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A Path to Belonging
A Webinar Sponsored by the Synod of Lakes & Prairies
Loneliness has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. What does this mean in terms of ministry? What does it mean for how we live our lives?
Mark Sundby and Mary Kay DuChene recognize how hard it is to care for others amid our own loneliness. This three-part series will explore the themes from their new book, A Path to Belonging: Overcoming Clergy Loneliness, with implications for ministry.
Great opportunity for Pastoral Leaders, Chaplains, Ruling Elders, Deacons, and all!
November 1st, 8th and 15th, 9:30-11:00 a.m. CST
There is no cost for this webinar series, but you must register.
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Pejuhutazizi (Yellow Medicine) Church near Granite Falls, Minnesota, is the first to receive Native American church property funds to help the congregation maintain its 169-year-old church. (Contributed photo) | |
Pejuhutazizi (Yellow Medicine) Presbyterian Church in Minnesota is the first to receive Native American church property funds designed to repair aging structures
A PC(USA) congregation near Granite Falls will celebrate its 170th anniversary next spring
by the Rev. Irvin Porter | Special to Presbyterian News Service
In 2018, commissioners to the 223rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted to create a Native American & Native Alaskan Fund to take in donations. Its sole purpose is to help pay for the then-$5.2 million in needed repairs to the denomination’s 97 Native American churches.
Because of inflation, those repairs will now cost $6 million. Commissioners to the 225th General Assembly (2022) added $200,000 to the money that’s been collected to date. Many individuals and congregations give to the fund, sometimes monthly, to enable the repairs.
Pejuhutazizi (Yellow Medicine) Presbyterian Church was organized by the Rev. T. S. Williamson on May 6, 1853. The church is located on the Upper Sioux Dakota Community near Granite Falls, Minnesota. The congregation is part of Dakota Presbytery, a non-geographic presbytery within the Synod of Lakes & Prairies.
Read the full article.
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Overcoming Racism Conference
The 14th annual conference takes place
November 11 & 12. Attend one day or both days. Live streaming of keynote addresses is available.
Conference theme: The Power of Truth Telling featuring keynote speaker Kao Kahlia Yang, Hmong-American, award winning author.
Interested in attending or have questions about the conference? Contact the Synod office!
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Pioneer PBS program featuring Fern Cloud receives Upper Midwest Emmy award
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Pioneer PBS’s locally produced programs Postcards and Prairie Sportsman received a combined total of six Upper Midwest Emmy® awards from the Upper Midwest Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The awards ceremony was held on October 15, 2022.
Fern Cloud is a Native American designer and Dakota hide painter who uses traditional paint pigments and bone brushes to convey symbolism and history on buffalo and deer hides. She has served as a pastor of the Upper Sioux Community Pejuhutazizi Presbyterian Church for the past 18 years. Cloud is also the great-great-granddaughter of Taoyateduta known as "Little Crow," who was Chief of the Dakota people in the 1860’s. She says her artwork “takes me back to connect with our people to bring that forward into today. It's a real connection that I feel that art is giving to me, to give back to the people. It's amazing."
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Congratulations to Pamela Prouty
This letter appeared in the October 12 edition of the Valley Bridge, the newsletter of the Presbytery of Minnesota Valleys.
Together in Christ
Dear Presbytery Family,
This fall our very own Pam Prouty celebrated her 20th anniversary as the Stated Clerk of Minnesota Valleys Presbytery! We are so blessed to have Pam as our Stated Clerk, and her longevity in this position has leant stability and strength to our entire Presbytery.
Many of you know Pam because you have called her with your questions! She is a tremendous resource to our Session clerks, and often fields their questions and has the knowledge and insight they seek. She is also available to the chairs of our many different committees to answer questions and help us follow our Presbyterian polity. She keeps us on track during our Presbytery meetings and coaches us as we do our work together. And she is often zooming in or attending in person the committee meetings of our Presbytery. She answers her phone day and night, without complaint, as she seeks to give us the benefit of her knowledge and experience.
Pam has attended most, if not all, of our General Assemblies and has taken many leadership roles with our General Assembly. She also is the Stated Clerk for our Synod. These additional roles help our Presbytery to be more deeply connected to our denomination.
Pam has worked through the years to plan many Presbytery leadership trainings with your Executive Presbyter and as your new Executive Presbyter I can vouch for the fact that Pam is a true colleague and ministry partner. She is leading the way in brainstorming and planning more of these events in the future.
I know you will join me in expressing gratitude to God for working through Pam Prouty, and touching all of us with her positive energy, joyful disposition, skill, and knowledge base to be the Presbytery God would desire.
Thank you, Pam! We don’t say it often enough or well enough – but what a difference you have made!
Together in Christ,
With courage, devotion and good spirit as a colleague,
Rev. Beth Buckwalter-Miller, Executive Presbyter
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Our Churches - Engaged in Matthew 25 | |
Solar panels at First Presbyterian Church near Ely in Iowa help put ecological stewardship into practice
The 26 solar panels are in addition to a native prairie meadow, beehives and a small fruit orchard
by First Presbyterian Church near Ely, Iowa | Special to Presbyterian News Service
First Presbyterian Church near Ely, Iowa, installed a solar array on Monday. The 26 panels will benefit the church for the next generation and beyond for the standard purpose of converting sunlight into electricity.
For a church congregation, though, the purpose expands beyond the basic science, and for First Presbyterian Church, solar energy is about ecological stewardship. Surrounded by great oak trees, a stream, field and meadows, the church is in the center of some of the most beautiful agrarian landscape of Iowa.
“The congregation has deep agricultural roots in Century Farms within the community,” southeast of Cedar Rapids, said the Rev. Dr. Julie Schuett, pastor of the church since 2009. “The timing of the solar project synched with the estate gift of a congregation member. Their experiences with solar installation were successful and they were driven to impact the church ministry and annual budget with this ongoing gift.”
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Members and friends work to install the solar panel array. (Photo courtesy of First Presbyterian Church near Ely)
Read the full article.
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We want to hear from you!
How is your church participating in Matthew 25?
Is your church an Earth Care Congregation?
What is happening in your church?
Tell us your news!
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Building Ministry Vitality through Matthew 25
Outward Incarnational Focus: "Lord, when did we see you?"
Outward Focus, a bible study based on Luke 10 with reflection questions by Chip Hardwick. A church with outward focus moves beyond philanthropy. It lives and connects alongside its partners, building relationships for the sake of the gospel. After all, the church exists by mission, just as a fire exists by burning.
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Update on Special Entities created by 225th General Assembly
Dear Colleagues in Ministry,
So that we may have a more diverse pool of applicants, Co-Moderators Santana-Grace and Starling-Louis have extended the application deadline date to Friday, November 11 (reference deadline is extended to Friday, November 18) for the following special entities:
- 2020 Vision Guiding Statement Implementation Team
- Special Committee on PCUSA and Race
- Special Committee on the Standing Rules
- Special Committee to Write a New Confession
- Task Force to Explore the Theology and Practice of Ordination
In particular we need to increase the number of applicants from communities of color; church members, deacons, and ruling elders; and applicants 35 years old and younger. Applicants can find information about the mandates for the special entities as well as gifts and skills needed at the application portal.
The Co-Moderators would appreciate your help in sharing this information with all congregations, encouraging folk to consider the possibility that God may be calling them to respond to service in this way.
Valerie Izumi,
Assistant Stated Clerk, GA Nominations
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Sitting in the Fallow
By Mary Kay DuChene, M.A.
Some of my wise LeaderWise colleagues and I have been sitting together thinking and wondering about conflict in faith communities. There’s no shortage of conflict in faith communities today, either because the pandemic has brought old wounds and trauma to the surface, or it has wrought new disagreements.
Some of the conflict we see today is about church decline. Whether consciously or not, most of us think of our churches in the idealistic way in which we first entered them. We relate to them with that image etched permanently in our minds, which can lead to unrealistic expectations about our future. In the conflict work we do at LeaderWise, we hear statements like, “if only families with young children would come back” and “we just need Pastor to bring new people to worship” or “we just need to focus on growing our numbers again.” Read more.
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Looking Beyond Crisis:
Redefining Ministry for a Recovering World
University of Dubuque Theological Seminary
Doctor of Ministry 2023
Led by Rev. Dr. Sara Dingman and Rev. Dr. Skip Shaffer
Join us for a D. Min. degree designed for pastors who understand that ministering in a changing world requires us to think and serve in new ways as well. Dr. Sara Dingman, Synod Executive of the Synod of Lincoln Trails, and Dr. Skip Shaffer, former Associate Dean at UDTS, invite you to be part of a journey that may redefine the way you view life and ministry.
Responding to crisis is an essential part of our pastoral vocation. Never has this been more vividly illustrated than in the changes we have faced, both personally and professionally, during these past few years.
This D. Min. cohort will focus on enabling pastors to explore and examine the crises that have challenged us and shaped our lives and discover new ways for us to live out our faith in the years to come. Our goal is not to get back to normal, but to discover what form normal will take as we share and live out our faith in the future. Click here for a copy of the flyer. For more information, email us.
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Programs for Deepening Understanding of Finances
The Presbyterian Foundation is pleased to bring you another Day of Learning with presentations and conversation about church finances and investments.
This FREE online learning opportunity is set for November 8, 2022.
12:00 PM ET/9:00 AM PT Understanding Budgets and Reports with Robert Hay, Senior Ministry Relations Officer
2:00 PM ET /11:00 AM PT Know your Fund Types: what are they and what are they for with Anita Clemons, Senior Vice President of Investment Management
4:00 PM ET/1:00 PM PT Understanding Investments: strategies, trends, and concerns with Brad Masters, Vice President, New Covenant Trust Company
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Free Student Loan Advising
Have student loan debt? If you've worked at a nonprofit organization, you may be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness! The PC(USA) is offering debt advising and document preparation to all PC(USA) leaders and free webinars for anyone with student loan debt. Learn more!
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Justice and Peace Book Club
- Read a J&P recommended book every two months
- Receive study guides to inform your reading
- Discuss the books with others via Zoom
The "Club" is open to all regardless of gender.
Book lineup for the 2021-2022 Reading Season
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Leadership Development Workshops & Programs
Learn more
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We have a new phone number!
Reach us at 651-279-1677
Monday -Thursday, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
Supporting vibrant ministry for our changing world. Learn more
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Growing Through Grief
This day retreat will include options for processing grief through music, art, movement, prayer, meditation, and time in nature. In addition, participants can meet briefly with a counselor, spiritual director, or pastor for support and consultation. Click here for a full description of the event and to register.
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Training Sessions offered by the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center
Please contact the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center (630-627-0507 or Admin@LMPeaceCenter.org) with questions about any of our outstanding workshops. Thank you for your commitment to peace and wholeness within the body of Christ!
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Presbyteries and churches share your news with the Synod! | |
To subscribe email: office@lakesandprairies.org
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