…a community of Presbyterian congregations in western Pennsylvania
Best Rate for Disaster Assistance for Haiti
Please consider good stewardship of the funds that your church sends to Haiti. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) charges a 5% administrative fee. No other organization can match that because the PC(USA) has 11,000 congregations doing the fund raising. PDA does not have to spend very much on TV ads, printed materials and multiple mailings.
eLink Updates
We realize that there have been some unusual eLinks going out the last few days. We switched our News Blog from Blogger to WordPress, and as a result had to redirect the e-mail service to the new location. This seems to have generated some random eLinks (yesterday’s was completely uninitiated). We hope that things will get back to normal soon and we apologize for the inconvenience this is causing for all of you.
Prayers
Lori Cotten’s (1st Sharpsville) father-in-law is battling a very fast-moving cancer. Festus P. Cotten is 82 years old and has just been placed in hospice care.
Presbytery Staff at APCE Conference
Autumn, Debbie, Shari, and Margaret will all be attending the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators Conference next week in Nashville, TN. Rev. Dawson will be in and out of the office, but will check voicemail and email when he is in. The phones will left on “night-service”, so if you wish to speak to Rev. Dawson please listen to the options, then press “13” for his voicemail. If he is in, he will pick-up, if not, please leave a message. There will not be a regular eLink next week, but if something comes up that needs to go out we will post it.
Dave Dawson Has a New Email Address
Effective immediately, you can now e-mail Dave at david.dawson@shenango.org. Please change your address books to reflect this new e-mail address.
Churches Giving “Up” in 2009
The churches of Shenango Presbytery gave $101,522 for Presbytery mission (Camping Association, Shenango SeniorCare, variety of Presbytery programs) in 2009. This is a 14.6% increase over 2008. Thank you for your faithful support of projects designed to help all of our churches.
Treasurers Please Note:
Please make sure that all checks mailed to the Presbytery Office are made payable to “The Presbytery of Shenango”. Our banks will not accept checks made payable to “Presbyterian Mission”, “Missions of the Presbyterian Church”, or other variations that we have been receiving from numerous churches lately.
Sudan Travelers Leave on January 25…Please Pray for Them
Jim Leuenberger, Miriam Gwin, Betsy Barr, Derek Longbrake, Phyllis Buck, and Tom Kaufman (along with 4 from other presbyteries) will leave for the Sudan on Monday, January 25. Please pray for them and check eLink and www.shenango.org for their reports and pictures. They will also be bringing on their return some suggestions for Vacation Bible School projects for your church.
Help for Haiti
Your One Great Hour of Sharing gifts from last Easter are already at work in Haiti. Mark Hare and Sharyn Babe, PC(USA) missionaries serving there.http://www.pcusa.org/missionyearbook/Oct/10.htm Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is on the ground. You can give immediately toward a $1 million goal for Haiti athttp://www.pcusa.org/give/online/projectSelectAction.do?numberString=DR000064 We will receive and forward gifts through the Presbytery Office in the months ahead (designate: “Haiti – DR000064″ and make the checks payable to “The Presbytery of Shenango”.) Note: Funds collected at the church level should be made payable to the church. The church should then send ONE check to the Presbytery office. This will ensure that all donations are properly accounted for at the end of the year for tax purposes.
Valentine’s Dinner at Leesburg
Leesburg Presbyterian Church will be hosting a Valentine’s Dinner on February 13, 2010 at 4:45 and 6:45 PM. Cost is $12.50 per person and will benefit the Steele Mission Project. (The youth group plans to insulate, replace windows, doors, roof, porches, and siding on the home of this elderly Leesburg area couple.) The menu offers stuffed chicken breast or braised steak, and the evening will feature free babysitting and live entertainment. For reservations call Tammy Martin (724-992-0176) or Tracy Jaszemski (724-748-6010) by February 6th.
Equipping Pastors Leadership Events for 2010
Many of our first-call pastors attended the 2009 Equipping Pastors Leadership Events.The 2010 events are designed to help you understand and execute a “missional community”. There will be four events in 2010, and the first will take place February 11-12 at Camp Crestfield in Slippery Rock and will focus on Misisonal Leadership. Cost per event is $40.00 which includes overnight accommodation, three meals and all seminar materials. Brochures are available on the Presbytery website.
Westminster College Continuing Education Event“The Early Church at Prayer and Worship” led by Ancient Christian Faith Initiative
Wednesdays beginning February 3, 2010. Sessions at Westminster will be from 7:00 PM -8:30 PM in Old Main Room #210 on the following 3 dates: February 3, February 24 and March 24. The other sesisons will be offered online. Contact the Presbytery Office for a brochure. Registration deadline is January 29th.
Help for Haiti
In 2008 we made the transition to exclusive electronic communication, replacing Shenango Showcase which had been published regularly for many years. I wrote a brief article for those newsletters. This electronic note is intended to continue this vehicle of communication with leaders of our churches. I will generally make a brief comment and then provide a link to and article that I think will help you as leaders of your churches. It will come to you via eLink which you can access through the Presbytery Homepage www.shenango.org
Happy New Years (plural)
We have recently begun two new years: the last Sunday of November began Advent which initiated a new Christian year; last Friday we began a new calendar year (and decade). It is appropriate for ruling elders and ministers to ask some questions:
· Is a can opener a can opener if it can’t open cans?
· Is the church still a church if it doesn’t function like a church anymore?
· If you could start your church all over again, would you do it the same way?
· Why are you doing it the same way now?
These questions, provided by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, are especially pertinent for ruling elders, remembering that “ruling” does not mean “making the rules,” but rather “measuring the progress of a congregation.” Has your session considered questions like these?
Do you have a sense of “holy discontent” about your church? What could be done about that? I am interested in your thoughts on this. david.dawson@presbynet.org 724 528-1610
David Dawson
Presbytery Executive
Rev. Charles Van Dyne, Stated Supply pastor at Hadley and Kennard, fell on his way to the Christmas eve service and died early on Christmas morning. Visitation will be 2 – 4 pm and 7 – 9 pm on Tuesday at Cunningham’s in Mercer. The service will be on Wednesday at 11 am at Cunningham’s.
Prayers
The Presbytery of Shenango