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Week of August 20, 2025
E-News
| | For correspondence mailing/emailing please use the appropriate address: | | Presbytery Calendar At-A-Glance |
- Prayer Calendar: Week of August 10, New Lisbon
- Prayer Calendar: Week of August 17, North Benton
- Aug 21, COM, 5:30 p.m., Zoom
- Sept 1, Labor Day
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On August 1, Eastminster Presbytery launched the Great Lakes Call Finder (www.greatlakescallfinder.org.) with the help of a grant from the Synod of the Covenant and a donation from Maumee Valley Presbytery.
The site is a job posting board that leverages "A Formula of Agreement" which established full-communion between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the United Church of Christ, and the Reformed Church in America by providing a place where positions in all four denominations can be found together. It currently has 28 participating judicatories from New York to Wisconsin and Michigan to Kentucky!
The site is not just for pastoral positions; churches seeking to hire youth directors, administrative assistants, custodians, etc. are also encouraged to post a position.
Please share the link (www.greatlakescallfinder.org) broadly as we seek to connect church leaders and ministries across the Great Lakes region to build up the work of Christ’s Church in the world!
You can also access the Great Lakes Call Finder website through the presbytery's webpage by clicking on the navigation link labeled "Great Lakes Call Finder" at the top right of the page.
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Join us on September 13th at noon at the Lake Milton Presbyterian Church, 942 Grandview Rd, Lake Milton, OH 44429, for an afternoon of food, fun, and fellowship. Bring your family and a dish to share or just come on your own - everyone is welcome. We are excited for the opportunity of bringing our congregations together to enjoy a beautiful day by the lake!
To help with preparations, please email your RSVP to Rev. Annie Parker pastorannie@fpcsalem.org
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Fall Pastors Retreat
Teaching Elders and Commissioned Ruling Elders are welcome to join the 24-hour Pastors Retreat on October 1-2 (Wednesday-Thursday), running from 3:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Villa Maria Education and Spirituality Center.
The retreat will feature the Rev. Jim Mohr, chaplain at Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA, as the speaker and facilitator. The theme for the retreat is “Just Show Up.” Be sure to register by the deadline on September 15th!
| | Pictured L-R: Rev. Mike Byus; CRE David Paulik; Rev. Annie Parker; Rev. Barry Chance; Rev. Dr. Henry Pearce; Rev. Oscar Ramos. | |
Congratulations to Kinsman Presbyterian Church on welcoming their new pastor! Ruling Elder David Paulik was officially commissioned during a service on August 10th, attended by congregation members, friends, family, and representatives from Eastminster Presbytery. We welcome David as a new colleague in Eastminster and look forward to supporting his ministry in Kinsman.
Along with celebrating his commissioning, we also extend our congratulations to David for earning his PhD in Developmental and Learning Sciences (educational psychology) from the University of Cincinnati.
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Presbytery Bulk Order Update
The presbytery-wide bulk order for the new Planning Calendar and Book of Order has been placed. Unfortunately, the order didn’t arrive in time for the August Presbytery Gathering. Once it is received, Diane or Barry will reach out to the churches to coordinate drop-off arrangements.
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Continuing Education Opportunity
Earn 1-credit course in Pastoral Leadership Ethics
A majority of the course is working on boundary training with a final project allowing participants to walk away with their own, ready-to-go, congregational training program in hand. If interested in taking this course, please email Barry@eastminsterpresbytery.org.
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Eastminster Presbytery invites you to join us in praying for a particular congregation, committee, and validated ministry within the presbytery each week in 2025 that God may bless their ministry and that the grace of Jesus Christ might shine through them. Since we did not publish the E-News last week, we lift up the congregation of New Lisbon and their transitional pastor TE Frank Lewis AND the congregation of North Benton and their pastor TE Herb Goetz.
August Calendar
- August 3, New Covenant Community Church - TE Bradley Rito
- August 10, New Lisbon - TE Frank Lewis
- August 17, North Benton - TE Herb Goetz
- August 24, North Jackson - Pastor Jack Acri
- August 31, North Springfield - TE Patti Moats
The entire 2025 Prayer Calendar can be found on the home page of our website: eastminsterpresbytery.org,
| | Open Invitations Around Eastminster Presbytery | | |
Honoring & Remembering Churches
New Lisbon Presbyterian Church - August 24, 2025
The Presbyterian Church – historical, purposeful, and connectional – will be well illustrated at 10:30 a.m. during Sunday, August 24th worship at New Lisbon Presbyterian Church,111 E Chestnut St, Lisbon, OH 44432. The gift of a portrait of Jesus Christ given to the Lisbon congregation by the historic Clarkson Presbyterian Church upon its closure now graces the sanctuary of New Lisbon. That faith-based painting inspired a triple panel of sketches that depict the connectional Presbyterian relationship among the Clarkson and the two Lisbon churches through the years.
During worship Clarkson of Rogers, Trinity United Presbyterian and First Presbyterian of Lisbon will be remembered and honored. Inviting former Clarkson members and interested others to join the NLPC congregation in worship is currently happening. A time of fellowship with an Ice Cream Social follows the services. The faith of the ages and the strong connections continue.
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These scholarships are available to students for full and part-time study toward the first bachelors degree or certification at colleges, universities, and vocational schools, or first master's degree in theology. | | | |
Grant applications are due by September 30, 2025. Winners will be announced by November 15, 2025. Please pray for the Grants Committee as they discern the most promising applications for the $50,000 budgeted to this ministry. | | | |
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Henderson Leadership Conference 2025
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
| "Faithful and Flexible: Empowering Church Leaders for Emerging Possibilities" is a two-day conference designed to equip church leaders for faithful and adaptive leadership in today's rapidly changing ministry contexts. This year's Henderson Lectures will be given by the Rev. Dr. Tod Bolsinger, an influential voice on adaptive leadership in the church. | | | | |
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days. Pastors and churches are using it in a variety of ways from preparing bulletins, generating art for bulletin covers, and editing newsletter articles to even writing whole sermons and Bible studies.
What are the theological and ethical issues at stake in using these tools?
The 226th General Assembly directed the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy to study the use of AI in the church and the world and to prepare a new social witness policy to help guide the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
They invite you to respond to this survey as part of their work: https://surveys.pcusa.org/s3/AI-Faith
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A Month of Parables - September 2025 Lectionary Preview, Year C, Luke 15:3-7, Luke 14:25-33, Luke 15:1-10, Luke 16:19-31 - Presbyterian Foundation | One of the great things about book clubs is the variety of reactions any given selection is likely to evoke. I may find a certain character very sympathetic, but my neighbor isn't having it. You see something in a story I would not have noticed without you. | | | |
Thoughtful Conversations (Lunch & Learn) | Healthy Congregation | Thoughtful Conversations, Healthier Congregations Join us for a "lunch and learn" opportunity to connect, support, and strengthen a network of faith leaders to develop a robust exchange of ideas based in systems thinking. Sessions will be held quarterly, online via Zoom. | | | | |
Presbytery Staff & Officers:
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