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Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse
5811 Heritage Landing Dr., 2nd Floor
East Syracuse, NY 13057
(315) 632-5698
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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!
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This Sunday is a day set aside in the church calendar to remember, celebrate, and explore the Trinity. What will your church be doing for Trinity Sunday?
On Sunday, we enter the mystery of the Trinity---the idea that we can't talk about God without talking about love. Love is always dynamic, always in motion, never static. To be love, it has to be shared. It has to be given away. And thus the Trinity tells us that God is a relational being, and within God, there is not just one, but three. And between these three is a constant state of giving and receiving, a mutual sharing of love, passed between Creator, Savior, and Spirit. It's a mystery none of us can comprehend. But at its root is that simple idea of love, of relationality.
At the beginning of creation, God chose to share that love outside of God's self and give it to the world, to us. In Christ, God proclaimed us God's children. In Romans 8:12-17, Paul tells us that God adopted us. Paul didn't have to use this language of adoption. He could have talked about new birth, as he does elsewhere. But throughout his letters is this persistent language about adoption---the idea that, though we were lost, God found us, claimed us, loved us, and called us God's children, co-heirs with Christ. Think about the power of that statement. How badly we want to belong. How badly we want someone to call us their own. How badly we want a family that loves us. God gives us all that.
What does it mean to you to be adopted into this divine family?
~~~ Rev. Patrick Heery
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Joys and Concerns around the Presbytery
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 In our prayers together this week...
- Pray for the students, families, staff, and community of Santa Fe High School, Texas, where 10 students were killed and more injured in a school shooting last Friday. Pray for the parents who sent their children to school that day, expecting them to come home. Pray for the 10 empty chairs that now sit around 10 empty tables. Pray for an end to gun violence. And please, pray with more than your words: pray with your actions, your advocacy, your speech.
- Pray for the celebration of the Rev. Dr. Peter and Rev. Karen Shidemantle's daughter Kara's wedding on June 23 at Pebble Hill.
- Pray for the people of Hawaii, where (following the explosion of its Kilauea volcano) lava is still flowing into the Pacific Ocean, causing health concerns. Read more.
In the cycle of prayer for our Presbytery, please pray for these congregations, faith communities, and individuals:
Amboy Belle Isle; First, Auburn; Westminster, Auburn; United Ministry of Aurora; First, Baldwinsville.
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 Matilda Joslyn Gage House
An invitation from Rita Hooper
The women of our churches and their daughters and friends are invited to tour the Matilda Joslyn Gage Home, 210 E. Genesee St., Fayetteville, on Saturday, June 2 at 10am. Ms. Gage was a politically active woman when that wasn't politically correct. She grew up on the Underground Railroad, was 'adopted' by the Haudenosaunee, worked with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in the Women's Suffrage Movement, fought for religious freedom and was the mother-in-law of L. Frank Baum, author of the Wizard of Oz. There is something about Matilda that we can all relate to! Hope to see you there.
Admission is $6 for Seniors and students, and $8 for all others; children under 4 are free.
Following the tour, we will do lunch at one of the local restaurants.
For more info or questions contact Rita Hooper -
twohoops2@gmail.com 315-706-
3564. You can also
click here for more information.
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 Presbytery Clergy Gathering
A monthly gathering of Clergy and Pastoral Leaders in the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse is held on the first
Wednesday of each month at
12 noon at Robinson Elmwood United Church (
126 South Terry Road in Syracuse). Bring your own lunch or snack and beverage and any topics you would like to discuss, think through, or about which you would like to seek the group's wisdom and support. The next gathering will be
Wednesday, June 6, at 12 noon.
You always may keep abreast on happenings in and around the Presbytery by
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Around the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
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 Presbyterian churches remember victims in Texas school shootings
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is in contact with presbytery leaders
By Rick Jones
Presbyterian News Service
Presbyterian church leaders continue to follow the aftermath of last Friday's mass shooting at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area. As many as 10 people were killed and 13 wounded in the 25-minute attack. Authorities are still investigating what led the 17-year-old suspect to fire on students and faculty.
For residents in and around Houston, there is shock and pain, according to local church leaders.
Continue reading...
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 Key to true mission partnership: be humble and really listen
Reflections from a mission co-worker in El Salvador
By Tracey King-Ortega
Mission Crossroads
In 1993, during a study abroad program to Central America, I visited El Salvador, a small Central American nation that had just recently signed peace accords after more than a decade of violent civil war. In a unique exchange with Salvadoran youth, during a Bible study on the beach, we privileged and somewhat sheltered North American college students were interrogated about our countries' policies and forced to reflect on our own complicity.
My eyes began to open - not just to injustice, but also to the promise of the gospel and the power of God's presence among those who suffer and are marginalized. It set me on a path of walking with and learning from Christians who have had very different life experiences from my own. It convinced me of the importance of discerning and building God's kingdom together.
Continue reading...
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5811 Heritage Landing Dr., 2nd Floor
East Syracuse, NY 13057
(315) 632-5698
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"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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