Image: Rev. Fran Lane-Lawrence leads our Boundary and Ethics Training at our Presbytery Assembly on 11/13/21!

GOOD NEWS
from the
Presbytery of Great Rivers
  
We are called to share Christ's love by partnering in service, 
uniting in worship, and risking in ministry.

November 19, 2021
We understand that access to vaccinations have now been expanded to even more children, and pastors up and down our presbytery are receiving their vaccine boosters. We urge all congregations to revisit your safety and mitigation plans so you and your community can be safe. Please see our COVID-19 website tab on our website for helpful resources by clicking HERE.
Click here for the 2021 Rotating Prayer List.
(Please let us know if you see any mistakes that we overlook so we can update our prayer list!)



We invite prayers for the Rev. Sara Dingman (Executive of the Synod of Lincoln Trails), upon the news of the death of her father Dennis (84) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Wednesday, at which time he was surrounded by the love and care of family. The funeral will be on Monday in South Dakota.  

May we hold Lindsay Zubal (our Virtual Ministry Assistant) and her family of four in our prayers upon the passing of their beloved Lola, their first family dog of eleven years, upon putting her to sleep ahead of further suffering from cancer on Tuesday.  

May we hold in our prayers all who are silently grieving heavy loses to their families. 
A special thank you for everyone for making our 11/13 virtual presbytery assembly a success!
Follow-up material from Boundary Training
Here is a link to our one hour Boundary Training Event led by Rev. Fran Lane-Lawrence at our November 13, Presbytery Assembly. It is also available on the front page of the website . Next week, we'll share her Presentation Notes as well!
Follow-up Deeper Conversation Boundary Training Event (PART TWO)

The Committee on Ministry is excited to announce a follow-up Boundaries Training event on Wednesday, December 1 from 10-11am on Zoom. This will be a time for a more in-depth discussion on boundary topics, with time for questions and answers.. This event will be led by Rev. Fran Lane Lawrence, who led our boundaries discussion during the November 13th Presbytery meeting.

We ask that you register ahead of time using the following link:

*As a friendly reminder, all Ministers of the Word and Sacrament, all Commissioned Pastors, and all those working as "pastors" within the bounds of Great Rivers Presbytery are required to attend boundary training annually. This event counts for credit if you were not able to attend the Presbytery meeting. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to Rev. Andy Sonneborn (revandysonneborn@gmail.com) (chair of the subcommittee for Training and Resources for the Committee on Ministry)*

Moving through a life transition like retirement is a significant challenge. To do it well requires attention and intention. What will this new chapter of your life bring? And if you are already retired, what challenges and opportunities are you finding? 

Retirement from an active, called ministry is one of the most significant challenges - and opportunities - any pastor faces.

After decades of service to God through the Church, what sort of new adventures will you embark upon? What have you been putting off until retirement? Is the old saying true ~ that retirement is all about doing what you're passionate about? How is the pandemic reshaping your retirement?

The Synod of Lincoln Trails is offering a coaching program to fifty pastors, from the eight presbyteries of SOLT, who have recently crossed the threshold of retirement or are planning to retire in the next year.

There are two parts to this pilot project:

December 7, 2021: A 2-hour ZOOM workshop, presented by Dr. Laurie Ferguson and hosted by the Rev. Dr. Sara Dingman, to help you learn about the power of coaching - how it can help people navigate life transitions.

During this virtual workshop you will connect with new colleagues, and learn what coaching is and isn’t. You will learn why and how coaching can offer you unique and life-giving challenge, support, growth and accountability as you navigate one of life's greatest changes: retirement. 

December 2021 - Spring 2022: Having been pre-assigned to a small group of pastors, you and your colleagues will have a total of five small group coaching sessions with your International Coach Federation-certified coach. The time and date of these monthly sessions will be set by your small group and coach. Each session will last one hour.

SOME NOTES:

  • While we have room for 50 participants, preference will be given to pastors who have retired in the last 0-18 months or ones who plan to retire by the end of 2022. (There will be two different sets of participants - pre and post retirement.)

  • The online workshop will be Dec 7th, 10am - 12pm Eastern; 9 - 11 am Central. We will take a short break during the workshop.

  • The workshop and all small group coaching sessions will take place on ZOOM. You must be able to participate visually and audibly on ZOOM.

  • These workshops are FREE to you but SOLT is investing $400 per participant. If possible, we do ask that you make a $40 donation to "pay it forward" and enable further coaching in the Synod.

TO APPLY: Please complete a short application here.

You will be notified of your acceptance into the program
within five days of your application.

Questions or comments?
Please e-mail Wynesia@lincolntrails.org or Sara@lincolntrails.org.
Laurie Ferguson, Ph.D., M.A., M.Div.
From the Visioning Team:

2021 Grant Applications are Due: The end of the year is coming! If you are working on an application for Bucks for Blessings or any other grants, please submit your completed forms by December 1st. The Visioning Team will not be meeting to discuss grants after that time, and we do not want to miss your application. A new grant application process will be available in the new year.
Church Officer Training:

Would you like to share elder and deacon training with other churches in the presbytery? If so, please email Katie Styrt (katiestyrt@gmail.com) and save the date for a planning meeting on Zoom at 1pm on Thursday, Dec. 2nd. Officer training may be in person or online, depending on interest. 

Great Rivers Presbytery in the News!

Shared by Princeton Theological Seminary, 11/17/21:

"Until recently, Rev. Ryan Landino, MDiv/MACEF ’10, was perhaps best known for his humorous “Sixty Second Preacher” video sermons about the life of faith. Today, he uses this platform as well as his writing and speaking engagements to promote the dismantling of the White supremacy culture within the church.

“My main focus is transformational ministry,” says Landino, “which includes changing the culture of presbytery and congregations, with a focus on antiracism.”

Landino serves as Lead Presbyter for Transformation at the Presbytery of Great Rivers in western and central Illinois. He spoke and was honored as an AAEC Service Award Recipient at the Seminary's 2021 reunion, an all-virtual event held May 10-12...

Click here for rest of story: https://www.ptsem.edu/news/striving-for-change
United Church of Woodhull's choir wants to share music with you! 

We have been cleaning out our music supply and would like to offer these first come, first served. We ask only that you either pay for shipping or arrange pick-up. Pick-up can happen at our place or we can arrange to meet you in the middle if you will be driving in our direction. For those details contact Cheyanna Losey at 309-299-4790 or cheyannalosey@gmail.com.  

Here is what we have available:
SCAM ALERT: "Request for Gift Cards"
 
Just a friendly notice that members of presbyteries across the country are continuing to be targeted for scam requests for gift cards. The way they work is they come in someone's familiar name, like the presbytery leader, but from fake email addresses, often gmail. Sometimes they say "I have an emergency!" (that needed gift cards?), other times "I want to host a surprise appreciation event"--this week when it happened again it was "I am in a meeting and need them." This continues to be a regular issue. Please now you don't even have to ask: it's not me. I, nor any mid council leader, will EVER personally request random financial assistance outside of normal channels through email. Please verify the email address and then promptly delete. Thank you!
 
Ryan Landino
Lead Presbyter for Transformation of Great Rivers Presbytery 
Still looking for Alternative, Online Worship?
(PLEASE LET US KNOW IF ANYTHING HAS CHANGED!)
 
Here are several possibilities for connecting to different worship spaces around the presbytery. This is a listing of the last Sunday's offerings of different churches providing worship. Please let us know if there have been any changes so we can keep our list updated!


  • Alexis-Norwood Presbyterian Church, Commissioned Pastor Gary Denise Pullen, 10:30 am on Facebook live, on his personal page.

  • Bartonville-Trinity Presbyterian Church has on-line worship on Facebook page and Their Website



  • Bloomington-St Luke Union Church, Rev. Andy Gifford, Sunday at 10:30am in person, and Facebook live Sunday at 10:30 am and posted to YouTube Each Monday morning.






  • Elmwood-First Presbyterian Church, Rev. Marla Bauler, worship led by Zoom (link can be obtained by pastor), then posted afterwards to Facebook.

  • Farmington-First Presbyterian Church, Rev. Andy Sonneborn, 10:30 am by Facebook live.

  • Galesburg-First Presbyterian Church, Rev. Kay Daniel, 10 am by Facebook live


  • Jacksonville-First Presbyterian Church, Rev. Jonathan Warren, 10 am by Facebook live.

  • Leroy-First United Presbyterian Church, recorded YouTube videos of their services posted later on their Facebook page.

  • Lincoln-First Presbyterian Church of Lincoln, 10:00 am by Facebook live (older recorded sermons also on church website)





  • Peoria-First Federated Church, streaming and video on their Facebook





  • Rio-Rio Presbyterian Church, Rio (and Sunbeam Presbyterian Church of Aledo), Rev. Maura McGrath-Nagle, 9:00 am by Facebook live.

  • Rock Island-Gloria Dei Presbyterian Church, Rev. Drew Nagle, 10:30 am, by Facebook live, and posted afterwards.



  • Springfield-First Presbyterian Church, Rev. Susan Phillips, www.LincolnsChurch.org has links for Sunday 10:30 live worship and Wednesday 5:30 service.

  • Springfield-Hope Presbyterian Church, Rev. Chuck Goodman, 9:30 am by Facebook live


  • Springfield-Third-Presbyterian Church, We are continuing with our radio broadcast on Sundays from 9-9:30am. This is broadcast on Sportsradio1450 (1450 AM or 92.3 FM). We have returned to In-person Worship on Sundays, beginning at 10am. Our In-person Worship Service is also recorded and posted on Mondays on our Facebook page (Third-Presbyterian Church).

  • Springfield-Westminster Presbyterian Church, Rev. Blythe Kieffer, Rev. Christian Choi, 10 am worship streamed online, www.wpcspi.org


  • Woodhull-United Church, Rev. Cheyanna Losey, is still posting services on YouTube and will continue them for sure into August. YouTube videos of their services posted on Facebook page.

FRIENDLY REMINDER TO NOT FORGET TO MAKE SPACE FOR THE SPIRITUAL PRACTICE OF GIVING OUR TITHES AND OFFERINGS!
Get Connected!

Be sure to encourage your congregations, sessions, and even your church newsletter editorial staff and volunteers to be sure to sign up for our presbytery newsletter and follow our Facebook page so you don't miss out on what is going on in our community of churches!

Have you liked our "Presbytery of Great Rivers" Facebook page?
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