FIRST MONDAY

September 2019

First Monday is a monthly posting to Church Professionals and committee members in The Presbytery of the Miami Valley from the Presbytery Staff including information of events and news of interest as submitted by appropriate Presbytery entities. Publication of such information does not imply presbytery endorsement of the views and opinions expressed or implied. This month we have included: 1. The Prayer List

2. The September Calendar

3. Presbytery News – What’s Happening Around The Presbytery. Job listings, articles, flyers

and brochures – take a close look for news affecting you and your church community! If there are any questions about the September committee meetings, please contact your committee chair.

Submissions must usually be emailed by the 25th of the month or the last working day prior in order to be placed in the packet. Email copy ready submissions to Tom Oxley at the Presbytery, tom.oxley@miamipresbytery.org.

MIAMI PRESBYTERY PRAYER LIST

September, 2019

1 September Presbyterian Church of New Paris, located at 15 North Spring Street, New Paris. Moderator Ron Shultz.

8 September First Presbyterian Church, located at 1130 Highview Drive, Fairborn. Pastor Karen Cassedy.

15 September Westminster Presbyterian Church located at 990 Old Springfield Pike, Xenia. Pastor Melissa Tidwell.

22 September Westwood Presbyterian Church, located at 1068

Stahlheber Road, Hamilton. Pastor Norman Godfrey. 29 September First Presbyterian Church, located at 215 West Colbus

Street, West Liberty. Moderator Arby Conn.

6 October First Presbyterian Church, located at 123 West Decatur Street, Eaton. Pastor Ted Dennis.

The Presbytery committee or group we ask you to pray for: For the month of September please keep the Committee on Preparation for Ministry in your prayers. Thank you.

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First Monday Job Corner: Drop us a line if there is a job opening you need to fill at your church (and please let us know if you want it continued in future months – we are only running ads month by month, so need to know if your church wants it continued). Memorial Presbyterian Church in Dayton is seeking to fill the position of Organist/Piano Player to play and lead choir. If interested please email or call Rev. David Foubert, 937-256-4473, foubs@aol.com. Please note that the Presbytery website also lists some area job hunting assistance. If you know of somebody in your congregation that needs some help looking for their next job, please share that information with them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Churches are invited to share programs, job openings, and news with other churches of the presbytery. Just email print ready information to tom.oxley@miamipresbytery.org. Tornado Relief Work by Southminster Presbyterian Church The Mission Team at Southminster Presbyterian Church has been busy the last five to six weeks with a three-pronged approach to assisting with tornado relief.

1. We established a crew of workers to help with debris removal for three to four Saturdays in conjunction with Crisiscleanup.org. The crews put in 6 hour days.

2. For six weeks the congregation has been collecting cleaning supplies, food, underwear and socks, baby items, toys, and school supplies and delivering those items to St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church. To date we have made three trips, filling a passenger van and two SUV’s with supplies.

3. A meal project was established with Dr. Karen Young of the Dayton Scholars program for six weeks serving College Hill Community Church, Corinthian Baptist Church, or St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church. Each week we went to one of the churches mentioned above. Our congregation made 10-12 breakfast casseroles each week as well as provided lunch. Breakfast and lunch was served to those over 18 every Friday (children were already provided for through the Dayton Scholars program). The congregation also made a total of 247 dinner casseroles for families to take home. We had approximately 50 members of our congregation making the casseroles; a total of 505 hours of food prep and 40 hours spent serving. Delivering food and administrative hours totaled over 120 man hours. Our congregation has been very gracious and generous.

We plan to continue to assist those in need during Our Church Has Left the Building program in October. We have contacted the Pastors at the three churches where we have served meals as well as other relief contacts to ask for their assistance in obtaining ideas of where our help is still needed most. We will target our CHLB efforts based on that feedback.

You are invited to the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Slifers Presbyterian Church, Farmersville. Join them for a weekend of faith, fun and family. Saturday, September 28th: 1pm – join their choir to practice Sunday’s anthem 2-4pm – Open House with historical displays 5pm – Picnic at the 8 Acres Sunday, September 29th: 9am - Coffee Hour 10am – Celebration worship featuring former pastors.

Free catered lunch following worship. Please RSVP to Slifers Presbyterian Church, 2999 South Clayton Road, Farmersville OH 45325 by September 10th. Indicate which times you wish to participate, along with the number attending so they can get appropriate amounts of food ready for the meals.

Would you be willing to give up one of the last beautiful Saturday mornings of the summer to help your fellow congregants understand how to begin addressing the overwhelming subject of aging? Well, representatives from 12 PMV churches did just that to attend the first ever Third Thirty Network Workshop, held August 10, 2019 at PMV/Memorial Presbyterian Church. The PMV Third Thirty Network aims to educate, inspire and empower congregants on a plethora of topics regarding aging, be it your own aging process or that of a relative or friend. The Senior Industry is expected to be valued at $300B by 2020, so educating yourselves and your loved ones before you get inundated by those seeking to gain your business must be a necessary first step. The purpose of the Third Thirty Network Workshop was to help attendees understand how the network can help begin these relevant discussions on aging at churches. The basic approach is to choose a topic relevant to helping older adults, identify someone (perhaps within your own church) to lead and share information on the topic, and then hold a discussion sharing information and encouraging attendee participation through activities, questions and comments. At the workshop, five mini sessions were presented for demonstration. The sessions were: Ombudsman by Diane Welborn/Westminster; Teaching/Learning for Older Adults by Deb Hitchcock/Bath; Being Parents to Parents and Downsizing both by Chris Pomfret/Bath, and Life Reviews by Janet Miller/Bath. Each topic held to a 30-minute time limit but could have easily extended to an hour, which is the typical Third Thirty discussion time length. As the potential list of topics for your church’s discussions is almost endless, Chris Pomfret compiled a syllabus for facilitators entitled “The Third Thirty: A Course Guide Exploring the Realities and Challenges We Face in the Years 60-90” to help churches get started. The guide and more information on the network can be obtained by contacting the network chair, Janet Miller, at janetoptimist@gmail.com.

Healthy Pastors, Healthy Congregations 

Monday, September 9, 2019 Covenant Presbyterian Church 

415 North Main Street, Springboro OH 45066  

5:45 pm‐6:30 pm meal provided  

6:30 pm‐8:30 pm program 

Please RSVP in two ways by Friday, September 6th:   

1. Contact HPHC@pensions.org. or call Ruth Adams at 215‐587‐7219 to 

register for the program; then 

2. Contact the PMV office, 937‐258‐8118 or by email to 

tom.oxley@miamipresbytery.org ) to reserve your meal  

Healthy Pastors, Healthy Congregations brings together pastors and congregational leadership 

to  work  toward  financial  sustainability  by  providing  financial  education,  consultation,  and 

theological reflection to help all build a brighter financial future together. A one‐time grant of up 

to  $10,000  is  available  to  eligible  pastors  after  the  pastor  and  congregational  leaders  have 

completed an educational seminar, and the pastor has completed online educational modules, 

as well as financial counseling through Ernst and Young. The program is paid for by the Board of 

Pensions and a Lilly Grant. The grant can be used for debt reduction or for retirement savings.  

Go  to  http://www.pensions.org/your‐path‐to‐wholeness/healthy‐pastors‐healthy‐

congregations for details and eligibility rules.  

The Rev. Dr. Douglas Portz, Sr. Church Consultant from the Board of Pensions, will conduct the 

two‐hour seminar (one of the required components of the program).    Pastors and key leadership 

are required to attend. Ideally as many elders on session are to attend as possible, i.e. at least 5 

to 7.     Please   RSVP as described above by September 6 and be sure  to copy and  fill out  the 

Congregational covenant and financial gift forms. If you have any questions you may contact the 

Rev. Dr. Douglas Portz at dportz@pensions.org.  

LEADERSHIP COUNCIL—PART II September 10, 2019

Board of Pensions Events and Presentations Just Before and During the Sept. 10 Presbytery Meeting

 What’s NEW with the Board of Pensions!?!

Pastors, Ruling Elders on session, personnel chairs, and treasurers/business administrators are invited to a Pre-presbytery event on Tuesday, September 1o, from 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the location of the presbytery meeting--the sanctuary of the Eaton: First Presbyterian Church, 123 West Decatur St., Eaton.

The Rev. Dr. Douglas Portz, Senior Church Consultant for the Board of Pensions, will be making the presentation and answering your questions. Topics to be covered:

Get updated on changes to the Benefits Plan, i.e. medical, pension, vision, dental, etc.

Learn about new programs to support pastors and congregations; Healthy Pastors, Healthy Congregations; and Pathways to Renewal (a dues reduction model for small churches or churches wishing to increase staff).

Hear about the new grants for 1) ministerial education debt reduction 2) church planters 3) dental and hearing aids 4) assistance grants 5) sabbatical grants etc.

Discover new online resources and web-based education modules. Find out about benefits you can offer church staff at no cost to the church. Learn how you can save your pastor and church money by the way benefits are

structured. Please come to learn, share and rejoice, as we support one another in Christian Ministry!!

During the presbytery meeting: Doug Portz will also be present during the presbytery meeting that begins at 3:00 pm on September 10, and will briefly share information on some recent important decisions by the Board of Directors of the Board of Pensions. You are welcome to speak with Doug at the meeting or during the post-meeting dinner at Eaton, or call him if you have any questions at 215-587-7455.

2019 World Food Week of Action Impact the World – Today and Tomorrow –

with Just Two Hours of Your Time! An estimated 925 million people globally will go hungry today. You are able to change that reality. During the 2019 World Food Week of Action, join your hands and heart with dozens of others to bring nutritious food to children and families around the world. Volunteers from across the campus and community will come together for the Kids Coalition Against Hunger. Our goal is to package 15,000 nonperishable meals critical to school children, youth and families in our community and around the world.

Sunday, October 20th | 2:00 - 4:00pm (clean-up to follow)

Oxford Presbyterian Church Seminary Community Room

104 E. Church St., Oxford, OH 45056, USA

All are INVITED to join us!

REGISTER ONLINE:

https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/NjE2ODY= NEED MORE INFORMATION?

Please contact our church office at 513.523.6364 or email: office@oxfordpresbychurch.org