Welcome to this week's edition of our e-letter, Presbytery Matters. | |
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We want to hear about the mission stories from our Presbytery's worshiping communities. What mission work are you involved in? How are your members working in the community? What story would you like to share with others in the Presbytery?
Send any mission stories from your congregation that you would like to share to: CaySyrNews@gmail.com.
Deadline is 12 p.m. on Wednesdays for the current week's edition of
Presbytery Matters.
We want to share your stories, missions, activities and more. Also, make sure to like our Facebook page by clicking the "Facebook" icon at the top of this newsletter.
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We are asking our churches to share this newsletter with your members each week. Click the button below to forward the email or to obtain the newsletter link.
Thank you!
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Joys and Concerns around the Presbytery | |
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In our prayers together this week:
- Please keep Karen Chamis in your prayers. Our former Resource Presbyter fell earlier this month and broke her leg, which required surgery. Please keep her in your prayers as she recovers and heals. Karen's father also recently passed away. Please keep her and her family in your continuned prayers.
- Please keep Karen Green in your prayers. Her brother passed away recently.
- 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: Minister members of the Presbytery who are engaged in specialized ministries, who are at-large members, or who are retired
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.
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Attention churches, please send your Holy Week and/or special
Lent service schedules to caysyrnews@gmail.com
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Presbytery Meeting - TONIGHT! | |
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The Moderator has called a Meeting of the Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse to take place at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 29, 2024, via Zoom.
This meeting is called for the purpose of acting on motions brought by the COM regarding the call of a candidate to serve the First United Church of East Syracuse and the United Church of Collamer.
Registration is required. Click Here to Register
Please read all supporting documents prior to the meeting:
Presbytery Docket 02-29-24 - updated
EA Speaker Bio
Statement of Faith for Eric Adamcik
We look forward to a productive time together!
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Vision and Strategy Committee | |
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As the Vision and Strategy Committee meets in churches around the presbytery, we have been talking to leaders about how we might help equip and resource congregations. One of the most often repeated need that has emerged is the desire for training and education on various topics. In order to prioritize these topics, we’d like to hear from you. We value your input. Your voice is important. As we remind ourselves often, the presbytery is not the leaders, staff, officers or any one individual—it is all of us. Together, we are “the presbytery.”
If any of the topics listed below are of interest to your congregation, please let us know. Likewise, if you have a specific need or other suggestions for topics to educate, equip and resource your congregation, please share your ideas with Rev. Deb Thomas (chair,) Interim Resource Presbyter Rev. Kathy Dain, Moderator Rev. Garrett Anderson, Vice Moderator Elder Lynn Jacques or any member of the Vision & Strategy Committee. Thanks for your help.
In faith and service,
Rev. Deb Thomas revrndeb@gmail.com.
Some topics of interest to equip the congregations
What does it mean to be a Matthew 25 presbytery/church?
- Mission and Social Justice Concerns (inc. racism, gender equality, respect for all people, etc.)
Elder/Deacon training
- Specific to the constitutional questions & vows church officers make.
- What does the Book of Order say about the role of officers, session and boards?
What does it mean to be a “Confessional Church?”
- What is the Book of Confessions and why is it important?
- Presbyterian beliefs, Reformed Theology, and essential tenets.
Older Adult Ministries
Sunday School Superintendent, Teacher, and Youth Group Leader Training
Responding to Christian Nationalism
Church and clergy financial concerns
- Insurance, audits, per capita, budgets...
- Clergy taxes, Board of Pensions...
- Annual reports, grant writing...
- Presbyterian Foundation and other opportunities to give.
- Stewardship: encouraging an abundance mindset (as opposed to scarcity.)
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Church Transformation Grant Update | |
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At the November Presbytery meeting, Interim Resource Presbyter Kathy Dain, presented information on a grant that she had obtained through the Synod to use for church transformation. At that meeting, she requested a Commission to be formed to oversee the application process and distribution of the money. A Commission was appointed by our Moderator, Garrett Anderson. The members of the Commission are Marissa Saunders (RE Park Central) chairperson, Lynn Jacques (RE East Syracuse), secretary, Ben Fitzgerald-Fye (TE Scipioville), Shavonn Lynch (RE Auburn Westminister and Minister Candidate) and Jessica Gorman (RE LiverpooL).
The purpose of the fund shall be to provide grants to assist congregations in the transformational work within the bounds of the Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery. The Commission has been meeting to establish criteria and provide application form for distribution of the funds. The application will be available soon. Any application received by the 15th of the month will be reviewed at our monthly meeting and applications received after the 15th will be reviewed at the next monthly meeting.
Keep reading Presbytery Matters for further information on how to obtain an application. Criteria for the grant will be included on the application form.
Let us keep our churches working to improve our communities and the world!
csptransformation@gmail.com
Lynn Jacques
Secretary
Church Transformation Commission
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From the Nominating Committee | |
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Greetings from the Nominating Committee,
The Nominating Committee greatly appreciates the work and dedication of all who serve on committees and commissions of the Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery. We recognize that we cannot hope to live into God’s mission for us as a collective body without those who feel called to serve.
The Nominating Committee needs to establish a broader pool of names for consideration as we seek to populate committees and commissions. We are asking that pastors/churches provide the committee with a list of elders, especially those who are willing to serve on a committee on the presbytery level.
Currently, we are seeking people to serve on the following: Commission on Ministry, Committee on Representation, Social Justice, Human Resources, Finance and Property, Nominating Committee. Suggestions can be emailed to the Nominating Committee at lynchshavonn@yahoo.com.
Shavonn Lynch
Nominating Committee Chair
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Interim Resource Presbyter Announcements | |
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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.
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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.
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If you are involved with a church book club and are open to having new folks join your group, please contact Rita Hooper at twohoops2@gmail.com with your information. Please include Zoom info, time, place and contact person and anything else you find useful.
Nancy Wind and Isiah’s Table are inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting, on Tuesdays at 7 pm. Feb 14th, Isiah’s Table will begin their new Lenten study - Pause:Spending Lent with the Psalms by Elizabeth F. Caldwell. They will discuss the chapter "Reflection for Ash Wednesday."
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83276947441?pwd=dElVL2c3UTducVlIUmdPYXRJdUVIZz09
Meeting ID: 832 7694 7441
Passcode: 065105
Rita Hooper and Presbyterian Women invite you to check out their book club, unfortunately meeting at the same time as Isaiah’s Table: Tuesdays at 7 pm. Their current selection is Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng. Missing Hearts is a suspenseful and heartrending novel about the unbreakable love between a mother and child in a society consumed by fear. They began last week but feel free to join them anyway! You don’t have to be a woman, a Presbyterian or even live in CNY to join. This club focuses on peace and justice issues and began during covid. We have read both fiction and non-fiction selections. We aim to support each other on our journey’s so sometimes we get a little off track!
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87193947627?pwd=SDZkanB0ZFVDZFoybmczU0F4QWpNQT09
Meeting ID: 871 9394 7627
Passcode: 748784
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Pebble Hill partners with The United Church of Fayetteville and the Global Mission of the Episcopal Church Diocese of CNY, along with student language clubs, Ken deLaski & the deLaski Family Foundation and other generous individuals to support the Haiti Education Mission. As a part of this mission Pebble Hill will be hosting A Concert For Haiti to support an annual Medical Clinic in Paulette, Haiti. | |
Practical Resources for Churches Webinars | |
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Does your church’s culture impede creativity and change?
Thursday, February 29, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Leader - Meghan Hatcher
Practical Practices for Faith in Families
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Leaders - Elizabeth Christie, Johannah Myers
Leading Faithful Innovation
Thursday, March 7, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Leader - Dwight Zscheile
Managing Investments and Endowments for Churches
Thursday, April 18, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM EDT
Leader - Charlie Kuchenbrod
Raising Kids Beyond the Binary in Church
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Leader - Jamie Bruesehoff
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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
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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.
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Around the Synod of the Northeast | |
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Innovation Grant Application Webinar with Q&A - March 11th 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Are you interested in applying for the Synod's 2024 Innovation Grant funds due April 8, 2024? Whether you have already started a draft application or are just curious about this funding opportunity, we invite you to register for the March 11th webinar to learn more and ask questions. Sarah Henkel, Grants Coordinator for the Synod, will:
- offer pointers concerning the most important information to include to make your application as strong as possible.
- give a tour of our new grant portal.
- review the Innovation Grant application; and
- share a brief synopsis of other Synod funding opportunities.
There will be ample time for attendees to ask questions about draft applications or concepts for future applications. While this webinar will focus most specifically on the Innovation Grant, you are welcome to attend if you are interested in another Synod funding opportunity and would like a general orientation to the Synod's application process.
Please register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtcOGvrzovHNcRY3_tdTzZqio_8qCXwz0U
If you are not able to attend this webinar, we will place the recording on our website for you to see at your convenience.
We are looking forward to meeting with you.
Faithfully,
Rev. Nancy Talbot
Synod Stated Clerk
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Around the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) | |
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The PC(USA)’s One Great Hour of Sharing gifts help to foster resiliency, self-reliance and hope in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico
‘We saw you in the people asking for justice’
By Emily Enders Odom, Mission Communications
Special to Presbyterian News Service
In all her 66 years, Magda Cruz had never witnessed anything like Hurricane María’s power to destroy.
But greater still was the power she saw in the human spirit to prevail — even in the face of the 2017 hurricane’s widespread devastation.
And it was her people’s total commitment to improving their communities’ living and working conditions that inspired Cruz to harness her own power to persist in the fight for social and environmental justice, a cause to which she has long been dedicated.
Because Cruz had seen how Puerto Rico’s public education system had often overlooked or outright failed low-income communities such as hers, she vowed to do something about it. As a lifelong resident ofhurricane maria Barrio Obrero San Ciprián in San Juan, Puerto Rico — one of several communities that surround the Martín Peña Canal — Cruz had already spent decades advocating for justice for children with learning differences well before the Category 4 hurricane ravaged the island.
Continue reading...
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The PC(USA) celebrates the gifts of women
Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries has resources to help faith communities celebrate
By Shani E. McIlwain
Presbyterian News Service
Nothing says “sisterhood” or calms nerves better than finding your favorite shade of red lipstick right before a Zoom interview and seeing your interviewee wearing almost the same shade of red lipstick. That familiar feeling is a gift in and of itself. The Rev. Dr. Anita Wright, who serves Trinity Presbyterian Church in Montclair, New Jersey, was selected to be the liturgy writer and preacher for this year’s Celebrate the Gifts of Women. On Sunday, March 3, churches can share these gifts and use the resources provided by the office of Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries.
Wright believes that when we center women and their gifts, we are recognizing that women have always been present in religious life and in the life of the church. For millennia, women have been unnamed and marginalized, often set to the side. In this honoring of the contributions of women, everyone wins, and God gets the glory, Wright says.
Continue reading...
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P.O. Box 438, Syracuse 13214
(315) 632-5698
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"I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them
bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
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