A Word from our General Presbyter

Maybe you remember this song from church camp or perhaps Vacation Bible School: “The church is not a building. The church is not a steeple. The church is not a resting place. The church is a people. I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together. All who follow Jesus, all around the world, yes, we’re the church together.” It was written by Richard Avery and Donald Marsh back in 1972. The words came to mind during the recent kerfuffle about churches supposedly needing to reopen. While some church buildings have been and maybe still are closed for in-person worship, that doesn’t mean the church is closed. Because as Avery & Marsh put it, “The church is not a building. (…) The church is a people.”

Bluestone must cancel summer camp, plans for a virtual makeover

By Sarah Specht, Bluestone Program Director

As many of you could have guessed, we had to make the hard choice to cancel summer camp this year. We had many meetings over Zoom to try to figure out a way to do camp the way we always have, but it was just not a reality that could happen due to COVID-19. Everything has been turned upside down in the last three months, and camp is included in the craziness. Kids had to move from school in the classroom to school on the computer, church moved out of the sanctuary and into our living rooms, and now Bluestone must find a new way to reach the youth in our Presbytery and beyond.Two of the ways we want to reach out this summer are by building a kid-friendly summer camp website and increasing our presence on social media. We want to use this summer to really learn how to use audio-visual equipment, social media platforms, and new ways of communicating, so we can reach campers of every generation. We are pretty good at the in-person side of camp, but we need to get a lot better at the “virtual” side of camp.

Job opening: Music Director (part-time)

Enslow Park Presbyterian Church, Huntington

Enslow Park is searching for a part-time Music Director to play the organ or piano for Sunday worship. The preference is for an organist, but pianists will be considered. If interested, the Music Director may also conduct the Chancel Choir on a regular basis or perhaps only on special occasions. For more information, contact Harry Faulk at [email protected] or 304 894-4838.

News from the Presbyterian Historical Society

PHS Live: Exploring the Pearl Digital Archive

2-3 p.m. Thursday, June 4

Next week sees the launch of PHS Live, a series of virtual programs hosted on Zoom. This first session focuses on the Pearl digital archive and will cover searching and navigating within it, while also giving a glimpse of the most interesting and unusual digital collections. To vote on potential future topics, click here.

Guidelines for writing a history of your congregation

By John C.B. Webster for the Presbyterian Historical Society blog

These guidelines, which I hope will help others working on congregation histories, are offered after completing three very different projects: two Baptist congregation histories and one Presbyterian congregation history. One was for a 250th anniversary, the second a 175th anniversary, and the third a 50th anniversary. These experiences have shown me that while there is no one easy formula that applies to all such histories, there are certain guidelines worth following.

What are we opening? What COVID-19 and the Great Ends are teaching the church

By Matthew J. Skolnik for The Presbyterian Outlook

Whether your congregation is about to return to your church building with attentive safety measures or your elders have decided that now is not the time to open your doors, it is important to stop and carefully consider the meaning of the now ubiquitous phrase, the new normal. As people of faith, when we consider what it means to have a new normal, we are not just talking about public health and personal safety practices. Neither are we solely focused on COVID-19 and its effects on systems far and near. Rather, as we recall long-past eras when God was unfolding a new normal – such as the Reformation, the Babylonian Exile and the life of Jesus – we remember that God does not  do something new  in a vacuum.

So your church is opening up after COVID-19 closures? It won't be what you are hoping for

By The Millennial Pastor (Rev. Erik Parker)

It’s been months of isolation, months of mostly staying home to stop the spread of COVID-19. But active cases are going down (or maybe not), and politicians and business leaders are worried about the economic impact of social distancing. And so, for a few weeks now, things have been opening up. Things seem to be going well enough, so the government announces the next phase of opening, which includes increased gathering sizes. 

Seeking print copy of Companion to the Constitution

If there is anyone no longer in need of their print copy of the 2000 edition of the resource book Companion to the Constitution, which provides helpful narrative descriptions and reflections in spite of its outdated citations to the old Form of Government, please contact the Stated Clerk ( [email protected]).

Worship & Music Conference goes virtual this year

This year's Presbyterian Association of Musicians conference, its 50th, was scheduled to be held this summer at Montreat; instead, because of the pandemic, it will now be held online - participate live June 21-26, or watch the recordings any time after. Click the image below to go to the conference website for more information and to register.

Regarding singing in worship

Earlier this month, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, Barbershop Harmony Society, and Performing Arts Medical Association presented a webinar on the near future of public singing in America. Click for the video (approximately 2.5 hours) or a print summary .