~17th Sunday after Pentecost- Sept. 15, 2024

Youth in the Church & the World Sunday

Theological Education/Seminaries Sunday

Evangelism Sunday

~18th Sunday after Pentecost-Sept. 22, 2024

Gifts of New Immigrants Sunday

~19th Sunday after Pentecost-Sept. 29, 2024

~20th Sunday after Pentecost-Oct. 6, 2024

World Communion Sunday

Peace & Global Witness Offering

HOMESTEAD SPOTLIGHT

Jonathan Sloan

How Long have you been a Presbyterian member? 

I have been a member of the PCUSA since I was confirmed in 1985 at Valley

Presbyterian Church in Arizona. I sensed a call to Ministry at a very young age and went to Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary immediately after graduating from Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington. After graduation I accepted a call within Homestead Presbytery in 1997 and have served churches in Eastern Nebraska ever

since.

What Committees do you

Serve on?

I have served as a member of various committees: Preparation for Ministry, Ministry, Nominating, Christian Education, Leadership Team, local Presbytery Disaster Response, Administrative Commissions to close or dismiss churches, Presbytery

Moderator, Commissioner to Synod and General Assembly, Synod Communications and Interpretation Committee, and at 5 Youth Triennium’s as Residence Hall Coordinator/Registrar/adult sponsor.

What are some of your

Outside interests?

I enjoy working in disaster response situations, doing what I can to help in whatever the current situation is. For a number of years, my wife and I are involved in a small group Bible Study made up of close friends from other churches and denominations. This

study is meaningful to me because it is one where I can be a participant and not have to always serve in the role of a leader.

I serve as an on-call chaplain at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Lincoln and find that work to be very fulfilling as I meet people during very important, scary, or joyful times in their lives and help them to find meaning in their experience.

In my younger years I played rugby both in college and in my early ministry, playing on the Lincoln team for 5 years or so. I still love to watch the game when I can.

How do you keep busy in your

Free time?

Family is very important to us, and Lori and I love to see our grandchildren, either

travelling there or vacationing with one of children and the grandchildren. When not

with our children or grandchildren, we still love to travel on our own, making an

intentional decision to do so now, while we are able to get around easily. We enjoy

exploring wherever we are when we travel and almost always will find a trail to hike.

I enjoy being outside: hiking in the national parks, camping, or working on the acreage

we are (re)developing after it had gone uncared for a few years prior to my wife and I taking ownership.

When I can't be outdoors, I enjoy board games, video games, and hanging out and

relaxing with our dogs while we watch a TV show (though we tend to get into shows that

end up being cancelled!)

What are you looking forward to in the future with

Homestead Presbytery?

I look forward to the Presbytery finding ways to connect and respond to a world that is rapidly changing around us. The reality is that the world is changing, regardless of what we do. Our challenge is to figure out how to meet the needs of people where they are, while maintaining the integrity of the gospel we proclaim.

HOMESTEAD PRESBYTERY STATED MEETING

HOMESTEAD PRESBYTERY TEAMS

Please review Pertinent data Sheet for 2025 Clergy and Christian Educators compensation update

Homestead Presbytery's General Assembly Commissioners were Terri Sherman and Pastor Sue Coller. Below you can click on the buttons to get information about the 226 General Assembly

Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Lincoln will continue to act as a ‘depot’ for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance/Church World Services. GSPC has been recognized as the depot that provides a significant amount of Gift of the Heart Kits. That acknowledgement is due to area churches & congregations that drop off completed kits

for shipment. A shipment just went out the end of August with almost 3 years of collections. If your group, church, congregation, or community want to send completed kits with the next shipment (which won’t be until there’s enough collections for CWS truck), we’d welcome your donations.

Please contact Good Shepherd at

402-484-8844.

↓↓↓OUTSTANDING HOMESTEADER AWARD↓↓↓

INVITATIONS

2024 RETREATS

SEPTEMBER RETREATS

Calvin Crest

The Small Church Connection Conference is an annual event that is held in the Fall at Calvin Crest. We gather to learn, support those engaged in the small church, and find renewal and joy! Lay and clergy alike are welcome to join us and has been a supported ministry event of Homestead Presbytery for many years.

Good food, Gracious Community, Spirit-blessed! Give it a try! Questions: email Darin Bentzinger at souldrdarin@gmail.com.

Kansas City, MO

OCTOBER RETREAT

Schuyler

NOVEMBER RETREAT

Omaha

Storied: Crafting Stories for Worship and Witness

With The Moth and Columbia Seminary’s Preachers Studio for Renewal

We are excited to invite you to join us on November 11-14, 2024, for Storied: Crafting Stories for Worship and Witness. Are you a preacher (minister of word and sacrament or commissioned ruling elder) yearning for a nurturing space to advance your skills for proclamation? Have you wanted to practice preaching without notes but aren’t sure how to get started? Are you drawn to storytelling for the ways it builds community and enlivens a lesson? If this sounds like you or someone you know, let us tell you why we think this event is not to be missed. 

LEADER WISE

An Invitation to Hold Boundaries

By Sarah Parker, LMFT

This month in our newsletter we are focusing on the topic of boundaries—the boundaries that are helpful for us to establish and maintain in ministry, in relationships, and in life. As someone who has had vocational experience in both ministerial and therapeutic settings, I have found it helpful to reflect on some of the similarities and differences in boundaries and the ethical expectations related to these different roles. 

Designing Good Goodbyes

by emilie boggis

When have you experienced a good goodbye? 

Good goodbyes aren’t necessarily big deals. In fact, they are often composed of small acts. When my children were attending daycare, their skilled teachers taught them how to literally push us out the door. I was fascinated how that simple shift gave our children agency. They were no longer being left at daycare; they were having their own adventure without us!

From Control to Boundaries

by Rebecca (Becca) Fletcher, MDiv, BCC

This is a tender story, and I hope that telling it helps my own healing and perhaps helps others heal as well. 

My journey to fulfill my call as a hospital chaplain was unremarkable – seminary, five units of Clinical Pastoral Education, and paying my dues as a per diem chaplain (if you’re unaware, “per diem” is Latin for “crappy shifts”), until I was finally hired as a staff chaplain in a local healthcare system. Several years later, when that system experienced financial difficulties and my position was no longer secure, I was offered the opportunity to be a leader in a different system. This was a role I had dreamed about for a long time, the system had abundant resources and a welcoming culture, and I was very excited about starting this new chapter in my career. Several months into the role, however, I began to see differences between how this organization presented itself externally and how it truly functioned internally. My dream job turned into a nightmare that negatively affected my physical, mental, and spiritual health. I resigned after 15 months.

Boundaries Check-Ups

by Cindy Halvorson, MDiv, DMin

Looking ahead in my calendar, I realized I had a dental appointment coming up. I released a heavy sigh. I’m not a fan of going to the dentist. I want clean teeth and healthy gums. I want to avoid decay and deterioration … but I’d rather not go. I listen every time for the description of my plaque levels – “light to moderate.” I wish I could get it to “light,” but I never seem to accomplish that. I often have a nagging sense of failure as I lean back in the chair looking at the ceiling with dental instruments in my mouth. I like the hygienist and the dentist as people, but I’d rather not go.

The Need for Hope

by Mark Sundby, MDiv, PhD, LP

Friend: Are you really writing another book? I mean, don’t you want your weekends and holidays free? 

Mark: Yep. Mary Kay and I really are.

Immediately after writing our last book, A Path to Belonging: Overcoming Clergy Loneliness, Mary Kay and I experienced the satisfaction of completing a significant writing project. We celebrated and savored the feeling. The most satisfying part, however, came later. Now and then, we’ll hear from a reader about how they read the book at just the right moment and it struck just the right chord. One reader even mentioned that they carried it around like a lifeline. It validated their experience, provided solace, and gave them a path forward.

Hope Is a Verb

by Mary Kay DuChene



In the last few years, I’ve noticed how easy the word hope rolls off my tongue. As in, “I hope you have a nice day!” or “I hope the weather will cooperate today.” “I hope I can take a vacation to Arches National Park.” “I hope the Vikings win the Superbowl.” (yeah, right!)

Click on button below to get updated Pulpit Supply list.

If you would be like to be added to our

Pulpit Supply list, please call:

Jim McNeal (402) 645-3117 or Sheryl (402)413-2143

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

ONGOING SCHOLARSHIPS/GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

Racial Equity Student Scholarship Fund

The Racial Equity Student Scholarship Fund is an educational assistance program designed to encourage racial ethnic students in their preparation for academic success in higher education.

Students must have a permanent residence within the Synod of Lakes and Prairies and be active members in a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregation. The synod is committed to partner with students and schools for greater access to lifelong leadership skills and affordable education. Application awards are based on personal achievement, financial need and recommendation from a teacher and pastor.



Applications are due on September 30th each year.

Preachers, gather a group of peers and dream together about shared learning and nurture. Cohorts may apply for up to $2,500/person. Qualified applicants include Presbyterian Church (USA) ministers of word and sacrament and commissioned ruling elders. What makes preaching bountiful?

Marilyn A. Jackson Grant

The late Marilyn A. Jackson, a member of Center Ridge Presbyterian Church in Red Oak, Iowa, made a gift upon her death that established a special scholarship program: To provide support for pastoral leadership to persons who are serving small Presbyterian churches, with a first preference for racially and/or ethnically diverse pastors within Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation’s 13-state region (see below). Awards of up to $5,000 (usually around $2,000) are awarded through an annual selection process.

Applications are accepted between through September 1.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A) INVITATION TO SUBMIT A GRANT APPLICATION FOR THE DECADE TO END GUN VIOLENCE

DESCRIPTION

Since the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopted Gun Violence, Gospel Values: Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call in 2010, the epidemic of gun violence has continued unabated and, in fact, has intensified and worsened. The 225th General Assembly in 2022 declared that It is time for the PC(USA) to reaffirm and strengthen its commitment to be an active and prophetic leader in the national movement to end gun violence. To that end, the Assembly approved a limited fund as seed money for PC(USA) congregations, mid-councils, worshipping community and institutions to conduct events to combat gun violence. Grants of up to $1,000-$2,000 per event are available. The funds are held by the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and grant applications will be reviewed by the “Decade to End Gun Violence Working Group, formed by the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA).

Apply for a Doctor of Ministry Scholarship  

PCUSA clergy, from the OPSF service region, may apply for a scholarship of $1,000 to support their DMin studies.

Learn about application requirements and how to apply here.  

THE PRESBYTERIAN PROMISE

AN $80,000 SCHOLARSHIP OVER 4 YEARS FOR

ALL STUDENTS WHO ARE PRESBYTERIAN.

The Presbyterian Promise Scholarship is a commitment by Presbyterian College (PC) to recognize students for their merit and affiliation with the Presbyterian Church. PC seeks to develop students academically and spiritually in this signature scholarship. Students who are members of Presbyterian churches will receive a scholarship for a minimum of $20,000 per year for up to four years—that’s an $80,000 commitment to you. For more information and to apply, visit our site: 

www.presby.edu/presbyterian-promise

HOMESTEAD PRESBYTERY CONTACT

Remittance payments from all Homestead churches are made payable to "Homestead Presbytery" and mailed to:

Synod of Lakes and Prairies

2115 Cliff Drive

Eagan, MN 55122-3327

Always attach a remittance form with checks.

Click here REMITTANCE FORM to download

Homestead Presbytery Office: Sheryl hpoffice@homesteadpres.org (402)413-2143

Stated Clerk: Erica Nelson

statedclerk@homesteadpres.org (801)389-4975



Treasurer: Ed McClymont

edmc@homesteadpres.org (402)649-3630

Homestead Presbytery

2110 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln, NE 68502

Monday-Thursday 9:00am-4:00pm

Friday 9:00am-12:00pm