Because Presbyterians can't wait to tell the story:
The manger scene outside of First Presbyterian Church in Cotulla!
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MISSION PRESBYTERY
WEEKLY NEWS
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Annual Statistical Reports
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Online reporting
for the Annual Statistical Reports
will be open December 6, 2019-February 20, 2020
. Reports must be submitted no later than February 20, 2020.
Workbooks
in English, Spanish and Korean are available through the link below. Also use this link when you are ready to submit your Annual Statistical Report:
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Changes Under the
Fair Labor Standard Act
May Affect Your Employees
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On January 1, 2020, new rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act will affect which employees are entitled to overtime pay. Acting General Counsel Mike Kirk has explained how this change may affect mid councils and congregations. Bottom line: “All employers should immediately evaluate those changes with their local legal counsel and determine if the changes will impact their staff and their council.” Read more about these changes via the link below.
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Souper Bowl of Caring SMACKDOWN!
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Mission Presbytery Souper Bowl Smackdown aims to use the energy of the NFL’s Super Bowl to mobilize our local churches in a united regional effort and a friendly competition to care for people in our local communities who are hungry and those in need. The winner will receive this awesome belt!
Promoting begins: Month of December 2019
Collecting begins: Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Collecting ends: Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 1:00 p.m.
Count totals due: Tuesday, February 4, 2020 at 12:00 noon
The champion will be the church that has the highest total number of food items and monetary donations per capita by Sunday, February 2, 2020.
Links below list the event rules, suggested donations and how to make the Souper bowl even more super!
Sign-up here so we know who’s participating:
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Advent is a good time for us to practice being “faithfully risky.” We can join Mary in saying “Let it be with me according to your word.” We can join those faithful friends who risked looking foolish enough to drop their friend down through the roof in order to receive healing for him. We can trust that if God is calling us to do something, it may not be as risky as it sounds. Wishing you all a faithfully risky Advent!
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Rev. Dr. Ann Carson died Wednesday, November 27th. She was living in an assisted living facility in Dallas near her son, Pete. She had a wonderful Thanksgiving Party with the residents and her son last night, and collapsed on the way to breakfast that morning.
The service will be at her assisted living center in Dallas, but a date has not been set.
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Ordination of Susan Montoya
Sunday, December 8, 2019
4:00 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church
800 Jefferson St.
Kerrville, TX
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Specialized and Member-at-Large Teaching Elders
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A reminder that
Specialized and Member-at-Large Teaching Elders need to submit their Validated Ministers Annual Report by December 31, 2019, sending that form to the Stated Clerk at:
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Host a Holiday Card Party for Asylum Seekers
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During this Advent season, the Mission Presbytery Immigration Task Force invites you or your church to host a Holiday Card Party! If you or your congregation wants to send cards to asylum seekers waiting in the camps because of MPP, you may send them to: First Presbyterian Church, 435 Palm Blvd, Brownsville, TX, 78520, Attn: Project Matamoros.
Once your letters are received at First Brownsville, MPITF committee member, Rosie Campos, will deliver the cards to the Matamoros encampment.
As we await the coming of the Holy One during Advent, our migrant siblings in Matamoros are awaiting their immigration proceedings. Our cards may help asylum seekers in Matamoros feel that they have not been forgotten during the holidays, that they are not alone, and that their lives have value.
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Mission Presbytery and UKirk Offer Collegiate Trip to the Border
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Mission Presbytery and UKirk Collegiate Ministries Association, in conjunction with Texas Impact, are hosting a collegiate trip to explore immigration policy from a Christian perspective.
The trip is scheduled for January 17-20, 2020.
The group will begin in Austin and travel to Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico.
Pastors, educators and parents, please share this with your students away at college and invite them to join us! For more information about the trip, or to find out how you can help donate and offset the cost for each student, contact Rev. Gini Norris-Lane, UKirk Collegiate Ministries Executive Director (
gnorrislane@gmail.com
) or Caitlin Supcoff, Mission Presbytery Youth and Young Adult Coordinator (
youth@missionpby.org
).
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Light the Match: A Campaign for Significant Growth at JKR!
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John Knox Ranch announces "Light the Match: A Campaign for Significant Growth."
Ignited by a pledge from an anonymous donor to match all donations in 2020 up to $400,000, JKR seeks to do three key things:
Renovate and rebuild John Knox Ranch to better meet the needs of our community.
Replenish our Camp Scholarship Fund.
Plan for and vision the future of camp ministry.
Read more about this generous matching donation and how you can support John Knox Ranch in their 2020 campaign via the link below.
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Synod of the Sun Offers Empowering Commissioned Pastors Conference
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The Commissioned Pastors Network of the Synod of the Sun presents the
Empowering Commissioned Pastors Conference
, to be held May 13th–16th, 2020, at Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church, Richardson, Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth area).
This conference will be all about and for commissioned pastors (CPs) in all the varied circumstances and ways CPs serve the church. Co-Moderators, the Reverend Cindy Kohlmann and Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri, will be there to help lead plenary sessions, and the event will also feature excellent workshops that will support commissioned pastors and strengthen skills and ministries. This conference is focused on empowering commissioned pastors as they serve an increasing portion of our PC(USA) congregations.
Registration is NOW OPEN via the link below. There is significant interest nationally, so register soon. Limited scholarships are available on a first-request basis.
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Seminars, Workshops, Programs
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- Commissioned Pastors Conference (May 13-16)
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Because Presbyterians love staff retreats:
Your Presbytery staff took a day at JKR for 2020 planning and while there, they "took aim" with some archery
.
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Schreiner University i
s seeking a Full-time University (Campus Minister). The University Minister will cultivate opportunities for all members of campus to engage their faith traditions and to participate in spiritual formation. The ideal candidate will build bridges between Schreiner, the Texas Hill Country and its faith communities, as well as the PC(USA) at-large. The University Minister will invest in Schreiner University's commitment to lifting up the diversity of perspectives that exist within our community, both through ecumenical ministry and through maintaining an open and affirming space for pastoral care. Additionally, the successful candidate will facilitate the shared practice of the University's core values through intentional mission outreach.
Memorial Presbyterian Church in Fredericksburg, Texas
is looking for a Stated Supply Pastor.
First Presbyterian Churches in Uvalde and Del Rio seeks a full time Temporary pastor to serve in these
locations.
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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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