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07581 September 17, 2007
Presbytery and synod news
by Jerry L. Van Marter Presbyterian News Service
PEEKSKILL, NY - A representative of Bridges to Community, a non-profit international community development organization, and Hudson River Presbytery has traveled to Nicaragua to assess the Hurricane Felix damage done to a community center the two partners helped construct in Puerto Cabezas.
Working with the Moravian Church, Central District, the community center provides community members with sewing, baking and computer skills. It also contains a large auditorium used by many community groups and a cement block factory.
The hurricane, packing 155 miles-per-hour winds, blew the roof off the auditorium. The Rev. Jed Koball of Larchmont (NY) Avenue Presbyterian Church did the assessment on behalf of Bridges to Community and the presbytery. A total of $10,000 has been contributed so far to rebuilding and relief.
HOUSTON - New Covenant Presbytery has awarded its first eight "Vision Grants" to support eight congregation-based programs designed to promote the presbytery's vision to "grow congregations that passionately engage their community to make disciples."
The grants are made possible by a generous bequest from the estate of Mrs. Cris Miller, a longtime member of the presbytery's Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church. The first eight grants totaled $120,000.
The new initiatives include innovative programs for redevelopment of churches, support of a new suburban church development, activities that promote multicultural ministry, development of a comprehensive program for spiritual renewal and leadership training for pastors and churches, and funding for outside speakers for presbytery meetings and conferences.
MINNEAPOLIS - The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area is co-sponsoring a Sept. 28 workshop entitled "The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church. The event will take place at United Theological Seminary here.
Led by Diana Butler Bass, an expert on American religion who has written six best-selling books, the event will look at ways in which congregations have managed to grow in the current climate of rapid change and will explore the cultural changes that have impacted American religious life and how successful congregations have responded to those changes.
DES MOINES, IA - Presbyterian Women (PW) of Des Moines Presbytery has set a goal for each of its churches' PW group to contribute a minimum of $20 to purchase palm plants for the national PW Palm Project. Twenty dollars purchases 10 plants.
The national project is supporting the development of palm plantations in the Congo, where war-related agricultural destruction has turned the country from a cooking oil-exporting country into an oil-importing one. The palm-planting project is being coordinated with the Presbyterian Community of the Congo.
EVERETT, WA - The Sept. 22 meeting of North Puget Sound Presbytery will include a presentation by the Rev. Reggie McNeal featuring his best-seller: The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church.
His presentation will address how to transform communities, develop Christian leaders and convert people from "Churchianity" to Christianity. The event will take place at the presbytery's North Creek Presbyterian Church in Mill Creek, WA.
SIMPSONVILLE, SC - Foothills Presbytery is promoting a benefit concert by Emile Pandolfi, on of Greenville's premier musicians. The concert will happen Sept. 30 at Greenville's First Presbyterian Church.
The concert is a benefit for InDwellings, a non-profit organization that builds and operates residence facilities for adults with developmental disabilities.
CLEVELAND - Three southern African church leaders are coming to the Presbytery of the Western Reserve as part of the presbytery's South African Mission Partnership (SAMP) with Sisonke Masilwe Indlala (SMI). They will speak in several of the presbytery's churches from Sept. 28-Oct. 12.
SMI is a network of churches, organizations and movements working together to fight hunger by mobilizing to create sustainable holistic human development, particularly in rural areas of southern Africa.
The presbytery has been working in mission partnership in South Africa since 1992, The most recent delegation traveled to South Africa in April 2006. The next trip is scheduled for next spring.
IOWA CITY, IA - East Iowa Presbytery's Monticello First Presbyterian Church began a pie-making ministry after ordering more souvenirs than they could sell for the church's 100th anniversary celebration 25 years ago. A church member came up with the idea of selling pies to pay the souvenir bill.
The pies were such a hit that once the bill was paid off, they continued selling pies to help support the church's ministry. How many pies do they make in a day? Recently they made 125 pies for the state fair by starting at 6 a.m. and finishing at 3 p.m. On any given "Pie Day" they have about 15 women (and men) at work. In all, they make 33 different kinds - the best-seller is triple berry (blueberry, blackberry and red raspberry) ... it's berry good.
SEATTLE - The growing partnership between Seattle Presbytery and the Christian community in Vietnam and Cambodia will be explored first hand when a delegation from the presbytery travels to Southeast Asia in January.
The group, led by the Rev. Binh Nguyen, a pastor serving in Seattle Presbytery, will visit Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Hue, Danang, and Hanoi in Vietnam; and Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
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