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Thank you! 

In our prayers together this week:

• Please pray for all the graduates who are embarking on the next chapter in their lives.
• Pray for 14-year-old Jerry Armstrong who has been diagnosed with bone cancer. He attends Whitelaw Presbyterian Church with his family.
• Pray for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
• Keep all those who battling cancer in your prayers. Please ask God to be by their side and to be with their doctors and families.

In the cycle of prayer our Presbytery, please pray for these congregations, faith communities, and individuals: Port Byron Federated; First, Scipioville; Sennett Federated Church; First, Skaneateles

If you'd like to share a particular joy or concern with the Presbytery, please contact: CaySyrNews@gmail.com. Please note, prayers will be featured for three weeks, unless a specific time frame is requested. "

A special presbytery meeting was held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 20, 2024 on Zoom.

The highlight of the meeting was the examination of Elder Dr. Shavonn Lynch for ordination to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament on September 15, 2024. This was unanimously approved! Congratulations on the next step, Shavonn! “What a good day for the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse!!!

The meeting also featured the Commission of the Commissioners to the 226th General Assembly:

Marissa Saunders

Ruling Elder

Park Central Presbyterian

Ben Fitzgerald-Fye

Minister of the Word and Sacrament

Scipioville Presbyterian Church

Our commissioners are currently representing Cayuga-Syracuse at the General Assembly.

The meeting lasted just under 1 hour. See papers below for more details:

Papers for this meeting can be found below:

Docket

January 22, 2024 Minutes

February 29. 2024 Minutes

May 6, 2024 Minutes

May 18, 2024 Minutes

Statement of Faith

Scam Alert!

Be aware that scammers are targeting churches! 

One recent scam involves the offer of a FREE grand piano provided the church pays a freight company $2500 for shipping. Educate your session, church secretary and volunteers of the following warning signs:

• An introductory tale of upheaval (My spouse died; I'm going through a divorce; I'm moving and can't take it with me)
• Refusal by the scammer to speak on the phone, insisting that all information be shared and transactions conducted by email
• Fee to the freight company must be paid with a bank draft
• Fee is paid prior to shipping

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck SCAM.

Under the new guidelines from the Book of Order, boundary training is required every three years for: Ministers of Word and Sacrament, Certified Christian Educators (CCE), Certified Christian Ruling Elders (CRE) and Inquirers before moving to candidacy. 

The presbytery has contracted with SafeGatherings https://safegatherings.com for the online boundary training course. To learn more, or to register for the course, please contact your committee chair or the interim resource presbyter.

Background checks for incoming Ministers of the Word & Sacrament are now conducted through Praesidium.

https://www.praesidiuminc.com

To request a background check, please contact your COM liaison.

Next Up for Isaiah’s Table:

"The Bible Through a Love-Centered Lens"

Isaiah's Table finished up its Book Club and will resume on Wednesday, July 10th with a Video Study on Zoom. The Video Study is from "The Bible for Normal People" called The Bible Through a Love-Centered Lens.

Isaiah’s Table Zoom info: ID: 817 7537 2317

Passcode: 574101

The Presbytery Women of Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery continues their study on discrimination. While this group started as a Presbyterian Women study during COVID, men have come and are welcome. And you don’t even have to be from Cayuga-Syracuse or New York. 

The group is taking a slight break from the deeper books and are reading "The Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs. A little humor never hurt! The group meet Tuesdays at 7 pm.



https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83940141935?pwd=FWEgF8PZlHKqbzxkch6KjzQ7l9muVy.1

Meeting ID: 839 4014 1935

Passcode: 163672

The next "Can We Talk?" gathering will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, June 28th in the Lounge behind the Sanctuary at Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church, 5299 Jamesville Road in Syracuse.

Coffee and goodies will be served.



The gathering is for retired pastors and CLP's or for folks who are about to retire. First-timers are always welcome!

CLICK HERE for more information.

SPREAD THE WORD: FREE CLOTHING!

The First Presbyterian Church of Weedsport is operating a free clothing giveaway at the church. It is open Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursday from 4 to 6:30 p.m. All clothing is free and people are encouraged to take anything they can use. No questions asked.

PRC's Summer & Fall 2024 Online events

All webinars are recorded. Click the title to register or read the description.

Workshop – A River Flows Through

Tuesday, July 16, 2024 – Deadline to register July 2

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leader – Martha Gallagher

A River Flows Through is a retreat/workshop where we explore the interweaving of Nature, expressive arts and spirituality in our daily lives.

 Responding Effectively to Christian Nationalism

Thursday, July 18, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leaders -Brian Kaylor, Beau Underwood

The dangers that Christian Nationalism poses to both church and state are increasingly understood, but it is hard to know what you and your congregation can do about a problem so big. This webinar will explain what Christian Nationalism is (and isn't), how many mainline and progressive Christians inadvertently advance its cause, and how individuals and communities can practically respond. 

Workshop – Moving Spirit

Thursday, July 25, 2024 – Deadline to Register July 11

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leader – Marth Gallagher

Moving Spirit offers clergy and lay leaders the opportunity to nurture themselves; to set aside their leadership responsibilities and simply connect with the Beloved; body, mind and spirit, through music, spoken word and authentic dance.

The Gifts They Bring: How Children and the Gospels Can Shape Inclusive Ministry

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leader – Amy Linderman Allen

Join us to explore familiar Gospel stories together envisioning afresh the experience of childhood in Jesus’ world and what those experiences might mean for children and families in ministry today. We will reconsider the age and relationship of well-known and lesser-known Bible characters, and read each of these stories in conversation with experiences of real children in the church today, bringing into focus the varied gifts that children bring in a practice of inclusive ministry. These gifts include participation, proclamation, advocacy, listening, sharing, and partnership. Participants will grow more attuned to recognize the gifts that we each bring—children and adults—as essential members working together as one community in the body of Christ and so to share in the gift of Christ together.

Managing Stress Before it Manages You

Thursday, September 12, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leader – Charles Stone

In this webinar you’ll learn an evidence-based tool to better combat stress and develop your resilience.

Healing Fractured Communities

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Leaders - Jessica L. Anschutz, Douglas Powe

Are you experiencing fractures in your community? Fractures like racism, education inequality and poverty, to name a few, plague those inside and outside of the church. Given our fractured landscape and the diversity of contexts where congregations exist, "How can congregational leaders be both healers and agitators at the same time?" The danger of simply being a healer ignores the underlying causes of the fracture(s) in a community. The danger of simply being an agitator is others ignore you because your voice is monotone. Being a leader who lives in this tension inside a faith community and the public square requires nimbleness. A nimbleness that allows for being an ointment and an irritant when needed. This webinar will equip you to do ministry in a manner that not only impacts the church, but can transform the community.

New York State Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Webinars

You can take this training any time during the year

charlaine@prcli.org

Wednesday, July 10, 2024 

10:30am -- 12 pm 

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

2 -- 3:30 pm

Our Address: PO Box 438, Syracuse, NY 13214

Click Here for Staff Contact Information

Click Here for a list of Live Streams from our churches

Click Here for a list of Past Editions of Presbytery Matters

Are you hiring?

If your church is hiring, please send an announcement and job description to Communication Coordinator Sarah Buckshot at caysyrnews@gmail.com

Please Note: Hiring announcements will run in Presbytery Matters for 3 weeks and then moved to our website. If you have a hiring announcement from 2023 and are still looking to fill it in 2024, please send a new announcement.

Thank you, Sarah Buckshot, Communications Coordinator.

Environmental and Climate Justice Committee passes peace pledge and recommendation to move away from single-use plastics

Paper on lithium mining pitfalls is also approved

By Darla Carter

General Assembly News

On its first day of considering General Assembly business, the Environmental and Climate Justice Committee zipped through half of its agenda for the week, approving a peace pledge, a recommendation to reduce plastic pollution and a paper on the pitfalls of lithium mining.

ENV-01 was originally known as the “Adoption of the Sustainable Peace Pledge,” but the committee passed an amended version, using the term “One Billion for Peace Pledge,” to be in step with an existing global peace initiative associated with BioEarth, a nonprofit organization that is assembling an interfaith coalition.

The overture, sponsored by Charleston Atlantic Presbytery, calls for Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) agencies and related organizations to come together to develop a “comprehensive, coordinated, global and long-term strategy” to help mitigate climate change.

Overture Advocate Jim Miller gave a brief presentation on the need for the pledge before it was approved by a vote of 32–12.



“The warming of the Earth is bringing about climate change at an exceptional rate due to human activity, and if not mitigated, will have disastrous consequences for life on Earth, particularly human life, and for generations to come,” said Miller, a retired teaching elder. The One Billion for Peace Pledge “is a commitment to action that can mitigate those consequences. It is a pledge to join with others across the globe together and each in their own way to reduce the sources of and … mitigate consequences of climate change.”

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Race, Sexuality and Gender Justice Committee begins its faithful work

Committee approves one item of business and tables another

By Shani E. McIlwain

General Assembly News

The 226th General Assembly kicked off on schedule, with committees meeting on Zoom to begin their faithful work for the church.The committee on Race, Sexuality, and Gender Justice convened in mid- morning Mountain Daylight Time as the Moderator, the Rev. Lonna C. Lee from the Presbytery of the Great Rivers, called the meeting to order. After a centering worship brought commissioners together, work began.

The first item of business was RSG-05 sponsored by REAC (Racial Equity Advocacy Committee). Several ministry areas and advocacy committees recommend approving this resolution, which would offer a reimagining of recognizing the gifts and talents of the Latino-a-e diaspora to reimagine its place within the PC(USA), provide training and support, create a theological fund, and complete a study to determine the areas of pay equity and reparations that have not been addressed.

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