Topics in this eDIGEST:
- NOTE: 224th General Assembly elects co-moderators
- ACT: Support Justice in Policing Act as part of GA’s anti-racism call
- CONSIDER: A church struggles to do right thing while listening to needs of the marginalized
- AVAILABLE: Synod of the Covenant offers Sabbath Sunday resources
- SEEKING: Items for eDIGEST and info for Prayers for Churches
- WANTED: Individuals to serve within the presbytery
NOTE: 224th General Assembly elects co-moderators
Posted June 20, 2020
By Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE —Elona Street-Stewart, executive of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, and the Rev. Gregory Bentley, pastor of Fellowship Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama, were overwhelmingly elected to be co-moderators of the 224th General Assembly Saturday.
The two garnered 304 votes, easily winning on the first ballot. The Rev. Marie Mainard O’Connell and Arthur Fullerton received 90 votes. The Rev. Sandra Hedrick and Moon Lee got 65 votes.
Click here to read what the newly-elected co-moderators have to say about diversity, the denomination and their plans.
Updated information about the 224th PC(USA) General Assembly – including links to watch upcoming plenary sessions on Friday and Saturday, June 25 and 26 — may be found at https://ga-pcusa.org/.
ACT: Support Justice in Policing Act as part of GA’s anti-racism call
Posted June 16, 2020
By Rich Copley | Presbyterian News Service
LEXINGTON, Kentucky — Calling it “a step toward transforming policing in America,” the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C., urges support of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020.
“This legislation comes in response to the global outrage over the heinous murder of George Floyd by a police officer kneeling on his neck for 8 minutes,” the Action Alert reads. “The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Rayshard Brooks and many others, at the hands of law enforcement, is evidence of the visceral reality of police violence against black and brown communities for generations.
The Action Alert points out that the 222nd General Assembly (2016) named racism as the continuing legacy of white supremacy and said Presbyterians must be engaged in anti-racism.
Voters can contact legislators directly from PC(USA) Action Alerts via Voter Voice.
CONSIDER: A church struggles to do right thing while listening to needs of the marginalized
Posted June 20, 2020
By Beverly Dempsey | Presbyterians Today
A congregation in New York City agonized this spring about whether to shut down a construction project renovating a 20,000-square-foot former factory building to create a sanctuary, addiction recovery facility, urban outreach center and retreat.
The move would have protected the health of construction workers but then denied them much-needed wages.
“The crisis led us to having to navigate complex decisions the best we could, hoping we have lived up o Christ’s call to love all people equally well,” author Beverly Dempsey writes. “But once the crisis passes, or our worry within the crisis leaves time for deeper thought, we have an obligation to uproot the conditions that required an elaborate decision tree in the first place.”
AVAILABLE: Synod of the Covenant offers Sabbath Sunday resources
A note from the Rev. Dr. Charles (Chip) Hardwick, transitional executive of the Synod of the Covenant:
All of you who plan and lead worship services have been so inspiring since the pandemic began. You have met the challenge of coordinating worship that is meaningful in such an uncertain time, of navigating new technology, and of deciding the best format in your particular context. More recently you have worked to address the issues of racial justice that are all around us.
The Synod of the Covenant (which includes the Presbytery of Lake Michigan) wants to offer you pastors and worship leaders a Sabbath from worship preparation and leadership in recognition of your faithful ministry.
I am coordinating a service based on Romans 6:12-23, one of the lectionary passages for June 28. You’ll be able to download the worship service as either the whole service (which will involve liturgists from throughout the Synod), or just the scripture and sermon. You could use this service on June 28 or any time after that.
A link to the worship materials may be found on the Synod of the Covenant’s website after June 25.
There is no requirement to use the service! The Synod is offering it with hopes that many of our churches will receive it as a gift to give you a Sabbath Sunday. For more information, contact Chip at synod.covenant@gmail.com or 309-530-4578.
SEEKING: Items for eDIGEST and info for Prayers for Churches
Things continue to shift as we continue to move through 2020.
The effort to keep presbytery members information about topics like the coronavirus crisis, racial justice and doing God’s work in a changing world will continue to include publication of an eDIGEST newsletter. But, now the communication will come to your email box just on Wednesdays..
Also, presbytery leaders would like to resume the weekly Prayers for Churches communication. Each edition will lift one of our faith communities in prayer as part of our mission in Christ. If your congregation or ministry group received an email last week seeking information to revive this communication, please take a few minutes to respond. (Other congregations and churches will receive these invitations on a rolling basis throughout the year.)
Finally, if there is something special or unique happening in your congregation or group that might interest others within the presbytery, please send the information to office@lakemichiganpresbytery.org.
WANTED: Individuals to serve within the presbytery
The pandemic may be changing how we do things . . . but the Presbytery of Lake Michigan still needs leaders to help with God’s work beyond our congregations.
Members of the presbytery’s Nominating & Representation Committee continue recruiting ruling elders and teaching elders to serve in various roles. The presbytery uses technology – including Zoom meetings and online documents – to conduct its business so we can have efficient meetings and less travel, even when shelter-in-place restrictions end.
Will you help? Now it the time to say YES! by sending a note to nominating@lakemichiganpresbytery.org
REMEMBER: Archived information about coronavirus response resources may be found at https://lakemichiganpresbytery.org/coronavirus-response/
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