For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the
Lord
, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future
with hope.
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We Lift Up In Prayer...
Mission Co-Workers:
The Rev. Cathy Chang and family who are serving in the Philippines.
Michael and Rachel Ludwig
,
our Mission Co-Workers
who are serving in Niger.
For those Teaching Elders (Ministers of Word and Sacrament) and Commissioned Ruling Elders (CREs) who are celebrating Ordination or Commissioning Anniversaries in January and February:
The Rev. Dr. Rhashell Hunter (1/8)
General Assembly Staff; Director of Racial Ethnic and Women's Ministries
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During meetings or our presbytery in 2016, we engaged in a series of informal "holy conversations," focused on the questions of identity ("Who are we?"), vocation ("What are we called to do?"), and partnership ("With whom are we called to do it?"). The questions prompted lively and creative responses, and engaged us in ways we have not been engaged before.
As we look to 2017, our Coordinating Team has endorsed a plan to build on these conversations. That plan focuses on four essential functions: Vision, Mission, Equipping, and Gathering.
Details of the plan will be shared at the March Presbytery meeting, but I would like to share a brief preview here.
As a "Visioning" community in 2017, we will work toward the goal of
embracing a positive, compelling, and transformative vision for our presbytery. To accomplish this, a moderator's task force will be assembled to broaden and extend the holy conversations begun last year to include the whole presbytery. An important part of this function will be continuing our conversations about race, diversity, and inclusion.
Our "Mission Coordination" plan has the goal of developing a more
missional presbytery and missional congregations. We will consider how best to organize our presbytery to build mission capacity, facilitate mission networks among churches of the presbytery, and expand mission opportunities in the presbytery. We also hope to establish a disaster response plan to respond effectively to unexpected crises in our bounds.
Our "Equipping" function will focus on how to
build servant-leader capacity in congregations for the mission of God's people. In addition to the equipping time at presbytery meetings, we hope to promote regular training and educational events between meetings in a variety of areas, including an annual high quality continuing education event for pastoral leaders.
Last, but not least, the "Gathering" of our presbytery in 2017 will emphasize that the presbytery is a set of ongoing, mutual, connectional relationships. Our goal will be to
continue to make presbytery meetings value-added experiences. We will keep on gathering around the three movements of worship, equipping, and governance. Plus, we will add a fourth - sending - that will underscore the importance of presbyters in bringing our vision, mission, and equipping functions to their congregations.
There are exciting plans for 2017, including a meeting at Alma College in June focusing on stewardship as well as a visit from our General Assembly Co-moderator Denise Anderson in September. I am convinced that 2017 will be a watershed in the life of our presbytery as God transforms us more and more into a vital, connected community joining Christ's mission in the world.
Faithfully,
Dan Saperstein,
Executive Presbyter
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The information for completing your 2016 Annual Statistics was sent to all Clerks of Session the first week of January. All of the links for entering your information are available
on the
Annual Statistics
page of our
website
. Unless you changed it, your login information remains the same as last year.
We are here to assist you with any questions that you may have. Please call or e-mail Staci or Ted should you need anything. Staci may be reached at 989-799-7481 x2 or
spercy@presbylh.org. Ted may be reached at 989-799-7481 x 4 or
tmcculloch@presbylh.org.
Please keep in mind that both are part-time employees and are not in the office everyday.
Deadline for entering your Statistical information and Necrology Report is
February 16th. (
The deadline for the Clerk's Questionnaire is January 31st.)
Please remember that what you submit - or don't submit - affects your future per capita payments.
Click here to read an article from the PC(USA) describing some reasons why completing annual statistics are important to your congregation.
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Food and the Congregations
From the Rev. Karen Blatt:
This is the question which the Rev. Karen Blatt, pastor of the Houghton Lake-Kirk of the Lakes has. Therefore, within the coming months of 2017, she will be contacting each and every congregation within the presbytery and will be asking the congregation to identify specific local hunger outreach missions in which the congregation participates. The purpose behind this collection of data and stories is to enable us as the presbytery to know our own story of our loca
l mission to those in need, and particularly the hungry.
And should you have questions or concerns about this project, call Rev. Karen at 989-329-1428 and ask her: "Hey, what's up with this?"
Shalom to one and all,
Rev. Karen
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| Presbyterian Disaster Assistance |
March 5 Is Blue Shirt Sunday
The Blue Shirt Ministry grew out of the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. On the lead up to Blue Shirt Sunday, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance extends its gratitude to the thousands of volunteers who've answered the call since. PDA has been instrumental in helping our congregations and presbytery deal with the Flint Water Crisis. Click here for more information.
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Alma Youth Mix 2017 Registration Now Open
High school students are invited to the
Alma Youth Mix and spend the weekend of
March 3-5 on the campus of
Alma College with youth from multiple churches around the state. Share your time and your faith. Enjoy discussion, fellowship, worship, recreation, entertainment and food!
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To the sisters and brothers who gathered to march throughout the world for the Women's March, I was right there with you. There were no sister marches here in Manila. Thanks mostly to my Facebooks news feed and the news diet that includes both local and international newspapers, I enjoyed watching the live speeches and songs, as well as the many colorfully creative posters.
Being surrounded by other Americans is what I thought that I needed this weekend, since most of the time I'm the only American in the room. It used to be that I was the only Asian-American clergywoman under 40 when I lived in the U.S., but now it seems that I'm the only Korean-American clergywoman under 50 serving as a mission worker in the room. This distinction is noticeable during instances like this past Wednesday, when I attended an ongoing series called the Wednesday Forum. Originally started in the 1970s at the UCCP-Cosmopolitan church, this forum provided a place for dissenting voices during the martial law years under President Marcos. Church leaders relaunched this forum last October to discuss critical issues such as the impact of the peace process on indigenous peoples, war on drugs, and most recently the status of foreign relations under President Duterte. I have attended all but one event, but I have yet to comment or raise any questions. Considering the upcoming weekend with both Presidential inauguration and worldwide marches, I hoped to say something - but in the end, I sat back and listened....
click here to continue reading.
Click here to read a great article on the PC(USA) website that Cathy wrote regarding human trafficking.
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Here are links to articles that we hope you will enjoy and perhaps spend some time discussing them with others. Click on the title to read the entire article.
NFL rules require caution from churches regarding this event. The National Football League has a few requirements that churches and other organizations must follow in order to host a Super Bowl party. These requirements emerged a few years ago, after a dispute arose between the NFL and a large church that wanted to host a party. As the big game approaches, here are four tips regarding these requirements that church leaders should note...
continue reading.
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"Nowadays, you'll specifically notice a universal 'third thing' into which teenagers channel this anxiety: their phones... these actions help calm their social anxieties enough to pay attention to the people that are right in front of them." Because every youth group context is different, every youth group needs to ultimately decide what their technology and social media rules of life will be. Below are three guidelines to help youth leaders pragmatically implement good technology practices with their youth communities..
..
continue reading
.
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The beginning of a year is an ideal time to refresh and update your personal and church social media accounts. Sometimes it's necessary to make either important updates or subtle adjustments. In any event, your online presence will benefit from an annual inventory of your accounts. Think of it as giving your Twitter account a tune-up or getting a facelift for your Facebook profile.
These seven tips can be used on your church's accounts and your personal accounts to get 2017 started on the right foot online.
..
continue reading
.
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NOTE: The articles listed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of or intended to be an endorsement by the Presbytery of Lake Huron but are shared to encourage discussion of various topics.
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Connect With Other Churches In The Lake Huron Presbytery
There are so many wonderful things going on in all of our congregations. Several of our churches have set up Facebook pages to help spread the good news not only to their members but to all who may be interested. Liking other church Facebook pages is a great way to connect with others in the presbytery and to share ideas with each other. Here are some of the churches that have Facebook pages:
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'Like' Us On Facebook
The presbytery has a Facebook page and would like you to join us. Get updates and information faster. Connect with others to share ideas and to post information about events happening in your congregation. Join us today!
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| Staci Percy Communications Manager/Recording Clerk spercy@presbylh.org 989-799-7481 x2 |
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About the
Bi-Weekly Brief
Hundreds of elders, educators, and church leaders read the Presbytery of Lake Huron's email sent out every other week.
You can reissue or modify this content for your own church bulletin or newsletter, without crediting the Bi-Weekly Brief, but please credit any organizations, photographers, etc, that we credited.
NOTE: The Presbytery of Lake Huron retains permission to modify submissions for clarity and length. Inclusion of an item in the Bi-Weekly Brief means that we think it's interesting and/or important, and does not constitute an endorsement of its point of view or its journalistic accuracy.
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Commission on Ministry - Full Team
January 25
11:00 am
Pastors in Transition
January 29-31
DeWitt, MI
Coordinating Team
February 8
10:00 am
CRE Policy Review Team
February 13
9:30 am
Commission on Preparation for Ministry
February 15
10:00 am
Commission on Ministry - Outreach and Admin Team
February 22
11:00 am
Personnel Team
February 27
10:00 am
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Details on these meetings can be found on the presbytery's website on the calendar.
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