Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse
5811 Heritage Landing Dr., 2nd Floor
East Syracuse, NY  13057
(315) 632-5698
December 19, 2019
Dear Friends of Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery,

Welcome to this week's edition of our e-letter, Presbytery Matters. Our goal is to highlight things going on throughout the Church: within our Presbytery, in our congregations, as well as in the Synod of the Northeast and across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We hope that these are things that will be helpful, informative, challenging, encouraging, supportive. In other words, we hope that these things will matter. Your input is valued, and your comments are always welcomed.
Merry Christmas

Mission Stories

Church serves up hot dishes, fellowship 
 First Presbyterian Church of B'ville offers monthly community dinners 
 
Starting in May 2019, First Presbyterian Church of Baldwinsville began serving monthly dinners reaching out to the village's senior citizens and folks who may be "food-challenged."  
 
This program was started by another Baldwinsville church, St. Mark's Lutheran, around 10 years ago. The hope is that each of the Baldwinsville church congregations share this ministry by hosting meals allowing a one meal a week.    
 
First Presbyterian hosts their dinner on the first Thursday of each month, other than July and August. A typical menu is a warm entrée, a salad, bread, beverages, and a dessert buffet. Free-will donations will be accepted but are not expected to cover the cost of the meal. We encourage people from the community who are seeking company, would like assistance in putting food on the table, or just want to share a hot meal to come.  
 
Flyers are posted at a local Senior Center, the Food Pantry, P.E.A.C.E. Inc, and local senior apartments. Announcements are distributed to people served by Meals on Wheels and patrons at the St. Mark's Community Dinner. Also, for people who would like a meal, but are unable to attend, meal(s) can be deliver to their door.
 
"We are excited about this mission opportunity to help and share a meal with our larger community," said Pastor Jeanine Haven.  
 
Hardworking organizer, Barb Winegard, encourages volunteers to participate in this outreach effort. She actively recruits people to help with various tasks.
 
"After all, many hands make light work," Haven said. "Everyone is welcome! In fact, the entire congregation is encouraged to come and break bread in the spirit of fellowship with our guests."
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We want to hear about the mission stories from our Presbytery's worshiping communities. What mission work are you involved in? How are your members working in the community? What story would you like to share with others in the Presbytery?
 
Send any mission stories from your congregation that you would like to share to:  CaySyrNews@gmail.com.  
   
Deadline is 12 p.m. on Wednesdays for the current week's edition of
Presbytery Matters.
    
We want to share your stories, missions, activities and more. Also, make sure to like our Facebook page by clicking the "Like us on Facebook" tab at the top of this letter.

Joys and Concerns around the Presbytery
  I n our prayers together this week...
  • Please pray for all those who need comfort this Christmas season. Pray for all those who have lost a loved one and for all those who are missing a piece of their family this holiday season. Pray that God will be there to comfort them.
  • Please pray for the family of the Rev. Forster Freeman, the founding pastor of Pebble Hill Presbyterian church who passed away on Nov. 5, 2019, in Portland, OR.
  • Please pray for the family and friends of Elder Pat Neumann, who passed away on Nov 20. Pray for the Rev. Dan McCollister and his family as they grieve the passing of his wife, Julie. Elder Julie McCollister passed away on Nov 30. Pray for the community of King Ferry church in their time of grief and mourning.
  • Pray for Jim Russell as he continues his fight with esophagus cancer.
In the cycle of prayer for our Presbytery, please pray for these congregations, faith communities,and individual: minister members of the Presbytery who are engaged in specialized ministries, who are at-large members, or who are retired.
 .
If you'd like to share a particular joy or concern with the Presbytery, please contact: CaySyrNews@gmail.com.

Photo of the Week
Beautiful poinsettias at LaFayette Columbian Presbyterian Church.

To have your photo considered for "Photo of the Week" post it to your church's Facebook page and tag the Presbytery of Cayuga Syracuse's Facebook page.
From the Resource Presbyter 
Our Resource Presbyter is on vacation from Dec. 20 -- 28.
If there is an emergency, please call her at (908) 217-7725.  

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The Salon was developed in the 16th century as a way for individuals to share ideas.
You are invited to exchange ideas at a modern-day virtual Salon.
 
Topic:
Organizational Values: How they are determined, evaluated and utilized
 
Place:
Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/258556915 (contact Karen at kchamis@cayugasyracuse.org for assistance on using Zoom)
 
Time:
1:30 p.m.  
Wednesday, January 8, 2020 
 
Join us for a conversation and sharing of ideas  
and resources around the topic of Organizational Values.
 
Resource Presbyter's Mobile Office Day 
Our Resource Presbyter's Mobile Office Day will be on hiatus for the rest of December.

The Rev. Karen Chamis will resume her weekily mobile office hours next month. 
 
From the Associate Stated Clerk
Benevolent Care Grants

The following Benevolent Care grants were approved by the Leadership Team at its meeting on Nov. 25, 2019. There were 11 requests totaling $15,940. Funds available for 2019 grants totaled $8,537.
 
Amboy Belle Isle United Church = $300
Grant will be used to purchase grocery store gift cards to assist shut-in and elderly residents living near the church.

Collamer United Church = $400
Grant will be used to purchase food to be served at two community dinners for residents in need.

Health Tapestry, Inc. = $1,000
Deborah Herst Hill, RN, FCN.  Application was endorsed by Westminster Presbyterian Church-Auburn.
Grant will be used to help service persons living on the margins of society in southern Cayuga County by providing medical/health/nutritional/hygiene/home repair items and by serving as advocate for legal and medical services.

Community Resources for Independent Seniors (CRIS) = $1,500
Karisha Solomon, executive director.  Application was endorsed by First Presbyterian Church, Cazenovia.
 Grant will be used to support the CRIS CAT (Cazenovia Area Transportation) program that provides no-cost transportation to medical and other appointments for residents age 55 and older.

New Hope Presbyterian Church = $937
Grant will be used to construct a covered entry on the back of the church Annex to provide safe and reliable access and egress to/from the church for both church members and community residents who use the building for Senior Nutrition Meals.

Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church = $1,000
Grant will be used to support the Syracuse Memory Café (SMC) ministry of the church.  (This ministry was recently highlighted in the Presbytery Matters e-news on December 5, 2019.)

The Presbyterian Manor (Skaneateles) = $1,000
Application was endorsed by First Presbyterian Church, Skaneateles.
Grant will be used to help fund the replacement of two outdated and unreliable garage doors.

Vanderkamp Camp and Conference Center = $400
Application was endorsed by First United Church of Fulton.
Grant will be used to fund supplies, food and leadership for two "Senior Fun Days" in 2020.

First Presbyterian Church of Weedsport = $100
·       Grant will be used to help fund a once-per-month senior luncheon at the Westshore Apartments senior living facility.

Transportation Project for Cayuga County, Inc. (SCAT Van Service) = $800
Application was endorsed by First Presbyterian Church, Weedsport.
This grant will be used to help fund the purchase of two vans used to provide rides for senior and disabled citizens.

Westminster Manor (Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery Home for the Elderly) = $1,100
Application was endorsed by Westminster Presbyterian Church, Auburn.
·       Grant will be used to help create a corner in the dining room where residents can serve themselves healthy snacks and meet with friends and family members.
 
A more complete description of these ministries can be found here.
Around the Presbytery
Need Ink?

The First Presbyterian Church of Baldwinsville has unopened, unused ink cartridges in the church office. They are free - first come, first served - to anyone who can make use of them. Interested? E-mail admin@presbville.com.   
 
hp 
27 black (2)
45 black (2)
57 tricolor (1)
58 photo (1)
92 black (2)
920XL black (1)
920 yellow (1)
920 magenta (1)
940XL black (2)
940XL cyan, magenta & yellow (1)
 
Brother 
LC61BK (1)
 
LEXMARK 
12A19 80 color (2 - one is marked "high resolution")
33 color (1)
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Cozy Senior Living in Skaneateles

Are you looking for affordable senior housing?

The Manor, in the village of Skaneateles and within walking distance of shops and restaurants, may be just what you or someone you know may have in mind.

The Manor is comprised of six suites that include a bedroom, living room and private bathroom. The house has large common areas as well. A house manager/cook provides daily meals. There are laundry facilities on site and limited parking in a detached garage.

The Manor is a mission of the Presbyterian Church in Skaneateles. However, residency is open to all denominations. Call the church office at 315-685-5048 for more information
. There are two suites available.  
 
Dates to Remember
December 23              GA commissioner names due to OGA
February 15                 Presbytery Stated Meeting at First Presbyterian Church of Weedsport
February 24                 Leadership Team meeting  
March 23                      Leadership Team meeting
April 27                         Leadership Team meeting  
May 12                          Presbytery Stated Meeting 
July 23-24                    Thrive Seminar (for clergy aged 50+) by the Board of Pensions  
Around the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
A girl and a Bible
A Bible given decades ago to a 9-year-old brings a smile, tear

By Ken Rummer
Special to Presbyterian News Service
 
"Did you write this?"

I glanced at the page. Squarish letters in black ink with variable-width strokes. Just the kind I used to make with a chisel-end pen. Just the kind I inscribed on numerous baptismal certificates and wedding records over the years.

Definitely my work.

This inscription was in a Bible, and the Bible belonged to the director of Christian education at the church we are attending in retirement. Holding it up during the service, she showed it to the children who were about to receive Bibles of their own.

She told them it had been given to her when she was nine years old. She had carried it with her on her journey of life so far, and she expected she always would.
After reading a verse about the inspiration and usefulness of scripture (2 Timothy 3:16), she called the children up to receive their Bibles. They came, one by one, and they returned to the front pew clutching their treasures. Then she prayed them back to their families.

During the years of my pastoring, the congregations I served also presented children with Bibles. What ever became of those Bibles? We seldom heard.

But here was one of those Bibles from over 20 years ago, in the hand of the girl who had received it, a girl all grown up now with children of her own, heading up Christian education for a whole congregation, and now handing out Bibles herself to a new crop of kids.
 
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'It's a Wonderful Church'
Presbytery executive's homage to Frank Capra classic the most recent of his 'Sixty Second Sermons'

By Mike Ferguson
Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE - Filmmaker, pastor and presbytery executive the Rev. Ryan Landino closes his most recent "Pastor Ryan's Sixty Second Sermons" video, which he calls " It's a Wonderful Church," with a variation on a well-known line in a certain Jimmy Stewart holiday film standard: "Teacher says every time a church pays its per capita, an angel gets their wings."

The short film, Landino's 99th in the series, is enjoying wide play and appreciation among his many Facebook and YouTube fans. Playing both the Clarence Odbody and George Bailey characters in his film, Landino wonders what would have happened if his community  - Geneseo, Illinois, where he was formerly pastor at First Presbyterian Church  - had never seen the birth of the presbytery he now serves as lead presbyter for transformation, Presbytery of Great Rivers, which includes 93 churches in west and central Illinois.

Landino, who's 36, said he's been creating short videos since he was a middle schooler. He now shoots them on a smart phone and renders them using free software.

"There is a joy in it, and people appreciate it," he said. "There's a freshness there. Once I got the hang of editing, I could turn it around quickly."

In the film, Landino sees how desolate his community would have become if the presbytery, part of what Presbyterians call "the connectional church," had never been formed. He wakes up from the vision, rubs his eyes and sees how vibrant the place he calls home really is. Like George Bailey before him, Landino's character runs around the neighborhood, lovingly greeting landmarks he'd earlier taken for granted.


Continue reading..

5811 Heritage Landing Dr., 2nd Floor
East Syracuse, NY  13057
(315) 632-5698
"I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them
bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
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