Because Presbyterians Love Making Beautiful Things...
The prayer garden at First Presbyterian Church of New Braunfels is almost complete. We will be using personalized paver bricks to create a path from the sanctuary to the garden.
!
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MISSION PRESBYTERY
WEEKLY NEWS
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Pre-General Assembly Bulletin Insert
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Your first edition of the General Assembly bulletin inserts are HERE. Download your copy for your church newsletters and bulletins!
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When Melody Goes on Vacation, What Ever Shall We Do?
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Our beloved Melody Gonzalez, Mission Presbytery's Office Administrator, will be on vacation from June 21st-26th.
If you need to contact the Presbytery, please leave a message and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
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College Prayer + Care Packages
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The United Campus Ministry at Texas State recently delivered more than 50 prayer + care package. With the closure of Texas State University campus and required move-out from dorms, students had to shift to online classes while managing the isolation of social distancing.
To encourage students through finals, the UCM put together prayer packages containing school supplies, snacks, photos of friends at campus ministry events, and personal notes of prayer and encouragement. For graduating seniors, a special package included a study bible and honor cord for graduation regalia. Local packages were delivered by the UCM college minister Rev. Todd Salmi via social distancing. The majority of packages were mailed to students at home across Texas.
If you know a student at Texas State, the students of the UCM would love to meet them. The United Campus Ministry is the official Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) college ministry and UKirk at Texas State University. More information is available at
www.ucmtxstate.org
or via
todd@ucmtxstate.org
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Fall Pastor's Retreat Cancelled
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The Fall 2020 Pastor’s Retreat at MO Ranch is canceled until Fall 2021 due to the pandemic restrictions we all face. We are aware that pastors are probably in more need than ever of a truly relaxing, meaningful and fun gathering (or not) of fellow ministers in a natural environment, but we have to be safe.
If potential participants have an idea of something that would provide a respite in Video Conferencing or Social Distancing situation, the event planners would like to hear from you. Contact Rev. Marsha Brown, event Chair, at 314-604-2696 or
revmarshab@gmail.com
.
Calls to pastors, CLP, HRs, chaplains and other validated ministers from time to time will continue. As usual, these conversations are completely confidential. Please know that you are all in our prayers
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Mission Presbytery invites you to the
Service of Ordination to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament of
Ezequiel Herrera
Sunday, June 28th, 2020; at 2:00 PM
at First Presbyterian Church of McAllen, Texas.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those assisting in-person will be required to exercise" social distancing and adhere to current health procedures" as per recommended by the health and civil authorities. Thus, the Service will be broadcasted via YouTube.
We beseech your prayers as we prepare and move forward to the celebration of this meaningful and important milestone in our common Christian ministry.
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"I’m writing you as one who is shaken, convicted, and ready to “not waste a good crisis,” but rather to use this time as an occasion for substantial change in the way that I live and move. And for me, that first step is going to require a deep dive into authentic relationship, conversation, and interaction with all of God’s children."
A deep dive. Starting a conversation. Good thoughts on understanding and responding to racism.
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Are You Ready for a Disaster During a Pandemic?
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Hurricane season has started. The summer months are also known for fires and flash floods. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot expect outside groups to come in and help our area after a natural disaster. We must rely on local volunteers and resources to respond, which means pre-planning is more important than ever.
Mission Presbytery’s Disaster Preparedness & Assistance Committee (DPAC) has created extensive disaster planning guidelines. Follow the link to the guidelines below. We urge each church to form a disaster preparedness committee and work through the guidelines to form their church’s disaster plan.
However, given the pandemic and the urgency to have a plan in place, DPAC has identified
priorities
for churches to consider:
- Make sure you have updated phone numbers and contact information for all church members. Establish an alternative communication setup such as WhatsApp in case telephones fail, and for emergency group communications.
- Encourage members to create their family disaster plan and assemble emergency supply kits for their households. See ready.gov for help.
- Determine what your church can/will do to respond after a disaster. Create and distribute clean-up buckets? Distribute food?
- Once you have decided how your church will respond after a disaster, create a safety and sanitation plan to keep volunteers safe. Consider how you will maintain social distance while providing relief services. Because of the pandemic we cannot run disaster relief efforts as we have before.
- Stockpile supplies that you may need as a church to respond to a disaster. A sample list is provided in this document. Supplies must include personal protection equipment, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant. Remember that these supplies are already hard to come by so stock up now.
- Consider where volunteers and displaced people will stay in your community and how people can be housed and fed safely – including social distancing.
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Synod Sunday is August 23rd
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Celebrate Synod Sunday with thousands of your closest Presbyterian friends
. Mark your calendars for Sunday, August 23rd and go to
for bulletin inserts, liturgies, children's bulletin and MORE
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Stewardship Kaleidoscope 2020 Postponed
Postponing but Planning
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.” - Psalm 40: 1-3.
Due to the ongoing impacts on health and limitations affecting travel the Stewardship Kaleidoscope planning committee has made the difficult decision to postpone this year’s conference.
While we are very disappointed that we will not be able to be together in person in September, we are planning to share important stewardship resources, fellowship, and support virtually.
Details about our online offering will be coming soon, but in the meantime mark your calendar for three Tuesdays in the fall, September 22nd, 29th, and October 6th. We will be virtually together from 11:30 - 1:30 eastern on each of those days, and can’t wait to share more soon.
If you have already paid for registration please contact Robert Hay at
info@stewardshipkaleidoscope.org
and indicate if you would like a refund, to transfer your registration to 2021, or apply a portion to this year’s virtual gathering.
We pray that you are in good health and strong spirit, and look forward to being together again soon.
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During this time when in person services are suspended, Mission Presbytery is posting links for live-streaming or recorded services to share. Each week we will highlight one church to attend. The link and information is on the front page of the website.
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In an effort to reduce the spread of Covid-19, the Presbytery has decided NOT to order the planning calendars in bulk this year.
You may purchase them individually if you’d like using the link below.
We will revisit this again next year.
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Register for Summer Camp at
No Financial Risk
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We are closely monitoring colleagues and partner organizations and will wait as long as possible to cancel camps. We know this may be the most important summer of camp ministry ever for our camp families. We encourage you to go ahead and register for camp this summer at no financial risk to you. You can request a full refund for any reason.
#johnknoxranch
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Church Worship and Meeting Plans Worksheet
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The Presbytery office has compiled a listing of worship opportunities and programs being offered by the Presbytery's churches. The file is in Excel format and can be downloaded from the website Virtual Community page. Please contact Melody Gonzalez at the Presbytery office with any updates.
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Find it on our "Virtual Community" Web Page
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- How to Live Stream, hosted by Ed Sackett
- A Pastoral Letter from OGA and PMA
- Video Tutorial on How to Use ZOOM, by Tricia Tedrow
- Resources from Presbyterian Foundation
- Resources from Mission Presbytery DPAC
- Resources for Church Meetings, Including Authoritative Interpretation
- Message from the Board of Pensions
- Protocols for Electronic Meetings and E-Voting
- Advisory on Communion in an Emergency/Pandemic
- Mental Well Being During a Pandemic
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Because Presbyterians love new babies.. and new members!
Lucia James Villarreal, daughter of Jonathon and Laura Neely Villareal (Associate Pastor of Parkway Presbyterian Church in Corpus Christi) was born on June 13th at 12:52 pm. She joins us early at 28 weeks and 4 days. She is already bringing so much joy into the hearts of their parents. Since Lucia came so early she will be in NICU for a while.
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Because Presbyterians are like springs of living water.
On Sunday, June 7th, members of First Presbyterian Church of Victoria, together with young students from Kids for Christ, organized themselves to provide a “rest stop” for participants in the Black Lives Matter march that went up and down in front of their church.
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Presbyterian Pan American School is seeking a President.
Presbyterian Mo-Ranch Assembly is seeking a President and CEO.
Emmanuel Presbyterian Church of San Antonio
, is looking for a part-time pastor who will lead the congregation in worship and ministry, care for the congregation, and equip them for mission in the community.
Community Presbyterian Church of Port Aransas
is looking for a Bookkeeper/Treasurer.
First Presbyterian Church of Rockport, Texas
is seeking a full-time, solo Pastor.
New Braunfels Presbyterian Church
is seeking an organist.
Gonzales Presbyterian Church
is seeking a full time solo pastor.
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We are Mission Presbytery, serving Christ in the World. In the Reformed Tradition, together we,
- Establish and equip congregations and session to carry out their missions;
- Recruit, receive, ordain, develop, and care for those called to service in the church;
- Enable mission and witness to the Gospel that congregations cannot accomplish alone; and
- Steward our resources faithfully and generously.
We are better together.
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