Keeping us Connected

August 2026

Tornado hits Fox Valley Wisconsin

On July 27, Fox Valley communities experienced a devastating tornado that impacted Appleton, Fox Crossing, Menasha, and Neenah. Many families and businesses are now beginning the difficult work of recovery, and the road ahead will not be easy.

Winnebago Presbytery has faced multiple severe weather events in just a few months: a tornado in Ringle in April and widespread flooding that same month, and now a devastating tornado. Yet through it all, we remain resilient. We are connected—to one another, to the larger church, and to our God, who brings hope out of chaos.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has been in touch with us and is offering their support. They are providing virtual support for pastoral leaders and assembling an initial deployment team to offer care, support, and assistance to affected communities.

Many have asked how they can help. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance offers a simple framework for responding in the aftermath of disasters:

Give, Act, and Pray.

GIVE

Support local recovery through First Presbyterian Church of Neenah. Donations can be made to a fund established by First Presbyterian Church in Neenah to support clean-up efforts in the Fox Valley: The link to give online is here.

Support the broader disaster response through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. Donations to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance can be made online through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Checks may also be mailed to the Presbytery Office. Please note "Tornadoes and Windstorms (DR000200)" on the memo line so your gift supports these recovery efforts.

ACT

Volunteer Fox Cities is coordinating volunteer opportunities throughout the affected communities. 2026 Storm Response - Volunteer Fox Cities

Reach out to your neighbors. Check in on those around you and look for opportunities to strengthen relationships of care, compassion, and mutual support.

PRAY

For emergency responders, volunteers, and helpers, that they may be

sustained emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

For patience as crews work to restore power, water, and access.

For those who have lost homes, businesses, or livelihoods.

For those experiencing fear, grief, and uncertainty.

That together we may bring hope out of chaos.

The Presbytery Office is located close to the path of destruction on Doty Island in Neenah. While our building did not sustain damage, we are currently without phone lines and internet service. Please continue to reach out to Presbytery staff by email (Dave, Cindy, or Bob) or cell phone as available. Thank you for your patience and prayers as we continue to serve our communities during this time.

Dave Colby

General Presbyter

Winnebago Presbytery

PDA response team arriving in Northeast Wisconsin after EF-3 tornado

Extensive damage reported from a lunchtime twister on Monday

LOUISVILLE — Members of the National Response Team (NRT) from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance have been deployed to Winnebago Presbytery, following an EF-3 tornado that ripped off roofs, flattened homes, toppled trees and flipped automobiles in Northeast Wisconsin.

The four-member team was scheduled to arrive Friday to assist with recovery from the tornado, which occurred around lunchtime on Monday, tearing through a region that includes Appleton, Menasha, Neenah and Fox Crossing.

“We really appreciate the prayers and support of the church and are grateful to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and look forward to welcoming an initial response team,” said the Rev. Dr. Dave Colby, general presbyter of Winnebago Presbytery. “We are grateful for trained people to come in and offer their wisdom and their compassion and their expertise as we deal with the aftermath of the storm.”

Love in between

A near-record 650 people are attending Synod School, a ministry of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies

STORM LAKE, Iowa — A near record 650 people — more than 100 of them first-timers — sang and prayed and expressed their love to one another Sunday during opening worship at the 72nd edition of Synod School, a ministry of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies held each year at Buena Vista University.

“Love in Between” is this year’s theme, with the Rev. Dr. William Yoo, Associate Professor of American Religious and Cultural History at Columbia Theological Seminary serving as convocation speaker. The Rev. CeCe Armstrong, Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly and associate pastor at St. James Presbyterian Church in Charleston, South Carolina, is preaching each evening during worship. Matthew Black is the artist in residence and the worship leader for Song and a Prayer.

Dinner bell prophets

STORM LAKE, Iowa — The Rev. Dr. William Yoo, a scholar of American Religious and Cultural History at Columbia Theological Seminary, told the story during his Synod School convocation on Monday that reformers including Frederick Douglass used to walk through communities ringing a dinner bell, alerting residents to an evening talk he was offering.

The Rev. Dr. William Yoo speaks during Monday's convocation at Synod School. (Photo by Kim Coulter)

Fowl Play

STORM LAKE, Iowa — The Rev. CeCe Armstrong continued with the bird theme during Synod School worship on Monday, leading a cluck-a-thon during children’s time and extolling the protection a hen offers her chicks when it came time for her homily.

“Hens protect their young by sitting on them before they’re born,” the Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly and the associate pastor of St. James Presbyterian Church in Charleston, South Carolina, told the children. “After they’re born, they communicate with them by clucking. I wonder if you can cluck like a chicken,” she asked the children, and they responded enthusiastically.

The Rev. CeCe Armstrong says we can learn from the protective nature of hens. (Photos by Kim Coulter)

Now loaded with disaster kits, Boxanne heads home to Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center

STORM LAKE, Iowa — When Boxanne returns from Synod School to its home at Ferncliff Camp and Conference Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, later this week, it’ll be loaded with kits to serve the needs of people impacted by disaster or who have other ongoing needs.

Boxanne is the name Ferncliff gave to its box truck, which Emily Hooker, Ferncliff’s Director of Mission and Outreach, drove from Little Rock, Arkansas to Storm Lake, Iowa so that Hooker could experience Synod School and return home with 933 hygiene kits, 623 period packs, 544 kids’ kits, 82 school bags and 12 boxes of loose extra supplies.

Emily Hooker, Ferncliff's Director of Mission and Outreach, poses at Synod School alongside Boxanne. (Photos by Kim Coulter)

We’re gonna live so God can use us

STORM LAKE, Iowa — With the Rev. CeCe Armstrong set to preach to Synod Schoolers Thursday on Mark 11:15-19, the account of Jesus driving buyers and sellers out of the temple, the Rev. Marta Pumroy-Cordero, Co-Moderator of the 227 th General Assembly, set the stage with her message to the children.

Rev. Marta Pumroy-Cordero (center), Co-Moderator of the 227th General Assembly, participates in Synod School. (Photo by Sarah Feltman Hegar)

Loving others in between the mountaintop and the valley

STORM LAKE, Iowa — The final Synod School convocation address offered Friday morning by the Rev. Dr. William Yoo was on “Love in Between the Mountaintop and the Valley,” with about 650 Synod Schoolers nearly set to descend from their mountaintop experience to the valley below.

“I have learned a lot from all of you — the neighborhoods and churches and communities you represent and the beautiful and powerful ministry going on” in places including Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Storm Lake, Iowa, and First Presbyterian Church in Mankato, Minnesota. “People of faith are showing up to make a difference.”

- Rev. Dr. William Yoo

Singer and songwriter Matthew Black leads Synod School in a round he'd just taught them. (Photos by Kim Coulter)

Want more news from Synod School? Find all of the articles by Mike Ferguson at Presbyterian News Service. Follow us on Facebook.

New resource explains the actions of the 227th General Assembly

The Rev. Dr. Christian D. Boyd, Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Milwaukee, has published a new resource designed to help Presbyterians understand the decisions and work of the 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Understanding the Actions of the 227th General Assembly (2026): A Guide to the Decisions, Theology, and Governance of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) provides an accessible overview of the Assembly’s major actions and explains how those decisions relate to the theology, Constitution, and shared governance of the church.

The 227th General Assembly held particular significance for the Presbytery of Milwaukee. As the host presbytery, we welcomed commissioners, advisory delegates, national church leaders, ecumenical partners, volunteers, and visitors from across the denomination. Members of our congregations provided hospitality, assisted with worship and local arrangements, and helped the wider church gather for prayer, discernment, fellowship, and decision-making.

Once the Assembly concluded, however, the work of understanding and interpreting its actions began.

Reports about a General Assembly often focus on... (read more)