Quick Notes Update for February 27, 2021
The Synod of the Mid-Atlantics is currently seeking a layperson to serve on the RCA Commission on Judicial Business. As per the BCO, "legal training and experience shall be required of lay members". Those interested should contact Rev. Stephen Eckert, Stated Clerk of RSMAt, at rsmatclerk@gmail.com.
CAMP WARWICK NOW HIRING
Post the flyer on the left at your church or include in your emailings. The image below contains an online form to apply.
SYNOD FOUNDATION RESPONDS TO URGENT REQUEST
Water damage can't wait! The Synod Foundation was able to offer a low interest loan in a matter of days to help a church get the roof fixed. Remember that we are here for smaller amount, quick response to loan needs for our churches.
GETTING INNOVATION RIGHT:
As we have all scrambled to make sense of our new context, this is a good time to make sure we have all our ducks in a row for our new innovative ways of doing church. Provided below are a series of examples and thoughts about our online and hybrid life.

One important matter is getting your licenses straight. Many of our churches are using CCLI. You can read about them in the first box below.
There are also video shorts (purchased) you can use and for which you can get a (free) web license
Which allows for video like this to be shown as part of a Sunday service and included in the posted recordings.
Here are more examples of how churches are adapting and innovating
INNOVATIVE CHURCH IN COVID DAYS
Materials were distributed to each home for Lent In A Bag which some families made into a table display
along with coloring pages for Lenten reflection
I'm participating in this online training this weekend and will would be glad to host a conversation about the materials. Let me know if you are interested.
Are you using a VR headset and exploring how virtual reality might be used in ministry? Let's have a conversation!
MURAL and other online whiteboards provide a way to add more interaction to zoom meetings. Let me know if you want to explore this further.
GATHER TOWN is a fun way to add some social involvment to your online options.
DO YOU HAVE AN EXAMPLE OF ADAPTING AND INNOVATING TO SHARE FOR INSPIRATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT? SEND IT TO US!
WOMEN'S STORIES DAY, MARCH 13
 
Anna M. Jackson, co-pastor of Second Reformed Church in Hackensack, New Jersey, will be the featured speaker at the 2021 Women’s Stories Day, to be held on Saturday, March 13, 2021, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. Jackson, who is the 2020-2021 Hazel B. Gnade Fellow in RCA Women’s Studies at New Brunswick Theological Seminary, will present “Like Trees Planted By the Water: RCA New York City Black Women Lay Leaders of the 1950s-1970s,” her study of matriarchs in Black RCA congregations and the larger church in the 1970s and 80s. There were a large number of Black women, even more so than in other RCA congregations, who were not ministers of the Word and Sacrament but who took leadership for their congregations, in denominational settings, and even on the world stage—with the struggle against Apartheid—during these pivotal years. Jackson plans to look at the work they did, and conducting oral interviews with several of the woman and people who knew them.
Sharon Atkins, pastor of Bethany Memorial Reformed Church in New York City and the new president of the RCA African-American Black Council, will be our devotional leader. A native of Montego Bay, Jamaica, she was raised in Brooklyn and has been an active member of the RCA since her youth.
There will also be information about other storytelling projects going on in the RCA and how participants from this conference can help make those reality.
Women’s Stories Day has been hosted by the Reformed Church Center at NBTS and the RCA Office of Women’s Transformation and Leadership annually since 2016. The program this year will be an online webinar via Zoom, and will be free for everyone. Participants simply need to register by clicking here.

James Hart Brumm, Director
The Reformed Church Center and The Theological Writing Center;
General Editor of the Beardslee Press
jbrumm@nbts.edu | 848.237.1760                                  

What’s Next in Digital Worship?
Training for Both Online and Hybrid Worship Experiences in Preaching, Liturgy, Music, and Technological Integration.

Join us for our day-long Webinar, March 6, 2021 9:30 am to 3:30 pm, featuring four accomplished leaders in digital preaching, worship & liturgy, music, and online worship development. 

 
The day begins with Welcome and Worship at 9:30 am, followed by four webinars with Q&A time for students, pastors, and worship teams to begin to explore what digital worship will look like for you in the coming months and years.
 
NJ CONGREGATIONAL CENTER FOR CANCER CARE
We have created an online gathering of all of the newsletters of the program. Find help for those facing cancer.
CHURCH BASED MENTAL HEALTH NEWSLETTERS ARCHIVE
We've created an online gathering of all of the newsletters the program has sent out during COVID. Very helpful insights to pass along to your congregations!
The information and materials that appear in the email newsletter, facebook page or on the Website of the Regional Synod of the Mid-Atlantics of the Reformed Church in America ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE OPINION OF THE REGIONAL SYNOD OF THE MID-ATLANTICS OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA, NOR ARE SUCH NECESSARILY ENDORSED BY THE REGIONAL SYNOD. THE ACCURACY AND VALIDITY OF THE INFORMATION IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PROVIDER OR AUTHOR.