Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse
5811 Heritage Landing Dr., 2nd Floor
East Syracuse, NY  13057
(315) 632-5698

Jan. 10, 2019
Dear Friends of Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery,

Welcome to this week's edition of our e-letter, Presbytery Matters. Our goal is to highlight things going on throughout the Church: within our Presbytery, in our congregations, as well as in the Synod of the Northeast and across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We hope that these are things that will be helpful, informative, challenging, encouraging, supportive. In other words, we hope that these things will matter. Your input is valued, and your comments are always welcomed.
Mission Stories
 
We want to hear about the mission stories from our Presbytery's worshiping communities. What mission work are you involved in? How are your members working in the community? What story would you like to share with others in the Presbytery?
 
 Send any mission stories from your congregation that you would like to share to:  CaySyrNews@gmail.com.  
   
Deadline is 12 p.m. on Wednesdays for the current week's edition of
Presbytery Matters.  
 
We want to share your stories, missions, activities and more. Also, make sure to like our Facebook page by clicking the "Like us on Facebook" tab at the top of this letter.

Joys and Concerns around the Presbytery
    In our prayers together this week...
  • Pray for Susan Alloway, a retired minister in our presbytery. Susan and and her family are facing serious financial difficulties after her son's (with whom she was living) business partner "wiped them out" and skipped town --- this after Susan suffering total loss of her home and belongings to Hurricane Harvey in late 2017. If anyone would like to contact Susan her email address is: susanalloway@gmail.com
  • Continue to pray for the congregation at Onondaga Hill Presbyterian Church. The church lost a piece of its heart on Dec. 23 with the death of beloved member, Doug Miller.
  • Pray for all those who are struggling with addiction in our community.
  • Pray for all those affected by violence in our communities. In 2018, 24 people were murdered in Syracuse. Pray their families, for justice and for the killings to stop.
In the cycle of prayer for our Presbytery, please pray for these congregations, faith communities, and individuals: our Presbytery (the Leadership Team, Work Groups, Committees, and Mission and Ministry Teams), the Synod of the Northeast, General Assembly staff.

If you'd like to share a particular joy or concern with the Presbytery, please contact: CaySyrNews@gmail.com.

Photo of the Week

Westminster Presbyterian Church in Auburn chalked the door of its sanctuary on Epiphany Sunday. They mark the door every year with the year and the initials of Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, the three kings who traveled to find God manifested in the Christ child. This reminds us to bless all strangers and travelers who enter our church this year, as well as all who seek to find God in their lives.

To have your photo considered for "Photo of the Week," post it to your church's Facebook page and tag the Presbytery of Cayuga Syracuse's Facebook page.
Around the Presbytery
Witness to Injustice: Unraveling Native & U.S. relations, offered by Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation
 
What: All are invited to join Pebble Hill Presbyterian's Witness to Racial Reconciliation Team's special class
When: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26.  
Where: Pebble Hill Church at 5299 Jamesville Road, in DeWitt
Cost: Free
Registration: Registration is requested as space is somewhat limited by calling  
(315) 446-0960 or emailing officeadmin@twcny.rr.com.  

This two-hour class i nvites participants to experience symbolically the impacts of colonization and conquest on indigenous peoples, and to enter into the story of reconciliation and healing that emerges from our collective experience.
 
It uses participatory education to raise awareness of the historic relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the part of the world now known as the United States through the use of meaningful quotes, and blankets that represent Turtle Island (the Western Hemisphere), we explore a shared history that most people never learn.
It is a way to engage in a conversation about the European colonization of Turtle Island and deepen our understanding of the denial of Indigenous peoples' nationhood throughout U.S. History.
 
Quotes from recent participants:

"The experience was very valuable."

"Beginning with the Caribbean meant a lot to me as a woman from Jamaica."
 
Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation, a program of the Syracuse Peace Council, is a grassroots organization of Central New Yorkers. Noon supports the sovereignty of the Onondaga Nation's traditional government and their Land Rights Action. Noon joins in their call for justice, reconciliation and healing. Noon believe that the community has a great deal to learn from the Onondagas about living more peacefully with one another and more harmoniously with the Earth.
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United Church of Fayetteville is looking to hire an Administrative Assistant
 
 
Information about the position:
Around the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The people healing the world often themselves need healing
Overcoming compassion fatigue subject of 90-minute webinar
 
by Mike Ferguson
Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE - Compassion fatigue - that malady that many pastors, first responders and others in helping professions suffer that can leave them feeling isolated, tired, trapped or worse - can be overcome, and there's help for those who, as the Rev. Dr. Dana Sutton put it, "are healing the world and need to heal themselves."

Sutton, an experienced pastor who's part of the Presbyterian Coach Network, presented a webinar Monday called "Overcoming Compassion Fatigue in Ministry." The  Presbytery of West Virginia hosted the webinar.

Originally used to label PTSD-like symptoms of disaster recovery and first responder personnel, Sutton said, compassion fatigue also describes longer term effects on those who give of themselves without regard to the cost or the need to monitor and refill their own reserves.

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Presbyterian Foundation offers free webinar series
Themes include boosting stewardship, talking about money
By Susan Herman
Special to Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE -- Rob Hagan and Karl Mattison of the Presbyterian Foundation will lead a free five-part webinar for congregations.

The Presbyterian Foundation is offering a series of five webinars in 2019 on engaging church givers in stewardship and money-related conversations.

Pastors, business administrators, stewardship chairs, treasurers, session clerks and others involved in the financial life of the church are invited to register. The webinars are free. Sign up for the whole series, or just topics that interest you the most.

Rob Hagan and Karl Mattison will present the webinars. Hagan is a Ministry Relations Officer for the Presbyterian Foundation. Mattison is the Foundation's Vice President of Planned Giving. They have teamed up many times to educate church leaders on financial topics and say they're excited to offer webinar participants tools for building generous, vital communities of faithful givers who want their resources to change people's lives for Jesus Christ.



5811 Heritage Landing Dr., 2nd Floor
East Syracuse, NY  13057
(315) 632-5698
"I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them
bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
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