May  24,  2018


Craig Presbyterian is a small church, but provided a big welcome for Presbytery.

Registration and display areas were well arranged and provided perfect flow. Wonderful welcome refreshments were ready and the Ladies of the church made a great home-cooked lunch. Presbytery celebrated Mission Creek Church for its satisfaction of its Mortgage Grant from the General Assembly, in full and ahead of schedule.

 Presbytery celebrated with the Mission Creek Church

Rev. Rhonda Kruse, PCUSA Director of Mission Engagement brought the Word through sermon. The Rev. Dr. James Makuei Choul, Executive Director of Presbyterian Relief and Development Agency of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan the shared ravages of the civil war and of the current conditions and needs of the displaced refuges.

Rev. William Notage-Tacey led the Assembly through a Town Hall exercise to consider the future structure and ministry of Homestead Presbytery. Notes were taken which will be the basis of the next step aided by the Synod.

Audrey Richert shared the new programs of the Nebraska Presbyterian Foundation to aid retired ministers from Homestead and Nebraska.

 Rev. Charity Potter shared the importance of coaching for clergy.

T he Homestead Presbytery has lost a net of 677 members in 2017. The current membership of our congregations is 6,864.

Homestead Presbytery honorably retired Rev. Raymond Meester from Lincoln Heritage and Rev. Steve Braezier from Pender United Church.

Bylaws were amended to create the standing committee of New Worshiping Communities, Church Development and Redevelopment to oversee and guide new worshiping communities, and redeveloping churches. The new committee will be working with 3 new worshiping communities: CoOp 513; Pivot, and Contemplate, all in Lincoln.

Upon recommendation of the Nominating Committee the following were elected: Rev. John Ashley (Fremont) to Calvin Crests Board; Elder Suzanne Byler (Beatrice) to COM; and Rev. Carl Eskridge (at-large) to Moderator of Personnel.

The Hebron Church was approved to sell their manse.

Keep Thinking...

"
But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."

John 10:2-4
Good Reads

Click Image to Order and Download!


A powerful message of hope for anyone burdened by shame and for everyone who longs for a fresh, passionate, and fierce life.

  Now in convenient trade paperback and featuring a bonus section for guided reflection. This retitled edition of People of the Second Chance centers on HOPE. Every fierce and free life starts with that at the core. And every reader longs for a passionate and unstoppable spirit. This book will equip the reader to fight for hope and victory for others and also themselves.     

 Foster's examination of hope is one part challenge, two parts encouragement. He forces the reader to ask the following questions: How did I lose it? How do I get? How do I give it? Each question is broken down into core concepts that are essential to a life devoted to the power of fierce and free living: awareness, discovery, ownership, forgiveness, acceptance, and freedom.

NEW PCUSA LEADER ELECTED
by Kenneth Godshall, Presbyterian Mission Agency Board

We have joyous news of hope from the Presbyterian Mission Agency. The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board elected the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett as the president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency for a four-year term. Diane's election is subject to confirmation by the 223rd General Assembly in St. Louis on June 16-23, 2018. She will assume leadership at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville on June 11, 2018.

Diane is currently the senior pastor of Saint James Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she has served since 2005. She is the current moderator of the Executive Council of Salem Presbytery and was previously moderator of Salem Presbytery. Other PC(USA) leadership roles have included chair of the 218th General Assembly's Climate for Change Task Force, a group charged with assessing the six agencies of the General Assembly's progress in cultural proficiency and presenting recommendations for improvement in this area. Diane also served as a member of the African American Advisory Committee for the PC(USA) and as vice president of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus. Please see the news release for more about Diane.

lease join me in making Diane feel welcome.

Please pray for Diane's success and the witness of the PCUSA.
Diane Moffett, church welcome
Diane Moffett, church welcome

 Join in the Celebration of Retirement!

 
Stated Assembly in Craig 

Steve Piper brings Ray Meesters Retirement to the Assembly









Rev. Dr. James Makuei Choul and
     Rev Rhonda Kruse

Leanne Masters and Steve Piper bring Steve Breazier's
retirement to the Assembly