Jerene, an elementary school principal and founder of ‘Pennies for Peace’ will speak about her son’s ongoing efforts to combat terrorism through secular education at St. Luke Presbyterian Church on Thursday, October 29 at 7:00 p.m.  All are welcome.

Mortenson’s non-profit foundation, the Central Asia Institute (ikat.org), has built 78 schools serving 28,000 students in remote, politically volatile pockets of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it runs nearly 50 others in regional refugee camps.

St. Luke is located ½ mile west of hwy 494 on Minnetonka Boulevard just behind Groveland School.

For more information contact:
Pastor Gwin Pratt
952-473-7378
gwin@stluke.mn

There are more than 400 passages in the Bible (spanning over 3000 verses!) that encourage Christ-followers to serve and be in relationships with those living in poverty. “Ultimate Compassion: God, Poverty, and Actions that Make a Difference” will help equip you, whatever your economic status, to understand the impact of poverty and decide how to respond.  Keynote speakers Greg Boyd, Sandra Unger, Jin S. Kim (PTCA Moderator) and Efrem Smith and practitioners from around the Twin Cities will be sharing their experiences and ideas at both large group sessions and workshops. Scriptures, stories and statistics will help you understand the impact of poverty and decide how to respond.

Over the past 20 years Bruce Reyes-Chow has had the privilege of serving at all levels of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). He has also had great opportunities to provide leadership at a variety of events and conferences. Bruce is currently the pastor of Mission Bay Community Church in San Francisco and is in the vanguard of helping the wider church use technology such as social media to effectively communicate the gospel in our postmodern age. To learn more about Bruce, visit his website at
www.mod.reyes-chow.com .
  Randolph Heights is located at 435 Hamline Ave. in St. Paul.

“Grace Notes” :  Rodger Nishioka, Benton Family Associate Professor of Christian Education at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga., will be the convocation speaker for Synod School 2010, which will have “Grace Notes” as its theme. Synod School 2010 dates are Sunday afternoon, July 25, through Friday noon, July 30. Synod School runs at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. The evening worship leaders are Mark Davis and Barb Nish, pastor and worship leader at Heartland Presbyterian Church in Clive, Iowa, and the morning worship leader is Steve Plank, pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in Omaha, Neb. Synod School announcements will be posted from time to time to the Synod School Facebook group: Synod School – “Is this Heaven? No, it’s Iowa!” 

To find the group, go to www.facebook.com . If you have a Facebook presence, use the search function in the upper right-hand corner. If you are not a Facebook member, you will need to joint first. The Synod School group has more than 100 members, and at least 70 pictures and three videos on the group page. Questions concerning Synod School can be directed to the synod office at 651.357.1140 or 800.328.1880. Questions can also be directed to Diana Barber, associate synod executive for leadership development, at dbarber@lakesandprairies.org.

-Compiled by Duane Sweep, Synod of Lakes and Prairies

Synod Fall Meeting:  The Synod of Lakes and Prairies will conduct its fall meeting Sunday through Tuesday, Sept. 27-29, at the Mt. Olivet Retreat Center in Farmington, Minn. In his note to synod commissioners prior to the meeting, Synod Executive Phil Brown indicated that both the church and secular society should step back from personal attacks and labels during disagreements. He wrote, “Working for the unity of the church, demonstrating to our communities locally and globally that there is something extraordinarily unique about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ appears to me increasingly elusive for us. Instead, the behaviors and attitudes we exhibit; the labels we so readily cast on others from the pews, from our session meetings, at all levels of the church, don’t seem very different that what we see and hear in our communities, our schools and politics. Who’s reflecting whom? Who’s reflecting Jesus Christ?”

-Compiled by Duane Sweep, Synod of Lakes and Prairies

EP, Build Home: When the executive and general presbyters in the Synod of Lakes and Prairies got together earlier this month in Kearney Neb., for their regular forum, they went to work, but in a slightly different way. They went to work for Habitat for Humanity. Bob Hauser, executive presbyter in Central Nebraska Presbytery, made the connection with Habitat through Roger Payne, a member of First Presbyterian Church in Kearney, who is active in the local Habitat organization. “In fact,” Hauser wrote, “he and his wife will be going to Vietnam with a group for a Jimmy Carter Habitat Blitz next year.” Hauser said he couldn’t take credit for organizing the work, noting, ” Actually the forum planning team suggested that Habitat might be a possibility and since I was more familiar with it than others in Kearney I pursued that. They worked for about three hours on three different houses while here in Kearney.”

Pastor Warns of Scam Artist: Scott Stapleton, pastor of Grace-Trinity Community Church in Minneapolis, wanted to share an experience that happened at his congregation:

“On Sat., Sept. 5, a neatly dressed African-American male, about 40, stole the one church directory we’ve kept on display in the church.  We put it near the phone in the downstairs kitchen.  With it, he has been calling people and saying that his car has broken down, it’s about to be impounded, etc., etc.  He’s also been saying that he was referred to the person he’s calling by another name in the directory.  Often, the connection makes no sense, and people’s suspicions are aroused.  But at other times the link sounds plausible, and when it does, he has relied on people’s inborn wish to help to get them to give him money.  It’s all a fabrication, of course, but a very slick one at that, and many people have been fooled.  He’s been calling people for over a week now.  In one case, he even knocked on someone’s door late at night.  By now, our congregation is aware of the scam, but it’s taken a while to inform them.  Our solution of the problem, in addition to keeping everyone abreast of it, is to never again put out a church directory. 

He has used the names Marcus Beal, Marcus Bell, Marcus Billing, plus other names altogether.  He lives in Bloomington near 40th and 15th Ave.  He’s given out a phone number, but calling it only produces an automated message that his voice box is full.  The police have told us that he can be charged with stealing a church directory, but unless he’s caught in the act of the scam itself, he cannot be charged with any other crime.

Let the congregations beware: unguarded church directories are a gold mine in the hands of a slick operator.”

Blogging pastor shares thoughts on Communicator Conference: Paul Moore, pastor of Chain of Lakes Presbyterian Church in Lino Lakes shared his thoughts on the recent Communicator’s Conference of the Synod of Lakes and Prairies on his blog.  Here are excerpts:

…I attended the first session of a two-day Communicators Conference that the Synod of Lakes and Prairies is offering. Approximately 25 of us gathered at a hotel in Bloomington to hear a presentation on Google applications by Sarah Moore-Nokes who is on staff at Winnebago Presbytery. (I missed the first worship presentation.) The general theme of the conference is “Doing more with less.”

I am thrilled that the Synod is offering resources to the church on informational technology. One phrase that I frequently use is “Jesus is the most innovative religious leader in the history of the world, but the church is one of the least innovative institutions in the world. Why the disconnect?” I don’t think the church is called to be on the cutting edge of technology, but I also find very troubling the resistance to using technology among church and yes, Presbyterian leaders.

If Jesus was alive in bodily form today, I don’t think that he would be calling his followers to use Facebook, blogs, Twitter, blog feeders, I-Google as a requirement of faith, but I do believe he would be using those features to share the gospel and promote community among his followers.

Sarah Moore-Nokes shared some very interesting thoughts on using Google tools. I learned:

• that Google has many tools that church leaders can use to be more effective and tools that will not be a barrier to communication and work. They have a tool for almost everything we do at work. Well almost everything. They haven’t invented an Internet stapler!

· about the concept of Cloud Computing. Instead of storing information on our own desktops, information will be frequently stored in another place-the Internet. We will then access that information. This could come in handy for me as I often work in different locations. I could access a sermon I’m writing from work, then when I go home and I don’t to bring my computer home. I could access it on any computer at home. If I had my I-phone and had 15 minutes I could access the information from my I-Phone and do 15 minutes of work on the sermon. We will be able to access information from multiple types of hardware.
· about I-Google. We can create our own personalized E-Google page that has the information on it for our work. For example, we can put a Google E-mail application on our personalized E-Google page. That application can read all of our individual E-mail accounts. This could come in handy. I have four E-mail accounts. I have one at church that I read frequently. I have a MSN account that I use for personal E-mail. I have a Yahoo account which I use to register on web sites. That account gets all my E-mail solicitations. I have an old AOL account that I look at once a month. Instead of logging onto four different E-mail accounts my Google application can keep me posted in one spot about new E-mails I receive from each account. I know, I know-this feature might not rock my world-but it will save me time-it will help me do more with less.
· blog feeds. Instead of sending information on a mass E-mail, we could have people sign up for a blog feed to receive information from the church. Actually this isn’t really a blog, but a way to communicate. I send E-mails almost every day to the folks in our church. I could have them sign up for a feed and then just put the information into a document that is automatically sent electronically to a group.

I know that much of this information that was shared is basic to some folks and confusing to others. For me it is interesting to learn how to use technological tools in our work in the church.

Shane Whisler  (the Communications Specialist for the Synod of the Sun) spoke about Presbyterian Neighbor News. Through Synod and Presbytery communicators he is working on setting up a network through a web site where local people write articles about happenings in their Presbyterian church and/or their Presbytery. The tag line on the web site says it best: “One Presbyterian stream flowing through every Presbyterian neighborhood.” We can sign up to receive information about the local events in our Synod. Check it out at: http://www.pnnews.org /

I am impressed that we have main-line communicators who are trying to engage new media and who are trying to figure out how to be effective in this new media. We’ve come a long way from the typed newsletter printed on a stencil! The church doesn’t have to be the bastion of communication methods used by our grandparents. Congratulations to Duane Sweep at the Synod Office for continuing to engage this important issue.

Moderator’s Report to Presbytery:  Rev. Jin S. Kim, the pastor of Church of All Nations Presbyterian in Columbia Heights and also the Moderator of the PTCA for 2009-10 shared his report to the Presbytery at the September 12 Presbytery meeting at First Presbyterian in Shakopee.  The report follows:

• Evaluations from the July 2009 presbytery meeting were very positive. Our elder commissioners gave a 4.3 out of 5.0 overall and our ministers gave a 4.7 out of 5.0. We are making progress, and will continue to find ways to make the presbytery meetings a more rewarding and redemptive experience for all.

• We should consider an omnibus consent agenda that includes the motions of every committee and task force. This will allow us to make space for serious decision making and the work of genuine discernment about our life together.
• The Office of Theology and Worship of the GAMC has launched an “Ecclesiology Project” to think through what it means to be church in the fast changing ecclesial landscape of this new century, a project I am participating in. Part of what I envision is for our presbytery as a whole to take stock of the Reformed tradition after 500 years and to discern together the outlines of what Time Magazine has recently called a “New Calvinism,” as one of the most important emerging ideas of the 21st century, and its implications on our congregational and specialized ministries.
• The ecumenical movement needs more serious attention. I currently serve as one of our denomination’s delegates to the National Council of Churches, which incidentally, will hold its annual General Assembly right here in Minneapolis Nov. 10-12 (I appreciate Richard Buller and Valley Community Church for hosting the NCC dinner for our Presbyterian delegation, which unfortunately conflicts with our next presbytery meeting). At the NCC, we recently celebrated 100 years as a movement in America, and there have been tremendous advances. On the other hand, our ecclesial divisions are just as painfully apparent now as they were a century ago, but the PCUSA remains committed to healing those divisions as our Book of Order states. Yesterday, I was at the Greater Minnesota Association of Evangelicals annual board retreat, and our board is revisiting the idea of bridging the denominational divisions within the evangelical world. If the work of reconciling Presbyterian and Baptist remains, if the Lord’s Supper is still not shared between Catholics, Mainliners and Pentecostals, can we allow the disagreements between conservatives and liberals in our little denomination to truly divide us?
• I serve on the GA Special Committee on the Belhar Confession, and we will have our second meeting Sept. 20-22 in Louisville. I commend “A Study of the Belhar Confession,” a wonderful and incisive workbook produced by our denomination’s Office of Theology and Worship, for study among our congregations and ministers. Belhar was published in 1986 at the height of apartheid in South Africa, and has powerful implications for our radicalized country and church here in America. If adopted, it will be the first non-Western confession in our Book of Confessions.

Josh Heikkila Heads to Ghana: The Rev. Joshua David Heikkila will serve as World Mission’s regional liaison for West Africa, based in Accra, Ghana.  Josh will facilitate support for the programs, relationships, and activities of PC(USA) partners. And he also provides support to PC(USA) mission personnel and helps connect partner churches with PC(USA) churches that want to be involved in ministry in the region. Josh, a member of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, has been serving as associate pastor at House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul  since 2004. He also coordinated activity for the Self Development of People program in the PTCA.

Josh has a wide variety of overseas experience. He served as Young Adult Volunteer for the PC(USA) in a one-year term (2002-2003) in Ghana, where he learned the Ewe language. He also spent four months in Argentina during high school, six months in Hungary during college, and six weeks in Croatia while in seminary.

He was born in New York, raised in New Jersey, and feels at home in Chicago. Josh previously served as a Young Adult Volunteer in Ghana.

We wish Josh all the best in his endeavors.

Pastor Recovering in Minneapolis: Rev. Deal Seal, a parish associate at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, is in recovering  at Abbott-Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis after collapsing on Thursday September 17.  According to Rev. Denise Dunbar-Perkins, a chaplain at Abbott-Northwestern, Seal was at the hospital on Thursday evening to pick up prescriptions when he collapsed.  

Rev. Tim Hart-Andersen, the Head of Staff at Westminster is requesting the Presbytery be in prayer for Dean and his family. We ask especially as we prepare for this Sunday’s worship, that the PTCA remember Dean and pray for his healing.     

Currently, Dean is recovering.  As of Tuesday, September 22,  he is up and talking.  His wife, Kirsten,  is asking that people not visit Dean at this time, since he needs to heal from his episode last week. 

Please continue to keep Dean, Kirsten and the rest of the Seal family in your prayers.

Self Development of People Grants Available : The Committee on the Self-Development of People of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area announces the 2009 Grant Cycle.

The Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People is prepared to establish partnerships with groups in the Twin Cities Area who:

• are oppressed by poverty or social systems,
• want to take charge of their own lives,
• have organized or are organizing to do something about their own conditions,
• have decided that what they are going to do will produce long term changes for their lives or communities,
• will control the programs they own and will directly benefit from them.

The deadline to submit an application for funding is October 16, 2009. To Apply go to ptcaweb.org , or for further information, contact:

The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area

122 W. Franklin Avenue #508

Minneapolis, MN  55404

(612) 871-7281

PTCA Committee on Nominations looking for GA Commissioners: The Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area is entitled to send 4 elder commissioners, 4 minister commissioners and a young adult advisory delegate (age 17-23) to the General Assembly, which will be held in Minneapolis,  July 3-10, 2010.  The Nominating Committee is now accepting applications from elders, ministers or young adult members of our congregations who are interested in serving in these positions.  Election will be at the January 2010 meeting of presbytery.
 
To be considered for nomination by the Nominating Committee, persons must complete an application form with a letter of recommendation from a session, presbytery entity, or minister member of the presbytery, and return it to the presbytery office by November 15th.  Forms are available at ptcaweb.org or in hard copy from the presbytery office.
 
Ordinarily, elders and ministers are eligible to be nominated by the Nominating Committee three years after ordination and with two years of membership in the presbytery or one of its churches.  Elders and ministers who have served as commissioners to the General Assembly shall ordinarily be again eligible for nomination by the Nominating Committee after fourteen years.
 
Interested elders from all congregations are encouraged to apply.

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Alpha Course at Chain of Lakes: Chain of Lakes New Church Development is offering the Alpha course.  They are starting with a Celebration Dinner on Wednesday, September 30^th at 6:00 p.m. at the Hampton Inn in Lino Lakes, 579 Apollo Drive.  The Alpha course provides response to basic questions of faith.  Free dinner is offered and child care.  Call their office for more info-651-528-7321 or just come on September 30th.

Bread for the World Founder to Visit Cities - Rev. Art Simon, the founder and president emeritus of Bread for the World, will travel across the United States to meet with anti-hunger advocates and talk about his new book The Rising of Bread for the World: An Outcry of Citizens Against Hunger. Art will share the surprising story of how God uses ordinary people to make an extraordinary difference in the lives of hungry people. 

He’ll share this amazing story-and talk about why urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad is as important now as ever.

The event is open to the public, but please let us know that you will be attending this event so we can reserve your copy of The Rising of Bread for the World. Register at www.bread.org/events

Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Church of Corpus Christi

Address:
2131 Fairview Ave N
Roseville, MN 55113-5499

Fall Lecture Series at Shepherd of the Hill: How do communities deal with consensus, diversity and dissent?  How does the majority deal with the other who disturbs its consensus?

Dialogues’ new series The ‘Other’ & the Community of Belonging  begins with a reenactment of a 1637 trial that influenced the framers of the U.S. Constitution and moves on to look at the dynamics of the majority and “the other” in our own time.  Check the church web site (www.shepherdofthehillchurch.com)  or call 952-448-3882for more detail.

October 6 (Tuesday) 7 PM – The Trial of Anne Hutchinson - Black Box Theater of the new Chanhassen High School, 2200 Lyman Road, Chanhassen.  Please call 952-556-6200 to let us know you plan to attend.  Seating is limited.

October 13 (Tuesday) 7 PM – An Evening with Anne Hutchinson (Esther Tomljanovich) - Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church, 145 Engler Blvd.,Chaska.

November 10 (Tuesday) 7 PM - Religion and the U.S. Constitution  with Professor Michael Steenson and Justice Paul Anderson – Shepherd of the Hill.

We’re pleased that the Chaska Valley Family Theater and the Chaska Human Rights Commission and the Beacon Council of School District 112 are co-sponsors for the Trial of Anne Hutchinson.  The Beacon Council is co-sponsor for the entire series. 

Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian is located at 145 Engler Blvd in Chaska.

Peacemaker from Iraq to Visit: Our Presbytery will be hosting an international peacemaker  October 13-19. First Presbyterian,  Stillwater will be making the arrangements, and would love to coordinate other events throughout the Presbytery. Contact the church  at 651.439.4388 or Ann Rock at 651.439.0192.

Pastor Younan G. Shiba grew up in a traditional Assyrian church with his family in Iraq. He has served in Jordan and Syria with Iraqi expatriates, in Baghdad with the Assyrian Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and as the Director of Operations in Iraq with the SALT Foundation, a non-governmental organization affiliated with the Open Doors organization. In 2005, as a result of threats, Pastor Shiba and his family came to the United States as religious refugees. Currently they are serving in the northern suburbs of Chicago among the Assyrian and Arab communities.

Presbyterian Pastor Leads Benedictine Series:  Barbara Ann Keely, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church and an associate professor of Christian Education at United Theological Seminary, is leading a series of workshops at the Benedictine Center in Maplewood.  These workshops, called “Benedictine Spirituality as Ecumenical Resource” will help Christians of all denominations find inspiration and guidance in the values of St. Benedict, a mystic and monk who lived in the Fifth Century.

They will be held on Saturday mornings, from 9 a.m. to noon, and cost $35 each.

 Dates and topics are as follows:

• October 29: “Awareness of God”
• December 3: “Humility, Hospitality and Conversation”
• January 14: “Nurturing the Common Good”

Dr. Keely is also a parish associate at Presbyterian Church of the Way in Shoreview and a Benedictine Oblate affiliated with St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville.  She authored Faith of Our Foremothers: Women Reshaping Religious Education, writes a column for The Clergy Journal and is a popular keynote speaker and workshop leader in the areas of adult education and spiritual formation in the Congregation.  

To register for one or all of her workshops, or to get more information, go to www.stpaulsmonastery.org and follow the Benedictine Center link, call 651-777-7251 or email: benedictinecenter@stpaulsmonastery.org.  The Benedictine Center, a ministry of the Benedictine Sisters at St. Paul’s Monastery, is located at 2675 Benet Road in Maplewood.

Academy of Vital Christianity: This fall, the Academy for Vital Christianity is offering classes in churches in the metro area as well as Alexandria, Duluth, Mankato, Rochester, and eastern North Dakota. Students will have the opportunity to learn from United’s outstanding and dedicated faculty members in classes that will meet for a total of 10 classroom hours in a variety of convenient configurations. For a description of courses or to register, please go to http://unitedseminary.edu/CommunityPrograms/academy.asp.

Jazz Concert @ Dayton Avenue: Thom West and Friends a local Twin Cities Jazz Combo, will perform at Dayton Avenue Presbyterian on Sunday, October 18 at 5pm. Well-known in local jazz circles, Thom is a professional jazz musician who has played at at venues throughout the Twin Cities for over 25 years. This is an opportunity to hear this renowned musician for free.

Dayton Avenue is located at 217 Mackubin Street in St.Paul.  Call or email for tickets, 651-227-7389 or office@DAPC.org.

Children’s Sabbath: October 16-18, 2009. This year’s theme, Create Change for Children Today: Bring Hope and a Better Tomorrow focuses on children in poverty, children’s health care, and the pipeline to prison.  In this time of economic hardship, it is more important than ever to insure that our children do not fall through the cracks. Children’s Sabbath is a great way to get your congregation aware of and involved in children’s issues. Join congregations across the country that will be participating in the National Observation of Children’s Sabbath. See the Joint Religious Legislative Council (JRLC) website (http://jrlc.org) for more information about Children’s Sabbath and to find stories from congregations who have participated in the past.

Youth Retreats at Clearwater Forest: Three youth retreats are scheduled this fall at Presbyterian Clearwater Forest, Deerwood, Minn. The Middle School Fall Retreat runs Friday through Sunday, Oct. 16-18; the Senior High Fall Retreat is set Friday through Sunday, Oct. 30-Nov. 1; and the Confirmation Retreat wraps up the three-day events, running Friday through Sunday, Nov. 13-15. Additional information and registration materials can be found at www.clearwaterforest.org.

Collegiate Ministries Conference: The Synod of Lakes and Prairies is already receiving registrations for its second annual  collegiate ministries conference, “Making Connections in Time of Change.” The conference runs Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 9-11, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Hotel accommodations are at the Holiday Inn University Plaza and most conference sessions will take place at First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Falls. Regisgration is simple. From now through Oct. 9, the registration fee is $45. Yes, $45. And that fee will cover everything but travel expenses to get to the hotel. Yes, it includes two night’s lodging, two continental breakfasts, opening banquet, two lunches and all presentations. After Oct. 9, the fee increases to $50. To register, contact Duane Sweep, synod associate for communications, at dsweep@lakesandprairies.org.

Ministering to the Missing Generation: October 30, 2009 at United Seminary in New Brighton. An all day event featuring the Rev. Carol Howard Merritt, a Presbyterian pastor and the author of Tribal Church and co-host of the God Complex with Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow.  The cost is free to authorized members of the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ and $55 for all other attendees.  There is also $7 charge for lunch.  To register, please email Renee Flesner at rflesner@unitedseminary.edu   or by phone at 651‐255‐6138.

Spiritual Vitality in Turbulent Times – Personal and Corporate Practices – is the theme of the upcoming Minnesota Area Five Day Academy for Spiritual Formation.  The Academy will be held November 8-13, 2009 at Christ the King Retreat Center in Buffalo, MN.

The focus on corporate practices will be taught by Don Saliers, who was the William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Theology and Worship at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia until his retirement in 2007. Don received his B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University, and both his B.D. (Bachelor of Divinity) and his Ph.D. from Yale University.  An accomplished musician, theologian, and scholar of liturgics, Don is the author of numerous books on the relationship between theology and worship practices. He recently co-authored A Song to Sing, a Life to Live with his daughter Emily Saliers, a member of the Indigo Girls. 

The focus on personal practices will be led by Kathryn Damiano.  Kathryn is a Quaker who brings over 20 years of experience as a spiritual director to her ministry.  She has a Master of Divinity, a Master of Arts in counseling psychology, and a Ph.D. in spiritual psychology. 

The Academy for Spiritual Formation is open to laity and clergy.  The total cost is either $575 for a single room or $525 for a double.  This includes linens, private bath, meals and tuition.  To receive a brochure with additional information about the Academy, please email Deb DeMeester, Retreat Leader, at demeesterd@aol.com.  To register, click on “Events Registration” at http://www.minnesotaumc.org /.  The Academy is co-sponsored by The Upper Room and the MN Conference of the United Methodist Church.

By Ruth Jones

Kara VanderKamp, recent former PC(USA) missionary educator in Niger, West Africa will be itinerating in the Presbytery of the Twin Cities during the month of October and first week in November. She will be preaching in First Presbyterian in Hudson, First Presbyterian in Rochester, Trinity Presbyterian in Woodbury, North Presbyterian in North St. Paul and First Presbyterian in St. Croix Falls.  Time is available for her to speak to church or other groups during the weekdays.  Contact Ruth Jones, 651-275-3700, if interested in hearing Kara speak.

Kara was sent by the PC(USA) to assist the leaders of the local denomination in their endeavor to create a Christian school system.  During her assignment, a department of education was created for the church, two primary schools were opened and the primary boarding school was further developed.  Kara also had the opportunity to teach ESL in one of the church’s primary schools, as well as organize an after school soccer program for boys and girls.

She has since founded “Remember Niger Coalition” a 501(c)(3) non profit organization committed to uniting people and mobilizing resources to expand quality education opportunities in Niger.

Niger is predominately a Muslim country located north of Nigeria.  With nearly two-thirds of the land consumed by the Sahara Desert, Niger consistently ranks as one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.  Life expectancy is 44 years, with 25% of the children dying before the age of 5.  In addition, over 60% of the population has never attended school.  The average Nigerien earns less than $200 annually.

Kara has also done educational ministry in Kenya, Africa.  Immediately prior to her appointment to Niger, Kara obtained her Master’s degree in International Educational Development at Teacher’s College, Columbia University.  She was a 4th grade teacher at Circle-Rock Preparatory School in Chicago, Illinois, a facilitator for Habitat for Humanity in Chicago.  She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hope College, Holland, Michigan.

Ruth Jones is a member of North Presbyterian Church in North St. Paul.

Kara’s Preaching Schedule

• Oct. 4: First, Presbyterian Hudson
• Oct. 11: First Presbyterain, Rochester
• Oct. 18: Trinity Presbyterian, Woodbury
• Oct. 25: North Presbyterian, N. St. Paul
• Nov. 1: First Presbyterian, St. Croix Falls

Pastor Kara Roots notes that 38 people from 11 congregations took part in the event. The following is from Brian Manwarren, an elder at Edgcumbe Presbyterian in St. Paul.

 I was privileged to attend Andy Root’s presentation at Lake Nokomis Presbyterian on September 19.  I greatly appreciated the fellowship and fraternity of the event.  Luncheon conversations are always cool and this was no exception.. The sharing of ideas and the networking engendered will no doubt be helpful as we think about and talk about the challenges that face our Church communities.  I am new to the Presbytery Community and found the social and discussive part of the day great fun.  Dr. Root tried to cover a lot of ground in one session.  And for the most part, I think, it worked.  He is both playful and stimulating.  Though in the last hour-probably because of time constraints-he strayed from his most effective teaching style.  It would be helpful to work through this book in a series of classes and discussions.  I enjoyed the event and the introduction to Andy Root’s work.  And thanks to Kara for hosting.  It is beyond the scope of this note to discuss the “stuff” of Dr. Root’s talk.  Suffice it to say that in my mind honest and heartfelt communication and, hopefully, relationships are the “places” where we can build communities.  This involves risk and acceptance.

Dean Seal. Photo Courtesy of Minnesota Public Radio.

Rev. Deal Seal, a parish associate at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis, is in critical condition at Abbott-Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.  According to Rev. Denise Dunbar-Perkins, a chaplain at Abbott-Northwestern, Seal was at the hospital on Thursday evening to pick up perscriptions when he collapsed.  During this episode, Dean’s heart had stopped.  Currently he is intibated at the hospital and while he is still in bad shape, Denise says he is “100 percent better” than he was last night.  

The doctors are still determining what happened to Dean.   

Rev. Tim Hart-Andersen, the Head of Staff at Westminster is requesting the Presbytery be in prayer for Dean and his family. We ask especially as we prepare for this Sunday’s worship, that the PTCA remember Dean and pray for his healing.     

 O God,
the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers,
mercifully hear our prayers
and grant to your servant Dean,
the help of your power,
that his sickness may be turned into health
and our sorrow into joy;
through Jesus Christ. Amen.   -from the Book of Common Prayer. 

Pastor Younan G. Shiba grew up in a traditional Assyrian church with his family in Iraq. He has served in Jordan and Syria with Iraqi expatriates, in Baghdad with the Assyrian Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and as the Director of Operations in Iraq with the SALT Foundation, a non-governmental organization affiliated with the Open Doors organization. In 2005, as a result of threats, Pastor Shiba and his family came to the United States as religious refugees. Currently they are serving in the northern suburbs of Chicago among the Assyrian and Arab communities.

This event will be held on September 17th, 2009 from 6 to 8 PM At Boutwells Landing Presbyterian Home.

The training will:

• Introduce your team to the MissionInsite system

• Recommend why this information could guide your

• Teach your team how to access the information with

• Demonstrate various reports that can be used to customize

It is recommended that churches send a team of at least two persons who would lead their church in this exploration of how this powerful demographic tool could assist them in customizing outreach to the population in their area or to revise their ministry based on the changes that may have occurred. This valuable resource is available at no cost to the individual churches of the PTCA.