eLink News – April 15, 2008

Thank you for your patience as we learn this new way of sending e-Link. It may take a few weeks for us to “work all the bugs out”. In the meantime, you may receive eLink messages from “PMC Cluster” (one of our other blogs) or you may receive extremely long messages that contain every post we have made to the blog. We’re working on solutions.

Meetings and Events This Week:
April 15- 7:00 PM Committee on Ministry, Neshannock, NW
April 16- 1:00 PM Christian Education Committee, Presbytery Office
3:00 PM Nominating Committee, Presbytery Office
April 17- PW Spring Gathering at Wurtemburg
12:30 PM Church Finance Lunch, Shenango Home (registration needed)
April 18- 12:30 PM Preparation for Ministry, Presbytery Office
April 18-19 – PMC Cluster Event, Westminster College
April 22- Presbytery Meeting, Clen-Moore

Prayers
Rich Horn’s (Rich Hill) mother-in-law passed away late Friday morning. The funeral service was this morning.

Come Join Us on Sunday, April 20th from 6 to 9 PM in the East Main Fellowship Hall for another AIDS Caregiver Kit Build and to hear from Mrs. Lister Namutowe Chingangu, a World Vision Zambia Caregiver.
Having already provided 500 caregiver kits to volunteers in Africa through earlier builds in our Presbytery, a recent matching gift has challenged us to reach our initial goal of 1,000 kits. Each kit costs $28, so we are hoping to raise an additional $7,000. Gifts can be directed to The Presbytery of Shenango (4197 New Castle Road, Pulaski, PA 16143), or simply brought to the event, noting that gifts are for “AIDS Caregiver Kits”. You should receive a packet of information in the mail shortly and you are encouraged to read through the material and take advantage of this great opportunity to grow your congregation’s heart for mission. For more information about the World Vision AIDS caregiver kit initiative, visit http://www.worldvision.org/caregiverkits or if you have particular questions about the upcoming kit-build at East Main Presbyterian Church in Grove City, contact Ian Noyes @ (724) 458-8270
Note: You can download the cover letter, details page, flyer and bulletin insert as PDFs from the Presbytery’s News page.

Only a few days left to register for the YOUTH EVENT!
Call Autumn or Debbie at the office to register – 724-528-1610 by Friday if your youth group is planning to attend the Youth Event on April 26th at Westminster Highlands. T-shirts have been ordered and work projects have been created for us, but only one group has registered so far!

Missional Church Rally on April 27th
Interested in learning more about what it means to be a missional church? Confused by all of the “missional” references in the church media these days? Come to the Missional Church Rally at East Main Presbyterian Church on Sunday, April 27th from 7-9 PM.

If Your Church Supports Grace Memorial Hospital…
You might like to have a white short-sleeve T-shirt with a glossy picture of the hospital with the name above it and Wagner, Bahai, Brazil below the picture. Some t-shirts will be available at the PW Spring Gathering on April 17th at Wurtemburg. T-shirts are available for a $15 (minimum) donation to cover the costs of making and shipping the shirts from Brazil.

Church Histories for the Bicentennial Celebration Book
Clerks of Session received a letter in January asking for a 3-page summary of their church’s history by May 1st. Please be sure to send in a computer file of this document (12 pt, Times New Roman, single spaced). This will make the creation of the book much easier and faster.

2009 Trip to the Sudan
The Sudan Leadership Team is doing preliminary work on a trip to the Sudan in early 2009. A final decision will be made by August 1 and then the time will be very short to join in. If you are at all interested, we need to know now. Contact Jim Leuenberger or Dave Dawson.

What Does a Synod Do with Your Money?
Our churches are part of the Synod of the Trinity, 1200 Presbyterian Churches in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and parts of Ohio. Your session’s support of the General Mission budget helps do important work carries out through the Synod. For example:□ Subsidies for the Missional Church projects□ Support for Word Centered Fellowship□ Mission travel grants (our churches get a large share of these)For more information, see the brochure: http://www.syntrinity.org/about/financial_information/documents/NB_2008.pdf which you can order in bulk for your church by calling 1-800-242-0534.

Reducing the Risk Training for Mercer County Churches
Sheakleyville Presbyterian is having a 2-hour training for Elders and teachers with AWARE (Crisis Shelter) on reducing the risk for child sexual abuse in the church. The training is Wednesday, April 23rd, from 6:30 – 8:30 PM at the church and is open to other churches. An RSVP to Nancy Varner at 724-253-4230 would be appreciated.

Grant Available for Smaller Churches (150 or less in worship)
The Synod of the Trinity (1200 Presbyterian Churches in PA, WV, and parts of OH) has received from the Frank E. Clark Foundation funds to provide to each Presbytery $5,000 for a grant(s) to one or more churches. The church needs to match the grant requested. Deadline is June 8. Please click here for a copy of the grant application.

Katrina Table Project
The Katrina Table Project had an organizational meeting last week with more than 70 persons in attendance. Sufficient contributions have been received to pay for the materials to make 100 tables. For more information or to join the work, contact Jim Moose at moosewoodfurn@peoplepc.com.

Study Leave Opportunity
Want an adventure? For 15 years, a group of pastors have been mountainclimbing or canoeing/portaging using a book for discussion on ministry in a setting that lends to trust and growth. This year the group will be returning to the wilderness of Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada for a week of group building, physical challenge and spiritual growth. See Don Hurray at the upcoming Presbytery meeting for a brochure and application. The date for the trip is September 14-22, 2008 and the book to be studied is “Spiritual Surrender” by Jim Krisher.

2-1 Bible School Half Days…A chance to sample the ministry at Westminster Highlands
As you begin planning your 2008 Bible School program, the Camping Association invites you to consider adding a visit to Westminster Highlands to your schedule. During the week of June 16-20 the camp will be hosting 6-hour afternoon mini-camp sessions as an extension to Bible School programs conducted that week – but are also open to other groups who just want to spend an afternoon at camp. For more details, see the News page of the Presbytery web site.

Organ Dedication Recital at First, Greenville
First Presbyterian Church (323 Main Street, Greenville) is pleased to announce plans for a service of dedication and recital on the newly renovated and expanded organ in the main sanctuary at 4 PM on Saturday, April 26, 2008. Guest organist wil be Dr. Charles Callahan, one of the country’s leading organists and composers. The recital is free and open to the public, and the church sanctuary is accessible by elevator. Dr. Callahan will also offer a workshop for church musicians and other interested individuals at 10 AM the same day – please register in advance by calling the church office at 724-588-6520.

Shenango Senior Care Needs Volunteers
Shenango Senior Care is looking for volunteers to serve as Hostesses at the main desk. It just required a little time and a friendly face. The hours are Saturday and Sunday afternoons (three hours). There are already volunteers and this would strengthen the list. Please contact Betty Jones at 724-946-2028 or bjones@shenangopsc.org, if interested.

NWMC Speakers
Check out the speaker bios now posted on the New Wilmington Mission Conference web site at http://www.NWMCmission.org. NWMC will be held July 19-26 this year. Don’t miss out on this wonderful local opportunity.