Happening Around the Presbytery

Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery

907 National Road

Wheeling, WV  26003

304-232-3490

www.uovpresby.org

Office Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

In an emergency after office hours: Call 740-359-1813

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PLEASE CONTINUE TO KEEP IN YOUR PRAYERS:

Mike Lenno Gene Toot Susan McMannis Linda Turner Vickie Whinnery Homer Harden Donna Todd

Karen Edwards Susan Lehosky Philip Keevil David Schoolcraft Gary Nylund Debbie Hale Dave Roberts

Matt Camlin R. H. “Mac” McCuen Sharon Willits Cherilyn Bown Joe Hendricks Judy Walton Family of Marj Carpenter

David Brocklehurst Dr. Lew & Ruth Stevens Dakota Partnership Melanie Blount Domasi Partnership All Service men & women

Pray for those sick with the corona virus, first responders, nurses, doctors, and the families who lost loved ones.
Pray for our presbyters, family members, and friends hospitalized or in nursing homes.
Pray for peace and an end to violence and hatred.
Please keep us informed of any prayer concerns you may have.

PRAYER FOR UOVP PASTORS. Select one of these pastors and remember him/her in your prayers this week: Kenn Sickle, Lloyd Smith, David Stammerjohn, Rick Stanley, Ed Stern.

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PLEASE KEEP OUR GENERAL ASSEMBLY COMMISSIONERS in your prayers: Ruling Elder Bob Milner and the Rev. Dr. Ruth Ellen Bates. The Assembly will take place online over three days: Friday, June 19; Friday, June 26, and Saturday, June 27.

Our denomination has elected new co-moderators. They are Gregory Bentley and Elona Street-Stewart.

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PLEASE CHANGE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS BOOK from pattyuov@uovpresby.org to christine@uovpresby.org. Christine will continue to also have the uovp@uovpresby.org box.

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TRINITY PARISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH will host the Free Community Dinner this Saturday June 27, 2020 3-5 PM. Please note the change of the location.  We will be using the Wells School  Building in Newell WV. Due to social distancing  this meal is take out only, Those who want a free meal please pull around to the rear of the building.  Meals will be handed to you without leaving your car.  Those who walk are welcome to pick up meals. This month’s dinner is a box lunch including  Hamburger, veggies, fruit cup, and cookies. The Free Community Dinner is a mission of Trinity Parish Presbyterian Church and is free and open to all.  Frank Lewis is Pastor

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WITH THE CHANGING NATURE of the coronavirus situation, Synod has reconfigured how their website is sharing information. The landing page for everything that they have has been changed to: http://www.syntrinity.org/2020coronavirus/. This is the best place for you to start your search.

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PRESBYTERIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER JUNE 2020 Control+Click Right Here.

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PRESBYTERIAN WORLD MISSION NEWSLETTER JUNE 2020 Control + Click Here.

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THE WEEK KIRK PLANNING TEAM has voted to postpone the 2020 Wee Kirk retreat. Dates and speakers are set for 2021 at Laurelville. There will be a letter that will be sent to our contact list with some additional information and plans for connecting regular wee kirk attenders (and even those who aren't so regular) through a digital platform. Please stay tuned.

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MALAWI WELL WISHERS MISSION. This is a video about the Malawi prison ministry with the Rev. Stanley Chimesya. Click this link for the video presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq4uIOOg4EQ. For more info, contact Karen Byrne at karenbyrne60@yahoo.com.

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PEACEMAKING. During the March 14, 2020, stated meeting of Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery, an action was taken to encourage Presbyterians to write letters of encouragement to detainees in camps on our southern border, letters of faith, accompaniment, and support. There are still some detainees who have not had contact with the outside world in long periods of time. These letters have proven to be a lifeline. They can be written in English. In this period of pandemic, this need continues and increases. Please take this as a mission project now in your “sheltering at home time.” Place letters in a blank envelope and then another envelope and address and send to St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, ℅ CMDVP, 3809 East Third St., Tuscon, AZ 85716. If you have questions, you can call Jackie Hutyera at 740/491-7251.

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IS GOD CALLING YOU TO FURTHER LEADERSHIP? If you are a Ruling Elder, God might be calling you to preach or become more involved in pastoral service. Our Presbytery, along with three neighboring presbyteries, will be continuing the training program for the preparation of possible “Commissioned Ruling Elders" for the future. New students may begin in the fall of 2020. The program includes both classroom and hands-on experiences, and you will receive training and mentorship that will help you grow as a leader in Christ's Church. If interested, please contact Dee Kovach, deekovach@att.net, for descriptions and details. A list of the Fall, 2020, workshops can be found under Items of Interest on our website. These classes are also great for continuing ed.

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PITTSBURGH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Continuing Ed Upcoming Events:

When the Well Runs Dry: Compassion Fatigue and the Work of Caregiving. With Leanna Fuller; Matthew F. Muldoon; Donna M. Posluszny; and Joanne Spence, June 18, 25, July 2, and 9, 2020.

PTS Responds. Weekly conversations and teach-ins on racial justice with members of the PTS Community, June 24-Aug. 26, 2020.

Claiming Pentecost: New Beginnings in a Post-Pandemic Church. With Paul Rhebergen and Jan Nolting Carter, July 9, 16, 23, 30, Aug. 6, and 13, 2020.

McClure Lecture and the WMI Conference Jesus Christ and the ‘Dividing Wall’: Race and God’s Mission. With Barbara Salter McNeil and Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove, Oct. 1-3, 2020.

What does it take for people of good heart and will to stand up, proclaim the Good News, and act on behalf of God’s preferred future for all God’s people?

These past few weeks, we have seen two intersecting stories that give us a window into a possible answer to this question. On May 31, the Church celebrated the feast of Pentecost. Despite having witnessed the teaching, healing, and Resurrection of Jesus, his followers locked themselves in a room—at a loss, in limbo. And, very frightened—frightened of the authorities. Knowing the Good News and knowing what to do about it were not the same thing. It took a "sound like a violent wind"— the in-breaking of the promised Spirit—to force these people of good heart and good will out of their fear and inertia and compel them to be change agents in their broken, beloved world. The breath of God disrupted everything—the familiar, the comfortable, the predictable—and moved the disciples to diverse, powerful, and public proclamation of the Gospel.

Fast forward two millennia. The same week we observed Pentecost, the last breath of George Floyd drove people of good heart and good will out of their upper rooms and into a diverse, powerful, and public rejection of the sins of racism and white privilege. As with Pentecost, we have seen the marketplaces and streets disrupted and noisy and filled with people proclaiming—insisting on—a future that is more just, more in alignment with the vision of Beloved Community. As people of faith, we know that we must confess and repent of our sin—and the Good News is that God will make us whole again. What we are witnessing is an irruption in our collective intolerance of what has been called "America’s Original Sin"—the sin of racism.

But what are we to do? Starting next week, we will begin a series of weekly conversations called PTS Responds. Featuring members of the PTS community—staff, graduates, Board members, faculty—we will reflect together on the history of racism and how the church can respond to it. We invite you to join us for these gatherings and find ways to respond in your community. We are also hard at work assembling a calendar of additional programs for the coming months that will challenge your mind, feed your spirit, and equip you to respond to your call in these volatile times.

The Spirit’s noisy breath—and the words of a dying man who declared, "I can’t breathe"—disrupted the status quo. The disruption of Pentecost brought clarity, conviction, and cohesion to the scrappy band of disciples, and the Church was born as they proclaimed a world in alignment with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Will it do the same for us? Will the flame of Pentecost ignite change—change that helps our communities, neighborhoods, and churches look more like the Beloved Community? I hope so. This is hard work, friends—but we are promised the Spirit - and that same Spirit calls the faithful to be at the forefront of this change.

Peace, Helen Blier, Director, Continuing Education

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PCUSA STORE. How Are You Caring for Yourself? Highlighting Spiritual & Mental Health: Last month was Mental Health Month and the Presbyterian Mental Health Ministry worked hard to highlight the importance of taking care of ourselves, especially during this time of heightened anxiety and stress. They released a new tip sheet containing eight suggestions for pastors and congregations on how to put mental health in the forefront and make it a topic of conversation and study for individuals and groups. We all know that it's more difficult to help someone up if you are on unsteady ground. As you and your congregations work to rebuild your community and fight for justice, you can find resources at PC(USA) Store that can help individuals and your entire congregation work toward a spiritual renewal. Browse Spiritual Renewal Resources.

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HAPPENINGS CAN BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE UNDER ITEMS OF INTEREST. Each issue will be posted for three weeks.

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