Bi-Weekly Brief news & updates
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John Haynes, whose parents are members of Davison-St. Andrews. John is an RN who is experiencing serious heart and lung complications from COVID.
Our churches currently in pastoral transition.
Our Mission Co-Workers:
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Upcoming Ordination and Commissioning Anniversaries:
We ask that you consider including these requests each week in your bulletin and/or newsletter.
We also encourage everyone to send a card or e-mail or make a phone call to those listed. Sometimes a small gesture creates a big smile.
Contact information for anyone on this list may be obtained by calling the presbytery office at 989-799-7481 or replying to this email.
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From The Stated Clerk's Desk |
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I have had to come to grips with the fact that after spending more than 30 years in this Presbytery, I am one of the “old fogeys” of the Presbytery (and if you don’t know what an “old fogey” is, you’ve proved my point!). I have seen so many churches (almost 20) finish their ministry. I have met, shared ministry with and said “good-bye” to almost countless ministers, elders, and lay people. Some went to new places, some to retirement, some to their final rest. There is a lot of history that I have been privileged to witness here.
Yet one of the things I enjoy most about the Presbytery is getting to know our congregations, our pastors, and our leadership who are serving in our churches right now. It’s been exciting to see a half-dozen new clergy begin ministry in our Presbytery – witness the several installations we’ve had and the several other installations that are scheduled in the coming weeks. Each one will bring new gifts, new dreams, and new energy to their congregations and to the Presbytery as a whole.
It is our hope and our intention to not only welcome this new life but to share in it together. One of the best ways to do that is making sure we communicate with each other. Whether it’s sharing what our ministries are doing or what’s going on in our churches (we need your help for that!) or what we are planning for the future, it all starts with sharing with each other. As the Presbytery, we need to do that as well.
One small thing that we will do now that we haven’t done before is include a brief summary of the most recent Presbytery Council meeting in the following Bi-Weekly Brief. It’s a small but hopefully meaningful attempt to keep us informed about some of the things happening in our Presbytery especially as we wrestle with potentially new directions of our own.
Hopefully this and other steps will bring us together as we seek to serve the cause of Christ from Tawas to Holly, from Alma to Croswell and all our churches in between. So let us know what’s going on in your congregation or ministry and share it with each other and then, together, we can be the body of Christ
Yours in Christ,
Ted McCulloch
Stated Clerk
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From The Presbytery Council |
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Many of our churches include a summary of their last Session meeting in their newsletters as a way to let the congregation know a bit about what’s happening. The Presbytery Council has decided this would be helpful to the presbytery to do for their meetings. This is a summary of the January meeting:
January Stated Meeting of Council
- Opened with prayer at 10 AM
- Elected Rev. Dr. Wallace Mayton as Council Moderator for the year 2022 and discussed who might fill the role of Vice-Moderator for that same time.
- Formed the Personnel Team with the same members as last year; Rev. Lindsey Carnes agreed to lead a Policies, Bills, and Overture Team, Rev. Glenn Grant will lead the Presbytery Planning Committee; and will form a Budget & Finance Team as needed.
- Had discussion with the Synod Executive about possible contacts to lead reconciliation and listening with the Presbytery. Ted McCulloch will contact Lombard Mennonite Peace Center as a first step.
- Personnel report was accepted with several actions attached including temporarily appointing Ted McCulloch, Stated Clerk, as Acting Head of Staff with appropriate compensation; the timeline for finalizing the Financial Secretary position; and closing the office on Fridays.
- Heard an update on the former Saginaw Warren Avenue church property
- Agreed to keep the Saturday, March 6 Presbytery meeting as a Zoom only meeting but moved the starting time back to 9:30 AM.
- Discussed the idea of various Council members contributing an article to the Bi-Weekly Brief on a rotating basis.
- Discussed plans for attendance from our Presbytery to this summer’s Youth Triennium. The Presbytery will plan on providing transportation as in years past. There will also be a search for a registrar.
- Adjourned with prayer.
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2022 Presbytery Directory |
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The 2022 Directory is now available on our website. Click on the Directory link on the left side of the page.
Download and print as many copies as you need.
For everyone's privacy the page to access the directory is password protected.
Please review your information and if anything needs to be updated contact Rose Onan at ronan@presbylh.org or 989-799-7481 x6.
NOTE: The login information was included in the version sent to our mailing list. For privacy, we have not included that information on the version we post online. For the Password, please contact the Presbytery Office at 989-799-7481
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It appears that some presbytery staff emails have been hacked. If you receive an email from Rose or another staff member please use caution before opening and feel free to contact the office to confirm whether it was intended to be sent to you. We apologize for any confusion and inconvenience. |
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Presbytery Office Schedule |
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Please note that if the Saginaw Township Community Schools are closed due to weather, the Presbytery Office will also be closed.
And as a reminder, the Presbytery office is now on the following schedule:
Monday thru Thursday: Open from 9:00 am until 4:30 pm
Friday thru Sunday: Office will be closed
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How Are We Connected and Why Is Per Capita Necessary? |
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How We Are Connected? Why is Per Capita Necessary?
1 Corinthians 12:12 “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ”
We are a connectional church. Sometimes we forget about that when we are in our individual congregations planning budgets, planning worship services, going through our weekly, monthly and annual events.
The benefit of being a connectional church is that which we cannot do congregational we can do collectively by working together.
It also gives congregations a safety net in the case of a catastrophe. Pick a natural disaster such as a fire, flood or tornado. There are multiple resources at the different levels of our denomination standing ready to help.
My congregation in Taymouth is connected to Cass City, Bay City, Midland, Flint etc. through Lake Huron Presbytery. The Presbytery is important to keep churches up-to-date on the latest news in the Presbytery and what is happening in the congregations. Presbyteries also provide resources whether financial through grants, loans or guidance with procedures when searching for a Pastor. The Presbytery gives support to Pastors. We forget that as the Pastor of our congregation who supports its members and community, Pastors also need support. For more information visit www.presbylh.org/
Lake Huron Presbytery is connected with other Presbyteries through our Synod, the Synod of the Covenant. The Synod provides resources to Presbyteries for educational programs to support Pastors and Congregations. For more information visit synodofthecovenant.org/
The Synods are connected through the General Assembly. The General Assembly is our governing body. and deals with ecclesiastical, legislative, and judicial functions of our denomination. Important to remember that General Assembly, which meets every two years, is made up from representation from each Presbytery. It gives all corners of our denomination a voice to discern where our denomination is being led by the Holy Spirit. For more information on 2022 General Assembly visit www.pcusa.org/events/50992/225th-general-assembly-2022/
Now let’s talk about Per Capita. Per Capita is an investment in our denomination. It is a relatively small investment of $29.00 annually. I know myself that I belong to organizations that have dues well over $29 per year. Per Capita is important to fund the Presbytery - $16.77, Synod -$3.25, and General Assembly -$8.98. By each congregational member paying the $29.00 we can collectively fund the denomination.
How do you as a congregation benefit from Per Capita?
My congregation was able to take advantage of the Technology Grant offered by Presbytery to upgrade our system so our church could live stream to our members when Covid had our churches closed for in-person worship. We were still able to worship together even though we were in different locations.
The Synod provides resources to Presbyteries and Congregations for leadership training. We are in unprecedented times. Covid has caused many changes, some good and some difficult.
By having resources to pull from, it helps all our individual congregations, Presbyteries and Synods to do our very best to serve our purpose as Christians.
Elder Kathy Mauer is a member of the Presbytery Council and serves on the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board of General and is chair of the Resources Allocation and Stewardship Committee.
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Youth Triennium Registrar Needed |
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The 2022 Presbyterian Youth Triennium is just around the corner. We are looking for a volunteer to serve as the Registrar for the event. Typically youth from several of our churches attend and we need someone to help coordinate the registration process.
The presbytery will be providing transportation to the event for attendees and chaperones.
If you would be available to serve as the Registrar, please email Staci Percy at: spercy@presbylh.org
For more information about PYT, please visit their website by clicking here.
For more information about the role of Registrar, please click here. |
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Webinar With Our Mission Co-Worker Cathy Chang |
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From Michigan to Manila: Stories from a Korean-American Woman Navigating Cultures with National, Regional, and Transnational Labor Migration Advocacy
Rev. Cathy Chang is a Presbyterian Church (USA) mission co-worker serving in partnership with United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Migrant Ministry at the UCCP National Office. Her family was commissioned in October 2015, and they moved to Quezon City in March 2016. She is the first Regional Facilitator for Addressing Migration and Human Trafficking. In this role, she has visited churches and organizations around the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Ecuador. She volunteers with the secretariat of Churches Witnessing with Migrants (CWWM), an international tripartite network of migrants, migrant-serving organizations, and faith communities. She is also a member of the Interfaith Network for the Rights for Migrants (INFORM) Steering Committee, a regional network encompassing Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East. Cathy graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with Master of Divinity, as well as Carnegie Mellon University, with Master and Bachelor degrees in Public Policy and Management.
Objectives:
- Identify opportunities and challenges of being an Asian-American woman who is serving in Christian mission about migration
- Using the lens of one Asian-American woman’s experiences, participants are invited to learn, unlearn, and relearn perspectives about Asian and Asian-American cultures
Thursday, February 10, 2022, 9AM – 10:30 AM, Bangkok Time
Click here for a printable flyer that includes the Zoom connection information.
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All of the information you need to enter your congregations 2021 Annual Statistics is now available on our website. Letters were mailed on January 5th to all Clerks of Session. A copy of that letter is also on the Annual Statistics page. The deadline for entering information is February 17th. If you have any questions please contact the presbytery office.
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The IRS announced the standard mileage rates for 2022. They are as follows:
Business/Ministry 58.5 cents
Charitable 14 cents
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Camp Westminster on Higgins Lake
To one and to all who have rich memories of Camp Westminster, I wish to inform you that Suzanne and Jim Bates, the co-directors of Camp Westminster since 1995, are stepping down from their positions at the Camp as of Feb. 1, 2022.
I personally met Suzanne in 2001 while serving on the then existent Church and Society committee for the Presbytery of Lake Huron. The situation for the Camp could be best described as “dicey”. But they understood what had to be done to save and then develop a new sense of Camp Westminster on Higgins Lake and succeed they did!
I know how glad I was when the Kirk began serving the Camp through our yearly summer worship services. Being from out of state, I embraced the idea of having worship services in the woods with the waters of Houghton Lake so close by, and I sense you did too.
It is my prayer that whoever leads the Kirk and whomever leads Camp Westminster on Higgins Lake into 2022 and beyond, that they will work at keeping and developing this relationship. Camping experiences are one of the best ways for enabling young people to experience what it means to have a relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, especially as twilight brings on the powerful darkness that envelops the fiery embers of a campfire cloaked in prayer.
“Well done, good and faithful servants, well done”, Suzanne and Jim.
Shalom,
Pastor Karen Blatt
Houghton Lake-Kirk of the Lakes
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Camping Scholarships Available |
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A donor at First Presbyterian Church of Grand Haven, Michigan, wants to provide generous financial assistance to children desiring to go to a Christian camp. This year the program is being offered to all the churches in the four presbyteries in Michigan - Detroit, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Mackinac. If you are willing, we'd like to have you offer this financial assistance to the children and youth of your church. Please make copies of the application and distribute them among those eligible for the funding.
Here are the parameters of this program:
- The purpose of the camp must be Christian faith development.
- It is open to any child or youth with a connection to your church.
- The camper's family is responsible for paying the camp registration fee (at a minimum).
- A family can pay more if they choose.
- The donor desires that children will do work around the house or community to earn the funds for the registration fee.
- This program will pay the remaining portion of the camp. The expectation is that this will not exceed $500.00 per camper.
- This financial assistance comes with no income requirements. The donor wants children to go to Christian camp without restriction.
- The donor expects that the home church will pray for their campers in person prior to attending camp.
- Following the camp there will be a follow-up letter for reflection by the camper on his or her experience. This letter will be shared with the donor.
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Matthew 25 and PC(USA) Resources Quarterly Preview |
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The PC(USA) has published their Quarterly Resource Preview for the first quarter of 2022. Among the resources available are items for upcoming Special Emphasis Sundays.
February
March
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