We give our very busy Stated Clerk a small break by having a member of Presbytery Council write an article on a regular basis. We are grateful to the Rev. Jamie Milton for his contribution this week. Jamie is the Pastor of Bay City-Westminster and the Moderator of the Mission Coordination Committee.

Coming Together to End Hunger

“The kingdom of God gives churches a vision and a mandate for standing with he hungry and the impoverished—for loving our neighbor as we love ourselves” Jeremy Everett

In my opinion, this quote sums up Jeremy’s book and the Matthew 25 vision at the same time. It speaks to the need for collaborative efforts among God’s people as we address the food insecurity that so many of our siblings live with every day. “When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat.”

At the June presbytery meeting, the Mission Coordination Committee extended an invitation to the presbytery to join together in reading the book, “I Was Hungry: Cultivating Common Ground to End an American Crisis” by Jeremy Everett. In the book, Jeremy shares his work in communities to build partnerships between organizations to address the millions of Americans who live with food insecurity, hunger, and other poverty related challenges. To foster continuing conversations in our own corner of Michigan, the MCC is hosting a free presbytery-wide event on Saturday, September 30^th at Bay City-Westminster, 9:30am-1:30pm. (Sign up through the link below.)

The day will include a keynote address from Dr. Phil Knight, the Executive Director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan. Dr. Knight will then join Samantha McKenzie of Hidden Harvest, and another panelist from our region to discuss the work that each of their organizations does in alleviating hunger and how they collaborate with others to do so.

Following a simple lunch, we’ll have an opportunity in small groups to hear what hunger work some of our churches are doing and begin brainstorming ways that we can work together in furthering the work being done to feed our neighbors.

While the book prompted our focus, having read “I Was Hungry” is not a requirement to attend. Our conversations will be around hunger work being done in our communities and how we can work together to feed the hungry in our area. Anyone interested in continuing this conversation is welcome to attend!

As a discussion starter, each church is invited to bring pictures, a poster board, or other physical presentation that describes the mission work your congregation does to address hunger and food insecurity in your community. Displays can be set up in the Fellowship Hall for participants to browse and will be used during our small group discussion time.

Please let us know you are coming by registering through the presbytery website, or by contacting Rev. Jamie Milton (pastor@wpcbc.org)

Yours in Christ,

The Rev. Jamie Milton

Pastor of Bay City-Westminster

Moderator of the Mission Coordination Committee

New CLC System - Out with the old, in with the new!

CLC (Church Leadership Connection) is the matching and referral system for PCUSA.  Both call/job seekers and PCUSA churches may use CLC to enter in their information to be matched with potential candidates and positions.  

The new CLC system has been in transition since June.  In 8 days (August 31). the old CLC system that you may be familiar with will cease to be accessible. Any candidate profile information forms (PIFs) and ministry information forms (MIFs) will not be transferred to the new system and will no longer be available.  

If you are seeking a call, or are a church looking to hire, you must complete a new profile on CLC. The website has various resources available to help walk you through the process. The link for the new forms and resources can be found at: https://oga.pcusa.org/section/clc/clc/ 

For questions, please contact the presbytery office.

Presbyterian Planning Calendar 2023-2024

If you ordered calendars through the presbytery office, good news, they have arrived earlier than anticipated!

You may pick them up from the office during our normal business hours or at the September 19th presbytery meeting at Saginaw-Countryside.

It is advised that you call the office ahead of time. There are occasionally days when staff works remotely or due to vacations, we may be closed for lunch. Office phone is 989-799-7481.

Minutes Review: There will be three chances for Clerks of Sessions to have their minutes and registers reviewed. The review can include minutes and records through August of 2023.

The dates for the reviews have been set as follows:

Monday, October 16 at 10 AM at the Presbytery Office

Saturday, October 21 at 10 AM Location to be determined

Saturday, October 28 at 10 AM Location to be determined

Information will be sent out in early September to all Clerks of Session. We just want to give a heads up on the dates.

Training for Elders who want to be able to moderate session meetings will be held on November 8th.

More information will be in the next Bi-Weekly Brief.

One of our Candidates Under Care, Nathaniel Asperger, has been working on a wonderful project while preparing for Ordination.

Greetings everyone, I am Nathaniel Asperger. I am a Candidate under care in our Presbytery, and I have been curious about how Identity plays various parts in who we are within our Presbytery. I started the Presbyterian Identity Project, (PIP) as a way to explore that for myself, and I want to share it with all of you as I work through it. I recently launched this project into a podcast, called the Presbyterian Identity Project, which is available to listen to on most major platforms. In this journey I have sat down with the Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick, our Synod Executive, and the Rev. Ted McCulloch, Presbytery Stated Clerk and Pastor of Saginaw-First, to ask from their perspectives what it is they do.

Perhaps more interestingly to myself, how Identity functions from their perspective in a Denomination, a Synod, a Presbytery, and the local church. This project is working through these different perspectives in the Presbytery of Lake Huron, and next up is our local churches, (perhaps your church).

The link below will take you to the landing page for the podcast, I hope you will listen, and get to know Chip and Ted better. Most of all, I hope you will listen as I work to better understand how Identity matters and shapes each of us throughout the Presbytery of Lake Huron. 

This is an ongoing Project, if you would like to add your voice please reach out! Whether you are a Minister, an Elder, or you attend any of the Presbyterian Churches in the Presbyterian of Lake Huron, your voice is welcome in this conversation. 

You can email me at, presbyidproject@gmail.com. 

Check out the Podcast and start listening here: Who am I and what is this podcast? by Presbyterian Identity Project (spotify.com)

Grace and Peace,



Nathaniel Asperger

What new adventures or hobbies can a new pair of shoes help you undertake? Consider how lacing up a new pair of shoes can help you share your talents with others. Get inspiration from POAMN’s 2023 conference, coming September 14 and 15 in Michigan.

Gather with us in Grosse Ile (a suburb of Detroit) for a day and a half of workshops, worship, warm fellowship, and good food. Through the theme Walking in New Shoes, we will explore trying new things, including ways to continue our service to God and our local and global community.

Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network (POAMN) promotes the development of older adult ministries and the value of such ministries. POAMN’s mission includes nurturing the faith community, equipping leadership, and resourcing congregations and other organizations that minister to, for, and with older adults. POAMN seeks to encourage ministries that affirm the dignity and value of the multiple generations of aging adults with a focus on spirituality, wellness, care, and social involvement. Its purpose is to educate, advocate, develop and share resources, and train leaders by raising awareness around issues facing aging adults and those who serve those aging adults, all in a covenant relationship with the Presbyterian Mission Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

According to the CDC, approximately 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys in the United States will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18. And over 90% of these cases of child sexual abuse are perpetrated by someone who is known and trusted by the child or the child’s family. Our children are vulnerable. . . even in the church – numerous reports of child sexual abuse have been reported in churches throughout the country.

This child abuse prevention training has been developed to protect the vulnerable and prevent future abuse in the church by increasing knowledge and awareness about child sexual abuse. Through interactive dialogue, participants will learn healthy ways to talk about abuse in the communities they serve. In addition, this training is designed to equip leaders to assess their current environmental risk factors for “blind spots” and create action steps to reduce the potential for abuse and to respond in faithful and ethical ways in the event that abuse is discovered in their context.

This training is designed for both teaching and ruling elders, and satisfies the requirement for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Training discussed at the 2022 General Assembly.



Dates: September 11 and 14, 2023 6:00 to 8:30 pm by zoom

Synod of the Covenant's Matthew 25 Grants of up to $5000 for congregations or Presbyterian ministries who are pursuing the goals of the Matthew 25 movement (working towards congregational vitality and/or against systemic poverty and/or against structural racism), will be awarded this fall.  

The focus of the Matthew 25 Grants program is to build congregational vitality, dismantle structural racism, and/or eradicate systemic poverty. These goals stem from the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Matthew 25 movement. 

Applications for the 2023 cycle are due on September 30, 2023.

Thank you to all who support the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan!

DID YOU KNOW... the Food Bank is expanding its production kitchen to feed more neighbors. One of the Food Bank’s primary goals is to continually prepare fresh, healthy meals for children’s feeding programs. At the height of the pandemic, the Food Bank experienced a significant increase in need and had to adjust production and delivery models to better serve community partners. In doing so, it was discovered that the current capacity limited the amount of food that could be prepared and distributed. The Kitchen Expansion Project, which began in May, will nearly double the capacity of the current state-of-the-art production area and will enable the Food Bank to feed more children throughout eastern Michigan. This project will add an additional 3,700 square feet of space including a cooler, dry storage area, shipping dock, office space and interior parking. To learn more about the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan's Kitchen Expansion Project please visit FBEM.org and remember, when you make a contribution to the Food Bank, you are directly impacting the lives of children and families throughout 22 eastern Michigan counties.