CHANGES TO THE BOARD OF PENSIONS MEDICAL BENEFITS

A letter from Rev. Teresa Larson, Moderator of CPM; Ruling Elder Lee Tan, Co-Moderator of CTM; Rev. Will Houts, Co-Moderator of CTM 

Dear members and friends of the Milwaukee Presbytery,



For more than a year the Board of Pensions has indicated that the current benefits packages and plans are no longer sustainable, especially considering the rising cost of health care. After much conversation and discernment, information on a new benefits plan was released last Wednesday, April 3, and will go into effect on January 1, 2025. Please see the links below for more information. 

The release of the plan has generated... (read more)

RETIRED CLERGY LUNCH

PREACHING CLASS FOR ELDERS

If you missed out the first round or just want a refresher, Ann Gibbs (Associate for Ministry Vitality) will be offering another opportunity for elders in the art of preaching. Sessions will be held on Thursdays this spring: April 25, May 2, 9, 23, 30, and June 6 at 6PM via Zoom. Recordings of sessions will also be made available for those who are unavailable or need a go-at-your-own-pace option. To register, please send an email to Ann at agibbs@pbymilwaukee.org with your full name and congregation. She will send confirmation that she has received your information and that you have been added to the class.

SCAM ALERT! ONLINE CHURCH DONATIONS

Our siblings in the ELCA alerted us to a new scam attempted through the online giving of a church website. The scammer made a substantial gift through the website; then immediately sent the church the following message to asking administrators to take action and refund the donation.

"Urgent please refund this donation back to the account my bank said y’all would have to refund this back to my account I did not give my daughter permission to give a donation out of my account and this have took all my bill money and everything she has gotten in big trouble for this"

The donation was rejected by the processor for insufficient funds, but had the individual been taken at their word and the refund processed the church would have lost that amount of money from their budget.

Please be wary of anyone contacting you or your church and asking for refunds to be processed before the amount has been cleared by a financial institution.

GONZALEZ PART OF PC(USA) DELEGATION AT GLOBAL PARTNERS ROUNDTABLE IN BUENOS ARIES

Evangelista del Presbiterio Dan González-Ortega was chosen as one of the delegates for the Global Advisory Panel, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) team that has been working with a representative group of the full range of the PC(USA)’s global partners to create a space where in the spirit of living into a decolonized vision of being the church. The delegation recently met to explore how the PC(USA) could most effectively show up in the world today.

CONGREGATIONS GAIN FLEXIBILITY, CHOICE WITH REDESIGNED BENEFITS PLAN

Congregations will have greater flexibility and choice when the new Benefits Plan of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) takes effect Jan. 1, 2025. The plan, redesigned to better support congregational ministry in the Church of today, received approval last month from the Board of Directors of The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

YOUR LIFE IS TOO IMPORTANT TO BE GUIDED BY ANYTHING LESS THAN WHAT MATTERS MOST

Saturday, May 4, 6:00 p.m.

Rev. Dr. Matthew Croasmun, co-author of the bestselling book, Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most, will be in conversation with colleague and friend, Rev. Lisa Lynne Kirkpatrick, and Rev. Dr. Brett Swanson. This event is free and open to the public.

As director of the Life Worth Living program at the Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School, Croasmun seeks “a world in which deep reflection on flourishing life is central to education, spiritual formation, and public discourse.”

Matthew Croasmun and his co-authors, Miroslav Volf and Ryan McAnnally-Linz, teach the most in-demand course in Yale College’s Humanities Program: Life Worth Living. Students describe the course as "life-changing," and an outside researcher's preliminary analyses show significant effects of the course on students’ sense of meaning in life. This event promises to bring some of these ideas to the Milwaukee area public.

Share this flyer with your congregation

2366 N 80th Street, Wauwatosa, WI 53213

JUSTICE & COMMUNITY CARE CONVERSATIONS: DIGIAL EQUITY & ACCESS

April 23, 2:00 p.m. & May 2, 10:00 a.m. on Zoom

What if the digital ministry of Churches included not only live-streaming services but also helping people in your community afford access to the internet? What would it look like to use your coffee hour to increase digital access in your congregation by enrolling people in Lifeline? Or training a volunteer to sit at a table at your food pantry and help get people enrolled? What would it look like to create a designated space using church wifi for community members to attend online appointments? What if we brainstormed together to think of other ways our churches could help increase digital access and increase community care?

Take the next step with the Wisconsin Council of Churchs. The WCC will hold two online and two in-person trainings, Let’s Talk: Digital Equity & Access, as a launch to their Justice & Community Care Conversations. In-person training will take place in northwest WI and will be announced soon.

Online conversations will be on April 23, 2:00 p.m., and May 2, 10:00 a.m. Register Here

INVITE THE WCC TO YOUR CHRUCH!

Most of the Wisconsin Council of Churches staff are available to preach and/or teach on a variety of topics. If you are interested in having a member of the WCCF staff come to your church to preach in worship, to speak at an event, or to lead a workshop, take a look at their Speakers List.

A special thank you to Dan González-Ortega, Ed Hale, Linda Hoone, Susan Long, Judy Jaggard, Cathy Manthei, and Carol Taylor for sharing excellent pictures from January with us!

Let us see What's Out Your Door in '24! Send Kate photos of what you see in April!