May 25, North Iowa Presbyterian E-News. Presbytery Office Lakeshore Center at Okoboji 1864 Hwy. 86 Milford, IA

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1 North Iowa Presbyterian E-News Presbytery Office Lakeshore Center at Okoboji 1864 Hwy. 86 Milford, IA May 25, 2017 The Presbytery Office will be Closed the Following Dates: Friday, May 26 and Monday, May 29 for Memorial Day (these are Synod dates) Friday, June 2, as Jeannie will be at the All-Iowa Presbyterians Gathering in Ames Monday, July 3 and Tuesday, July 4 for the Fourth of July (these are Synod dates) July so that Jeannie can attend Synod School. Voice mails and s will be checked during the evenings, but no assistance will be available during the day. The North Central Iowa Session Minutes and Records Reviews that were scheduled for May 20 and May 27 have been postponed. Notice of the rescheduled dates will be ed as soon as those dates are set. Thank you for your understanding.

2 Prayers of the Presbytery of North Central Iowa Week of May 28 Week of June 4 Week of June 11 Week of June 18 Week of June 25 Unity Presbyterian Church, Waterloo Rev. Christine Kaplunas First Presbyterian Church, Mason City Rev. Paul Collier First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Falls Rev. Brad Braley Pray for honorably retired pastors in the Presbytery of North Central Iowa (not currently serving churches): Rev. Bruce Baillie, Rev. John Bates, Rev. Fran Beyea, Rev. Susan Cluts, Rev. Dan Emmert, Rev. Robert EnTin, Rev. Jerry Evelsizer, Rev. Richard Harken, Rev. Wesley Harker, Rev. Neil Mulock, Rev. Jack Mauldin, Rev. Harold P. Martin, Rev. Larry Mitchell, Rev. Charles E. Orr, Rev. John Osborn, Rev. Mark Pell, Rev. Charles Quirk, Rev. Robert Roof, Rev. LaVern Seth, and Rev. Cathy Young First Presbyterian Churches in Greene and Rudd Rev. Catherine Belles Prayers of the Presbytery of Prospect Hill Week of May 28 Week of June 4 Week of June 11 Week of June 18 Week of June 25 Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, George Rev. Dale Lint, Stated Supply Zoar Presbyterian Church, George Rev. Dale Lint, Stated Supply Associated Church of Hawarden Rev. Erma Wolf Westminster Presbyterian Church, Ida Grove Shari O Bannon, CRE First Presbyterian Church, Manning Rev. Nancy Anderson Calendar Dates North Central Iowa events are shown in blue Prospect Hill events are shown in red Combined events are shown in green May 26 May 29 June 2-3 June 6 June 12 June 13 June 19 June 22 July 3 July 4 July 10 July 11 July 12 July 24 July 27 July Presbytery Office closed for Memorial Day (Synod holiday) Memorial Day Presbytery Office closed All Iowa Gathering, Ames (PPH & NCI) Day of Pentecost Committee on Ministry; 5:00 8:00 (NCI) Committee on Ministry; 10:00 noon (PPH) Macedonian Ministry Cohort East; 10:00 2:00 (NCI) Macedonian Ministry Cohort West; 10:00-2:00 (NCI) Presbytery Office closed for 4 th of July (Synod holiday) 4 th of July Presbytery Office closed All-Iowa Conversation; 9:30 3:00 (PPH & NCI) Committee on Ministry; 10:00 12:00 (PPH) Vital Ministries Initiative, John Calvin room; 1:00 2:00 (NCI) Macedonian Ministry Cohort West; 10:00 2:00 (NCI) Macedonian Ministry Cohort East; 10:00 2:00 (NCI) Synod School Presbytery Office Closed

3 Additional Prayer Concerns Please keep Rev. Dr. Glenn Wilson of Burt in your prayers as he continues to recover at home. North Central Iowa Please consider making a donation to the Pastors Debt Reduction Assistance Fund. Merely note the designation in the memo portion of your check and mail it to: Presbytery Office Lakeshore Center at Okoboji 1864 Hwy. 86 Milford, IA Thank you in advance for helping support new ministers as they begin their service! North Central Iowa, Committee on Ministry Pulpit Supply for Worship Leadership Ordained Pastor: $150/service; $100 for each additional service (+ mileage) CRE or Student Pastor: $120/service; $75 for each additional service (+ mileage) For Moderating Session: $75 + mileage Mileage is to be reimbursed at the current IRS rate (53.5 cents/mile for 2017) North Central Iowa 2018 Per Capita At the May 11, 2017 Council meeting, it was passed to increase the per capita percentage by 3% for This is a $.59 increase, bringing the Presbytery per capita from $19.67 to $ General Assembly per capita will be increased by $.23 to $7.75 and Synod per capita will be increased by $.10 to $5.40. This will bring the total 2018 per capita to $ Unified Mission Giving will be maintained at the current percentages of 71% Presbytery, 25% General Assembly and 4% Synod.

4 All-Iowa Presbyterians Gathering News If you have registered for the All-Iowa Presbyterians Gathering, you should have received an containing directions and information on parking, registration check-in, meals and offering, and a map of Collegiate Presbyterian Church. If you have registered and did not receive such an , please let Jeannie in the Presbytery Office know. She can be reached at or northiowapresby@gmail.com. If you did not register for the All-Iowa Presbyterians Gathering, you are still WELCOME to attend the Worship Service Friday night, the Mission Fair, the Plenary Session and Worship Service Saturday morning and your respective Presbytery s meeting! We are excited that PC(USA) Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson will be leading Worship and the Plenary Session. In addition, we just learned that Co-Moderator of the General Assembly Jan Edmiston will be attending the gathering! We are truly blessed to have these two individuals join us!! Rhonda Kruse Attending the All-Iowa Presbyterians Gathering Rhonda Kruse is the Mission Engagement Advisor (MEA) for the Midwest region, and will be attending the All-Iowa Presbyterians Gathering in Ames June 2-3. Rhonda s role as an MEA is to connect mid-councils and congregations with the many resources, programs, initiatives and staff members available through Presbyterian Mission. She will be available the morning of Sunday, June 4, and would be happy to visit your church to bring greetings from Presbyterian Mission, thank you for your support, and briefly describe some of the Presbyterian Church (USA) ministries happening around the world as a result of your generosity. She will also be available (later Sunday or on Monday, June 5) for a conversation with representative from your mission team to hear what kinds of ministries you re engaged in and find ways Presbyterian Mission might partner in the important work you do in the name of Jesus Christ. If you are interested in inviting Rhonda to your church, she may be contacted at Rhonda.kruse@pcusa.org or at

5 Poor Richard s Almanac by Richard Francis, Stated Clerk, Presbytery of Prospect Hill One of the great resources we have in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is the Presbyterian Foundation. Many of you are aware of the Foundation as an investment program, but they also provide Stewardship assistance and fund-raising expertise. One service I just learned about at the Presbytery Leadership Forum which followed the Synod Meeting is the Financial Health Assessment. This is a free online service that just takes a few minutes to fill out. The link will not work because of the way this was scanned in. Use this: You will not only get a report of your church s financial health, you will also get a comparison with churches of similar size in the area, all using information drawn from the denomination s web site. With finances, as with anything else, we can get in a rut, and this could be one more tool to help us look at how we are doing as stewards of the resources God has given us for God s ministry. Blessings,

6 Stated Clerk s Message By Rev. Dr. S. Glenn Wilson, Stated Clerk Presbytery of North Central Iowa Hello to everyone in our presbyteries. I have recently been through a profound health crisis and am recovering and praising God for His care and faithfulness! Without a doubt, God s new blessings come our way each day. His mercies are truly amazing. I am reminded of the song Great is Thy Faithfulness. The writer was Thomas Obadiah Chisholm, an amazing writer who never went to college. According to Gaither s Story Behind the Hymn, at the age of 16 he became a school teacher. When he was 27 years old he embraced the love of Jesus and later served as a Methodist minister. During his lifetime he wrote over 1,200 poems. In 1923 he sent a batch of poems to William Runyan, a musician in Chicago. Mr. Runyan was so impressed by one poem that he decided to set it to music. That hymn became one of the most beloved hymns of the 20 th century. He simply called it Great is Thy Faithfulness. This hymn is based on a text written during Israel s lowest moment. The prophet Jeremiah wrote the Book of Lamentations as he sat amid the ashes of a destroyed Jerusalem; his mood was bleak, his words dark and angry, his world shattered. Lamentations 3:22-23: Because of the Lord s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning! Great is your faithfulness. (emphasis added) The light of hope begins to break through Great is Thy Faithfulness! For God loves us so much (John 3:16). No wonder Jeremiah can rejoice, amid the tragedies around him, and declare Great is Thy Faithfulness!

7 Moderator Musings It has been said that actions speak louder than words. If your experience has been like mine, the Church s history is full of words important words about our faith, and why we believe it. Our words have helped us share the story of Christian faith from one generation to the next for the last two thousand years. Great councils of the Church have helped steer us back to Christ, back to Scripture, back to our Reformed Foundational Principles. Yes, our words are important, for they are one way we can relate to others and share God s love. But words are not the only way we do this. Sometimes, actions do speak louder than words. A few years ago, a transformational experience for me took place on the African island of Madagascar, where I was visiting a village that our congregation had supported through a mission program. After touring the projects the village had accomplished, we sat together in a village meeting, and the elder of the group said something that changed my perspective forever. He said, We know you care because you sent money for our project; but we know you love us because you came. Being present in people s lives, along with our words, brings the message of the Gospel alive in a way that words alone cannot do. In James, Chapter 2, we read Faith, without works, is empty or dead. The inconvenient truth is that the demonstration of our faith is often messy and time consuming. In our world, we tend to overvalue efficiency, often at the expense of walking alongside people at their pace. I realized then (and have learned the lesson over and over again) that it is a privilege to be the arms and feet of Jesus in a person s life. A lyric from a Jay Stocker song that my congregation is learning right now is As I hold on to my faith, Jesus, You are holding on to me. What an awesome thing it is to be the Jesus hug that everyone needs from time to time in their life. In our increasingly impersonal and inhumane world that throws people and relationships away like yesterday s trash, let me encourage all of us to hold those in our lives with the arms of Jesus, and to take time to walk with people, to keep them company through the mountain tops and valleys of live. In this way, we can all experience being transformed by the renewing of our minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Living into Hope, The Rev. Kerry Carson, Moderator Presbytery of North Central Iowa

8 First Presbyterian Church of Mason City will host Mission Co-Worker Jim McGill Wednesday, June 7, 6:00 pm. When the McGills return to Niger later this year, Jim will be working in clean water and sanitation programs in Niger and South Sudan, and his wife Jodi (who will not be able to join us) will be working in a clinic in Niamey, Niger as well as teaching in a nursing school. Join us for a salad/dessert potluck at 6:00 pm, and Jim s presentation at 7:00 pm. First Presbyterian Church 100 South Pierce Mason City, IA

9 PENTECOST OFFERING: INVESTING IN OUR GREATEST RESOURCE April 17 June 4, 2017 When is the Pentecost Offering Received? The Pentecost Offering is traditionally received the day of Pentecost. However, you can help sustain the important PC(USA) ministries and programs that are supported by the Pentecost Offering by making a gift at any time throughout the year. Donations can be made online ( or by mailing a check in care of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to P.O. Box , Pittsburgh, PA How is My Gift Used? A gift to the Pentecost Offering helps the church encourage, develop, and support its young people, and also addresses the needs of at-risk children. 40% of the Pentecost offering can be retained by individual congregations wanting to make an impact in the lives of young people within their own community. The remaining 60% is used to support ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency: Young Adult Volunteers Ministries for Youth Children-at-Risk Pentecost Offering Financials Resources PC(USA) has the following resources for promoting Pentecost Offerings in your church. To order resources directly or to check your congregation s standing order, call Presbyterian Distribution Services at (800) or pds@pcusa.org. Leader s Guide Worship Resources Poster Video Bulletin Inserts o Christ Works in Our Youth o Why We Give Minutes for Mission o Pentecost Offering o Children-at-Risk o Youth Ministries o Young Adult Volunteers Sample Pastor s Letter Curriculum o Younger Children s Lesson Plan (Grades K-4) o Older Children s Lesson Plan (Grades 5-8) o Children s Sermon o Ideas to Connect Worship and the Congregation

10 RULING ELDER COHORT Participation Goal: At least one Ruling Elder from each of our congregations Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. 2:00 p.m. Five sessions remain: July 15, 2017 October 7, 2017 January 20, 2018 April 28, 2018 June 30, 2018 Locations to be announced Session 4: Session 5: Session 6: Session 7: Session 8: Ruling Elders as Ministers of Word and Sacrament: Lord s Supper Ruling Elders as Ministers of Word and Sacrament: Proclamation Ruling Elders as Ministers of Word and Sacrament: Teaching Councils of the church: discernment in session and presbytery Spiritual disciples for Ruling Elders and sessions The goal of the cohort, Ruling Elders who are Scripturally Broader and Deeper Theologically Deeper with a basic understanding of the Book of Order, Confessions and Creeds Spiritual Formation Encouraged and resourced in the spiritual disciplines Leadership Understanding the role of Ruling Elder, learning how to support pastoral leadership and when to challenge it Koinonia Connecting with other Ruling Elders, sharing best practices and supporting each other The instructor: Dr. Joe Small Dr. Small retired recently from his 22 year tenure at the General Assembly Mission Council. Most recently, he served at the Council as Director of Theology, Worship and Education Ministries, where he directed the work of the Office of Theology and Worship, the Office of Theological Education, and Congregational Ministries Publishing. He is a graduate of Brown University, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Louisville Theological Seminary. He has served the church in roles ranging from professor to pastor.

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13 WHAT S HAPPENING AT LAKESHORE CENTER? A BIG round of applause to Rev. Loren Shellabarger, Kevin Benson, Red Frankl and the good folks of First Presbyterian in Irvington for our new campfire swing. I hope you can picture the faces of all the people who will enjoy a campfire while gently swinging. The conversations that will happen in this circle may be life changing! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Come, spend some time with us this summer, and enjoy this wonderful addition to the sacred place known as Lakeshore Center at Okoboji.

14 CAPITAL CAMPAIGN UPDATE You may or may not know that Lakeshore Center is currently in the midst of our Capital Campaign, Creating Possibilities. Our Ministry Board has set the goal of $1.2 million. We hope to reach this by the end of Many have already pledged or given to this campaign and we have seen many benefits from this. We have expanded our staff to include a full time program director (Harry Gabe) and a full time kitchen manager/maintenance assistant (Jean Reed). We have created a parking lot near the Lodge for additional guest parking. We have paid a considerable amount on our mortgage note, making our debt more manageable. This week, we are beginning the project of replacing our entrance to the Chapel, which is in desperate need of repair. Our handicap-accessible ramp has settled and has created a three-inch step making it difficult for some guests to enter this building. Support from this campaign is making this improvement possible. We will also be replacing the roof on the lower portion of the Canteen Building (old dining hall). This has been leaking for a couple of years and has needed repair. Thank you to those who have given to make this possible. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you (us) will bring it to completion. Philippians 1:6. We are less than $400,000 from our goal. We ask for your help in the following ways. First please pray regularly for the ministry of Lakeshore Center and for success in this challenging goal. Second please invite your church to participate in prayer and financial support; we will gladly provide promotional material and even a presentation from me or one of our Ministry Board members. Third please inform us of anyone who may be inclined to give to this campaign by contacting me at or by director@lakeshorecenteratokoboji.org. And finally, consider a gift to help us achieve this goal. Lakeshore Center at Okoboji provides a sacred place and invites all to experience the life-changing love of Christ in the beauty of God s creation. This is our mission. Please join us in striving every day to fulfill it. Blessings, Beth Ehlers Executive Director Lakeshore Center at Okoboji 1864 Highway 86 Milford, IA director@lakeshorecenteratokoboji.org

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18 If you are interested in Pastoral Coaching Assistance, contact Gary Eller at

19 Apply for the Educational Debt Relief Grant Apply for the Marilyn A. Jackson Grant Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation 7101 Mercy Road, Suite 216 Omaha, Nebraska (888) EnJOYing God s Presence

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21 If you or your church has anything to be included in the E-News, please submit it to Jeannie in the Presbytery Office by ing it to If you know of someone who would enjoy receiving this communication, please Jeannie or call her at Please consider making copies of this E-news for your Session and also running several copies to make available to your congregation on your information table. UPCOMING EVENTS TO ATTEND WITHIN THE PCUSA BIG TENT July 6-8, 2017 Be inspired - Become equipped - Get connected St Louis, MO, Washington University presbyterianmission.org/big tent