eDIGEST: Info from the PLM to help you navigate a changing world

Topics in this eDIGEST:

1. CONSIDER: What future hybrid worship looks like for ‘The Scattered Church’
2. LEARN: Plight of farm workers focus of latest ‘COVID at the Margins’ webinar, part of PC(USA) Week of Action
3. CONNECT: Campus ministries in PLM prepare to support students
4. LISTEN: Why ‘Presbyterians Affirm Black Lives Matter’?
5. NEWS AND NOTES: Details about life in the presbytery
6. NOTE: Scholarships & grants, updates available from Synod of the Covenant

REGISTER: Mandated Boundary & Ethics training schedule October 7

Boundary & Ethics Training is mandated for all teaching elders active in the ministries of the Presbytery of Lake Michigan. This includes teaching elders who are active with congregations, honorably retired and members at large PLUS Commissioned Ruling Elders and Christian educators.

One session of the class will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, October 7 via Zoom. Online registration is due by Friday, October 2. There is no cost to attend.

To register for the class, please click here. Training materials will be sent to the email address provided during the registration process.

Send a message to office@lakemichiganpresbytery.org for more information.

Register Here

LEARN: Focus of PMHN panel is spiritual, mental health during pandemic

The idea of pandemic fatigue as it relates to “Spiritual and Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19” is the focus of a panel discussion being hosted Thursday, September 30, by the Presbyterian Mental Health Network.

The free program – slated from 1 to 2:30 p.m.  ET – will include the Rev. Dr. Bridget Piggue, director of Spiritual Health at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta; Dr. Valerie Lipscomb, Ruling Elder/ Clerk of Session for Kirkwood Church in Bradenton, FL; and the Rev. Dr. Jerry Cannon, head of staff at C.N. Jenkins Memorial Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC.

REMEMBER: Employer agreement selections due soon to Board of Pensions

Remember that any group that provides insurance benefits through the Board of Pensions must complete their employer agreement selections by Friday, October 9. These groups include congregations who should designate someone to complete the required online process.

Details of the employer agreement selections are used by the Board of Pensions to communicate information to employees during the open enrollment process that begins October 26 and continues through November 13.

More information about the available benefits and their costs – along with instructions about making selections — may be found at https://www.pensions.org/what-we-offer/new-benefits-2021. Questions also may be directed to the Rev. Dr. Douglas Portz, senior church consultant with the Board of Pensions, via a message to dportz@pensions.org

NOTE: Final preparations underway for September 19 Stated Meeting

The next Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of Lake Michigan will be held at 9:30 a.m. this Saturday, September 19, via electronic meeting technology.

The docket includes a sermon delivered by the Rev. Chris Roseland, PC(USA) Lead Mission Engagement Advisor for the North Region, and comments from the Rev. Chip Hardwick, transitional executive for the Synod of the Covenant.

Also during the meeting, presbytery members will celebrate the retirement of the Rev. Jeffrey Carlson from First Presbyterian Church in Battle Creek and examine three candidates for ordination. (Details about how the examinations will be conducted may be found here.)

• Everyone who registered to attend the meeting as a teaching elder, designated elder commissioner, or a ruling elder assigned voting rights to balance the rolls should have received an email with a unique code to access the Zoom webinar. If you did not receive this code, contact office@lakemichiganpresbytery.org
• Others who wish to view the meeting may watch a live-stream broadcast. The link will be posted at www.lakemichiganpresbytery.org under the “Stated Meeting Details” tab.
• Teaching elders who are unable to attend the September 19 virtual meeting should remember to request an excused absence by using this link.
• The meeting docket, consent agenda and clerk’s report, and related materials are available on the presbytery website (or click here) so that participants may review the information and print copies for themselves. The presbytery will NOT provide any printed packets for this meeting.