The Rev. Linda Graham, Temporary Supply of Davison-St. Andrews, on the passing of her husband Bruce Graham two weeks ago. Click here for his obituary.

Elder Don Wixson, Commissioned Ruling Elder of Vassar-First, who is being treated for cancer.

Lucy Der-Garabedian serving in Lebanon.

Cathy Chang and family serving in the Philippines.

Michael and Rachel Ludwig serving in Niger.

The Rev. Leslie Piper (8/1) - Interim Pastor, Bay City-First

Elder Kathleen Rowe (8/1) - 5 Years - Commissioned Ruling Elder of Tawas

The Rev. Dr. Steve Shugert (8/1) - Honorably Retired, Pastor Emeritus of Mt. Pleasant-First

The Rev. David Eshelman (8/3) - Honorably Retired

Elder Shaun Hardimon (8/11) - Commissioned Ruling Elder of Swartz Creek-Mundy

The Rev. Glenn Grant (8/15) - Pastor of Grand Blanc-Kirkridge

The Rev. Ken Hetzel (8/16) - Honorably Retired

The Rev. Ted McCulloch (8/20) - Pastor of Saginaw-First and Stated Clerk of Presbytery

The Rev. Charles Marquardt (8/29) - Honorably Retired

Elder Jon Essex (9/1) - Commissioned Ruling Elder of Twining-Maple Ridge

The Rev. Ron Vredeveld (9/1) - Temporary Supply of Beaverton-First

The Rev. John Becker (9/17) - Honorably Retired

The Rev. Matthew Schramm (9/19) - Pastor of Midland-Memorial

The Rev. Timm High (9/28) - Interim Pastor or Midland-Chapel Lane

Dan is taking his annual break from writing The Lion's Den. Today we hear from our Stated Clerk, the Rev. Ted McCulloch who is also the Pastor of Saginaw-First.

I write this as a pastor of a congregation and not as the Stated Clerk. As a pastor in Lake Huron Presbytery, I am blessed to currently serve First Presbyterian Church of Saginaw. It is a beautiful and, for me, sacred worship space. The stained glass windows are gorgeous, colorful, and full of spiritual meaning. The wood pews and balconies are warm and inviting. The pipe organ is even more majestic in sound than it is awesome to look at. And many of those same thoughts were true in my first call at Taymouth Presbyterian in Birch Run. Yet the pandemic came and, for a while, took that.

I say that so that we can understand that I know and cherish the sacredness and the holy beauty of our worship spaces. They do help me find God’s presence again and again. It is one of the reasons that the last few months of worship have been challenging. I long to be back in our sanctuary, worshipping together. And I know I am not alone in that. Many of us want that as soon as possible in our own sanctuaries.

Yet it is in that yearning to return to our buildings and their spaces that there is a challenge. The challenge is the difference between what might be called a “theology of the building” and a “theology of faith.” The “theology of the building” being the idea that real worship or the best worship is found only when we are in our buildings and our sanctuaries. It’s the idea that if we can just get back in the sanctuary, then we’ll be the church again.

The “theology of faith” is the idea that real worship or the best worship is wherever we gather, in whatever way we gather. That can be in our sanctuaries. But as we’ve learned over the last few months, that can also be in our parking lots and online and with small FM transmitters and other amazing and creative ways of sharing a faithful Christian witness.

When Jesus encountered the woman at the well in John 4, she was caught up in a conflict between Jews and Samaritans focused on a “theology of building”: whether the “right” way to worship was in Jerusalem or Samaria. Jesus replied, “The hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.”

We have so much to be grateful for in our sanctuaries and our buildings. They are beautiful and often sacred and holy. And the day we can return to them safely will be one of the happiest days in a long time. But it is our faith, as Christians, that connects us to God. It is our faith that makes however and wherever we gather truly holy.

Just a pastor’s thought…

Ted McCulloch, Pastor at Saginaw First Presbyterian

The latest editions of the Parish Paper are now available on our website. As a reminder these may be used by all of our congregations free of charge under the presbytery's subscription. Topics this time are:

September Getting Started With Livestreaming

October How To Foster Deep Listening Amid Political Difference

Click here  to download these or any of the issues from the previous decade.

With the summer weather, many of our churches are holding at least occasional outdoor services. Those services are a great opportunity to have an in-person congregational meeting to adopt bylaw changes. As always, if there are any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Stated Clerk, Ted McCulloch.

On Wednesday, August 5^th, such an event happened in Beaverton, Michigan when the community powers that be- the Helping Hands Mission, the New Dawn Shelter for the homeless, Our Savior Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) and 10/16, an agency working with addicts- came together to put on the 2020 Community Continuum Care Outreach.

From the out-spoken Rev. Karen Blatt!

Click here to apply and learn more.

The Presbyterian Campus Ministers serving Eastern Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, Western Michigan University, Grand Rapids Community College and Kendall College of Art and Design invite incoming students (and their youth leaders) to connect ahead of the fall semester.

Learn about our campus ministry communities, meet some friendly faces before the school year starts and hear about opportunities to grow and connect in faith during your college years.

The Zoom meeting will take place on Thursday, August 20th at 3:00pm.

Click here for a flier.

RSVP to neil@ukirkmsu.org for Zoom link.

I hope all are healthy and well. I wish we could be together in person, but as the coronavirus pandemic prevents that from happening, I write to share these key updates from the Board of Pensions. If you have questions, my colleagues in Philadelphia and I are happy to assist.

We have set up a page with numerous resources to help you navigate through this challenging time.

Among other things, our COVID-19 page includes information regarding:

If there are other items/resources that you would to see added please contact Staci Percy at spercy@presbylh.org.