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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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Sold-out Turkey BBQ
helps church fulfill its missions
First Presbyterian Church in Mexico hosted a successful Turkey BBQ on Saturday Sept. 7.
People were lined up before opening time waiting for the church's famous Turkey BBQ. The BBQ, which was sold out, raises money to help the church fulfill its missions and also provides a wonderful time of outreach with the community.
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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.
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Joys and Concerns around the Presbytery
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n our prayers together this week...
- Pray for Jim Russell as he continues his fight with esophagus cancer.
- Pray for the family of Dick Tuttle who passed away on August 20. His obituary can be found here.
- Please pray for Charles Vollmer, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Chittenango, and his siblings. Charlie's mother passed away at the end of August and he will soon be traveling to Pennsylvania to lead his mother's memorial service.
In the cycle of prayer for our Presbytery, please pray for these congregations, faith communities,and individuals:
Northminster, North Syracuse; Onondaga Hill; Faith United Church of Oswego; Presbyterian Church of Otisco; New Hope, Parish
If you'd like to share a particular joy or concern with the Presbytery, please contact:
CaySyrNews@gmail.com.
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A friendly wave from the 2019 church family at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Auburn. See more photos on the church's Facebook page.
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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.
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From the Resource Presbyter
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 By the Rev. Karen Chamis
Hello Cayuga-Syracuse!
Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred....
If you are of a certain generation, or if you love musicals, I've just given you an ear worm. I'd apologize, but at least it's a really GOOD earworm (and not something like "Baby Shark." Oops.)
For those who aren't pleasantly humming along, the song is "Seasons of Love" from the musical Rent. The numbers refer to the number of minutes in a year, and the lyrics are reflective in nature and beg the question of appropriate metrics. How do we measure a year of our lives? The as the lyricist here suggests that we measure our seasons in love.*
How do we measure a life?
How do we measure a congregation's life?
Is it the number of bulletins run off on a Sunday morning, or the size of the choir? Is it the successful capital campaign, or the number of folks who come to the food pantry? How do we measure our life together?
For too long we church folk have been captivated by the 3 B's.... Buildings, Butts and Bucks. We've measured our success by these three metrics, and when they begin to fail, we panic. If we're not the most successful church on the block, who are we? What are we?
More importantly, what if we've been measuring the wrong thing all this time?
As I begin to move around the Presbytery and visit congregations and their leaders, I'm often given a tour. I'll confess, I'm a bit of a sanctuary junkie. I love church architecture, and stained glass makes me swoon. Cayuga-Syracuse has its share of gorgeous churches.
What I'm finding myself captivated by is not the beautiful wood and the lofty arches, but rather the stories I hear about how our congregations have helped transform lives. Beautiful buildings fade into memory, but lives that have been changed because someone has seen the Gospel enacted and has come to desire a relationship with our God? Those stories, those memories, they last. I find myself reflecting on them after the visit, and lifting up those involved in the story in my prayers.
Sort of like a good earworm.
What lasting impression has your congregation made on your community?
Blessings -
Karen
*As an aside, Jonathan Larson who composed "Seasons" died unexpectedly the night before Rent premiered. His season is measured in the beauty and message of this song.
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Resource Presbyter's Mobile Office Day
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Our Resource Presbyter, the Rev. Karen Chamis, will be working remotely at the following locations:
Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Time: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Place: Broadway Cafe and Arctic Island, 210 W. Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse
Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Place: First Presbyterian Church of Chittenango, 118 Arch St., Chittenango
Date: Thursday, October 3, 2019
Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Place: Park Central Presbyterian Church, 504 E. Fayette St., Syracuse
Feel free to drop in for a conversation - or just to say hello
Karen can be reached at 315-632-5698 (option 1) or kchamis@cayugasyracuse.org
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Benevolent Care Fund Grant applications:
The Benevolent Care Fund Grant applications are now being accepted through Nov 1, 2019.
The purpose of this fund is to provide benevolent grants to institutions that assist in the care of elderly persons within the bounds of the Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery.
Examples of previous requests are: food gift cards for shut-ins within the church community, senior lunch programs, "Music and Memory" program for nursing home residents, replacing dining room chairs and driveway/parking improvement at senior centers.
The application form can be
found on the our website. Completed applications can be submitted to Leadership Team Chairperson, Lynn Jacques, at lmjacques@verizon.net.
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You're invite to join the celebrations
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 You're invited to attend the installation of the Rev. Karen Chamis as Resource Presbyter for the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse. The service of installation will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5 at First Presbyterian Church of Cazenovia. The service of installation will be followed by a reception. All are invited, welcome and encouraged to attend.
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- An installation service will be held for Andy Hinman at the Faith United Church of Oswego at 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 29.
- A Celebration of New Ministry for Adam Svereika will be held at 4 p.m. on Sunday, October 13 at the Hannibal Community Church.
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From the Associate Stated Clerk
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Session Records Review
Session records reviews will be conducted in October.
- Tuesday, October 22 at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. @ Liverpool
- Thursday, October 24 at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. @ Auburn-First
- Tuesday, October 29 at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. @ Fayetteville
Sessions are expected to be open for 2 hours; however, the evening session may be extended to accommodate clerks who work until 5:00 p.m. If that applies to you, please register for the 5:00 p.m. session and indicate "late arrival" with an approximate time for your arrival.
Please write "Records Review" in the email subject line and include the name of the church and the name of the clerk of session in the email.
NOTE:
The records review checklist has been updated and now requires information about the church's child/youth safety policy and the church's sexual harassment prevention policy and training. The updated checklist
can be found here.
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Peacemaking Offering
While every season is a season for peacemaking, this is the time of year that the PC(USA) sets aside to bring focus to the urgency for Christians to actively embrace the call to be peacemakers. World Communion Sunday, celebrated this year on Sunday, Octo
ber 6, is traditionally the day churches collect donations to the Peace and G
lobal Witness Offering (PGW), one of four denominational special offerings. Monies collected for the PGW offering are shared between the national, mid-council (synod/presbytery), and local levels of our denomination (50%, 25% and 25% respectively).
However, Cayuga-Syracuse is unique!
Ordinarily, the Presbyterian Mission Agency would receive 50% of what a congregation collects, the congregation would retain 25% of the donations, and 25% would be split 50/50 between Synod and Presbytery. Several years ago, the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse made the decision to allow congregations to retain Presbytery's half of the 25% allocated to mid-councils. This means that churches in our presbytery get to retain 37.5% of the Peace and Global Witness Offering to support a mission or ministry of their choosing.
Blessings to all who pursue the path of peacemaking!
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New Stated Clerk Orientation
For the past 2 1/2 days I was fortunate to join 10 colleagues from around the United States in the New Stated Clerks' Orientation offered by the Office of General Assembly held at the PC(USA) office in Louisville, Kentucky.
 During our very packed schedule we received intensive introductions to, and instruction in, the following: Constitutional Interpretation, Mission Engagement and Support, the Presbyterian Mission Agency and Per Capita, General Assembly Responsibilities and Overture Process, Robert's Rules of Order and Council Meetings, Committee/Commission on Ministry Responsibilities, Church Leadership Connection (CLC), Reliable Records and Speech Records for Mid-Councils and Congregations, Orientation for Clerks of Session, Legal Resources (taxes, property, and more), Preparation for Ministry, Equity and Representation (Committee on Representation), the Board of Pensions, Ecumenical Ministries, GA Nominating Committee Process, Resourcing Korean Congregations, Judicial Process and the PJC, Immigration Issues, Communication and Press Relations, Certified Christian Educators, Resources from OGA, and, of course, Polity. Whew!
PC(USA) Stated Clerk, the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, joined us by conference call from Nevada and challenged us as mid-council leaders to help the church examine its cultural context and broaden its vision on what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ today in light of a generation of younger people and emerging immigrant communities who look at "membership" quite differently than past decades of church members. Overarching themes and questions for this orientation were "Who is invited to the table?" and "How do we invite people to the table?"
The OGA staff who organized this training, and the 22 staff persons who prepared and presented the individual components, are to be commended. My thanks to all of them. And my thanks to all the good folks in Cayuga-Syracuse and across our denomination who supported this training through the giving of their Per Capita.
[Stated Clerk, the Rev. Benjamin Fitzgerald-Fye, was not able to make this trip due to a last-minute conflict. He will be able to attend the spring training event.]
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CNY Inspirations: The Power of Evil
By Rev. Peter Shidemantle
InterFaith Works of CNY
Probably no one needs to be reminded of the power of evil in our world and its insidious nature. Tragically, we can see how great evils can take hold and be perpetrated by seemingly good and decent people - especially when they are in groups, often in the name of God and righteousness. There is so much historical and present-day evidence!
A freedom-loving America can enslave an entire race of people, and in our desire to put it behind us, ignore or deny its ongoing legacy to the detriment of all. All we need do is see a photograph of African-American men, women and children lynched before a throng of white American men, women and children dressed in their Sunday best within a carnival atmosphere. An enlightened, highly civilized and cultured Germany can send 6 million Jews and others to their death. And the horrors continue.
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The First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles is looking
for a lectern to be donated to the church. The church will pick up the lectern, which needs to be large enough to hold a Bible, etc. The church is also seeking the donation of a Bible stand for the lectern. If you can donate, please contact the church by calling (315) 685-5048.
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What: Blood Drive
When: 1:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 12
Where: King Ferry Presbyterian Church, 8813 State Route 90, King Ferry
Appointment: Call Neil at (607-273-6697
- 1 donation can save up to 3 lives
- Every 2 seconds someone in the US needs blood
- Approximately 36,000 units of red blood cells are needed every day in the U.S.
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 What: Collamer United Church's annual rummage sale
When:
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20
9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, Sept, 21
Where: Vollmer's Greenhouse
across from the cemetery on Route 298 in Collamer (2 miles east of Carrier Circle; or ½ mile west of Exit 7 off from Route 481.
This "gigantic and awesome" sale will offer a wide variety of great bargains from nearly new to nearly antique.
There will also be a food counter and a bake sale so shoppers can snack while searching for treasures.
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 What: 12th Annual Interfaith Chicken BBQ
& Pie Auction
When: 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 21
Where: First Presbyterian Church, 1 East Main Street, in Marcellus
Cost: $10, plus whatever you want to spend on the pie auction
The four churches of the village of Marcellus will again be joining forces to raise funds for the next Syracuse Habitat for Humanity Interfaith Build.
The complete meal will feature 1/2 BBQ chicken, baked beans, macaroni and potato salads, rolls, beverage and dessert. In addition, the ever-popular and highly successful pie auction will be held throughout the evening.
Takeouts will also be available.
Over the past 11 years, the churches of Marcellus have raised over $46,600 for Habitat, as well as providing labor for building several of the homes on Syracuse's Near West Side.
Tickets are available at the First Presbyterian Church of Marcellus by calling (315) 673-2201, the Marcellus Main Street Pharmacy or the Marcellus Library. Get your tickets early, as this event is traditionally a sellout.
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 What: Spaghetti dinner to benefit Blessings in a Backpack program
When: Dinner starts at 12 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6
Where:
Robinson Elmwood United Church, 126 S. Terry Road, Syracuse
Robinson Elmwood United Church has supported the Blessings in a Backpack program, which helps feed hungry elementary school students nationwide during the school year. Proceeds will benefit our program at Delaware Elementary School in Syracuse, where the church helps feed more than 500 children, 10 months out of the year.
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Important Announcement from the Resource Presbyter
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 Dear Ones in Christ,
The following information is URGENT and needs to be shared with your congregation's leadership immediately.
The Issue - Anti-Sexual Misconduct Policies and Training
- NYS has put into place mandatory anti-sexual harassment legislation that includes training requirements for all employers - including churches.
- "Employee" includes all workers, regardless of immigration status. Employee also includes exempt or non-exempt employees, part-time workers, seasonal workers and temporary workers.
- ALL employees must complete the model training (or comparable training) that meets the minimum standard by October 9, 2019.
- This training must be completed annually.
- In addition, every employer in the New York State is required to adopt a sexual harassment prevention policy. A model of what this looks like is here.
Resources
- The NYS website has the standards of compliance
- NYC has developed a training video that can be used. Please note that the resources and information for NYC are not the same as those for NYS, however this video is in compliance with both.
Next Steps
- Ensure all employees have taken the training and have received a certificate of completion. This needs to be kept on file.
- If your Session has not adopted a Sexual Harassment Prevention policy, it must do so. A record of this decision should be in your Session Minutes.
- Please note that you need to not only have this policy in place, but your congregation needs to abide by it.
Training opportunity
Two training opportunities have been established for the anti-sexual harassment training. Both trainings will held at the First United Church of East Syracuse, 823 Franklin Park Drive, in East Syracuse.
- 1 p.m. on Thursday, September 19
- 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 21
Please RSVP by emailing
Lynn Jacques at lmjacques@verizon.net by
September 18.
Blessings,
Karen
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From the Synod of the Northeast
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Around the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
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Reading the Bible over
the course of a year
WJK releases resources for designing a Bible reading program
By Westminster John Knox Press
Special to Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - Westminster John Knox Press has published two newly revised resources by James E. Davidson for designing a yearlong Bible reading program.
A revision of the popular comprehensive Bible reading program, "The Year of the Bible: A Guide to Reading Scripture" is intended for individual use and offers a sweeping introduction to biblical themes and concepts to create a better understanding of Scripture.
Its newly-revised companion guide, "The Year of the Bible: A Guide to Reading Scripture Together," is intended as a guide for leaders designing a year-long Bible reading program for groups or congregations.
Reading the Bible together can create a greater sense of community within the church. Newcomers to Scripture and longtime Bible readers will find their Christian faith enhanced and feel a sense of accomplishment from reading the Bible in its entirety.
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Black Lives (still) Matter
Associate for Racial, Gender Justice talks about next steps
By Shanea D. Leonard
Associate for Racial and Gender Justice
Special to Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with a colleague to discuss the Black Lives Matter movement and how it connects to the church.
I am in no way an expert on the entirety of the
Black Lives Matter movement. However, I have been a social justice faith abolitionist for many years and share a perspective that is grounded in my belief in Jesus and the practical side of the justice God calls forth.
My colleague's questions are in bold. My answers follow each question.
So, tell me a little bit about how Black Lives Matter started. Where did it come from?
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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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