Lakeshore Center will again
be host to Thomas Long presentation
Thomas Long, emeritus Bandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, will lead a one-day presentation Oct. 4 at Lakeshore Center at Okoboji near Milford, Iowa, to explore Jesus' parables, looking at what the parables reveal about Jesus' own faith and hope. The presentation runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Details can be found in a flyer at "A Day with Tom Long."
Regarding Ruling Elders:
Congregational nominating committees
Nathan Sobers, a ruling elder and ministry leader of Stonewall Ministries, a 1001 New Worshiping Community located in Cathedral City, California, has written this month's installment of Regarding Ruling Elders, a monthly resource from the Office of the General Assembly. Sobers wrote the "Book of Order" of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) "calls for ruling elders to 'exercise leadership, government, spiritual discernment, and discipline and have responsibilities for the life of a congregation as well as the whole church.' As ruling elders are called to ordered ministry for life, it is important to approach the work of nominations to this role with humility, open hearts, and open minds." Sobers' complete column can be found at "Congregational Nominating Committees."
'Stewardship Kaleidoscope' planned
at end of September in San Diego
"Stewardship Kaleidoscope," the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s annual stewardship conference, will feature keynote leaders Melissa Spas from the Lake Institute and Eric Law, author of "Holy Currencies: 6 Blessings for Sustainable Missional Ministries." Diane Moffett, executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, will preach. There are also more than 30 workshops. The event runs Sept. 30 through Oct. 2. Details can be found at "Stewardship Kaleidoscope." Scholarships are still available.
POAMN national conference
planned in October in Louisville
The 2019 national conference of the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministry Network is slated Oct. 15-18 at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Keynote speakers will be the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, and the Rev. Dr. Jason Brian Santos, mission coordinator for Christian Formation and Small Church Support for the Presbyterian Mission Agency. A complete schedule and online registration are available at "POAMN National Conference."
Great Plains Presbyterian Pilgrimage
set at Calvin Crest Oct. 17-20
A three-day renewal known as the Great Plains Presbyterian Pilgrimage is slated at Calvin Crest Camp, Conference and Retreat Center near Fremont, Nebraska, Oct. 17-20. Details about the pilgrimage can be found at "Great Plains Pilgrimage."
BOP schedules retirement planning
seminar at seminary in Dubuque
Board University of the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will conduct a two-day retirement planning seminar Oct. 2-3 at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. The seminar is for members of the BOPs benefit plan who plan to retire within the next 15 years. Complete details can be found at "Retirement Planning Seminar."
Women's event at Princeton looks
at leadership in time of division, fear
The Women in Ministry Initiative of Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey has planned a conference to look at leadership in a time of division and fear. The conference, planned Oct. 23-25, is offered to women leaders of the church, both clergy and lay, who work within the church and beyond. The conference will include keynote presentation, sermons, informal discussions and workshops. Details are at "Women in Ministry Initiative."
Iowa City author addresses
mental illness, social justice
"To Loose the Bonds of Injustice," by Marcia A. Murphy of Iowa City, Iowa, "is the first to address the living conditions of the mentally ill from the standpoint of social justice," according to the description of the book at Wipf and Stock Publishers. "It is the first for religion to partner with the psychiatric field from a spiritual vantage point to improve the lives of those afflicted with medical, social, and spiritual maladies." At Murphy's website, Scott Temple of the University of Iowa College of Medicine notes, "Combining memoir and a scholarly review of history, this book reflects the author's spiritual and psychological journey in life." At Wipf and Stock, the book is at "Loose the Bonds." Temple's complete comments are at "Hope for Recovery."
Newsletter lists travel, hosting,
interaction, peacemaking opportunities
This month's newsletter from the Office of Compassion, Peace & Justice looks at the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, and offers opportunities to travel, host visitors and interact online with peacemaking efforts. The complete newsletter can be found at "Compassion Peace and Justice."
Peacemaking Program undertakes
year-long look at gun violence
The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in collaboration with the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, is offering "Standing Our Holy Ground," a year-long webinar series that challenges the faith community to stand up against the gun violence crisis of our day. Touching on a large variety of topics and utilizing those at the forefront of the work and research, the series explores the ways in which people of faith and the communities to which they belong can respond and act to bring about change. Details about the program are at "Standing Our Holy Ground."
presbytery executives and pastors, women are at the forefront. And not to be excluded from this wave of women leadership are American Indian women. Since 2004, Fern Cloud, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate on the Lake Traverse Reservation in northeastern South Dakota, has served as the commissioned ruling elder at Pejuhutazizi Presbyterian Church, Upper Sioux Community, in Granite Falls, Minnesota. She is among the first American Indian women to lead a native congregation in Dakota Presbytery, and she recently completed a term as moderator of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. (In the photo above, left to right, are Gina Enos, Danielle Palomino and Fern Cloud, photographed at the 2019 Native American Women's Gathering in Suquamish, Washington. Enos and Palomino were voted co-moderators for the 2021 gathering. (Contributed photo.)) The complete Presbyterian News Service story by Gail Strange can be found at "
Winnebago Presbytery. 
skills training for today and tomorrow's church pastors, staff, committees on ministry and congregational leaders. Set Monday through Friday, Sept. 16-20, at Christ the King Retreat Center in Buffalo, Minnesota, the event offers two tracks, one covering an introduction to transitional ministry that runs the full week, and another offering transformation training for church leaders that takes place Wednesday through Friday of the week. The full-week session provides 30 hours of training that meets the requirements for Week I Transitional Ministry Education. The second session provides training for ruling elders and other congregational leaders, focusing on their roles in congregations in times of ministry transitions. Details are available at "
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Irvin Porter, associate for Native American Intercultural Congregational Support, writes, "After welcoming and assisting settlers, Indigenous people were considered obstacles to 'Manifest Destiny,' the theory that the United States was destined to dominate North America, and its civilization would restore and remake the continent in the image of white America." Porter's complete comments, along with several other stories, can be found at "
greasy hamburger instead. The pastor's sour mood, though, wasn't about healthy food choices. It was about the choice her session had made to lock the doors during Sunday morning worship. After two decades of guiding the congregation to be welcoming to its community -- one that elders had noticed becoming riddled with drugs and crime -- the soon-to-retire pastor felt defeated. She wondered about the message that locked doors would send. The complete story by Donna Frischknecht Jackson of Presbyterians Today can be found at "
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Jaff Bamenjo hails from Cameroon, a country embroiled in internal warfare the last half of this decade. But when asked to name an example of the impact his work has had, Bamenjo reflects more than a decade back to a food initiative that is still serving citizens of his country today. In 2005, the