Coming Events

June 12- 3:15 PM Nominating Committee, Presbytery Office

Preliminary Announcement for GA Bus Trips

• Saturday, June 30: Opening Worship, Exhibit Hall, Moderator Election
• Wednesday, July 4: Seminary Lunches, Exhibit Hall, Plenary Sessions, Fireworks

Lunch Conversations for Pastors

What’s going on in Shenango Presbytery these days?  Why stay in the PC(USA) at this point in time?  What does my congregation need from the Presbytery in this strange new season?  If these or related questions resonate with you, you are invited to join three pastors in the Presbytery for lunch and conversation on Thursday, June 7, 11:30 AM at New Wilmington Presbyterian Church.  Food will be provided.  Hosted by Bill Crooks, Ralph Hawkins, and Glenn Hink.  RSVP tooffice@nwpresby.org.  Questions to ralph@nwpresby.org or 724-946-3541.

We have Presbyterian Planning Calendars available for $9.00 each!

Engage Resource Books

If you attended the recent Engage Worship hosted by the Evangelism Committee, the resource books that were mentioned are now available at the Presbytery Office.  They are also available online for download athttp://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/evangelism/engage/.

Warning to Church Treasurers

The IRS disallowed a  charitable contribution deduction made by a couple to their local church. The taxpayers took the case to Tax Court who sided with the IRS. Here are the facts. All churches and nonprofit organizations must provide a properly completed contemporaneous written acknowledge for aggregate annual receipts in excess of $250. In this case, the taxpayers were provided with a receipt by the church. The issue at hand was that the receipt was deficient in that it did not include any indication, as required, that no goods or services were provided in consideration of the donation. The church reissued a new receipt stating that no goods or services were provided, which was rejected by the IRS and the Tax Court. According to the Tax Code the receipt must be contemporaneous. The only acceptable contemporaneous receipt under the Tax Code is the receipt the taxpayer has when the return is filed.  If your church’s annual contribution report to your members does not include this statement or similar wording:

In order to comply with the substantiation requirements of IRS Code Sec. 170(f)(8)(B), no goods or services were provided in exchange for your contribution.

…then you are in jeopardy of causing a member’s tax deductible contribution to be disallowed!  [Thanks Bill McKnight, CPA at Trinity Church, Mercer]

What Led to the Sudan Partnership?

The following articlehttp://www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/today/pdfs/junjul12_intoalltheworld.pdf by Michael Parker, director of international Evangelism for PC(USA) World Mission and former teacher at Nile Theological College, will appear in Presbyterians Today for the upcoming General Assembly in Pittsburgh.  It explains the deep commitment to world mission among western Pennsylvania Presbyterians.

Opportunity to Visit an Emerging Church in Southeast Asia

Several persons in Shenango Presbytery have made this trip before with World Mission Initiative at Pittsburgh Seminary.  If you are interested, please click here for more details.  The deadline is June 30th.  For more details, contact the Presbytery Office for names of those who have been there.

It’s Summerfest Time at Cana’s Corner!  June 10, from 3-8 PM