Our Stated Clerk and Pastor of Saginaw-First, the Rev. Ted McCulloch and his wife DeAnn. DeAnn's father, Marvin Russell Duncan, passed to the larger life on April 12th. (Click here to view his obituary.)

The family and loved ones of the Rev. Dr. Rodney Shoemaker, who passed to the larger life on April 13th. He most recently served as Parish Associate at the former Warren Avenue Presbyterian Church in Saginaw. (Click here to view his obituary.)

The Rev. George Gillette, who is under Hospice care at Candlestone Assisted Living in Midland.

All those dealing with COVID diagnoses.

Lucy Der-Garabedian serving in Lebanon.

Cathy Chang and family serving in the Philippines.

Michael and Rachel Ludwig serving in Niger.

The Rev. Andrew Miller (4/4) - Pastor of Mt. Pleasant-First

The Rev. Dong Won Park (4/15) - Honorably Retired

The Rev. George Gillette (4/27) - 70 Years - Honorably Retired

The Rev. Alec Brooks (5/1) - 70 Years - Honorably Retired

The Rev. Ed Borycz (5/12) - Honorably Retired

The Rev. Dale Swihart (5/16) - Honorably Retired

The Rev. Dr. Daniel Ahn (5/18) - Honorably Retired and Pastor Emeritus of Saginaw-Michigan Nanum

The Rev. Bruce Cunningham (5/18) - Honorably Retired

The Rev. Joseph Walser (5/22) - 55 Years - Honorably Retired

I had intended to write this column on the dangers of Covid fatigue, and how we can navigate the desire to go back to “normal” while infection rates in Michigan are skyrocketing.

But then the jury came back.

In a way, it is fitting. The past year has been marked as much by anxiety, fatigue, and division over the murder of George Floyd and other unarmed African Americans as it has by the Covid-19 pandemic. The statements “Wear a mask” and “Black lives matter” can provoke equally polarized responses, especially among white Americans.

The guilty verdict against Derek Chauvin for George Floyd’s nine-and-a-half-minute asphyxiation was a victory for justice and accountability. But it is not a cause for celebration. George Floyd is still dead, as are Daunte Wright and 13-year-old Adam Toledo, just last week. George Floyd’s murder sparked a year of protests, but the deaths of unarmed Black Americans in police encounters continue unabated.

So let us not mistake the verdict as the end to a year of violence, but see it as the beginning of our long struggle to dismantle structural racism. Just as the approval of Covid vaccines did not end the Covid pandemic, so one verdict does not end a pandemic of racist violence. It is only a first step towards the goal, not the goal itself. The pandemic of racism in America has been around for five centuries and will not go away easily or quickly. The mere fact that there was genuine uncertainty regarding the verdict of a murder captured on film for all to see – not because of reasonable doubt but because of a history of unreasonable acquittals – shows how much work remains before equality in the criminal justice system becomes a reality.

The Presbytery of Lake Huron is a Matthew 25 presbytery committed to the three emphases of building congregational vitality, eradicating systemic poverty, and dismantling structural racism. All three are important, but of the three, the Presbyterian Church has the most moral culpability in contributing to structural racism. It therefore requires our humble confession, earnest repentance, and commitment to restorative action.

We will someday go back to “normal” after the Covid-19 pandemic. There is no “normal” to which we can return after the pandemic of racist violence because there has never been a “normal” in our nation. Instead, we must fight to establish a new anti-racist “normal” in society, beginning with our own churches. We are, each of us, vaccines against the pandemic of racism. We can inoculate the people with whom we live and worship by addressing our own racist attitudes and actions, and then speaking up, calling out, and dismantling racist assumptions, practices, and structures in our church and in society.

The Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, President and Executive Director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency posted the following prayer the night of the verdict. May it become our own.

COVID-19 vaccines are effective at protecting you from getting sick. Based on what we know about COVID-19 vaccines, people who have been fully vaccinated can start to do some things that they had stopped doing because of the pandemic.

We’re still learning how vaccines will affect the spread of COVID-19. After you’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you should keep taking precautions—like wearing a mask, staying 6 feet apart from others, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces—in public places until we know more.

These recommendations can help you make decisions about daily activities after you are fully vaccinated. They are not intended for healthcare settings.

If you don’t meet these requirements, you are NOT fully vaccinated. Keep taking all precautions until you are fully vaccinated.

Until we know more about those questions, everyone—even people who’ve had their vaccines—should continue taking steps to protect themselves and others when recommended.

Click here to visit the CDC website for more information.

The latest editions of the Parish Paper are now available on our website. As a reminder these may be used by all of our congregations free of charge under the presbytery's subscription. Topics this time are:

May How Can We Overcome Barriers To Vaccination?

June Is It Time To Relocate?

Click here to download these or any of the issues from the previous decade.

Friends In Lake Huron Presbytery,

Christ is risen – he is risen indeed! Easter greetings from the Philippines!

How are you doing these days?

Even with how much covid-19 pandemic has impacted many of our lives --- there is one thing that has remained constant: prayers and support from the presbytery – and for that we are grateful. From November 2020, thank you and thanks be to God for the gift that you provided us. 

Our quarterly newsletters are getting a fresh, new look with a more readable 8 ½ x 11 format. We encourage you to sign up to receive these newsletters via email: below our family photo, you can click on the blue box “Subscribe to our letters.” If you prefer to receive them via email – and no longer wish to receive them through the US mail, please email mission.connections@pcusa.org. 

Click here for a printable version of the latest edition.

It’s not very often that we take family photos – but here’s a recent one that you might enjoy.

Thank you again for your partnership in God’s mission.

With the deep peace of Christ,

Cathy, Juan and Aurelie

Applications are available on the Synod's website and are due by May 31, 2021. Winners will be notified and announced no later than June 30, 2021. Click here for details and to apply.

The application can also be found on the Documents and Forms page of the presbytery's website under Denomination Resources.

Retired Pastor, Dale Swihart has published a second volume of his daily meditations and photographs. It is called Power of One: More Poems for COVID and Beyond. It is currently available, along with volume one, through Amazon.

He has been writing these blank verse poems since the start of the pandemic as a therapeutic way of coping. He has also been sharing them via email and Facebook. The book can be purchased on Amazon by clicking here.

You can contact Dale at daleswihart@gmail.com.

First and foremost, we are dedicated to holding a summer conference that is safe and enjoyable. We are so pleased to be able to offer both of our conference weeks in-person for individuals or groups! We also are offering our conference online for the second year in a row as we hope to bring the Worship and Music Conference experience to everyone! We've even created special pages that talk about what an online conference can look like for you or even a group!

The best place to learn all about what we are offering this summer is to visit our conference website: www.presbymusic.org/2021conference. Anyone who is interested may navigate through our site to learn about our faculty, class offerings, the online livestream, and more!

If you have questions about this material or would like additional information or graphics to pass along, please don’t hesitate to contact the PAM Office.

We have set up a page with numerous resources to help you navigate through this challenging time.

Among other things, our COVID-19 page includes information regarding:

If there are other items/resources that you would to see added please contact Staci Percy at spercy@presbylh.org.