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Your Weekly News & Updates

From Rachel Yates, Presbytery Executive

A NEW BEGINNING

As we approach Labor Day, we pause from our own work and honor those who have labored on our behalf. This past year and a half have taken a toll on us all, and exhaustion is our ever-present companion. Because of the pandemic, many people have lost their ability to work, due to illness or unemployment. Though some of us have converted our work to a virtual platform, that isn’t practical for everyone. As a result, some have seen their life’s work scuttled by the pandemic because we shouldn’t gather, sing, perform, dine, play, or travel together. Labor Day takes on special meaning when we can’t...(read more)

Presbytery Pulse

PLANNING CALENDAR PICK-UP

The 2021-22 Planning Calendars have arrived at the office! Our challenge now is how to get them to those who placed an order, since we are now working remotely again! Chris Halverson will be at the office Thursday, September 2^nd, from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., and Tuesday, September 7^th, from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. for churches and individuals that placed an order to pick up their order. For those churches and individuals that can’t pick up their orders during those times, please call Chris at 414-559-2009 (leave a message if need be) and we will work something out. Thanks for your understanding as we continue to deal with Covid and its variants.

PRESBYTERY OFFICE CLOSURE

The Presbytery Office will be closed Monday, September 6, 2021, in observance of Labor Day. Staff will resume working remotely on Tuesday, September 7th.

Matthew 25: I needed clothes and you clothed me...

UPDATE ON WISCONSIN LABOR TRAFFICKING CRIME

The Janesville Gazette Xtra offers this detailed story on the labor trafficking victims helped by the Presbytery, as well as the prosecution of the exploiters. We challenge all of our congregations and members to watch the educational video from UMOS so you can spot and interrupt labor trafficking, and to advise Chris Halverson in the Presbytery office (chalverson@pbymilwaukee.org) if you’re willing to be notified when urgent victim assistance needs for care bags, furnishings, or furniture come up.

THANK YOU!

Thanks to everyone who donated furniture and household items to create a livable home for four victims of labor trafficking. Over the weekend, we delivered dishes, bedding, towels, and other usable items. A special thanks to Glenn Kozicki and Heritage Home Delivers who came with four dressers, a kitchen table set, and a sofa! Based out of Heritage Presbyterian Church, HHD has made more than 160 furniture deliveries in the last four years, with most of the donations coming from Heritage members and friends. The four men were thrilled to get into their apartment and expressed their gratitude for the many donations that will allow them to make a fresh start.

COVID-19 News & Information

CAN WE SING YET?

A letter from the Wisconsin Council of Churches

Dear Friends:

One of the questions we get asked the most is, "Can our congregation safely resume singing?" We'll get to that question, but to do so, we have to put the answer in the proper context.

Epidemiologists and other medical experts often say the COVID-19 delta variant is a game changer, but it can be difficult to understand. Here's the problem in a nutshell: Delta might be 60% more infectious than the original strain. That doesn't sound like a lot until you...(read more)

DELTA VARIANT ADVICE

The Wisconsin Council of Churches offers this information about the Delta variant:

It's contagious, really really contagious.
Vaccination is the best protection—even if the doesn't keep you from getting it, it will almost certainly keep you out of the hospital—and alive.
Children are at risk. Because infection rates are skyrocketing, more kids have been getting sick. That's really bad, because children seem to be more vulnerable to "long COVID," and because we still don't know very much about the long-term effects of the disease.

In sum, it's important to maintain safer practices, even now, especially now.

News from the Denomination

CHURCH LEASE AND COVENANT ISSUES

PC(USA) General Counsel Mike Kirk has prepared advice on best practices when a church is considering allowing an outside group to use its building. You’ll want to share it with your sessions.

DEACON MINISTRIES

As part of the “ Year of Leader Formation: Investing in Ruling Elders and Deacons,” a series of webinars is being offered. The third of these events will highlight the ministries of deacons.

According to our PC(USA) Book of Order, “the ministry of deacon as set forth in Scripture is one of compassion, witness, and service…” The ways that this ministry is lived out varies from one congregation to another, depending on culture, context, and needs of the church and broader community. In this third webinar of The Year of Leader Formation, join a panel of deacons, pastors, and ruling elders in exploring this vital ordered ministry of the church. You will have an opportunity to hear about the ways that the gifts and skills of deacons are used within congregational ministries, community impacts of deacon ministries, and the connection between discipleship and deacons. There will be an opportunity for questions, answers, and further exploration of the way God is moving through the deacons of the PC(USA).

September 16, 2021, 6:00–7:30 pm (CST)

The webinar will be recorded and will be posted on the Year of Leader Formation websitein the week following the event. Korean and Spanish interpretation will be available for registered attendees.

NEW HYMN OFFERS PRAYER FOR AFGHANISTAN

'The Rev. Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, a Presbyterian hymn-writer and the parish associate at First Presbyterian Union Church in Owego, New York, has written new lyrics to an old hymn for the people of Afghanistan. “We Pray for Afghanistan’s People Today” is set to “CRADLE SONG,” the tune for “Away in a Manger.”

“This hymn,” Winfrey Gillette wrote, “is written to a gentle, peaceful tune for a people who need gentleness, peace, justice and human rights in their land (as we all do, in our lands).”

Have Some Fun In '21!

FARMER HERDS SHEEP INTO HEART TO EXPRESS LOVE AND GRIEF

Memorializing a loved one can be a helpful way to process grief. One sheep farmer has recently used his herds as a paintbrush to sketch a special monument to his aunt across his fields in Gurya, New South Wales, Australia. When Ben Jackson's Aunty Debby passed away after a two-year battle with cancer, he could not attend her funeral due to pandemic restrictions. Instead, he created a sheep “heart” as an expression of love and grief.

Mission Opportunities

NEW INTERGENERATIONAL MISSION TOOLKIT

Looking to plan an intergenerational mission experience or mission trip? Or are you wanting to make suggestions for at home mission opportunities? This new Intergenerational Mission Toolkit from the PC(USA) includes the why, the what, and the how.