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The weekly newsletter from the
Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys
January 2, 2020
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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)
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Congregation of the Week of January 5-11
First Presbyterian Church of Windom
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Moderators: Scott and Pam Prouty
Clerk of Session: Mary Klosterbuer
Board of Deacons Moderator: Diane Sykora
Treasurer: Keith Lohse
Church Office Administrator: Christy Lohse
Elders: Deanna Jensen, Audrey Knuth, Marsha Ysker, Bruce Gross, Kelly Piotter, Keith Lohse, and Brian Jensen.
Deacons: Daphne Easler, Carol Jensen, Diane Sykora, Lisa Fredin, Mary Lou Walinga, Marlis Einkopf, and Connie McCarthy.
Organist: Joanne Nelson
Prayer concerns:
- Pastor Bonnie Roys as she begins her retirement.
- For each member and friend of First Presbyterian Windom as we begin this transition period without a pastor.
- Those for whom Christmas was difficult due to a loss – of a loved one, job, home, health, plans and dreams, or hope.
Our mission activities which are focused locally and on children include:
- Backpack Buddies – provide financial support for weekend lunches for students.
- Birthday Bags – provide supplies to make a birthday cake for children at the Sharing Center.
- Homebound Visits – Deacons make weekly visits to homebound members and friends.
- Kid’s Closet – provide space and volunteers to distribute donated clothing to children in connection with the Sharing Center.
- Lunch Buddies – adult volunteers eat lunch and play games with an assigned student twice each month.
- Sharing Center – donate food items and money to the local foodshelf.
- The Dinner Table – provide the site for the Methodist Church to host a free community meal once a month.
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In Gratitude
from Dianne Moffet, Presbyterian Mission Agency
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Your Last Year Here: A New Year's Challenge
by Mark Sundby, LeaderWise
They’re the words you never want to hear, “It’s terminal.” Several years ago, my father called and shared these words, after a series of tests which had begun with a routine checkup with his doctor. He reported, “They say it could be as little as 1 year, the average is 3 years, or it could be many more. No one knows.” The uncertainty was a bit unnerving for all of us. After living with the diagnosis for a few months, though, things suddenly began to change rapidly – in a positive way. There were more frequent phone calls with his children, increased time spent with my mother, dinner out with friends, and then a family destination trip to Costa Rica. Although he was not a wealthy man, and several of his grandchildren would be too young to likely remember the trip, it was important to my father to underwrite the trip to have his wife, three sons and their spouses, and seven grandchildren with him. For the record, he was always a good and attentive father, but now I noticed even more intentionality. He began to prioritize his days as if he only had a year to live.
My father was not alone in his shift of priorities. Stephen and Ondrea Levine, two hospice chaplains, noticed a similar pattern among many of their hospice patients, as the specter of death often seemed to contribute to their becoming more alive, even as
their days became fewer. As Stephen reported “…when people know they are going to die, that last year is often the most loving, most conscious, and most caring— even under conditions of poor concentration, the side effects of medication, and so on (Levine, Levine, and Platek, 2009)” Ondrea further noticed that people often have 3 unfulfilled wishes on their deathbeds, they wish they would have – 1) left an unhealthy relationship, 2) pursued a job for love of the work over money, and 3) played and enjoyed themselves more (Levine, Levine, & Platek, 2009). These observations intrigued Stephen, and, as he was turning 58, he made “a New Year’s Resolution Without Parallel,” which would be “to live my next year as if it were my last” (Levine, 1997). He chronicled this decision in his book,
A Year to Live
, which challenges us through a series of reflections and practices to also live this coming year as if it were our last.
So, here is my New Year’s challenge to you, why wait until you receive a diagnosis of a terminal disease? The truth is we are all living with a terminal condition, and this truly could be your last year. Knowing this,
- How will you live differently over the next year?
- What do you need to start?
- What do you need to end?
- With whom do you need to reconcile?
- With whom do you need to set a boundary – or even say goodbye to?
In short, how will you prioritize your days?
Oh, by the way, my father lived another 10 years beyond his diagnosis, and I’m absolutely sure they were among the best years of his life – believing each one could be his last.
Citations
Levine, S. (1997). A year to live: How to live this year as if it were your last. NY: Random House.
Levine, S., Levine, O., and Patek, B. (2009). Living the life you wish to live. Tricycle Magazine, Retrieved December 27, 2019
How to Live this Year as If Were Your Last
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Stephen Levine teaches us how to live each moment, each hour, each day mindfully – as if it were all that was left. On his deathbed, Socrates exhorted his followers to practice dying as the highest form of wisdom. Most of us go to extraordinary lengths to ignore, laugh off, or deny the fact that we are going to die, but preparing for death is one of the most rational and rewarding acts of a lifetime. It is an exercise that gives us the opportunity to deal with unfinished business and enter into a new and vibrant relationship with life. Levine provides us with a year-long program of intensely practical strategies and powerful guided meditations to help with this work, so that whenever the ultimate moment does arrive for each of us, we will not feel that it has come too soon.
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Committee on Representation wants you to help us be the best presbytery we can be!
We have been busy these last few weeks finding folks to serve the presbytery on several commissions, and we are still looking for:
Committee on Congregational Nurture
1 ruling elder to serve a three-year term
1 ruling elder to serve a one-year term
General Assembly
1 ruling elder to serve as an alternate
Please, if you feel called, or know of someone who would be great on one of these commissions, contact Audrey Knuth at 507-830-0520 or David Lick at 414-334-9385.
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Prayer List
- For Dave Hollis, First Presbyterian Church of Slayton, hip replacement
- For the family of Sue Thompson, First Presbyterian Church, Maynard
- For the family of Marie Fischer, Crosslake Presbyterian Church
- For the family of Sara McKay, Union Presbyterian Church of Saint Peter
- For Rev. Michael Roys, retired pastor, Winnebago
- For Rev. Elaine and Kent Boyd at First Presbyterian Church of Amboy
- Rev. Araceli Itzep from the Occidente Presbytery; surgery scheduled for Oct 23
- 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."
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Webinar Zoom for Churches in Transition
Executive Presbyter SanDawna Ashley will lead two Zoom webinars for PNCs and churches in transition on the following dates:
Monday, January 6 at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, January 7 at 10:00 a.m.
Who should attend:
PNCs, Session members, and COL liaisons
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Leadership Training for Elders, Deacons, and those serving on Presbytery Commissions
On Saturday January 11, 2020, at the First Presbyterian Church of Willmar, we will be hosting a training event for Ruling Elders, Deacons and Presbytery Commission and committee members. Registration will start at 9:30. The morning will start with devotions and a plenary on 2020 Leadership by the Rev. Corey Schlosser-Hall, Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of NW Coast. Following lunch, which is provided, Presbytery Commission and Committees will meet to set 2020 goals, meeting dates and other business. At the same time Ruling Elder training led by Stated Clerk Pam Prouty and Deacon training led by the Rev. Leanne Thompson will be held. The day will end by 4:00 p.m. Plan to attend and bring a car full. This event has had positive feedback for the past two years. Please respond with number/names of Elders and Deacons by Wednesday, January 8.
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An Invitation to Spiritual Leaders
This is your invitation to submit a short video of yourself offering a meditation of your favorite passage from the Bible for the Presbytery YouTube channel. If you are interested, please contact Steve Tyykila
(
styykila@gmail.com
) or Andy Davis (
revrn1973@gmail.com
). We'll give you more parameters and information, but we are looking for informal (not from the pulpit), personal, short (less than five minutes) videos on your favorite passage that you can record from your phone or computer. Thanks!
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Transformation Testimonies Sought
We are preparing the reporting for the Transformation Going Beyond Change Initiative grants. Please think about how you have been using the information gleaned from these events and email
Karen or
SanDawna a short testimony about how you have benefited.
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Pastor Cohort Groups
We are creating pastor cohort groups for interested pastors. Each group will meet monthly via Zoom. The format will include prayer, a book study, case studies, special speakers, cross-pollination of resources and active listening. Interested? Email
SanDawna
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You are invited to read the book recommended by GA Co-Moderators
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Co-Moderators of the 223rd General Assembly (2018), Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri and the Rev. Cindy Kohlmann, invite the church to join them in a literary journey. The Church-Wide Book Study is an opportunity for PC(USA) members, mid councils, and staff members to read, reflect, share and listen, with the help of a variety of resources and conversation-starters provided with each selected book.
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The Co-Moderators of the 223rd General Assembly (2018) have selected a new book study for Presbyterian churches. The Reverend Cindy Kohlmann and Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri have selected
Neighborhood Church: Transforming Your Congregation into a Powerhouse for Mission
, by Presbyterian leaders Krin Van Tatenhove and Rob Mueller.
Kohlmann says the book focuses on the initiatives that both the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Office of the General Assembly have lifted up as essential to Presbyterians.
“If our churches follow Jesus as he’s called us to do, we will be in our neighborhoods, pursuing justice for our neighbors. That ties directly to our goal to be a Matthew 25 church. The whole story of the judgement of the nations is about people feeding, clothing, visiting, healing, loving, supporting, and being present to our neighbors,” she said. “Jesus defines our neighbor as anyone whose path we cross. Vital congregations combating systemic racism and poverty, the Hands and Feet Initiative that calls us to be the hands and feet of Christ, all of these things are wrapped up in what it means to be church.”
Cintrón-Olivieri says the book is a “good starting point” for people or churches that don’t know where to start or are hesitant about working and connecting in their neighborhoods.
“One of the things I like about the book is its practical way of guiding individuals and congregations into doing work on what it means to be neighbor. It provides many tools, references to more reading, guiding questions and reflection questions and case studies, examples of what other churches are doing,” she said. “Most importantly, I think the scriptural base of what it means to be church in the context of where God has placed us, is very real in the examples that the authors give.”
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2020 Per Capita
$41.45 Total
$27.00 for Presbytery
$8.95 for GA
$5.50 for Synod
2020 Compensation Policy
link
2020 Per Capita Apportionment and Mission Pledge Form
link Please send to the presbytery office by January 31, if possible.
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Interested in a Communications Workshop?
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Can your congregation say yes to these statements?
- Our church has a clear and concise goal in mind for its communications.
- Our church maximizes the use of its social media platforms.
- Our church’s website is easy to navigate and tells the congregation’s story
If you’re not sure about your congregation’ s responses to any of these statements, you may want to schedule a communications workshop in 2020.
The presbytery is considering an in-person or webinar for this. If interested, please contact
Karen
.
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Pastoral Leadership Opportunities
First Presbyterian Church, Ashby
- Pastor, yoked parish
First Presbyterian Church, Fulda
- Solo Pastor
Faith Presbyterian Church, Silver Lake - Solo Pastor
Hope Presbyterian Church, Spicer
- Solo Pastor
First Presbyterian Church, Winnebago - Interim Pastor
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Do you remember?
The Cambria Presbyterian Church is celebrating its 100
th
anniversary this year! On December 2,1919 the Cambria Presbyterian Church was organized and it became a part of the Bethel and Horeb parish. As we celebrate we would like to recognize the small churches around us which helped us along the way.
We are in search of people who remember the Jerusalem Presbyterian Church, the Bethel Presbyterian Church, the Horeb Presbyterian Church, the Salem Welsh Congregational Church, the Carmel Presbyterian Church, and the Salem Townline Church and have a connection.
All of these churches were located in rural Judson, Lake Crystal, Cambria, and New Ulm. We would like to hear your stories and see your pictures if you have them. Please email Penny Johnson at
pjtjohnson@hickorytech.net
or call 507-947-3955 if you have questions or contributions.
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Top 10 Resources of 2019
When "Merry Christmas" is a hate crime
Co-Sponsor a Refugee
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