We want to hear about the mission stories from our Presbytery's worshiping communities. What mission work are you involved in? How are your members working in the community? What story would you like to share with others in the Presbytery?

Send any mission stories from your congregation that you would like to share to: CaySyrNews@gmail.com. 

Deadline is 12 p.m. on Wednesdays for the current week's edition of

Presbytery Matters.

We want to share your stories, missions, activities and more. Also, make sure to like our Facebook page by clicking the "Facebook" icon at the top of this newsletter.

We are asking our churches to share this newsletter with your members each week. Click the button below to forward the email or to obtain the newsletter link.

Thank you! 

In our prayers together this week:

• Join us in prayer as we pray for the victims and the families of the recent violence in the city of Syracuse, including four children being shot and one 15-year-old losing his life to gun violence.
• Pray for all those impacted by severe weather in our region and the loved ones of those who died in the recent tornado in Oneida County.
• Please pray for everyone who are negatively impacted by the recently heat wave.
• A Prayer for Farmworkers and Immigrant Families in the Wake of ICE Raids
• Please keep Camille Bach (Whitelaw Presbyterian) in your prayers during her breast cancer treatment.
• Please pray for Jerry Armstrong (Whitelaw Presbyterian) Jerry is 15 years old with recurrent bone cancer.
• Let us pray together for justice, peace and unity, especially during these times of turmoil and uncertainty.
• Prayers for peace for the people and country of South Korea.
• Pray for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
• The voiceless.
• All those who have been separated from their families.
• All those in America.
• Our brothers & sisters in Haiti.
• All those in Sudan.
• All those in Ukraine.
• All those in Lebanon.
• All those in Israel and Gaza.
• All displaced people.
• All those who are homebound.
• All those who battling addiction and their loved ones.
• Keep all those who battling cancer and other chronic illnesses in your prayers. Please ask God to be by their side and to be with their doctors and families.
• Please pray for all those who are dealing with the painful grief of losing a beloved family pet.

In the cycle of prayer our Presbytery, please pray for these congregations, faith communities, and individuals: United Church of Fayetteville; First United Church of Fulton; Jamesville Community Church; First, King Ferry 

SUMMER EDUCATIONAL WEBINARS

Sponsored by the Joint Justice in Ministry and Mission Teams of two Presbyteries

Cayuga-Syracuse and Susquehanna Valley

Being Transgender: Medical History, Church, Society, and Families

June 30, 2025, 6:30pm

Via ZOOM

Presenters:

Dr Carolyn Wolf-Gould, is the founder of Bassett's Gender Wellness Center, a rural-based interdisciplinary center for transgender healthcare, clinical training, advocacy, and research in upstate New York. She is co-editor of the book “A History of Transgender Medicine in the United States: From Margins to Mainstream,” published by SUNY Press in February of this year–– a critical moment in the struggle for transgender rights. Sweeping in scope and deeply personal in nature, this groundbreaking volume traces the development of transgender medicine across three centuries, centering the voices of transgender individuals, debunking myths about gender-affirming care, and empowering readers to grasp the complexities of this evolving field.

Stephanie Nawyn is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Michigan State University (MSU). Her research and teaching expertise are in migration, gender and refugees. She is the former director of MSU’s Center for Gender in Global Context, where she oversaw the Women’s and Gender Studies program and supported research and activities related to sex, gender, sexuality, and feminist studies. She is also the mother of two wonderful young men, Henry (age 20) and Zach (age 16).

Zach Nawyn-Hellinga is a high school junior who aspires to study engineering in college. He enjoys robotics and building electronic devices, biking, and theatre. He has participated in a community children’s theatre program since he was very young, performing on stage and working on the crew (especially building sets).

Please REGISTER

Join Zoom Meeting for June 30, 2025, 6:30pm

Meeting ID: 872 1730 2511

Passcode: 691603

We Are In this Together: Opportunities for Growth 

 The Rev Ashley DeTar Birt, Presbyterian Minister from The Center for Jubilee Practice that works with churches, mid-councils, and Christian organizations seeking to consider their legacy of liberation and develop and implement restorative communal practices. We will explore our history and present day, identify harms we as a church have caused and foster healing of our communities through concrete practices of full inclusion, reparations, and care for creation.

Dear Friends, 

Greetings on behalf of Presbyterian Peace Fellowship' (PPF) working group on Palestine Solidarity. 



We invite you to join us this summer in a series of three online worship services. The series, Hope and Sumud: Voices from Palestine, will take place on July 6, August 3 and September 7 at 4pm PT, 5pm MT, 6pm CT, 7pm ET. This series is hosted by Lost & Found Church, a program of PPF. Register to get the Zoom link.

Stay in touch with us as we learn from -- and work in solidarity with --Palestinians. If you’d like to receive our occasional Email newsletter, sign up here for the mailing list (you will need to scroll down the page to find the list of PPF newsletters).  

May we be encouraged by these words of Omar Haramy, Director of Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. 

"In Palestine, we live Sumud, a steadfastness that embodies resilience, patience, and an unwavering commitment to justice and dignity. For us, Sumud is not just resistance, it is the courage to live in the light of Christ's example, even when the weight of oppression feels unbearable.”

Gratefully,

Palestine Solidarity working group

Beverly Brewster, Geoff Browning, Christine Caton, Ben Daniel, David Ensign, Dexter Kearny, Tricia Lloyd-Sidle, Bob Ross, Elizbeth Simpson, Schaunel Steinnagle, Monica Styron, Barbara Swartzel

HEALING SOUND: Monthly drumming by the lake at the United Ministry of Aurora. Very relaxing and healing.

YOU ARE WELCOME HERE: Robinson Elmwood Presbyterian Church shows its pride with an array of flags. They send the message that "all are welcome here!"

JOIN PRC's ONLINE BOOK CLUB

THE FROZEN RIVER by Ariel Lawhon

July 12, 2025 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.

Click here to register

Mandatory New York State Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Webinars

You can take this training any time during the year

charlaine@prcli.org

Wednesday, August 20, 2024

7 – 8:30 PM EST

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

2:30 – 4 PM EST

How to contact our Stated Clerk, the Rev Ben Fitzgerald-Fye

Office Phone: 315-291-0360 (call or text)

Email: statedclerk@cayugasyracuse.org

Mail received at:

Scipioville Presbyterian Church

Attn: Pastor Ben

3428 State Route 34B

Scipio Center NY 13147

More staff contact information is linked below.

Our Address: PO Box 438, Syracuse, NY 13214

Click Here for Staff Contact Information

Click Here for a list of Live Streams from our churches

Click Here for a list of Past Editions of Presbytery Matters

Are you hiring?

If your church is hiring, please send an announcement and job description to Communication Coordinator Sarah Buckshot at caysyrnews@gmail.com

Please Note: Hiring announcements will run in Presbytery Matters for 3 weeks and then moved to our website. If you have a hiring announcement from 2023 and are still looking to fill it in 2024, please send a new announcement.

Thank you, Sarah Buckshot, Communications Coordinator.

Why Attend?

• Discover how the grant supports new worshiping communities, church plants, revitalization efforts, and innovative outreach ministries.
• Learn the key elements of a strong application, including mission clarity, leadership development, sustainability planning, and community engagement.
• Hear stories about past recipients whose ministries are thriving today because they dared to dream—and act in faith.
• Connect with Synod leaders and the Synod’s Grant Coordinator who are ready to walk alongside you on the journey.

Whether your idea is still forming or you’re ready to apply, this webinar will be a hopeful space to learn, ask questions, and be encouraged by others walking a similar path. We believe God is stirring new life in communities across the church—and this grant might just be the catalyst your ministry needs.

Register for 10:30 a.m. session

Register for 7 p.m. session

'We stand with our immigrant brothers and sisters!’

Office of Public Witness issues a faithful response to the ICE raids in Los Angeles

The president has issued false statements justifying the actions of his administration by inaccurate charges of invasion and foreign incursion. The use of the military against American citizens to invade cities and suppress dissent has dangerous implications for the nation’s democratic government as well as being a danger to peaceful protesters.

Federal troops have been deployed without the consent of local or state authorities who call upon the president to reverse course. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has conducted raids across the nation with the current crisis in Los Angeles being the climax. Immigrants are being kidnapped from homes, workplaces, schools, and off the streets. The threat is to invade the sanctity of churches next.

Those who have traveled into this country have risked much, and lost even more, in order to seek a better life. Immigrants to this land desire to enter legally, access status, and seek a path to citizenship. But the questions must be asked, “How can they enter legally into a country that has disavowed its own laws to grant asylum to those facing persecution? How can a person from another nation seek a path to citizenship when no such option exists? How can immigrants follow their legal cases when they are arrested at courthouses, stripped of their rights of due process, and ripped from their families?”

Continue reading...

Dance as spiritual practice

Lindsey Hanson, a professional dancer who now teaches dance at Hope College, helps students develop both confidence and choreography



Lindsey Hanson, an assistant professor of dance at Hope College in Holland, Michigan who previously had an extensive career as a dancer and actress in New York, spent the week at the Worship & Music Conference teaching students how dance can be a spiritual practice.

“What you do in your daily life is a small pocket of what your body can do,” she told Presbyterian News Service during a break in one of the classes she offered this week. “We are uncomfortable in our body, but God created your body beautiful and loves every part of it and delights in it. It’s a wonderful creation, and the more I learn about anatomy, the more mind-blowing it is.”

Hanson said that when she’s dancing her hardest, “it’s an act of worship.” Her goal at the conference, put on each year by the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, is “to give everyone the opportunity to move in a way they didn’t think was possible.”

Her students were taking 10 minutes to choreograph a brief dance they could teach to a partner. “They’re off their phones being creative and problem-solving, and I think that’s a beautiful thing,” Hanson said. Even her fellow professional dancers will sometimes say, “I can’t believe we created that.”

“God made us dancing bodies,” Hanson reasoned. “Why not provide them the opportunity to experience that?”

Continue reading...