone or computer. Thanks!
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Pastor Cohort Groups
We are creating pastor cohort groups for interested pastors. Each group will meet monthly via Zoom. The format will include prayer, a book study, case studies, special speakers, cross-pollination of resources and active listening. Interested? Email
SanDawna
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Executive Search
The Search Committee for the Iowa Tri-Presbyteries Leadership Team is actively seeking candidates who might consider a call to serve the presbyteries of Des Moines, North Central Iowa and Prospect Hill as one of their three executives. If you or someone you know may be interested in such a position or interested in learning more, please connect them with the search website:
https://engagingleaders.org/iowa-tri-presbytery-leadership-team/
Letters of interest are being received until April 24.
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Pastoral Leadership Opportunities
First Presbyterian Church, Ashby
- Pastor, yoked parish
First Presbyterian Church, Fulda
- Solo Pastor
First Presbyterian Church, Lake Crystal
- Pastor, yoked parish
Maine Presbyterian Church, rural Underwood
- Solo Pastor
Faith Presbyterian Church, Silver Lake
- Solo Pastor
Hope Presbyterian Church, Spicer
- Solo Pastor
First Presbyterian Church, Winnebago
- Interim Pastor
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