Category Archives: Resources

Want to learn more about retirement savings tools? Ask Fidelity!

Participants in the Retirement Savings Plan of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are invited to a 30-minute, virtual presentation filled with tips and a quick tour of NetBenefits, your online retirement resource from Fidelity Investments (Retirement Savings Plan recordkeeper).

Get to Know NetBenefits, hosted by Dan McCarthy, Fidelity Retirement Planner, is a free webinar designed to help you manage your NetBenefits account, review investment options and performance, access educational resources, and use calculators and other modeling tools as you plan for your financial goals with confidence. Following the presentation, Dan will answer your general questions. Participants can also schedule a complimentary, one-on-one consultation with Dan.

From creating an emergency savings fund and managing expenses, to improving your investing know-how and growing your savings, NetBenefits has the resources you need to take the next step on your financial wellness journey.

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Noon

Register here for the webinar

All employees who work for a PC(USA)-affiliated employer are eligible to participate in the Retirement Savings Plan if their employer offers the plan to them. For more information, visit pensions.org or call the Board of Pensions at 800-773-7752 (800-PRESPLAN).

Parliamentary Procedure for Leaders – Free Webinar

Year of Leader Formation: Investing in Ruling Elders and Deacons
Parliamentary Procedure for Leaders – A Webinar
July 14, 2021; 7-8:30 pm (eastern) – Registration Deadline July 6, 2021
Tricia Dykers-Koenig

PC(USA) ruling elders and deacons have responsibilities as leaders in Christ’s church. Whether you serve as a moderator or as a participant, your call will involve meetings conducted by parliamentary procedure – usually Robert’s Rules of Order. Most Presbyterians have learned about parliamentary procedure through observation during meetings; during this Year of Leader Formation webinar, you can expect to learn more about the theological connections between parliamentary procedure and our Book of Order and gain skills to help you participate more confidently and effectively. You will have an opportunity during the registration process to name questions you would like to see addressed.

This event is provided for free for participants and is funded through your per capita dollars. It does not come without cost, however. Knowing the diversity of language within the PC(USA), this webinar will be provided in several languages with interpretation based on requests made through the registration process. As a result, there is a registration deadline of July 6, 2021, in order to be able to have time to arrange for those services. This event will be recorded and will be available in English following the event.

Read More & Register on the PC(USA) site.

COVID-19: Finding Information and Resources

Updated: 02/05/2021

Council Guidance on In-Person Worship 2.5.2021 – Click Here

All Presbytery Council guidance is collected here.
Resources for Congregations may be found here.

Coronavirus/COVID-19 Resources for Congregations and Members

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have compiled a series of resources for congregational leaders and members. It’s available here: https://www.pcusa.org/covid19/

COVID-19 Legislation Overview: A Guide for Presbyterian Churches and Ministers

OGA web mapping tool to show COVID-19 confirmed cases

Additional Sources of information:

Check these sites regularly, as information is subject to change.

PC(USA) Articles: Social Distancing and Ways to Stay Connected

Here are links to some of the recent articles published by PC(USA) regarding social distancing, and ways to use technology to keep congregations connected.

Social distancing and the love of neighbor
Zooming to the rescue in the face of COVID-19
Three hundred participate in 1001 Zoom conversation on streaming worship services

Free Resources from the PC(USA) store may be found HERE.

Resources for Peace & Global Witness Offering

A gift to the Peace & Global Witness Offering enables the church to promote the Peace of Christ by addressing systems of conflict and injustice across the world. Individual congregations are encouraged to utilize up to 25% of this Offering to connect with the global witness of Christ’s peace. Mid councils retain an additional 25% for ministries of peace and reconciliation. The remaining 50% is used by the Presbyterian Mission Agency to advocate for peace and justice in cultures of violence, including our own, through collaborative projects of education and Christian witness.

Click here for Resources on the Peace and Global Witness website.

Coming soon: a toolkit for your church’s mission committee

Original article found here.

Toolkits on Christian-Muslim relations, HIV/AIDS and short-term mission trips available now

by Tammy Warren | Presbyterian News Service

Presbyterian World Mission has several online toolkits to help individuals, congregations, mission committees and others engage in God’s mission in their communities and around the world.

LOUISVILLE — World Mission staff has created a variety of online resources to equip Presbyterians to prepare for, engage in and reflect on God’s mission.

“Through these toolkits, church leadership, Christian educators and mission committees will find resources to better understand, connect with and advocate for God’s people at home and around the world,” said Ellen Sherby, World Mission’s coordinator of Equipping for Mission Involvement.

Three mission toolkits — Christian Muslim Relations, HIV/AIDS and Short-Term Mission Trips — are currently available online and a Mission Committee Toolkit should be online sometime this fall. Each toolkit includes specific components to assist in learning, worshiping, connecting and taking action, as well as instructions on “How to use this toolkit.”

“In the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 22:36-40), we are called by God to live out the great commandment to ‘love God’ and to ‘love your neighbor as yourself,’” Sherby said.  “Presbyterians seek to live in fellowship with people of all faiths, striving for understanding and learning to work together to create positive change in our world.”

The Christian-Muslim Relations toolkit provides resources for PC(USA) congregations interested in better understanding, connecting with and engaging in advocacy on behalf of their Muslim neighbors. By learning how to better relate with their Muslim neighbors, toolkit users are equipped to engage in faithful, humble and respectful interfaith relations.

According to the World Health Organization’s most recent data from 2017, 36.9 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Church leaders, including pastors, mission and outreach committees, sessions, youth group leaders and Christian education teachers will be able to use these resources to better understand HIV/AIDS, how they can support people who are infected by and affected by HIV/AIDS, and how they can act locally and internationally to help prevent the resurgence of infections.

Preparing for short-term mission trips for the mutual benefit of the people who go and the people who receive the group takes time and careful planning. Leaders of short-term mission experiences help congregants discern whether to go, where to go and how to prepare for the sharing of time and talents with mission partners from other cultures and realities in the U.S. and around the world. Through the trip participants learn from one another and from their hosts as they worship and serve God together.

“It is vital to approach a short-term mission trip with open hands and hearts, realizing that God is already present in the place you are going,” Sherby said. “This toolkit offers suggestions and practical tools to establish the groundwork for a meaningful and mutually beneficial mission trip experience.”

Fourth in the series is a Mission Committee Toolkit, which will be available this fall. Since the mission committee serves as the heart of its congregation, this toolkit will focus on evaluating current mission involvement and assisting the congregation to discern its missional focus moving forward. Allocating funds, choosing mission projects, beginning and sustaining partnerships — all this work, although life-giving, can be challenging. The Mission Committee Toolkit will include resources to help equip and strengthen mission committees for this important work.

If you’d like to join with other mission committee leaders in sharing experiences and resources during virtual mission committee roundtables this fall, contact Stephanie Caudill in World Mission’s Equipping for Mission Involvement Office, at 800-728-7228, ext. 5279, or stephanie.caudill@nullpcusa.org.

All World Mission online resources, including mission toolkits, are available at pcusa.org/missionresources.


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