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The weekly newsletter from the
Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys
July 10, 2019
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We are congregations who seek to be a collective expression of the Body of Christ, joyfully participating in Christ's ongoing life and work. "Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing."
(I Thessalonians 5:11)
(photo at left is from the
Triennium Facebook page)
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Fellowship of Prayer for the Week of July 14-20
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On July 15, 60 youth and 7 adult leaders representing 14 congregations in Minnesota Valleys Presbytery will board two buses to travel to the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. There they will join with thousands of youth from the Presbyterian Church USA and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church for five days of worship, Bible Study, games and activities.
The congregations sending youth to the 2019 Presbyterian Youth Triennium are Blue Earth; Browns Valley; Ellsworth; Foley; Lismore; Luverne; Pipestone; Randall; Redwood Falls; Renville; St. Cloud; St. Peter; Spicer, Hope; Willmar; and Worthington. The Adult leaders this year are Jill Boeyink, Willmar; Sheila Erwin, Lismore; Amy Gasca, Renville; Mark Giese, St. Cloud; Calvin Lebakken, Foley; Shawna Seaman, St. Cloud; and Galen Smith, Worthington.
Holy God, through never ending streams of mercy, guide and protect our young people and their leaders as they attend the Presbyterian Youth Triennium. Tune their hearts to sing your praise and fill them with your wondrous grace. Transform their lives through this experience so that they may further build your Kingdom through their gifts and leadership. Through Christ, we pray. Amen.
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SanDawna Ashley will be out of the office July 12-19 leading Transitional Ministry Training at Zephyr Point Conference Center.
Karen Lange will be out of the office on July 12 and July 22-26 attending Synod School.
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Prayer List
- Those attending Presbyterian Youth Triennium, Synod School and Summer Camps
- In our Synod of Lakes and Prairies, Central Nebraska, Prospect Hill, North Central Iowa Presbyteries have been hit especially hard by flooding.
- The family of Lew Hudson, who passed away June 12. A celebration of life will be held at 11:00am on Saturday, July 27, at the Northland Arboretum, 14250 Conservation Drive, Brainerd. An active member of the Presbyterian Church for most of his life, he was six times called to duty as an elder. In addition, he served as Presbytery Moderator, Commissioner to General Assembly, Commissioner to the Synod of Lakes and Prairies and for more than 25 years was a pulpit supply preacher. Obituary link
- The First Presbyterian Church of Amboy, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary on Sunday, July 14
- Sue Thompson, Clerk of Session at First Presbyterian Church, Maynard
- Rev. Lynne Matthews, pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Holland - knee replacement surgery on August 5
- Rev. Araceli Itzep from the Occidente Presbytery
- For Beatriz (Betty/Beti) Cifuentes, the treasurer of the Partnership Committee, who is beginning chemotherapy.)
- For the "Men in the Mirror" program. Men from Occidente that MVP supported financially to attend the classes a couple of years ago are going to share the information they gained with different churches in the eastern and central parts of Guatemala. They, along with the chaplains of the national Presbyterian church, will also be training Christian policemen in what they learned from "Men in the Mirror."
- For Guatemala as this is election year and new leaders will be chosen.
- For the churches in Occidente Presbytery as they will be gathering in July 26-27 for their Mission meeting.
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Join us on Saturday, July 13 from 1:00 – 5:00 PM!
The annual Friends and Neighbors Day is our celebration of Clearwater Forest and the communities of supporters that make it special!
On this day, we open our doors to showcase our beautiful grounds, historic buildings, exciting facilities, and God’s amazing wilderness. Come and experience the energy, beauty, joy and play that Clearwater Forest offers! Our day begins with the annual Lake 2 Lake bike ride, raising dollars for our scholarship fund. Throughout the afternoon there will be tours of the grounds and buildings, games and activities on the main lawn and opportunities to learn more about our programs and partnerships.
Activities start at 1:00pm and will end with an ice cream social and sing-a-long, lead by our special musical guest and camp alumnus, Kate Plummer.
Camping at Loon Point and Grouse circle is FREE on Saturday night on a first come first serve basis.
THE OLDEST CAMP T-SHIRT CONTEST IS BACK!!
Rep your Clearwater camp swag for Friends & Neighbors Day… We will be looking for the camper and the alumni staff member with the oldest Clearwater t-shirt to win prizes from the camp store!
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Installation Service Invitation
The congregation at First Presbyterian Church of Foley invites you to the Installation Service for Rev. Beverly Brock on Sunday, July 28, at 3:00pm.
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News from SDOP: South Sudanese Summer Language Program
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Here is a summary of how the South Sudanese summer language program you have funded and supported went. Above are a couple pictures taken on the last day. We expected 35 children, with 4 teachers. In the planning the teaching program, I simplified the 10 commandments in English and Nuer, used numbers in English and Nuer and incorporated a lot of games that help play together, act together, learn together, have conversations together and write together. I believe a lot of children really learned a lot and enjoyed it. The idea was to have the children speak in Nuer, be able to recognize writing and certain phrases and be able to start a conversation with their parents, and they have the shirts to continue that learning with their parents.
Submitted by Thijin Gatwech
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Texas 4000 Rides into St. Cloud and Baxter
The First Presbyterian Church of St. Cloud and Lakes Area Presbyterian Church in Baxter played host to Texas 4000, a group of students from the University of Texas in Austin who are riding from Texas to Alaska to raise money and awareness for cancer.
The 25 bicyclists following the Ozarks route -- one of three routes of the Texas 4000 -- arrived in small groups, one after the other, at Lakes Area Presbyterian Church to stay the night of July 8th before departing July 9th for Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada where they are expected to arrive Friday.
Lakes Area Presbyterian church hosted the group in 2018 on the spur of the moment. The riders were planning on staying at the Crow Wing County State Park, but the mosquitoes were so bad, there was no way possible they could stay there. They then contacted Darin Seaman at St. Cloud and asked if he knew of anyone in the Brainerd area who might be able to host them for the night. They contacted Pastor Mark and the church was able to put them up for the night. In 2019, the group contacted the church in January and asked about Lakes Area hosting them again, and to provide supper and breakfast for the group.
Pastor Darin Seamen attended seminary at Austin Theological Seminary and knew people from UT-Austin, who contacted him about hosting in St. Cloud.
Link
to Brainerd Dispatch news article
Submitted by Mark Ford
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Above: The riders prepare the area in which they will sleep in the sanctuary of Lakes Area Presbyterian Church
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Above: Riders enjoy supper in the Fellowship Hall of Lakes Area Presbyterian Church
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Above: Pre-ride gratitude circle with Annie Vandervest and Effie Elg, deacons of Lakes Area Presbyterian Church, who helped prepare and serve the meals.
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Above: Pre-ride gratitude circle where everyone shared about whom they were riding on behalf of, and one thing that they were grateful for.
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The Board of Directors affirmed that medical dues for Pastor’s Participation should remain unchanged for 2020. The affirmation followed the Healthcare Committee recommendation that medical dues remain at 25 percent of effective salary for the third consecutive year.
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Upcoming events at a glance
July 13: Presbyterian Clearwater Forest Friends and Family Event
July 16-20: Presbyterian Youth Triennium
July 21-26: Synod School
August 20: Presbytery meeting at Federated Church of Fergus Falls
Sept 10: "Making the Ask" webinar by Shirley Carter begins at 10:00
Oct 3: "Preaching in Times of Transition" webinar by Gerald Lui begins at 10:00
Oct 15: Boundary Training at FPC Redwood Falls
Nov 2: Presbytery meeting at FPC Redwood Falls
Nov 11-13: Pastor Retreat at Presbyterian Clearwater Forest
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Books of Order now available
The PDF of the 2019-2021 Book of Order has been added to the PCUSA Store website and is available for free
download
.
The Presbytery will order Books of Order for congregations at a cost of $8.50 each. Please place your order with Karen by phone or email by July 18. We hope to hand them out at the August presbytery meeting. We will ask for postage reimbursement if we mail them out.
Planning Calendars
The PC(USA) Store will be ready to ship out Presbyterian Planning Calendars in August, and we will again order calendars for congregations for $9.50 each. This 16-month calendar will begin in September and end December 2020. Please place orders for calendars with Karen by August 5. If they are here by the presbytery meeting, we will hand them out there. We will ask for postage reimbursement if we mail them to congregations.
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The FPC Mankato invites you to hear Mission Co-Workers in August
Charles and Melissa Johnson, mission co-workers in Zambia, are visiting First Presbyterian Church of Mankato on Wednesday, August 14th. The event will be from 5:00-8:00pm. We're going to have a potluck supper and will enjoy time with Charles and Melissa as they share about God's mission happening in Zambia, how they were called into mission partnership, and how churches might hear their call into mission partnership.
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The Synod of Lakes and Prairies Presents
The Art of Transitional Leadership
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Learning Ministry Skills for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Church
Pastors, Staff, COMs and Congregational Leaders
September 16-20, 2019
Christ the King Retreat Center in Buffalo, Minnesota
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Track 1: September 16-20, 2019
Whether it is a change in leadership or a changing community, leading a congregation through change is both challenging and rewarding.It takes knowledge, skill, resilience and spiritual strength to navigate the waters of change in a way that leaders and congregations thrive. This training is for individuals who are considering ministry in temporary settings (as an interim, transitional or designated pastor) or are experiencing ministry in these transitional times. Materials presented will include the basics of transitional ministry and will be of value to all congregational pastors regardless of their ministry setting. Best practices in transitional ministry include ways to enter the congregation and community, how to analyze a congregation’s strength and growing edges, and how to assist a congregation in moving toward a vibrant future. This training will delve into navigating change, the pastor as a spiritual interpreter of transition, family systems, mission focus ministry, conflict mediation, and building resiliency.
Track 2: September 18-20, 2019
Congregational leaders seeking to serve God faithfully are invited to Part Two of the Art of Transitional Ministry Event. The Wednesday–Friday training is for ruling elders, deacons, and other congregational leaders. Workshops for this group will focus on the vital role you play in collaborating with pastors to lead congregations through ministry transitions. Participants can expect to learn about core value mission planning, leadership development, congregational systems, stewardship, and creating spiritual energy in congregations.
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Save the date for Boundary Training
Tuesday, October 15 from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Redwood Falls
Boundary Training is required for all minister/teaching elder presbytery members and commissioned ruling elders. The Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys will be holding a boundary training on Tuesday, October 15 from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Redwood Falls. The Rev. Mark Sundby from Leaderwise will be leading the boundary training. The training will focus on a holistic approach to boundaries, looking at overall resilience and well-being as the best prevention against impaired decision making and boundaries violations. More information will be coming.
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Save the Date
:
Pastors’ Retreat
November 11-13, 2019
Leaning Tree Lodge
Presbyterian Clearwater Forest
16595 Crooked Lake Rd
Deerwood MN 56444
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Begins with lunch on Monday and ends before lunch on Wednesday.
Cost: $40, includes meals and lodging
Come and enjoy the fall beauty of Presbyterian Clearwater Forest and spend time with presbytery colleagues. We will reflect on the year of transformation and take a deep breath. The retreat is in the planning stages, but mark your calendars to attend.
Retreat Speaker Rev. Jennifer Hope Kottler is a spiritual director/certified life and leadership coach and yoga teacher in private practice in Florence, SC. An ordained pastor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) with standing in the United Church of Christ, Jen serves clergy and lay leaders who want to deepen their own spirituality and lead their communities with intentionality and grace. Jen facilitates retreats and events for congregations, non-profit organizations, and church leaders. In all her work, Jen incorporates ancient spiritual practices with modern techniques including Energy Leadership Coaching and Conversational Intelligence®. Jen is married to Rev. Gavin Meek, Transitional Executive Presbyter and Stated Clerk in New Harmony Presbytery (NE South Carolina) and she enjoys hiking, tennis, cooking for family and friends, and traveling with Gavin.
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Church Staff: Schedule a Day with Karen
Associate for Administration Karen Lange is available to spend a day with church office folks to share tips on setting up bulletins, newsletters, making a Facebook page or to help with any general questions. The cost is Karen’s mileage to and from the church plus providing lunch. Please email
Karen
to schedule.
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Pastoral Leadership Opportunities
First Presbyterian Church, Fulda
- Solo Pastor, 3/4 time up to full-time
Faith Presbyterian Church, Silver Lake
- Part-time Solo Pastor
Hope Presbyterian Church, Spicer
- Solo Pastor
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