GOOD NEWS

from the

Presbytery of Great Rivers

We are called to share Christ's love by partnering in service, 

uniting in worship, and risking in ministry.

April 28, 2023

Announcements

PGR Newsletter

Our Newsletters will go out the 2nd and 4th Friday of the month. The deadline for adding information is the Wednesday before at 5 pm.

The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, is notifying the church that he is stepping down as Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA).

Grants from your Visioning Team

Grant applications are open now! Check out our Mission page (http://www.greatriverspby.org/mission.html) for information about the Visioning grant to support programming and projects in churches and partner organizations, as well as grants for sabbatical assistance and funding while clergy are on paid family leave. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, and the Visioning Team is ready to answer your questions. Contact us at PGRVisioning@greatriverspby.org to learn more!

PRESBYTERY ASSEMBLY,

Saturday, April 29th, 2023

Westminster Presbyterian Church of Springfield

(553 S Walnut St Springfield, IL 62704)

&

Via ZOOM

Meeting from 10 a.m.-1:30pm

Site opens at 9:30 a.m.

The childcare & meal reservation deadline is April 22nd - after that meals & childcare cannot be guaranteed.

Docket and necessary documents have been posted here.

We'll come together in worship, including a sermon by Rev. Chuck Goodman and music from Westminster Springfield. Some of the business to be addressed includes:

Presenting the candidate for Lead Presbyter (including meet & greet)

 Approving new nominations

Special guest Presbyterian Foundation rep Sherri Finke

Please register by clicking the button below.

Meet & Greet with our Lead Presbyter Candidate

9:00-9:30am: On Zoom (use presbytery assembly link)

9:30-10:00am: In person at Westminster Presbyterian Springfield

Join us this Saturday for a chance to get to know Rev. Ann Mills Schwartz before the assembly begins! There will be time for both online and in person commissioners to chat with Rev. Schwartz before she is presented on the floor of presbytery. We hope you can join us for this event, and look forward to welcoming Rev. Schwartz!

2023 Assembly Dates

April 29th at Westminster Springfield

August 26th at Peoria United

November 11 at Faith United, Monmouth

In-person and Virtual

Clerk's Corner

In the last Good News, I spoke about my journey on the Pilgrimage to Montgomery. I also spoke about the book I had been assigned to read ahead of time, “What kind of Christianity” by William Yoo which is the Presbyterian Church’s journey through enslavement and racism. I have had a couple of people who are interested in further conversation about the book. If you would like to join a Facebook page that is specifically for discussing Yoo’s work and the Presbyterian Church’s complacency regarding enslavement and continued racism, I invite you to email me at pastorebailey@gmail.com. If you need financial assistance in purchasing the book, please let me know. This Facebook page will not be structured but instead a space for people to come and share what has struck them, what they have found interesting to learn, or even what has broken their hearts over the denomination they love and thought they knew… yes, I am right there with you.

For the month of May, I will be at a Lakes and Prairies Synod Meeting April 30th through May 2nd. I will be at a Lakes and Prairies Stated Clerk Meeting May 21st through 23rd.

Our next Clerk's Convo will be May 8th at 6pm. This is a time for Clerks of Session to join with other clerks to ask questions, talk with one another about what is going on in their churches, or learn from one another. Here is the Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82477487297?pwd=ZXNIc29YRit3cTE2SGhsK0N5YzUrZz09

Meeting ID: 824 7748 7297

Passcode: 832216

Thank you,

Rev. Elissa Bailey

Presbytery of Great Rivers Stated Clerk

Register now for The Art of Transitional Ministry Training, Week I & II. May 22-26, 2023 at the beautiful Mercy Center, St. Louis, MO

We live in a crazy time of transition in our churches and culture. Transitional Ministry Education is not limited to those presently engaged in or inquiring about transitional ministry. Anyone interested in learning how to walk through change alongside your church is invited to join in. PLUS, we have expanded to include a more diverse faculty and re-worked curriculum for this spring.

Mercy Center is a beautiful convent and retreat center which provides: good food for gathering, lovely grounds for unwinding, a labyrinth for spiritual centering, AND great space for meeting and learning from other motivated pastors, CREs, and all who serve the church on committees.

Basic Transitional Ministry Education consists of 60 contact hours plus a practicum. The contact hours are divided equally between two residency weeks: Week I (30 hours) and Week II (30 hours), separated by a practicum that combines reflection on, and experience in, some aspect of interim/transitional ministry.

The faculty this spring includes: Rev. Dr. Barbara Wilson, Chicago Presbytery Director of Collaboration & Community Partnerships; Rev. Dr. Eric Thomas, Pastor of Siloam Pres, Brooklyn, NY; Rev. Bruce Jones, Transitional pastor, Milwaukee, WI; Rev. Dr. Tassie Green, Bridge Pastor of Hope Pres, Wheaton, IL; Rev. Gail Doering, Southern Kansas Transitional EP; and Tony de la Rosa, Transitional Exec, Synod of Mid America.

For more information and to register go to: 

http://synodma.org/transitional-ministry-education

For questions: contact Dylan at office@synodma.org or faculty dean Tassie Green at revtassiegreen@gmail.com

From Your Finance Team

First quarter 2023 contribution statements have been mailed out.



They are being sent to the attention of the:

• Clerk of Session
• Pastor
• Treasurer

Please take the time to review this information. Remember to include a completed remittance form when you send a check to the presbytery.

Attention Clerks of Session

Thanks to the churches who completed & submitted their end of the year paperwork. However, we are still missing quite a few.

Please be sure you’ve completed the Church Session (Trustees) Annual Report as of December 31 2022

This can be done digitally & emailed to smcgrath@greatriverspby.org

We also need a copy of your current certificate of insurance coverage – see attached example.

Also if you could please update your church information form. That way we have current contact information when we need to reach out to your church.

Thank you for your help in getting this completed

Sabrina McGrath – Bookkeeper

Bill Strawbridge - Treasurer



Please click the links below:

Sample Certificate of Insurance

PGR Church Information Form

2022 Trustee's Annual Report

Please click on the blocks below to follow the links:

Just a friendly reminder that all 2023 contracts and terms of call forms are due now to COM.  Please download the forms you need from the PGR website, under COM forms.  Thanks for helping us get these all processed.  It takes all of us working together to get them all approved and on file.

Please note: Churches can & probably should send their donations through the Presbytery office – otherwise we don’t know of them for reporting purposes. Churches should include this on their remittance form. Funds sent to the Presbytery Office get forwarded to Presbyterian Mission Agency on a monthly basis. So if we get them before the end of April they’ll be sent the first couple of days of May. Funds rec’d in May will be sent a the beginning of June, etc. The remittance form is linked here.

Presbytery of Great Rivers Virtual Office

Virtual Office Assistant Crystal Goforth 309-683-6980 Email: office@greatriverspby.org

Crystal works remotely from South Carolina (Eastern Time)

Please leave her a message & she will return your call.

Bookkeeper Sabrina McGrath 309-683-6981 Email: smcgrath@greatriverspby.org

Sabrina works from Peoria IL.

Her regular schedule is Tues & Thurs between 8am-4pm (Central Time)

Bridge Presbyter John Rickard 309-683-6983 Email: jrickard@greatriverspby.org

He works remotely from Northern Illinois.

His regular schedule is Mon – Fri between 9am -5pm (Central Time)

Stated Clerk - Elissa Bailey- 309-371-2511  Email: pastorebailey@gmail.com

Starting May 1st: the Stated Clerk's Office hours will be Mon - Thurs from 7:30am - 3pm. (Central Time)