Welcome to this week's edition of our e-letter, Presbytery Matters. | |
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Shrove Tuesday = Pancakes!
Scipioville Presbyterian Church hosted a Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. The wider community was invited and came! A variety of pancakes was offered, as well as sausage and maple syrup made by one of our members, A blueberry sauce was offered and clearly enjoyed!
The money raised will be used for local mission.
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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 "Facebook" icon at the top of this newsletter.
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Joys and Concerns around the Presbytery | |
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In our prayers together this week:
- Please keep Karen Chamis in your prayers. Karen's father passed away this week. Our former Resource Presbyter also fell earlier this month and broke her leg. She underwent surgery and is currently in a rehab center. Please keep her in your prayers as she recovers and heals.
- Please keep Karen Green in your prayers. Her brother passed away.
- Pray for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
- Keep all those who battling cancer in your prayers. Please ask God to be by their side and to be with their doctors and families.
In the cycle of prayer our Presbytery, please pray for these congregations, faith communities, and individuals: Port Byron Federated; First, Scipioville; Sennett Federated Church; First, Skaneateles
If you'd like to share a particular joy or concern with the Presbytery, please contact: CaySyrNews@gmail.com. Please note, prayers will be featured for three weeks, unless a specific time frame is requested.
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Attention churches, please send your Holy Week and/or special Lent service schedules to caysyrnews@gmail.com | |
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This six-week study entitled, “Love God, Neighbor, Enemy,” will be offered Tuesdays at noon on Zoom. The study guide can be purchased for $12 and downloaded through the link below. Participants are encouraged to read the first lesson prior to February 20th. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about this study or other presbytery opportunities, please let me know.
In Christ’s Peace,
Kathy
Interim Resource Presbyter
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Church Transformation Grant Update | |
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At the November Presbytery meeting, Interim Resource Presbyter Kathy Dain, presented information on a grant that she had obtained through the Synod to use for church transformation. At that meeting, she requested a Commission to be formed to oversee the application process and distribution of the money. A Commission was appointed by our Moderator, Garrett Anderson. The members of the Commission are Marissa Saunders (RE Park Central) chairperson, Lynn Jacques (RE East Syracuse), secretary, Ben Fitzgerald-Fye (TE Scipioville), Shavonn Lynch (RE Auburn Westminister and Minister Candidate) and Jessica Gorman (RE LiverpooL).
The purpose of the fund shall be to provide grants to assist congregations in the transformational work within the bounds of the Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery. The Commission has been meeting to establish criteria and provide application form for distribution of the funds. The application will be available soon. A specific email address is being established to receive the applications. Any application received by the 15th of the month will be reviewed at our monthly meeting and applications received after the 15th will be reviewed at the next monthly meeting.
Keep reading Presbytery Matters for further information on how to obtain an application. Criteria for the grant will be included on the application form.
Let us keep our churches working to improve our communities and the world!
Lynn Jacques
Secretary
Church Transformation Commission
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From the Nominating Committee | |
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Greetings from the Nominating Committee,
The Nominating Committee greatly appreciates the work and dedication of all who serve on committees and commissions of the Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery. We recognize that we cannot hope to live into God’s mission for us as a collective body without those who feel called to serve.
The Nominating Committee needs to establish a broader pool of names for consideration as we seek to populate committees and commissions. We are asking that pastors/churches provide the committee with a list of elders, especially those who are willing to serve on a committee on the presbytery level.
Currently, we are seeking people to serve on the following: Commission on Ministry, Committee on Representation, Social Justice, Human Resources, Finance and Property, Nominating Committee. Suggestions can be emailed to the Nominating Committee at lynchshavonn@yahoo.com.
Shavonn Lynch
Nominating Committee Chair
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Interim Resource Presbyter Announcements | |
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Under the new guidelines from the Book of Order, boundary training is required every three years for: Ministers of Word and Sacrament, Certified Christian Educators (CCE), Certified Christian Ruling Elders (CRE) and Inquirers before moving to candidacy.
The presbytery has contracted with SafeGatherings https://safegatherings.com for the online boundary training course. To learn more, or to register for the course, please contact your committee chair or the interim resource presbyter.
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Background checks for incoming Ministers of the Word & Sacrament are now conducted through Praesidium.
https://www.praesidiuminc.com
To request a background check, please contact your COM liaison.
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If you are involved with a church book club and are open to having new folks join your group, please contact Rita Hooper at twohoops2@gmail.com with your information. Please include Zoom info, time, place and contact person and anything else you find useful.
Nancy Wind and Isiah’s Table are inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting, on Tuesdays at 7 pm. Feb 14th, Isiah’s Table will begin their new Lenten study - Pause:Spending Lent with the Psalms by Elizabeth F. Caldwell. They will discuss the chapter "Reflection for Ash Wednesday."
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83276947441?pwd=dElVL2c3UTducVlIUmdPYXRJdUVIZz09
Meeting ID: 832 7694 7441
Passcode: 065105
Rita Hooper and Presbyterian Women invite you to check out their book club, unfortunately meeting at the same time as Isaiah’s Table: Tuesdays at 7 pm. Their current selection is Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng. Missing Hearts is a suspenseful and heartrending novel about the unbreakable love between a mother and child in a society consumed by fear. They began last week but feel free to join them anyway! You don’t have to be a woman, a Presbyterian or even live in CNY to join. This club focuses on peace and justice issues and began during covid. We have read both fiction and non-fiction selections. We aim to support each other on our journey’s so sometimes we get a little off track!
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87193947627?pwd=SDZkanB0ZFVDZFoybmczU0F4QWpNQT09
Meeting ID: 871 9394 7627
Passcode: 748784
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Practical Resources for Churches Webinars | |
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Talking With Kids About Injustices
Thursday, February 22, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Leader - Sara Pantazes
Well Done: A Good and Faithful Path to Church Closure
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Leader - Charlie Kuchenbrod
Does your church’s culture impede creativity and change?
Thursday, February 29, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Leader - Meghan Hatcher
Practical Practices for Faith in Families
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Leaders - Elizabeth Christie, Johannah Myers
Leading Faithful Innovation
Thursday, March 7, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Leader - Dwight Zscheile
Managing Investments and Endowments for Churches
Thursday, April 18, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM EDT
Leader - Charlie Kuchenbrod
Raising Kids Beyond the Binary in Church
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Leader - Jamie Bruesehoff
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Our Address: PO Box 438, Syracuse, NY 13214
Click Here for Staff Contact Information
Click Here for a list of Live Streams from our churches
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Are you hiring?
If your church is hiring, please send an announcement and job description to Communication Coordinator Sarah Buckshot at caysyrnews@gmail.com
Please Note: Hiring announcements will run in Presbytery Matters for 3 weeks and then moved to our website. If you have a hiring announcement from 2023 and are still looking to fill it in 2024, please send a new announcement.
Thank you, Sarah Buckshot, Communications Coordinator.
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Around the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) | |
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PC(USA)’s group studying ‘Poverty, by America’ isn’t deterred by technology gremlins
Organizers rally to pull off the second of four planned online programs
By Mike Ferguson
Presbyterian News Service
Technology glitches Monday couldn’t derail the second week on the PC(USA)’s national online study of Matthew Desmond’s book “Poverty, by America,” which drew nearly 200 people from around the country.
Desmond himself joined the initial discussion on Feb. 5. Monday’s 75-minute session featured Tom Bacon from Denver Presbytery, who has been part of a two-year roundtable with mid council leaders and national church staff working on the Matthew 25 focus on eradicating systemic poverty. The Rev. Ellen Sherby, Associate Director of Global Connections in World Mission, also led a part of the discussion.
Organizers opened with brief descriptions of chapters 3 and 4 in Desmond’s best-selling book. Chapter 3 “is powerful,” said the Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson, coordinator of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People, “because it’s about the working poor,” two terms put together ironically, he noted.
Continue reading...
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Gifts to the PC(USA)’s One Great Hour of Sharing help Middle East Council of Churches restore hope and health to Syria’s most vulnerable
Residents in and around Aleppo live life on the brink of disaster
By Emily Enders Odom
Mission Communications
Special to Presbyterian News Service
Bernadette thought that she had seen the worst of it.
For well over a decade, she and her family had unflinchingly withstood Syria’s ever-worsening humanitarian and economic crisis, the country’s ongoing localized hostilities and its collapsing infrastructure.
But then — following the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey in February 2023 — the longtime school supervisor’s own home began crumbling beneath her very feet.
“The building we live in had cracks, and in the apartment above us, five pillars had cracked,” she said. “In our apartment, there were cracks in the beams and columns and the wall.”
And yet, despite the significant damage to their home and the danger to their family, they stayed.
Continue reading...
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P.O. Box 438, Syracuse 13214
(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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