PRESBYTERY CONNECTION

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1 PRESBYTERY CONNECTION A Bi-Weekly Newsletter of the Presbyteries of North Central Iowa and Prospect Hill March 21, 2019 To see North Central Iowa s calendar of events, please click here. The Presbytery Connection is a bi-weekly joint newsletter for the Presbyteries of North Central Iowa and Prospect Hill. If you would like to contribute to the Presbytery Connection, please contact Jeannie Stolee in the Presbytery office at or northiowapresby@gmail.com If you know of someone who would enjoy receiving this communication, please or call Jeannie. Please consider making copies of this newsletter for your Session and running several copies to make available to your congregation. To see Prospect Hill s calendar of events, please click here. Possible Flooding Assistance Available If you are displaced in any way by the flooding, and if you are a church employee (pastor, commissioned pastor, secretary, custodian anyone who receives a W-2 from a congregation), you may be eligible for financial assistance from the Board of Pensions. Prospect Hill members please contact Richard Francis (clerk@prospecthillpresby.org or ). North Central Iowa members please contact Jeannie Stolee in the Presbytery Office. In addition, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has reached out to our Presbyteries with offers of help to congregations and communities who are affected by the flooding. If you have a need in your area, please let Richard or Jeannie know and we will begin the process of getting help from PDA. ~ 1 ~

2 Prayers of the Presbytery of North Central Iowa Week of March 24 Week of March 31 Week of April 7 Week of April 14 Week of April 21 First Presbyterian Church, Jesup Rev. John White United Presbyterian Church, Clarion Rev. Bill Kem First Presbyterian Church, Marshalltown Rev. Dr. Rich King First Presbyterian Church, Algona, and First Presbyterian Church, Irvinton Rev. Sara Hill, Moderator First Presbyterian Church, Waterloo Rev. Amy Wiles Rev. Pat Geadelmann, Associate Prayers of the Presbytery of Prospect Hill Week of March 24 Week of March 31 Week of April 7 Week of April 14 Week of April 21 Presbyterian UCC, LeMars Rev. Jan Christensen First Presbyterian Church, Odebolt CP Bill Crawford Associated Church of Hawarden, Hawarden Rev. Erma Wolf Westminster Presbyterian Church, Ida Grove CP Shari O Bannon Wheatland Presbyterian Church, Breda Rev. Richard Francis, Moderator Additional Prayer Concerns Please pray for all those affected by the ice, snow and flooding in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. Please continue to keep Doug O Bannon, son of CP Shari O Bannon, in your prayers. Doug has a very rare genetic Alpha One liver disease. He will be going to the Omaha hospital on March 18 for testing before transplant. Please include Doug s daughter, Chloe, and Shari in your prayers as well. Churches and Pastors in Transition The following churches and pastors are in transition: Presbytery of Prospect Hill Wheatland Presbyterian Church, Breda Elliott Creek Presbyterian Church, Bronson First Presbyterian Church, Glidden Community Presbyterian Church, Lawton Lakeside Presbyterian Church, Storm Lake First Presbyterian Church, South Sioux City Presbytery of North Central Iowa First Presbyterian Church, Algona/Irvington Greater Greene County Presbyterian Ministries First Presbyterian Church, Grundy Center First Presbyterian Church, Reinbeck ~ 2 ~

3 Thoughts of Rev. David Feltman, Pastor to the Presbytery, Presbytery of North Central Iowa Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Many of you will receive a letter from me, asking for your help once again*. It begins: There is one task I would like to help complete before I retire at the end of June: eliminating the remaining debt for the construction of the Lodge at Lakeshore Center at Okoboji. Great strides have been made; it was a million dollars a decade ago, we are down to $382, as of January 24, I commend Beth Ehlers, the executive director, and the Board for this progress and also for the positive steps which are ongoing to broaden the ministry of Lakeshore Center. I have been involved with the camp since I attended in fifth grade. There were church retreats when I was in high school. Sue and I were counselors when we were at Buena Vista College and directors of the Worship, Arts and Music (WAM) camp when we served in Luverne, Minnesota in the 80s. We set records sending the children and youth of the Fort Dodge church to camp when I was Pastor there. I have served on the Board as a member and Moderator. All three of our children attended camp and served on staff. Sue and I renewed our wedding vows there in 2001, our 25 th wedding anniversary. I helped lead the capital campaign which raised the first dollars for the construction of the Lodge, understanding the importance of the venture for the future. I have been supportive of the ministry as I have served in this position. It is a sacred place! Thousands of lives have been touched by God in and through the ministry of Lakeshore and, in the changing landscape of church and culture, I believe the ministry s future will be more significant than the dynamic past. We need approximately 425 individuals or churches to give $1000 and the debt will be gone. I am suggesting that $900 of your contribution go toward the debt and $100 to the general fund. Special campaigns can pinch regular contributions and we want to be sure the general fund is strong. Sue and I will give the first thousand. I have often referred to Tony Campolo s reflection on a survey which was done with folks over 90. They were asked if they could live their lives over, what would they do differently. Three responses were repeated in different shapes and forms. 1. They said they would reflect more. Life goes at such a pace many do not pause to reflect. What really matters in life? 2. They said they would risk more. I m a bit crazy trying to help raise $400,000 in three months as I wrap up this ministry. This final push may hit the floor with a resounding thud. I guess it is a small risk. 3. They said they would invest more in something which would outlive them. These days we have to choose pretty carefully to find ministries which will outlive us. Lakeshore Center has that potential, we are building a new foundation to broaden its ministry for the future. The sacred space of the camp will be an instrument for Christ to use long after we are gone. ~ 3 ~

4 I initiated this final push. If we could complete this, we would save Lakeshore: Please help. - $32,000 a year in payments - thousands of dollars of interest over the life of the loan - refinancing at a higher interest rate, a balloon loan due this fall Ask your church to contribute, perhaps even offer a matching grant. Suggest folks who may be responsive to the request. Ask your friends and fellow church members to give. Contribute generously yourself. Thank you for considering and helping with this final push. There will be other times for finally thoughts. But I conclude this letter - Finally, as my retirement date is in sight, it has been a great privilege to serve with you, as we have lived the Presbyterian witness in our corner of the world. With love in Christ, Rev. David Feltman Pastor to the Presbytery Presbytery of North Central Iowa davidafeltman@gmail.com *Please send your address and we will send you the letter. Please send your contributions to: Lakeshore Center at Okoboji 1864 Hwy. 86 Milford, IA Poor Richard s Almanac by Richard Francis, Stated Clerk, Presbytery of Prospect Hill I think I may have mentioned that I have been using some of my free time to dig into the lesser-studied books of the Bible. Because of this, I can now report that I am Carroll County, Iowa s foremost authority on the Book of Jude (1 chapter, 25 verses, 625 words in the New Revised Standard Version translation). 1 If you ve heard of this rather obscure 1 I have been asked what the relationship is between the Book of Jude and the Beatles song Hey Jude. There is none. ~ 4 ~

5 book, which tucks in between 3 John and Revelation, it s because of two passages, one at the beginning and one at the end. Near the beginning, the writer tells us why he is writing: Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. (Jude 1:3). It s that last clause, the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints that is the most memorable. It suggests that there is an unchanging faith that was laid down at the time of the apostles, a faith that we must maintain and defend. Now jump to the end of Jude and you will read what I consider one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible: Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25) In between those passages are the parts that are apt to either stir us up to do battle or put us off, depending on our point of view. There you will find verse after verse of what I can only call invective, that is, a violent verbal attack; strong denunciation; vituperation. 2 It s the kind of language you reserve for people you are seriously angry with and can t find anything good to say about. The kind of language, in short, that pervades our public discourse today. What is it doing in the Bible? Of course, Jude is not unique in his use of invective. Old Testament prophets like Amos and Jeremiah were masters of the verbal attack, while the Book of James in the New Testament takes a scorched-earth policy toward the quarrelsome (4:1-4) and the rich (5:1-6). Jesus words to the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23 are cut from the same cloth: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:27-28) If we take Jesus as our model, does this mean we should use this kind of language when speaking to each other, to others? What all these users of invective have in common is a passion for those who are hurt by others behavior. The prophets attack the strong who victimize the weak. James attacks the rich who victimize the poor. Jesus attacks the leaders who make things harder for their followers. And Jude attacks those who stir up trouble in congregations. At least, that s how I read the Book of Jude. These [intruders] are blemishes on your lovefeasts, he writes, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever. (Jude 1:12-13). Behind that florid language is a genuine concern for the believers in the churches Jude is writing to. He is angry because there are people who are hurting other people. 2 Webster s New World Dictionary of the American Language, p.768 ~ 5 ~

6 Professional comics will tell you that the best kind of satire is the kind that punches up rather than punching down. In other words, it may be easy to make fun of someone who is poorer than you, less educated than you, or is in some other way beneath you, but it s ultimately just meanspirited and not very funny. There are plenty of targets for satire who are pompous, selfrighteous, self-satisfied, and well-off, and that s where the most memorable humor is directed. That s also where the most memorable words in the Biblical prophetic tradition are directed. I don t think we need to use the same kind of invective when we preach and speak different times, different customs but we do need to adopt their passion: for God, for justice, and for the poor, no matter what kind of language we use. Blessings, A Word from North Central Iowa s Moderator This last month has been such a mixture of happiness and sadness. It started with the very sad news of my brother s death on March 3. In my message last month I shared that John had lung cancer. I spent several days with him in Florida two weeks before he died. We had a great visit and he was feeling really good in the midst of chemo. On March 3, sitting at home with his wife, he had a massive heart attack and died quickly. As hard as that was, it was a true blessing. John s greatest fear was how his death with cancer would play out... how difficult it would be for his family. Also, I am so thankful that our other brother and I had both been to see him. My motto in these advanced years is to never pass up an opportunity to see the people I love! John and his family were not a part of any faith community, so there was no formal memorial service. A group of old friends spent a day with my sister-in-law and nieces... sharing memories, laughter and tears. I know that was healing for all of them. We had a Presbytery meeting on March 5. Since I am Moderator for only two major meetings, I felt I had to be there. I was not as well prepared as I had hoped, and a bit nervous as well. It turned out to be a wonderful day and my personal memorial service for my brother. Worship was meaningful and comforting. As I was lifted up in prayer, I felt care and comfort from all of you. It was exactly where I needed to be that day. I am so thankful for my faith community! Now to the happiness part of the month... another trip to North Carolina! It was my grandson Lewis spring break at the University of North Carolina. My daughter and his brother and sister drove to NC to spend the week with him. We spent some time with our NC family and went to the Outer Banks for a couple days and stayed on the beach. It was beautiful, and also cold and windy. We spent time at Kitty Hawk touring the Wright Brothers museum and climbed the hill they glided from. (If the weather had been warm, we would have never gotten those young people off the beach!) I think they really enjoyed the educational experience. It was a wonderful, joyful, healing week with my daughter and grandchildren. ~ 6 ~

7 From the happiness and joy of the North Carolina trip, we returned to the news of the shootings in two Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. There are no words to describe such a senseless tragedy. The Cedar Valley Interfaith Council held a Service of Solidarity and Support on Sunday afternoon. Many of us from all different faith communities in the Cedar Valley came together to form a circle of solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters. We were moved by several speakers and ended with a beautiful prayer. Goodness is stronger than evil; Love is stronger than hate; Light is stronger than darkness; Life is stronger than death. Once again, I am so thankful for the Cedar Valley community of faithful people who love and care for one another. Judy Klepfer Moderator, Presbytery of North Central Iowa Registration opens for Pastors School in May at Lakeshore Center It used to be Winter Pastors School; now it s simply Pastors School. And now registration for Pastors School, hosted by the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation, is open. Pastors School will run May at Lakeshore Center at Okoboji. The Rev. Dr. Ken McFayden will be the main speaker. McFayden serves as academic dean of the Richmond campus of Union Presbyterian Seminary and professor of ministry and leadership development. He teaches courses in the areas of congregational leadership and administration. The schedule for Pastors School is at Schedule. Registration can be completed at Registration. The Rev. Bob Cook, pastor at the Vail and Westside Congregations, has shared information with the Presbytery of Prospect Hill about the Legacy of Light project he is sponsoring in El Salvador. You can follow this link for more information: ~ 7 ~

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13 Rebuild Blitz Volunteers Needed The following is from First Presbyterian Church in Marshalltown. Their Evangelism and Missions Committee met with Cassie Nemmers, Marshalltown Outreach Coordinator with Habitat for Humanity, who shared information about the Rebuild Blitz, which will be held April Volunteers can sign up on line at: iowahabitatforhumanity.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/ Volunteers can sign up for full or half-days. Volunteers do not need special skills, but they are welcome! Volunteers will assemble at a central site each day and select a project on a first come-first serve basis. Volunteers must sign up individually but can serve as individuals or with a team. Everyone will return to the central location each day for lunch, which is provided. Hard hats and work gloves will also be provided, and each volunteer will receive a T-shirt. Additional information is included on the following page of this Presbytery Connection. ~ 13 ~

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17 Accepting Apollos Applications, Transcripts and References Tuesday, January 15 through Monday, April 15, 2019 Could you use up to $3000 per semester for up to 3 years? You are eligible for an Apollos Scholarship from Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation if you are... A member of a PC(USA) Congregation Under care within a presbytery as an Inquirer or Candidate Enrolled as a full-time student in the Master of Divinity degree program in one of the 10 Presbyterian seminaries An individual who possesses quality of excellence for ministry CLICK HERE TO APPLY CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ABOUT APOLLOS SCHOLARSHIPS years of financial aid to seminary students Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation 7101 Mercy Road, Suite 216 Omaha, NE ~ 17 ~

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