LEARNING CIRCLES

Six weeks of communal learning this January and February

NEXT Church is offering a six-week training and conversation Learning Circle focused on antiracism during January and February 2023.  Each circle is curated with similar content while creating space focused on a specific context or lived experience. Learning circles will unpack the six values upholding white dominance and practice the transforming values to create conditions for equity.  Circles will meet once a week for six weeks and will be led by trained NEXT Church antiracism facilitators.

Through the Myrtle Collaboration 2.0, the Matthew 25 Cohort churches of First Presbyterian Columbus, First Presbyterian Bloomington and Fairlawn Presbyterian Columbus, are offering a limited number of scholarships to cover registration fees for those wishing to attend.  This Learning Circle provides another step towards our shared Matthew 25 Vision of dismantling structural racism.

The cost is $99 and spaces are limited for optimal conversation. Because People of Color will labor in a more costly way as participants in the Learning Circles, the participation cost for People of Color in any circle is $49.

To apply for a scholarship, please email Reverend Felipe Martinez (felipem@fpccolumbus.org), then sign up at the link (Learning Circles – NEXT Church). Registration expenses will be reimbursed through Christy Jerman, First Presbyterian Church, 512 7Th Street, Columbus, IN 47201 by mailing in your receipt.

2022 Presbytery of Ohio Valley Presbyterian Women Fall Gathering

“GIVE THANKS AND REJOICE!”

Presbyterian Women logo

Presbytery of Ohio Valley Presbyterian Women Fall Gathering

When: Saturday, November 12, 2022
The Program Begins 1:00 pm EDT, 12:00 pm CDT

Where: McCormick’s Creek State Park in Spencer, IN
The Canyon Inn: Sycamore Room

Special Performance by: MUSIC MAKERS OF MONROE COUNTY

  • Thank Offerings and Least Coin Offerings will be collected as part of the worship service.
  • The Annual PW POV business meeting will follow worship.
  • Refreshments will be served at 2:00 p.m.
  •  Please make reservations by Sunday, October 30

Contact Donna McCreary, 812-256-2370, mtlincoln@hotmail.com

Fall Faith & The Climate Crisis Webinar

Faith and the Climate Crisis
A Fall Four-Part Class

You are invited to join in a free 4-part program called Faith and the Climate Crisis. It will be
offered on Zoom on four consecutive Sundays, October 2-23, 2022, 4:00-5:15 pm EDT. This is
an introductory class, and we encourage several members of the same congregation to register
together.

Our goal is to engage hearts, minds and spirits to recognize the urgency of the climate crisis and
inspire individuals and faith communities to take action to address this crisis, action that has been called for by many religious denominations and groups. Read more about the class here.

Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. A brief Zoom tutorial will be available for
anyone expressing the need.

To register and receive your Zoom invitation, please go to our website:
https://www.presbyclimateadvocates.org/upcoming-classes/

This program is taught by the southern Indiana group Presbyterian Climate Advocates, made up
of the Rev. Dr. Trisha Tull and Carol Dunn of Scottsburg (Indiana) Presbyterian Church, Beth
Snyder of Jeffersonville (Indiana) First Prez, and Kristina Lindborg, an Indiana Citizens’ Climate
Lobby volunteer.

A grieving and shocked community gathers to pray

First Presbyterian Church of Uvalde, Texas, holds a moving hybrid prayer service

by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
Rev. Gini Norris-Lane, standing at the pulpit.

The Rev. Gini Norris-Lane, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Uvalde, Texas, opens a prayer service on Tuesday. (Screenshot)

LOUISVILLE — More than 200 people gathered online along with members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Uvalde, Texas, Wednesday evening for a moving and powerful prayer service on the day following the shootings at Robb Elementary School in that community. View the 50-minute service here.

FPC’s pastor, the Rev. Gini Norris-Lane, told those gathered in person and online that “we come tonight because as those who follow Jesus, we don’t know what else to do but to gather in prayer.”

“This space is one of prayer, one of offering our hearts, our lives and the heaviness, worry, grief, confusion and shock — it’s to offer all that to God,” she said. “Even as we cry out, ‘We don’t know for how long, O Lord? What happened?’ We don’t understand, but we know God’s heart and God’s presence is large enough to hold all of us, to hold our whole community, all our families — to hold our whole world. I invite you to lift your hearts with me,” she said, “as we are called to worship.”

“It is our tradition to begin worship by remembering our baptism,” Norris-Lane said, pouring water from a pitcher into a baptismal font. “We are God’s beloved people. We know nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We know the spirit of God is poured out upon us … and upon our community. We know the grace and comfort of God welcomes us home.”

Then Norris-Lane prayed: “God of comfort and assurance, tonight we acknowledge our fear and our hurt and our worry. We pray for protection and yet we feel vulnerable. We live with hope … and yet we search for forgiveness … Even as we stand in the valley of the shadow of death, we are your people, gathered yet broken, forgiven and forgiving, searching, striving, hoping, praying, wondering. Sit with us in the midst of our hurts and our heartbreak. Guide us in these moments as we pray and in the days ahead, that we might do your will here on Earth as it is in heaven.”

Norris-Lane recalled preaching the Sunday before on Jesus’ words recorded in John 14:23-29: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’”

“This gift of peace is not given only when things are going well,” she said. “This gift is not given only when we can understand it or strive to make it happen. This gift of peace is a gift, as God’s grace is a gift, as the community of faith is a gift. And so, friends, this night, may the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” Those gathered in the sanctuary and across the country responded, “And also with you.” Worshipers in the sanctuary exchanged Christ’s peace with one another.

The Rev. Sallie Watson, general presbyter for Mission Presbytery, read selections from Psalm 25 the old fashioned way: Watson said a line and had those gathered repeat the line. Among the verses cited:

“Let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.”

“Relieve the troubles of my heart and bring me out of my distress. Consider my affliction and my troubles and forgive my sins.”

“It is in God’s presence we take refuge, isn’t it?” Norris-Lane said. “I wish we didn’t have to, not in this way. And yet I am also deeply grateful that when things like this happen, our refuge is found underneath God’s wings.”

She asked those present how many had received text messages asking how they are or whether everybody they know is OK. “How many … have shared anguish and anger and sadness and shock and confusion?” A ministry colleague shared three Bible passages with her, including Psalm 34:18, which promises God’s salvation for those crushed in spirit. “Friends … we know a community right now where the heaviness of this feels like a weight that’s going to flatten us some moments,” she said. “We lean into faith that God does heal the brokenhearted.”

John 14:1-4 was also shared with Norris-Lane. We have “the tools to find the way” and “a God who hears us whether we rage” with words not suitable for church “or whether we just don’t have the words. We have a God who knows and hears and holds — and more than that, we have a God who came to be with us,” she said. “Jesus understands sorrow and suffering. Jesus understands crying out to God with honest words … We have a God who understands, but more importantly is with us and was with every person in that school [Tuesday] and is with every family yesterday, today and tomorrow.

“When you forget, take a breath,” Norris-Lane suggested, “for God in Jesus is as close as our very next breath, even when we can’t grasp what that means.”

The final verse shared was Matthew 5:4: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

“Hopefully, friends, there will be solutions for communities and schools to be safe,” Norris-Lane said. “But honestly, as the pastor of this place, what I want to say tonight to all of you is that path is down the road a little ways. Tonight we gather to comfort one another, to grieve, to pray and to question … What I know is the power of coming together in community reminds us that as the people of God, we not only rejoice together, but we grieve together. We suffer together. We hold onto each other together.”

Those in the sanctuary were invited to write their prayers on slips of paper for Norris-Lane and two colleagues in ministry to pray aloud. Among them:

  • Blessings on all the medical professionals who have served during this tragedy
  • Prayers for children and the burden they will carry for the rest of their lives
  • All teachers and students heading into the summer with heavy hearts instead of joy
  • For caregivers to keep going
  • For three people who lost loved ones
  • For teachers who want nothing more than to keep their kids safe and to send them home to their families
  • For God’s peace for all of Uvalde
  • For wisdom for parents on how to walk this road with our children, including what to say and how to say it
  • The strength to love our enemies
  • For the older folk in the community who sense that life in Texas and in the nation has changed dramatically. “Hear them and us,” Norris-Lane asked God, “as we wonder how we can breathe hope again.”
  • For God’s Spirit “to break in to provide all that we need and even more.”

“No matter where you go this night or who you are with, know that you are not alone,” Norris-Lane said during her benediction. “No matter whether you have the words to pray or you struggle to find them, know you are heard. And know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are held in God’s love and wrapped in God’s care and given God’s grace just for the moment ahead — every single moment.”

Creative_Commons-BYNCNDYou may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.

Ukraine Emergency Appeal

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance(God) shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
— (Isaiah 2:4)

The current Russian invasion that started on February 24 follows eight years of conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country are enduring bombings and assault by Russian military forces; and have lost power, been cut off from water and fuel. As people head toward the western regions, there is a shortage of food and other basic supplies. The reports of displaced persons inside Ukraine continue to rise every day, already in the hundreds of thousands. The UN anticipates that as many as 6.7 million will be displaced internally. Likewise, Ukrainians are fleeing to neighboring countries, primarily to Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, while others have moved to other European countries. Again, current estimates from the UN are that the refugee numbers could also reach several million. These borders have remained open until now even as lines are growing.

Partners are raising particular concern for the women and young children who make up the majority of the refugees as many men are now barred from leaving the country. As part of the international humanitarian community, PDA urges that governments and non-governmental organizations provide assistance without discrimination due to concerns for the Roma and people of other nationalities who have also been displaced by the conflict.

In the midst of the chaos, there are sibling churches and ecumenical partners who are already providing assistance with basic items for survival. Initial assistance being provided includes shelter, food, clothing, blankets, baby food and diapers, other hygiene supplies, flashlights and candles, generators and fuel.

Our first priority is to provide funding to these partners on the ground. While the scale of this crisis is new, receiving refugees from Ukraine and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe is not, which means we have trusted, established partners with the knowledge and expertise to carry out this important work. In fact, One Great Hour of Sharing — the single largest way that Presbyterians come together every year to provide hope, help and relief — was started in response to refugees coming out of Europe.

Our response to the situation in Ukraine will include both financial and technical assistance as the network of faith communities providing humanitarian assistance grows in the months ahead.

The needs for the response will be great. God’s people are called on to stand in the “GAP” — Give. Act. Pray.GIVE. ACT. PRAY.

GIVE: Gifts can be made online, by calling (800) 872-3283, by texting PDAUKR to 41444, or by check made payable to Presbyterian Church U.S.A. with “DR000156-Ukraine” on the memo line. Mail to:

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700

ACT:

  • Download the bulletin insert
  • Urge the U.S. government to support generous aid for refugees and civilians suffering in Ukraine, and call for engaging a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

PRAY: God of mercy, justice and peace

Our spirits are heavy with sorrow, our souls shocked
At the sudden and breathtaking violence,
the invasion of Ukraine by their neighbor, Russia.

We pray for lives caught in the grip of war,
who hear the bombs in the night,
the ominous movement of troops on the road into town
the whistle of incoming shells,
for a cry from a desperate neighbor or a shout of warning.
For those who huddle in subways and basements
or flee for the borders, clutching their children’s hands
We pray for families separated from fathers, brothers and sons
who must remain to fight and protect their homeland.

We pray for neighbors in Eastern and Central Europe
As their hearts and doors open to these refugees
That strained resources will become an abundance of hope
That fears and struggles with racism will yield to a generosity of profound welcome
That communities of faith within Ukraine will be protected from harm
and sustained in their efforts to feed and shelter their neighbors.
That peacemakers and protesters in Russia will be heard and their lives preserved.

May we undergird our prayers with tangible resources to help.
May we reach deeply, give generously, and welcome extravagantly.
May we lift our voices in a strong and unified advocacy.
May we all, even as we breathe in lament, breathe out mercy, hope and peace.
And in this Lenten season, when we walk the way toward death and resurrection, repent our complicity in cultures of violence and renew our efforts toward justice and peace.

–Rev. Dr. Laurie Kraus, Director, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

COVID-19 cancels 2022 Presbyterian Youth Triennium

Original article here: https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/covid-19-cancels-2022-presbyterian-youth-triennium/

New ‘PYT Beyond’ will now be before rather than after the 2025 Triennium, with time to dig deep into the Mathew 25 theme

by Paul Seebeck | Presbyterian News Service

Presbyterian Youth Triennium 2022, July 24-27, Indianapolis, IN

LOUISVILLE — Because of the ongoing pandemic, the 2022 Presbyterian Youth Triennium, which had been scheduled for July 24-27 in Indianapolis, Indiana, has been canceled.

According to PYT director Gina Yeager-Buckley, this decision came out of a deep desire to prioritize the safety and health of all Triennium participants, including those working the event.

“This decision involved a great deal of difficult, thoughtful and prayerful discernment with our multiple planning teams and we are confident it is the right call,” she said. “Dealing with the ramifications of COVID and the necessary safety protocols that we would need to build were overshadowing every element of Triennium. The most important goal of PYT is to provide a place where Presbyterian youth can safely and creatively explore God’s word and Jesus’ path.”

Gina Yeager-Buckley

Gina Yeager-Buckley

Yeager-Buckley said PYT is in the process of renegotiating contracts with the  Indianapolis Convention Center and area hotels.

“We’re excited to share that we’ve just been offered dates in July 2025 in Indianapolis for the next PYT,” she said.

The decision to cancel the 2022 Triennium came after a recent meeting with the COVID Medical Advisory Team, which includes physicians and immunologists. Senior leaders from PYT, the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Office of the General Assembly heard from the medical team that even with vaccine and mask requirements, there would be COVID clusters — not just individual cases.

Because PYT participants travel and attend as delegations, a five- day pre-event quarantine would also have been required, because young people typically travel to PYT with a whole new group of peers.

“You don’t often attend PYT with your youth group, but with a group of strangers,” Yeager-Buckley said. “The burden of adding an additional five days of programming, shelter, meals, etc., on to registrars with already full plates caused us a lot of concern.”

Even with the pre-event, PYT was told to expect clusters of participants with positive test results. Yeager-Buckley said she began to see something taking shape that is not what Triennium should be — or something the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) should encourage.

Leaders also began to understand that if PYT moved forward with the event, organizers would have to create an onsite COVID testing clinic and COVID care facility to care for those who would be in quarantine after testing positive.

This provided clarity that the largest gathering of Presbyterian youth every three years — Triennium attracts up to 5,000 people — would have to be postponed.

The Rev. Dr. Ray Jones III

The Rev. Dr. Ray Jones III

“As we spent more and more of our time trying to figure out a COVID mitigation strategy, it became clear that this wasn’t the right time to bring young people together for this wonderful event,” said the Rev. Dr. Ray Jones III, director of Theology, Formation and Evangelism.

The PYT team had already postponed registration for the event from February 1 to March 14 in order to buy some time for PYT registrars. With concerns about COVID, there were fewer adult volunteers to encourage youth and adult youth leaders to attend Triennium. A lower number of participants would also have had financial implications for this year’s event.

Once the renegotiations for Triennium in Indianapolis take place, the PYT team plans to move ahead with PYT Beyond, the new expanded ministry for Presbyterian youth that will offer virtual sessions, cohorts for youth and adults and online courses related to the theme, “When Did We See You?”

Regional, flexible PYT packages with videos of speakers, musicians and recreation leaders are also in the planning stages, all designed to provide a pathway to the 2025 event.

“The theme from Matthew 25 will remain the same,” Yeager-Buckley said. “This gives us a chance to broaden the impact and dig deeper with young people on what it means to see like Jesus — to see what God sees — and then be active in the world.”

Yeager-Buckley feels that it is the mysterious touch of the divine to have extra time to work on the “When Did We See You?”  theme with young people before the next Triennium. She recognizes that the work of dismantling structural racism, eradicating systemic poverty and building congregational vitality — changing long term habits — can’t be done at a conference alone.

“We’ve always known that this theme was calling us to reach further, dig deeper, risk uncertainty together,” Yeager-Buckley said.

For Jones, regional cohorts of youth engaging in Bible studies and working with coaches on “When Did We See You?” — possibly in partnership with camps and conference centers —  will give youth a chance to go deeper into the Matthew 25 vision with their faith communities.

The Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, knows how much prayerful discernment went into the decision to cancel this year’s Presbyterian Youth Triennium.

“The safety of the young attendees and our volunteers is always our top priority,” she said. “I’m confident the new ‘Triennium Beyond’ program will serve as a special pathway between now and the next Triennium in 2025.”

 On Friday, the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board approved allocating $246,000 from unrestricted funding reserves to a board designated fund to support COVID-related expenses related to the 2022 Presbyterian Youth Triennium. The funds will be used for COVID-related expenses and alternative PYT programming over the next several years. 

Creative_Commons-BYNCNDYou may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.