Bi-Weekly Brief news & updates
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The family of loved ones of the Rev. Alec Brooks who passed to the larger life last month at the age of 101. Alec was the longest standing member of our presbytery. See article below for more information.
The Rev. Peter Russell, Honorably Retired, who is residing at Abbey Park in Grand Blanc. His health has declined recently.
Our churches currently in pastoral transition.
Our Mission Co-Workers:
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Upcoming Ordination and Commissioning Anniversaries:
Elder Chris Wolf (11/4) - Commissioned Ruling Elder of Marlette-First and Marlette-Second Rev. Brant Piper (12/15) - 30 Years - Honorably Retired
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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The Rev. Dr. Jan Edmiston was Co-moderator of the 222nd General Assembly (2016) and currently serves as General Presbyter of Charlotte Presbytery. Her blog, A Church for Starving Artists, contains some of the best observations about ministry and leadership available. This is one of her most recent columns – timely and applicable for pastoral leaders, sessions, and church members alike.
Who Has the Right to Weigh in on Our Lives?
In a shame-based culture (and most of our cultures are indeed shame-based) it matters when a royal person marries a not-royal person and in this case, all of Japan apparently weighed in on everything from Mr. Komuro’s appreciation of NYC food trucks to his occasional ponytail.
Most of us don’t have to contend with global commentary, but Pastors and our family members often find ourselves the focus of peculiar interest in Church World. (Note: People who spend more time gossiping about their pastors than serving their communities offend Jesus. Stop it.)
In my own ministry experience as a pastor, I’ve heard the following from parishioners. These are exact quotes:
You might be able to find a husband if you wore tighter clothes. (When I was a single pastor.)
This baby is ours and you live in our house, so we can visit him anytime we want. (When I was a new mom.)
What were you thinking having your children so close together? (After giving birth to three children in four years.)
These comments happen to clergymen as well. My spouse has heard running commentary on his facial hair from parishioners for 30+ years. To be fair, he gets lots of positive comments about his Madras pants.
My point is that the communities with which we serve in the Church sometimes feel that they have permission (or an obligation) to weigh in on the style, hobbies, personalities, child-rearing decisions, and purchasing habits of their leaders. If you are a Church Person, please consider before you share your thoughts whether you would share similar thoughts with your doctor or your child’s teacher.
Fall is sometimes the season when pastors are reviewed and reviewing a pastor can sometimes be conflated with opinions about the way pastors conduct their lives. For example, one of my reviews as a parish pastor stated that I was a good mother, as if that had anything to do with my role as a pastor. (Imagine HR sharing in personnel reviews for a banker or a college professor that an employee was a good parent.)
Appropriate comments for a pastor’s review might be: approachable, excellent teacher, effective communicator, strong conflict resolution skills.
Not so appropriate comments for a pastor’s review might be: needs a haircut, not good with babies, aloof.
Part of being an authentic faith community includes loving each other and helping each other be the people God created us to be. It’s not about hair styles and jewelry (“Not too much, Pastors!“) as much as it’s about leadership and spiritual gifts and even loving our enemies.
Who gets to weigh in on our lives? Good boundaries answer that question. And lovingkindness.
I would add that pastors (and executives) can also be guilty of gossip, prying, and judgmentalism about church members and other clergy. Thanks to Dr. Edmiston for her words of wisdom this week.
Faithfully,
Dan Saperstein, Executive Presbyter
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The Rev. Alec Brooks, 101, passed to the larger life on October 21st. He was our longest standing member of presbytery and resident of Rosebush Manor. He was a sweet soul who still walked to church almost every Sunday morning. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. We lift up his family and loved ones in thought and prayer.
His obituary reads:
Rev. Alec U. Brooks received his wings on October 21, 2021. He went to be with his Lord, and with his wife, Nancy, at the age of 101. A Veteran of WWII, injured in France during the War, missing in action, and recipient of a Purple Heart, he talked a lot about his service during the last few years. He wanted his family to know about his experiences. A pastor, teacher, missionary in Cameroun, he spent a lifetime of service in ministry and was an inspiration to all he encountered. The main thing he emphasized in all his sermons and dealings with people was that, "God Loves You!" Kind, caring, compassionate, and soft-spoken he let people know he was there for them. Those qualities made him an effective mediator with congregations in Cameroun, here in Michigan, and while serving as a Geography teacher and MEA union leader at West Intermediate in Mt. Pleasant. He was a member of the YMCA, Scoutmaster of Pullen School BSA Troop 646, active in the Mt. Pleasant Rotary East. He served as pastor of the Rosebush Presbyterian Church and was active in the Rosebush Volunteer Fire Department. He was a longtime walker in the CROP Walk unhesitant asking for donations. He was instrumental in community-wide efforts raising funds and plans for the Rosebush Manor Assisted Living, which would become his home for the last 16 years. Alec is survived by his sons and their wives: Bruce and (Susan) Brooks, Onekama; Steve and (Carolyn) Brooks, Onekama; and his grandchildren: Amy and (Kevin) Dykhouse, Cadillac; Michael and (Eri) Brooks, Rosebush; Laura and (Levi) Benson, Greenville. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at Rosebush Presbyterian Church on Saturday, November 13, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. Memorial gifts may be given to: The Village of Rosebush Manor. You may view Alec's obituary online and send a condolence to the family here.
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You are invited to attend the Installation of the Rev. Brenna Overland as Pastor of Bay City-First on Sunday, November 7th at 4:00pm.
It is always a joyous occasion to welcome new pastors so we hope that you can join us in celebrating her Installation this weekend.
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The Presbyterian Women of Lake Huron Presbytery will meet via Zoom on November 13, 2021 from 10:00 am until 12:00. This will be a brief business meeting and installation of officers.
NOTE: For security, login information is not be available in the online version of this publication. Contact Georgia McCall via email for details.
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What is Per Capita? Fair question. Let's attempt to answer it.
Per capita has been part of our funding history for over 150 years. When presbyteries, synods, and the General Assembly meet, they are conducting the legislative and judicial business of the church and incur necessary expenses. There are also some necessary administrative expenses involved which enable these ecclesiastical, legislative, and judicial functions to be performed. Historically, per capita has been used to fund these. Importantly, per capita funding enables governing councils to make decisions regarding distribution of mission dollars without itself being funded by those same dollars.
The whole church shares in these expenses since everyone who is a member shares in the benefits of this system of church government. Per capita provides for the financial participation of all local churches as part of a connectional and representative church, thus providing for unity and mutual responsibility within the church.
The 2022 Per Capita Apportionment:
General Assembly $ 8.98
Synod of the Covenant $ 3.25
Presbytery $16.77
Total $29.00
For a bulletin insert with additional information please go to the Documents and Forms page of our website. It is under the Financial Information section.
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From the Stated Clerk, Ted McCulloch:
It is that time of year again – that fall tradition known as Minutes Review. I appreciate everyone’s cooperation last year as we did virtual reviews and electronic submissions of minutes. As in many areas, 2020 was a different kind of year.
For 2021, I will provide three different dates and times that you can bring your minutes and registers to be reviewed. I especially would like to see your registers as we were not able to review those last year.
Dates and Locations:
(This is something new. With a number of clerks who
are retired, we thought this might be more convenient
than a Saturday)
If you are not yet comfortable being in-person or those dates and times don’t work, please let the Stated Clerk know. Minutes can still be reviewed electronically or mailed in for review. However, in addition to Session minutes, you will be asked to copy the most recent page from your chronological list of members, your funeral list, and your baptism records that are found in the church register. This will at least let us see that the registers are up to date.
Finally, if you were one of the congregations that did not get reviewed last year, you might get a little additional nudge from the Stated Clerk at some point!
Questions and re-schedule requests may be directed to Ted McCulloch, Stated Clerk at 989-799-7481 x4.
A copy of the cover letter that was sent to all Clerks of Session on October 19th along with the checklist may be found on the Records Review page of our website.
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2022 Host Churches Needed |
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A request from your friendly Stated Clerk. Planning for 2022 Presbytery meetings has begun but we are missing one very important piece – host churches. As of now, we have zero invitations to host Presbytery in 2022. If your congregation would be willing to host, please let me know as soon as possible. The requirements for hosting are handicap/disability access and wi-fi access as all our meetings will now allow attendance by Zoom. All meetings start at 9 AM.
March: Note that the March meeting is both a Saturday and a Zoom only meeting. Council decided that the March meetings will be on zoom only to provide a different type of access for commissioners and take weather out of the equation. March has seemed to be the only time we have weather issues. Because of it being Zoom only, any of our churches can be the virtual host. Whether they have wi-fi or not, whether they are big enough or not. This gives any of our churches the opportunity to host, to highlight the congregation and its ministry and to have the offering designated to a mission they support in their area.
Presbytery Meeting Dates for 2022
Saturday, March 5: Please see previous note
Tuesday, June 7
Tuesday, September 20
Tuesday, December 6
Hosts will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis!
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First Presbyterian Church, Croswell has 80 regular print and 27 large print blue hymnals available. Please contact Sally Pomeroy at 810-434-8642, or leave a message at the church (810-679-3352) if you or your church are interested - OR - if you know of a group or church that may be interested.
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The final editions of the Parish Paper for 2021 are now available on the Parish Paper page of our website.
Topics are:
November: Thinking Flexibility About Our Buildings
December: How To Plan a Community Project
Included in the presbytery's subscription is free use by our churches. Just follow the copyright guidelines listed on our site.
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Is your church a Matthew 25 church? Have you registered with the PC(USA) yet? Not sure?
Please check out the Matthew 25 Churches and Mid Council listing by clicking here. If you do not see your church listed, there is a link to sign up under "Become a Matthew 25 Church".
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Job Openings Around The Presbytery |
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Position Summary:
The Campus Chaplain will nurture and support the spiritual growth of students, staff and faculty to encourage a dynamic interfaith environment on campus that includes worship, study, service, and other activities that honor the rich diversity of faith perspectives within the College community. This individual will report to the Senior Chaplain and will work collaboratively with the Associate Catholic Chaplain and Associate Protestant Chaplain, as well as the Center for Campus and Community Engagement.
Click here for more details. Please feel free to share this posting with those who may be interested.
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Please click here for a complete job description and information on how to apply. Please feel free to share this posting with those who may be interested.
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Position Summary
To perform range of administrative and clerical functions in support of on-going operation in the church office. Administrative Assistant is under the direct supervision of the Pastor and accountable to the Personnel Committee of Session in consultation with the Pastor.
Terms of Employment
Flexible schedule for 20-25 hours a week with schedule to be determines at time of hire. $11.50 an hour.
Principal responsibilities and duties
- Provide administrative and clerical support to pastor and church.
- Perform, oversee and coordinate the basic clerical functions of church office.
- Provide record keeping and computer data entry to facilitate effective management of the church.
- Provide clerical support to ensure adequate supplies and materials are ordered in a timely fashion.
To apply send Employment Application to
Personnel Committee
First Presbyterian Church
495 Charles Ave Alma MI 48801
Please feel free to share this posting with those who may be interested.
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