Bi-Weekly Brief news & updates
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The Rev. Ed Borycz, Honorably Retired, and his family on the passing of his wife, Jeanette on November 8th.
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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Anne Lamott is one of the most popular Christian writers today. Her best-seller, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, told her story of her coming to faith and discovery of grace in a community of those on the margins of the church. A recent book of hers is Help, Thanks, Wow, which addresses the three essential attitudes of prayer.
In this season of Thanksgiving, I turned to Anne Lamott for inspiration. In the section on “Thanks,” she writes, “Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior. It almost always makes you willing to be of service, which is where the joy resides. It means you are willing to stop being such a jerk. When you are aware of all that has been given to you, in your lifetime and in the past few days, it is hard not to be humbled, and pleased to give back.” (New York: Riverhead, 2012, 56-57).
She adds, “Saying and meaning ‘Thanks’ leads to a crazy thought: What more can I give? We take the action first, by giving – and then the insight follows, that this fills us… It obviously behooves me to practice being receptive, open for the business of gratitude.” (62)
“A nun I know once told me she kept begging God to take her character defects away from her. After years of this prayer, God finally got back to her: I’m not going to take anything away from you. You have to give it to Me.” (63)
Gratitude is a response to grace that leads to action. How can we express our thanks to God for all God has given to us? What are we going to give to others? What are we going to give back to God – both of our possessions and of our vices?
Our December Presbytery meeting will focus on the theme of how congregations can respond to food insecurity in their communities. Julianne Princinsky, who is Chair of the Board of the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan and an elder at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Davison, will offer the message and lead a panel discussion of leaders whose churches are making a difference to address food insecurity in their communities.
As we share our Thanksgiving feasts with family and friends, let us also consider how we might share our abundance – and ourselves – with those most in need.
Faithfully,
Dan Saperstein, Executive Presbyter
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Information regarding the December stated meeting will be sent in a separate email at a later time.
This letter is a follow up to discussions held at the September stated meeting hosted by Mt. Pleasant-First.
From the Presbytery Moderator:
Update Regarding the Indian Boarding School Project
in Mt. Pleasant
The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe is moving ahead with the protection of the site of the former Indian Boarding School in Isabella County. They appreciated our gift of $500 from the September Presbytery meeting and more recently our additional gift of $150 in honor of Co-Moderator of General Assembly, Elona Street-Stewart, who spoke to our Presbytery meeting in September 2021, and who suggested that the honorarium be donated to the Indian Boarding School project.
The status of the archeological site work is that the City of Mt. Pleasant is working to clear up a cloud of conveyance over the 320 acres of land that was conveyed to the tribe so that they will know exactly what may be done with the land and how the archeological work may proceed.
The Day of Honoring, Healing and Remembrance will be held next June 6, 2022. That day marks the date that the Indian School was closed to the children, and it is celebrated each year to remember the children who suffered and the approximately 225 children who died while attending the boarding school. http://www.sagchip.org/news.aspx?newsid=3677 - .YZLRo73MJfU
In the tribe, the Sacred Fire is the fire that is kept between death and burial. It is the firekeeper’s job to maintain it throughout that time. Recently logs were cut and carried from the site of the Indian Industrial Boarding School to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Campground in Mt. Pleasant. The trees were witnesses to what the children were going through during the operation of the school. As the logs are burned, offerings of medicine such as sweet grass and tobacco are put in the fires, and the smoke carries the people’s words (prayers) to the Creator.
According to Frank Cloutier, Director of Public Relations, the Tribe is at the point of bringing on engineers to work with the architect, Christian Nakarado, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, living in Oxford, England, to put together a plan for the site of the Indian Industrial Boarding School. They will then pursue grants to fund the building phase of the work. Individual financial support may be sent to Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, MIIBS (Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School), [which is a 501 c 3 organization] 7500 Soaring Eagle Blvd., Mt. Pleasant MI 48858 or on the presbytery's website by clicking here.
Our Presbytery’s past support is sincerely appreciated by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. May it continue and may it grow beyond the financial support.
Linda Langrill
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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, We provided three different dates and times that you could bring your minutes and registers to be reviewed. The last date will be on December 4th.
I especially would like to see your registers as we were not able to review those last year.
Final Date and Location:
If you are not yet comfortable being in-person or the dates and times didn’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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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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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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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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