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March 28, 2024

Welcome to this week's edition of our e-letter, Presbytery Matters.

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Mission Stories

We want to hear about the mission stories from our Presbytery's worshiping communities. What mission work are you involved in? How are your members working in the community? What story would you like to share with others in the Presbytery?

 

Send any mission stories from your congregation that you would like to share to: CaySyrNews@gmail.com

  

Deadline is 12 p.m. on Wednesdays for the current week's edition of

Presbytery Matters.


We want to share your stories, missions, activities and more. Also, make sure to like our Facebook page by clicking the "Facebook" icon at the top of this newsletter.


We are asking our churches to share this newsletter with your members each week. Click the button below to forward the email or to obtain the newsletter link.

Thank you! 

Joys and Concerns around the Presbytery

In our prayers together this week:


  • Please continue to keep Karen Chamis in your prayers. Our former Resource Presbyter fell last month and broke her leg, which required surgery. Please continue to keep her in your prayers as she recovers from complications.
  • Pray for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
  • Keep all those who battling cancer in your prayers. Please ask God to be by their side and to be with their doctors and families.


In the cycle of prayer our Presbytery, please pray for these congregations, faith communities, and individuals: United Church of Fayetteville; First United Church of Fulton; God’s Vision Christian Church, Hannibal; Jamesville Community Church; First, King Ferry


If you'd like to share a particular joy or concern with the Presbytery, please contact: CaySyrNews@gmail.com. Please note, prayers will be featured for three weeks, unless a specific time frame is requested.

Maundy Thursday: Thursday, March 28, 2024


6 p.m. Simple Dinner of Soup & Bread followed by a Maundy Thursday Communion Service at 6:45 p.m. at Faith United Church Oswego, 12 Mark Fitzgibbons Drive

7 p.m. Service at Onondaga Hill Presbyterian Church, 4797 Makyes Road, Syracuse

7 p.m. Service at First Presbyterian Church Baldwinsville, 64 Oswego Street, Baldwinsville

7 p.m. Service at Park Central Presbyterian Church, 504 E Fayette St, Syracuse

7 p.m. Service at Whitelaw Presbyterian Church, 3085 Whitelaw Road West, Canastota

7 p.m. Service at Otisco Presbyterian Church, 1873 NY-80, Tully

7 p.m. Service at United Church of Fayetteville, 310 East Genesee St., Fayetteville

7 p.m. Service at Collamer United Church, 6565 Fly Road, East Syracuse

7 p.m. Service at First Presbyterian Church Mexico, 4361 Church St., Mexico


Good Friday: Friday, March 29, 2024


12 p.m. Service at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 17 William Street, Auburn

12 p.m. Service at First Presbyterian Church of Chittenango, 118 Arch Street, Chittenango

12 p.m. Sanctuary will be open for prayerful meditation from noon to 2 p.m., First Presbyterian Church Baldwinsville, 64 Oswego Street, Baldwinsville

12 p.m. Sanctuary will be open for Meditation and Prayer from noon to 3 p.m., First United Church of East Syracuse, 823 Franklin Park Drive, East Syracuse

12 p.m. Pre-recorded virtual service available on YouTube from the United Church of Fayetteville. You can watch that service via our website: https://theucf.org or on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheUCF


7 p.m. Service at Onondaga Hill Presbyterian Church, 4797 Makyes Road, Syracuse

7 p.m. Community Tenebrae Service at LaFayette Columbian Presbyterian Church, Corner of Route 11 And Route 20, LaFayette

7 p.m. Worship Service, First United Church of East Syracuse, 823 Franklin Park Drive, East Syracuse

Attention churches, please send your Holy Week and/or special

Lent service schedules to caysyrnews@gmail.com

Cayuga Syracuse Leadership Update

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." Eccl. 3:1



A message from Moderator Garrett Anderson and the HR Committee:


Sadly, the time has come for us to bid farewell to two of the Lord's servants in positions of leadership in our Presbytery.


Our resource Presbyter, Rev. Kathleen Dain will complete her one year contract in early June and our Interim Stated Clerk, Amy Loving-Austin, will complete her six month contract on April 30th. We are thankful to both of them for their hard work.


Kathy has helped visualize more fully PCUSA's Matthew 25 and has helped us work on becoming more organized. She has also offered her insight as to the structure of Presbytery and has given recommendations, some of which can be found in Kathy's "Presbytery Matters" entry from last week. We are grateful for her abundant energy and her willingness to reach out personally to meet with the leaders of all of our churches - no small feat!


Amy has helped us in many ways also, to include updating our Bylaws and Standing Rules to ensure adherence to the Book of Order. She has been delightful in keeping us doing things


"decently and in order!" Amy's knowledge and guidance have been extremely valuable. At this point, three jobs may be a bit too much since Amy also serves two churches and is the part-time Stated Clerk for Geneva Presbytery.


Kathy's vacancy presents an opportunity to actively explore shared leadership which has been a topic for several years. Conversations have been taking place and a conference with multiple Presbyteries will occur in late April. Please stay tuned!


A temporary Stated Clerk has been secured for our May meeting and ongoing discussions are taking place for day-to-day coverage of this position.


Thank you for your faithful patience and prayers as we navigate to where God is leading us.

Clergy

Celebration!

Our Interim Resource Presbyter Rev. Kathleen Dain and others were able to celebrate Rev. Dr. Margaret Towner's 99th birthday recently.


Margaret Towner was the first woman ordained as a Presbyterian minister on October 24,1956 right here in Syracuse at First Presbyterian on Genesee Street.


She celebrated her 99th birthday on March 19th.

From the Nominating Committee

Greetings from the Nominating Committee,


The Nominating Committee greatly appreciates the work and dedication of all who serve on committees and commissions of the Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery. We recognize that we cannot hope to live into God’s mission for us as a collective body without those who feel called to serve.


The Nominating Committee needs to establish a broader pool of names for consideration as we seek to populate committees and commissions. We are asking that pastors/churches provide the committee with a list of elders, especially those who are willing to serve on a committee on the presbytery level.


Currently, we are seeking people to serve on the following: Commission on Ministry, Committee on Representation, Social Justice, Human Resources, Finance and Property, Nominating Committee. Suggestions can be emailed to the Nominating Committee at lynchshavonn@yahoo.com.

 


Shavonn Lynch

Nominating Committee Chair

Interim Resource Presbyter Announcements

The Ethiopia Mission Network of the PC(USA) invites you to attend the seventeenth annual Ethiopia Mission Network conference at the Oromo Fellowship Church of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on May 16 – May 17, 2024.


The Ethiopia Mission Network meets to:

  • Share information, experience and wisdom and discuss common strategies and common interests
  • Provide useful connections to anyone in a missional relationship with Ethiopians
  • Make contact with all who share a common vision of relationship with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY)
  • Invite new participants into the network and encourage each other in the work of mission


Download Invitation

Download Registration Form

Under the new guidelines from the Book of Order, boundary training is required every three years for: Ministers of Word and Sacrament, Certified Christian Educators (CCE), Certified Christian Ruling Elders (CRE) and Inquirers before moving to candidacy. 


The presbytery has contracted with SafeGatherings https://safegatherings.com for the online boundary training course. To learn more, or to register for the course, please contact your committee chair or the interim resource presbyter.

Background checks for incoming Ministers of the Word & Sacrament are now conducted through Praesidium.


https://www.praesidiuminc.com


To request a background check, please contact your COM liaison.

The Rev. Kathleen Dain can be reached via email at KDain@cayugasyracuse.org or phone at (315) 551-0413.

Around the Presbytery

This retreat opportunity will be led by Presbyterian ministers the Rev. Mary Anderson from Cayuga-Syracuse and the Rev. Laurel Nelson from Genesee Valley. Download flyer HERE.

Click Here for More Information

Click Here to Download Poster

Joy & Justice Education Series


Park Central in Syracuse received a ReKindle Grant from the Columbia Theological Seminary, which allowed the church to provide Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) training with their congregational leadership and members in 2023. The funding also gives the church the ability to offer this training for FREE in the spring to congregational leaders from other local Presbyterian churches. 


The trainings are in-person at Park Central for five weeks, ending with an all day in-person retreat at Christ the King Retreat Center in Syracuse and is limited to 16 participants with two leaders from each church. There is required reading of two books, “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo and “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson. Additionally, participants are required to take the online Intercultural Developmental Inventory Assessment that identifies their individual level of cultural awareness. You can read more about this assessment at https://www.idiinventory.com


The sessions, which will be held on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. with dinner provided at 6:30 p.m., will start on April 15th and end on May 13th. The retreat will take place on May 18th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Light refreshments and lunch will be included.


There are spaces still available but they are limited. To register please send an email to niaministriesworldwide@gmail.com. Please indicate if you will need the books. 


Many have expressed that they know this is something their church needs to do but have said ‘not right now’. Please do not think that you have to ‘be ready’ to do this work. If you accepted the call to become a Matthew 25 Church then the time is NOW. You will not be alone in this as other believers and followers of Christ will be with you. It is time for us all to take the risk in doing more than saying or thinking we are doing the right thing and actually learning whether or not that is true. My question to you is, if I were to come to your church right now…would I feel welcome and how would you know if I did?

Practical Resources for Churches Webinars

Managing Investments and Endowments for Churches

Thursday, April 18, 2024

2:00 - 3:00 PM EDT

Leader - Charlie Kuchenbrod


Raising Kids Beyond the Binary in Church

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

2:00 - 3:00 PM EST

Leader - Jamie Bruesehoff

New York State Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Webinars

You can take this training any time during the year

charlaine@prcli.org



Wednesday, April 17, 2024

2:00 - 3:30 p.m.

Important Information

Our Address: PO Box 438, Syracuse, NY 13214


Click Here for Staff Contact Information

Click Here for a list of Live Streams from our churches

Click Here for a list of Past Editions of Presbytery Matters

Job Postings

Westminster Church, Auburn seeking Temporary Pastor


Westminster Presbyterian Church in Auburn is seeking a Temporary Pastor to work with the church while it seeks a new installed pastor. The church will consider either a full-time or part-time position with responsibilities and compensation negotiated and adjusted accordingly.


Position tasks include worship leadership and preaching, moderating the Session, pastoral care, serving as head of staff, administrative leadership, assisting boards, committees, and teams, and other duties as needed (funerals/weddings, representing the congregation with outside organizations, assisting with communications, occasional leadership of educational programs, assisting with mission, outreach, evangelism efforts, etc).


Effective Salary will be commensurate with experience, with benefits and mileage to be included as negotiated individually. Ideal starting date is May 1, 2024 but a later starting date will be considered. Please send a letter of introduction and resume to Westminster Presbyterian Church, 17 William St, Auburn, NY 13021 Attn: Temporary Pastor Search Team or by email to office@westminsterauburn.org. For more information or questions, call 315-253-3331 or email office@westminsterauburn.org.


Information about the church can be found at www.westminsterauburn.org or facebook.com/westminsterauburn.

Children Worship Center position at Westminster, Auburn



Westminster Presbyterian Church of Auburn currently has an opening for a Children Worship Center Leader. Successful candidate would lead and effectively interpret our Children & Worship program for children ages 3 - 2nd grade. This position will also assist our Children & Youth Ministry Coordinator in planning and coordinating extracurricular programming, outings & community service projects. This is a year-round, every Sunday position, normally 5 hours/week. Rate of pay is $20./hour. Interested applicants are asked to respond to our posting on Indeed.

Interested applicants are asked to respond to our posting on Indeed.

Are you hiring?


If your church is hiring, please send an announcement and job description to Communication Coordinator Sarah Buckshot at caysyrnews@gmail.com


Please Note: Hiring announcements will run in Presbytery Matters for 3 weeks and then moved to our website. If you have a hiring announcement from 2023 and are still looking to fill it in 2024, please send a new announcement.


Thank you, Sarah Buckshot, Communications Coordinator.

Around the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Author speaks to the value of naming and reclaiming women’s stories from the gospels

The Rev. Claire McKeever-Burgett is a recent guest on ‘A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast’


By Mike Ferguson

Presbyterian News Service


In her new book “Blessed are the Women: Naming and Reclaiming Women’s Stories from the Gospels,” the Rev. Claire McKeever-Burgett supplies readers with what could have been the backstory for some of most interesting women in the New Testament, including the Canaanite woman and her daughter, whom Jesus heals after first arguing with the woman.


Earlier this month, McKeever-Burgett was the guest of the Rev. Lee Catoe and Simon Doong, hosts of the podcast “A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast.” Listen to their 55-minute conversation here.


“I believe centering and celebrating, naming and reclaiming women’s stories — not just from the gospels, but from everywhere — is essential work for our healing, or at least it can be,” McKeever-Burgett told the hosts.


Continue reading...

Presbyterians for Earth Care webinar looks at real faith in a sinful world

Creation Justice Ministries’ ‘Plastic Jesus’ has a lot to teach us in the run-up to Earth Day


By Mike Ferguson

Presbyterian News Service


During the most recent webinar offered by Presbyterians for Earth Care, available here, Avery Davis Lamb introduced participants to Plastic Jesus.


Lamb is co-executive director of a partner of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Creation Justice Ministries, which developed “Plastic Jesus: Real Faith in a Sinful World,” a prayer, education and worship resource that churches can use in the lead-up to Earth Day on April 22. He called his March 14 talk to PEC “From Plastic Pollution to Environmental Justice.”


Continue reading...

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"I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them
bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5