Invitation to an Imagination Collaboration
|
|
How could we tire of hope?
-- so much is in bud.
Denise Levertov, "Beginners"
|
|
NOTE: The Rev. Anna Kendig Flores is the newly appointed Anti-Racism Institutional Assessment Coordinator for the PTCA. Here is her overview of the work, and opportunities, before us as a Presbytery in justice and anti-racism work.
Folks, it’s been a year. A lot has happened to each of us, our communities and our nation and world… and yet there is so much the Spirit is inviting us to do. Denise Levertov’s work has been on my mind, and this poem has been in my thoughts as she resists messages of death, disconnection and dissolution with reminders of hope, justice and healing.
It’s with Levertov’s energy of hopeful resistance that I want to celebrate, share some goals, and name three perspectives we might embody in our justice and anti-racism work in 2021.
|
|
Business as [un]Usual
Notes from the Stated Clerk, Barbara Lutter, about the business of the presbytery during such an unusual time as this
|
|
Jean Emmons, our Moderator, describes herself as a “de-clutterer.” She likes to finish projects and cross them off her to-do list. I imagine there are very few unfinished tasks in her home. Jean has brought that “let’s finish and move on” approach to the work of the Presbytery Leadership Team, (PLT) and here are some examples. |
|
The Minnesota Council of Churches has launched on a ten-year initiative for racial healing, truth telling, and reparations, in response to this summer’s killing of George Floyd and long-standing racial disparities across the state.
The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area is a member of the Council of Churches. Executive Presbyter Jeff Japinga sits on the board and was part of the initial group developing this initiative. You can read more about it in a recent Star-Tribune article. The Rev. Jim Bear Jacobs, a member of Presbytery and a “parish pastor” at Church of All Nations in Columbia Heights, serves as Program Director for Racial Justice for the Council of Churches, and will be a key leader.
|
|
Presbytery Worship Resources |
|
Upcoming Worship Resources
December 27: First Sunday of Christmas
WHAT: Scripture, sermon, and other elements of worship
THE PREACHER: The Rev. Dr. Lis Valle-Ruiz, assistant professor of homiletics at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.
WHEN AVAILABLE: Thursday, December 18
For more details, please watch this space or contact COM coordinator Heidi Bolt (bolt.heidi@gmail.com).
|
|
Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance, by Edgar Villanueva is the book being recommended by PC(USA) co-moderators, Ruling Elder Elona Street-Stewart and the Reverend Gregory Bentley. The announcement came during the first broadcast of “Good Medicine,” a new monthly online program hosted by the Co-moderators on Facebook Live. Visit the co-moderators Facebook page for book study updates and to watch the "Good Medicine" program.
“This is a very important time where the church and our country are trying to shift reality around how we repair and bring equity to our ideas, while resolving concerns that are being raised by our communities,” said Street-Stewart. “This book will help address these issues as a Matthew 25 church.”
“This is a very important book and Villanueva’s perspective on philanthropy is important to grasp and I hope we take our time with this study,” said Bentley. “This should be a ‘crockpot’ study, not microwave. You use a microwave when you want to cook something fast, but a crockpot is for cooking something slowly, taking time. This is a crockpot project.”
|
|
APCE (Association of Presbyterian Church Educators) offers your presbytery the opportunity to enhance Christian education in your churches by identifying up to 4 people in faith formation (educator, pastor, volunteer) to attend FOR FREE our 2021 virtual Annual Event, Anything but Ordinary Time.
February 4-6, 10:00 am – 5 pm (CT) each day.
Click the link below to read about the opportunity and contact the Presbytery office to submit your name for scholarship.
|
|
The Rev. Robert Brightman, honorably retired, passed away on Tuesday, December 1. Bob served First Presbyterian Church, Pine City, and Grace-Trinity Community Church in Minneapolis, in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, as well as Presbyterian congregations in Michigan and Wisconsin. A memorial service will be held when it is safe to do so. He is survived by his wife, Carol Brightman; you can reach her at 8641 Wentworth Avenue, #207, Bloomington, MN 55420 |
|
We’re not even a week into Advent, and I’m tired of waiting. But this year, it’s not the wait for holiday parties, for beloved Christmas Eve services, for family gatherings. I’m tired of waiting for deliverance from a year few of us want to memorialize. |
|
EMerge is a newsletter of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. Through most of the year it is published biweekly and distributed to congregations, teaching elders, ruling elders, church members, committees and friends of the presbytery. Please send submissions and address corrections to office@ptcaweb.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
