Office and Mailing Schedule for the Presbytery during the holidays
The PTCA office will be closed from December 24 – January 3 for the holidays. Mail will be held at the Post Office. If you need to reach someone during this time, please email executive presbyter Jeff Japinga at ep@ptcaweb.org. Stated Clerk Barbara Lutter is also working remotely, and reachable via email at https://statedclerk@ptcaweb.org.
Steve Robertson, our treasurer (treasurer@ptcaweb.org), sent out an information packet to all treasurers / clerks of session / moderators of session that included this information:
Cutoff Date for Crediting 2020 Per Capita and Remittances
The presbytery office closes for the Christmas holiday on Wednesday, December 23. All per capita payments and remittances received after that date will be processed and credited in 2021 with the EXCEPTION of 2020 Unified Mission as noted below.
If you or your congregation is making a year-end 2020 contribution to Unified Mission Support and wants to make sure that payment is credited for 2020, please send that contribution in a separate check with a Remittance Form to be received by the presbytery office by Friday, January 8, 2021.
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Upcoming Worship Resources
FOR USE ON December 27: First Sunday of Christmas
WHAT: A full service of worship, including Scripture, sermon, music, and other elements
THE PREACHER: The Rev. Dr. Lis Valle-Ruiz, assistant professor of homiletics at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESS:
The Closed Captioning is useful for this service, because Rev. Dr. Valle uses some Spanish terms that may be unfamiliar to some.
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Business as [un]Usual
Notes from the Stated Clerk, Barbara Lutter, about the business of the presbytery during such an unusual time as this
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Business as [un]Usual is something. No, it's really something.
Here’s Something!
The next Stated Meeting of the Presbytery will be held the FIRST SATURDAY of February, 2021. That’s February 6, 2021. Start time: 9:00 a.m. End Time: 10:30 a.m. It will be a virtual meeting, so get your Zoom on! P.S., if you have business to bring to the presbytery for action, please contact me as soon as possible ~ “sooner, not later.”
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In the December 4th edition of EMerge, Anna Kendig, the PTCA’s new Anti-Racism Institutional Assessment Coordinator, offered an invitation to an “Imagination Collaboration,” summarized the scope and goals of the Presbytery’s anti-racism work, and named three perspectives we might embody in our justice and anti-racism work in 2021. If you missed it, you can read that here.
The coordinated efforts of the wider PTCA is just one portion of the commitment of PTCA members and congregations to the work of anti-racism. Here are two congregational examples of anti-racist efforts seeking to reach a wider community. We invite you to tell us what you or your congregation is doing to “spread this conversation wide.” Write to Anna at ptca.anti-racism@gmail.com.
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In The News:
Stories of Our Congregations in the Media
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Has your congregation been in the news recently? Let us know at the Presbytery office (office@ptcaweb.org), and we’ll make sure the whole Presbytery can read what you’re doing.
The Owatonna People’s Press wrote the following story about Associated Church in Owatonna. We’re re-printing it via the link below, with permission, because a paywall would prevent you from reading it online.
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The Commission on Ministry reviewed compensation for ministers in our presbytery and revised the 2021 minimums for pastors serving in the metro-area and for pastors serving outside the metro area:
Metro-area Minimum Salary $53, 612.88
Non-metro Minimum Salary $47,994.37
Thanks to Ruling Elder Diane Smith, The House of Hope Presbyterian Church, St. Paul, MN for all her work researching, developing and writing this policy.
The combined Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly per capita amount for 2021 will be the same as that of 2020: $36.50
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Part-Time Office Coordinator – Flexible work schedule (up to 20 hrs / wk.)
Calvin Presbyterian Church in Long Lake is looking for a tech & social media savvy Office Coordinator with a Christian background (preferred) with an excellent work ethic, who can be flexible to meet the needs of the Church, especially as we are navigating through the pandemic, and build meaningful relationships with our members and community. This position would be responsible for communications, including social media and website; general office administrative duties; and as a liaison between members and church committees. Calvin Presbyterian Church is located in Long Lake, MN, just off of Highway 12, which makes for an easy commute coming from the east or west!
Interested? To apply please click here to submit your resume.
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A FREE Live-Streamed Gathering for ALL Church Leaders
March 5-7
COVID-19, a pandemic of racism in the United States, economic distress. Our reality right now helps us know that things need to change for the good of us all.
What if people like you and me could gather together from all over the world, from all kinds of different churches and denominations, from all different walks of life?
What if church leaders (YOU, not just your pastor) could connect with other church leaders to learn together, be inspired by one another, and be challenged to grow?
What if we gathered together in such a way that inspired us to act so the Church and the world were never the same again?
Despite the physical space that separates us these days, we believe our virtual togetherness can make all the difference. Will you join us March 5-7 for the 2021 NEXT Church National Gathering as we Break, Bless, and Build: A Call for the Common Good?
You can find more information on the event on the NEXT Church webpage. The Rev. Dr. Meghan Gage-Finn, executive associate pastor at Westminster Presbyterian in Minneapolis, is on the Strategy Team for NEXT Church and is serving on the planning team for the National Gathering.
The Rev. Daniel Vigilante, pastor of Grace-Trinity Community Church in Minneapolis, also serves on the Strategy Team for NEXT Church.
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APCE (Association of Presbyterian Church Educators) offers your presbytery the opportunity to enhance Christian education in your churches by identifying up to 4 people in faith formation (educator, pastor, volunteer) to attend FOR FREE our 2021 virtual Annual Event, Anything but Ordinary Time.
February 4-6, 10:00 am – 5 pm (CT) each day.
Click the link below to read about the opportunity and contact the Presbytery office by December 22nd to submit your name for scholarship.
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Save the Dates:
Virtual Advocacy Training
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Additionally, the Washington office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is calling on the public to rally behind Cameroonians being deported from the United States to dangerous situations in their homeland. Find the Presbyterian News story here. Immigrants from Cameroon are members in at least ten PTCA congregations.
Click below for the full Action Alert
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Jeff's Jottings:
This Year...
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And yet, every time these last few weeks that I found myself sucked toward this muck hole of bad news, I’ve been saved, on that same computer. Saved again and again by the words and deeds of good-news-of-great-joy people willing to speak up…step up…act up, as signs of hope in these despairing times |
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EMerge is a newsletter of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. Through most of the year it is published biweekly and distributed to congregations, teaching elders, ruling elders, church members, committees and friends of the presbytery. Please send submissions and address corrections to office@ptcaweb.org
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