Synod School registration numbers are adding up

As of Tuesday this week, the registration total for Synod School stands at 370, according to Deb DeMeester, synod staff for the midsummer ministry. This year's weeklong program features J. Herbert Nelson, stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), who will be this year's convocation speaker, and Cláudio Carvalhaes, a well-known speaker and worship leader, and a former Synod School convocation speaker, who will lead evening worship. Beyond those two items are the 70 classes listed in the catalog. Synod School runs July 23-28 at Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa. Details, including everything necessary for registration, can be found at "Synod School."

 

Synod, 3 presbyteries underwrite

'The Academy' to serve leaders

The Academy, a series of 11 courses "designed to develop well-equipped, thoughtful people to better serve councils in a variety of capacities," will offer its first classes this summer at Synod School, which runs July 23-28 at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. Described as a "unique, cohort-based learning community," offers participants an opportunity to grow in faith and knowledge, grow as a leader, and have more opportunities to serve God as needed. A new cohort begins each year at Synod School, while subsequent learning takes place in online and in-person settings. The Academy is a joint effort of and underwritten by the presbyteries of Minnesota Valleys, North Central Iowa and Prospect Hill, and the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. Details can be found in a brochure at "The Academy."

 

Presbyteries in Iowa, Wisconsin plan joint meetings

Presbyteries in Iowa and Wisconsin are planning joint meetings in the upcoming months, with Wisconsin presbyteries meeting April 30-May 1 in Wisconsin Dells, and Iowa Presbyterians meeting June 2-3 in Ames, Iowa. The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), will be the keynote speaker at the Iowa event, called the All-Iowa Presbyterians Gathering. In Wisconsin, at the 4PM Conference of the presbyteries of John Knox, Milwaukee, Northern Waters and Winnebago, keynote speakers will be Bruce Reyes-Chow and Christine Hong. Details of the Wisconsin event are at "4PM Conference" and details of the Iowa gathering are at "All Iowa"and a registration for the Iowa event is at "Going."

 

Young adults from Wisconsin,

Iowa churches chosen as YAVs

Lacy Schimmel of First Presbyterian Church of Green Bay, Wis., and Sharon Boer of First Presbyterian Church in Oskaloosa, Iowa, have been  selected to serve as Young Adult Volunteers through the program of the same name of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. The Young Adult Volunteer program is a one-year service opportunity in which the volunteers live in intentional Christian community. Schimmel will serve in Minnesota and Boer will serve with Presbyterian Disaster Assistance in Little Rock, Ark. The term of service typically runs August to July. Details about the YAV program are at "Young Adult Volunteers."

 

Des Moines' Central Presbyterian

works with refugees, immigrants

Central Presbyterian Church of Des Moines, Iowa, has been working this winter with its local office of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants to sponsor an incoming refugee family. But what began as an effort to sponsor one family turned into an effort that supported two families when a travel ban was instituted and then overturned. The complete story is at "Sponsorship."

 

Partnering presbyteries: Ennenga,

Krapf maintain ties with Guatemalan churches

Ten trips to Guatemala: That wasn't exactly at the top of LeRoy Ennenga's bucket list, but to date the former farmer has notched that  total on his passport. "I first went in 2006, and there were two years I didn't go - but then, there were two years I went twice," Ennenga tallied. Ennenga's lifelong alliance with the Presbyterian denomination is at the root of his frequent travel to Central America. ... A passion for ministry and mission is what has drawn Ennenga and retired Westminster Presbyterian Church pastor Jim Krapf to and from Guatemala over the past decade. It also speaks to the partnership between the Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys and Presbyterians in Guatemala, called the Occidente Partnership. The complete story by Jane Turpin Moore, published earlier this month in the Worthington Daily Globe, can be found at "Occidente."

 

 

South Dakota Presbyterian minister joins

mission congregation of PC(USA), ELCA

The Rev. Kristie Berglund, a Presbyterian minister, who had been serving First Presbyterian Church in Brookings, S.D., joined The Table of Grace, a mission congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and  the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), located in Harrisburg, S.D. Berglund began serving at The Table of Grace in February. Berglund, writing in the New Song, the newsletter of the Presbytery of South Dakota, noted, " Our new church development in Harrisburg is all about reaching out to our neighbors and inviting them to find a deeper life, a life truly worth living, around God's table of grace. ... Developing a new community of faith can be bewildering and sometimes a bit scary. But we are discovering that when we are prayerful and attentive to how God's Spirit is already moving in the community, and we're willing to take some risks and try some new things, it can be wonderfully rewarding." Berglund's complete column can be found at "Sharing the Love." The Table of Grace website is at "Our Table or Yours."

 

Rummer is spiritual

adviser  for man on beer fast

The Rev. Ken Rummer, left, retired from First Presbyterian Church of Corning, Iowa, was featured recently in Speak Out, a blog on the Presbyterian Mission Agency website curated by Presbyterians Today. Rummer writes about being approached by someone going on a "beer fast" for Lent. The post can be found at "An Approach to Lent."

 

Stewart publishes essays 'Be Still'

Gordon Stewart, a retired Presbyterian minister who from time to time offered his commentary on NPR's "All Things Considered" and on Minnesota Public Radio, published a book of his essays this winter titled "Be Still! Departure from Collective Madness." Renowned Protestant scholar Walter Brueggemann said the book "take[s] us, over and over, into fresh discernment, new territory, unanticipated demands, and open-ended opportunity. All of that adds up to grace, and Stewart is a daring witness to grace that occupies all of our territory." Details of the book can be found at "Be Still."