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The Presbytery of Scioto Valley (PSV) has moved to an electronic newsletter.

Each week a printable newsletter is compiled, you can download it here.

In addition, the individual articles are posted to this website.

The website and the download (PDF) versions contain the same things, you do not need to read both. Choose which one you prefer.

If you are familiar with “blogs” then the format will be very familiar to you. If not, see the section below which describes how some features work.

Have something you’d like to see posted to the website? Send it to newsletter@psvonline.org. All submissions are reviewed.

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In September of 2005 the congregations of First and Second Presbyterian Churches, Portsmouth, voted to establish the Morning Star Presbyterian Parish.

The agreement outlined the creation of a parish council and the mechanism for sharing a pastor. With the retirement of the Rev. Evan Fisher on December 31, 2005, the Rev. Stanley N. Webster began serving as designated pastor at First Presbyterian, while continuing his duties as installed pastor at Second Presbyterian. The congregations extended equal terms of call that called for an equal distribution of pastoral time.

The parish agreement specified that in 2007 the congregations would vote again on whether to continue the parish. Last Sunday, the congregations met and voted on the motion: “to approve the continuation of the Morning Star Presbyterian Parish.”

One hundred people voted that day; 93 were in favor of the motion, 7 opposed. This vote imposed no term on the parish agreement, paving the way for the parish to continue as long as both congregations are willing.

In November, our Executive Presbyter, Dana Knapp will meet with the session at First Presbyterian to outline steps for calling Stan Webster as installed pastor. Members of the Presbytery will then conduct a service of installation at First, Portsmouth. This fall marks the twelfth anniversary of Webster’s service to Second, Portsmouth.

The agreement that the congregations approved in 2005 will be now be re-worked into by-laws for the parish. Those by-laws, along with the Book of Order, will be the framework within which changes in the parish can be made. Each congregation and each Session maintains its full constitutional powers and duties as spelled out in the Book of Order.

Reminder! Please return your postcards to Presbyterian Campus Ministry!

The fall is in full swing at The Ohio State University.  With 50,000 students, Campus Minister Liz Hakken will probably not find your students without your help.  

Please remember to return your postage paid card to PCM with the names of your currently enrolled OSU students!  You may also send her names via email at: campusmin@worthingtonpres.com

Presbyterian Campus Ministry is looking for a guitar player to help out with Sunday evening services on campus.  

General praise music plus whatever you want to bring!  A small stipend is available.

Commitment is for Sunday evenings during the quarter.  If you or someone in your congregation is interested in helping out this exciting ministry, please contact Liz at 614-537-3560 or by email at ehakken@worthingtonpres.com

According to a report in USA Today - the largest newspaper in the country - the Presbyterian Church (USA) has sent more than 29,000 volunteers to the Gulf coast to help relief and rebuilding efforts since Hurricane Katrina struck almost two years ago.

According to a list compiled by the newspaper, 29,345 Presbyterians have aided the Katrina relief efforts, ranking the PC(USA) fourth among all faith-based organizations.

Only the Southern Baptist Convention, Habitat for Humanity and the United Methodist Committee on Relief have contributed more volunteer workers to the relief effort. Most of the PC(USA)’s efforts have been coordinated by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA).

Link to USA Today article

(Thanks to Betty Lou Stull, a member at Broad Street Presbyterian, who sent this in.)

In October, 2007, 144 of the church’s 173 presbyteries will host a mission co-worker for one week. The 48 misssionaries who will participate in this visitation have given a total of 622 years of service throughout the world, an average of almost 18 years per person.

The purpose of this major emphasis is to inform members of Presbyterian churches about the work our denomination is doing in the world and to ask each congregation to select at least one mission co-worker and build a relationship with that missionary through prayer, correspondence, and financial support.

Presbytery of Scioto Valley will host mission co-worker Ted Wright from Oct. 19 - 26. Our Global Missions Committee has scheduled gatherings each evening in regional locations so that Presbyterians from every church in the presbytery can attend one of these gatherings. More about Ted Wright and the schedule of gatherings will be in the next issue of this Newsletter.

Massive flooding on August 22nd caused major destruction in six counties in Ohio. Declared federal disaster areas, these six countied are located in Maumee Valley Presbytery. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is guiding the presbytery to organize for the long range recovery program.

If your church would like to send a mission work team to this disaster area, contact PDA Call Center, 1-866-732-6121, or the leaders of the Maumee Valley Presbytery Call Center, Lucy Russell, 1-419-260-6831, and Tami Robinson, 1-419-562-1732.

If you would like to personally volunteer to work on the recovery operations, you can register online with PDA Team Registration, www.pcusa.org/pda/register/team.jsp and note Ohio flooding.

If you or your congregation desire to send a donation, the Extra Commitment Opportunity number is ECO#DR000015 Midwest U. S. Flood Recovery. You may specify Ohio flooding.

Over 50 mission contact persons in 44 churches are now receiving a monthly message of information about missions.

Those persons will be sharing this news with their local mission/outreach committee and their Session. This network will be a means for the mutual sharing of information and opportunities between churches as well as from PSV Mission Partnerships.

If no one in your congregation is receiving the news from PSV Mission Network, please provide the presbytery office with the name, phone number, and email address of the person who will receive and distribute these communications.

Contact Presbytery of Scioto Valley

On Sunday, October 14th, Central Presbyterian Church (Columbus) will celebrate her 25th Anniversary of providing a hot breakfast every Sunday to homeless persons in downtown Columbus. That translates into 1300 consecutive Sundays of outreach to the homeless!

In 2005, the Columbus Coalition for the Homeless awarded Central Presbyterian Church their annual Marsha Donner Humanitarian Award for “providing food and sustenance to homeless men and women.”

A special worship service to praise and thank God for faithfully blessing this mission will be held at 10:45 a.m. on Oct. 14th. That afternoon there will be a celebration and awards ceremony at 2:00 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend either or both of these events.

For further information, contact Jim Mehler, Pastor, by phone (614) 224-9119 or by email jmehler@sbcglobal.com

Congratulations, Central PC!

(Note: a schedule is posted at the end of this article.) Rev. Tomeh is currently assigned to serve with the Middle East Council of churches (MECC) as an associate general secretary, in charge at present of the Iraq relief and rehabilitation program, which is part of the ecumenical relief services of the MECC.

In addition to his duties with the MECC, Rev. Tomeh is also the regional liaison of the PC(USA) for Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the Gulf. He is assisting with the newly formed Iraq Mission Network in the PC(USA).

Rev. Tomeh holds a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and psychology from Beirut Arab University in Beirut and a master of divinity from the Near East School of Theology. He received his doctorate of ministry in pastoral care and counseling from Christ Seminary Seminex (ELCA) in St., Louis Missouri. His clergy membership is with the Synod of Syria and Lebanon, which is the Presbyterian Church of Syria and Lebanon.

Nuhad is in contact with the five Presbyterian churches in Iraq and is deeply aware of the struggles of these churches. These churches, and Christians in Iraq in general, have come under increasing threat and danger from Islamic extremists who have kidnapped and in some cases killed Christians. Elder Yousif Al-Saka of the Presbyterian church in Mosul, was kidnapped and murdered in January 2007. (See page 171 of the 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study).

The website of Refugees International says that the displacement of Iraqis is now the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world. The U.N. estimates that over 4 million Iraqis have been displaced since 2003: over 2 million have moved within Iraq itself; another 1.5 million have fled to Syria, 3/4 million have gone to Jordan; 1/4 million have gone to Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Yemen and Turkey.

It is unofficially estimated that over 50,000 Christians have emigrated to Syria and the same number to Jordan. Another 6,000 have gone to Lebanon. Yousif Al-Saka’s son, Mazen Al-saka M.D., has had to flee to Lebanon from Mosul.

Rev. Tomeh will share with us throughout the day the situation of the Presbyterian churches in Iraq and what we might do to help. All are welcome to attend any or all of these events.

Schedule of the day

9:00 am - 10:00 am
Presentation at the Adult Forum (Parlor)

10:30 am - 11:30 am
Worship
Rev. Nuhad Tomeh preaching

3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Presentation and discussion

For more information on Rev Tomeh, see:
http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/profiles/tomehn.htm

NOTE: The information from this post is also available in a PDF flyer suitable for printing.

God With Us: Discernment

9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Boulevard Presbyterian Church
1235 Northwest Blvd., Columbus, OH

What is God calling you to do? Are you listening?

Come learn to discern!

Learn about…

The theological background of discernment
* Spiritual practices of prayer and meditation
* Discerning for groups and individuals
* Resources, books, and more!

Our retreat leader:

Tim Jones received his Masters in Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary in 1965 and his Doctor of Ministry degree from McCormick in 1978. After serving churches and presbyteries in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, he retired in 2005.

He continues to serve the church as a consultant for conflicted churches, mission studies and planning. He also teaches Interim training for the denomination at Pittsburgh Seminary and Austin Presbyterian Seminary.

He has led over 100 retreats in the areas of spirituality and discernment. Tim currently is serving as the interim pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Grove City, Ohio.

Registration
Due by Sunday, October 21, 2007.
A registration fee of $20 per person will be due by the beginning of the retreat.

Boxed lunches & drinks will be provided.

Please make checks out to Boulevard Presbyterian Church and put “retreat” in the For/Memo line.

Questions can be directed to Brett Swanson at 614.486.0267 or rev.brett@blvdchurch.org.

Portsmouth First is hosting the annual Harvest Home Bazaar this coming Wednesday, October 3 from 11:00 a.m. til 1:00 p.m. A delicious Marzetti Lunch will be served at a cost of $6 per ticket.

The shopping opportunities include Grandma’s Attic, Christmas and Crafts, and The Bakery. Raffle tickets for some very nice prizes will also be on sale at the Bazaar. The event is sponsored by the Presbyterian Women of Portsmouth First Presbyterian Church and the money is used for various mission projects, including our food pantry.

For more information please contact

Amy C. Thompson
Church Office Administrator
First Presbyterian Church
221 Court Street
Portsmouth Ohio 45662
740-353-4259

The 200th meeting of the Presbytery of Scioto Valley was highlighted by worship led by the Rev. Carol Wickersham, from the Presbytery of Lakes and Prairies. She challenged the Presbytery to think about peace also to work for it in large and small activities.

New pastors, James Gear (Columbus Brookwood), Leigh Holder-Bobo (Columbus Hoge Memorial), and Michael Phillips (Washington Court House First) were introduced.

At the request of the Presbytery of San Jose, Brett Swanson (pictured) was examined and approved for ordination. He has been called to be associate pastor at the Columbus Boulevard church.

In other pastoral transitions, Charlotte O’Neil has moved from 1/2 to 3/4 time at Delaware Old Stone and Donald Coleman has become associate pastor at Delaware Liberty. New interims are Tim Jones at Grove City First, Alex McDougall at Galloway, and Paul Van Horn at Nelsonville First. Jeff Connar will serve as commissioned lay pastor at Columbus Calvin, Dwayne Lee will serve as CLP at Frankfort First, and Linda Plummer will add Oak Hill Horeb to her CLP duties at Oak Hill Bethel. Marian Redding is now stated supply pastor at Iberia. November 1st will see Jeffrey De Yoe begin as pastor at Worthington and Stuart Ritter become interim at Columbus Broad Street. Phil Hazelton and Rawley Boone were granted honorably retired status.

The proposal from the Mt. Gilead church, presented in September 2006 and postponed to this meeting, asked that the Presbytery take the position that “compliance with the standards for ordination adopted by the whole church in the Book of Order is an essential of Reformed polity” was defeated.

The mission partnerships report noted that the major upcoming activity will the week-long Presbytery’s joining in the Mission Challenge ‘07. Ted Wright, area coordinator for central and southern Africa, will be in the Presbytery October 20-26th andz will meet at area gatherings, including Presbyterian Women and Hanging Rock.

The Presbytery Resource Center was granted permission to proceed with the organization of a partnership network of Presbytery Resource Centers in Ohio, in the Synod of the Covenant.

A well done video presentation on the Youth Triennium was presented.

A lay pastors class of 4 Presbyterians and 3 UCCs were welcomed at the September 2007 Presbytery Meeting.

This marks the completion of our first class partnering with our United Church of Christ colleagues.

The Trustees announced that they had concurred with the Committee On Ministry oversight committee for Worthington Highlands to grant the church $30,000 for September 2007 through August 2008 and not do the projected funding for the third year of the original plan.

A motion was referred to Presbytery Council to have the presbytery meetings scheduled at the same time on consistent dates.

CORRECTION: The next presbytery meeting will be at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Columbus on Tuesday, November 20, at 10 a.m.

Rev. Carol Wickersham, an ordained Presbyterian minister and Beloit College faculty member, will speak in central Ohio from September 16 - 18 on faith, terrorism, and the use of torture. Rev. Wickersham is a co-founder of the No 2 Torture movement (www.no2torture.org).

She helped write “Resolution on Human Rights in a Time of Terrorism and Torture,” approved by the 217th General Assembly, and the congregational curriculum, “Out of Horror, Hope.”

She has helped organize national conferences on the church’s response to war, terrorism, and torture.

Rev. Wickersham will make the following appearances:

• Sunday morning, September 16, preaching on faith and fear at Broad Street Presbyterian Church at the 8:45 and 11:00 a.m. services.

• Sunday afternoon, 3 to 5 p.m., speaking at a public forum at Broad Street Presbyterian Church on “Beyond Fear: Faith in a Time of Terrorism and Torture.” A question and answer period with the audience will follow.

• Monday, September 17, from 10:45 to 12:30 p.m., Rev. Wickersham will speak to faculty and students at Trinity Lutheran Seminary.

• Tuesday: September 18, from 10 to 11 a.m., she will be a guest on “Open Line” with Fred Andrle, WOSU-AM, 820 on your radio dial.

• Tuesday, 3:00 p.m, Rev. Wickersham will speak at the Pre-Presbytery forum at the meeting of the Presbytery of Scioto Valley at Brookwood Presbyterian Church. At 4:30 p.m., she will preach the sermon at the Presbytery meeting.

Rev. Wickersham’s visit is sponsored by the Presbytery of Scioto Valley Peace and Justice Committee and by the Synod of the Covenant. For more information, please contact Mary Hershberger at (614) 499-5001 or 442-5915 or at hershberger.54@osu.edu, or Rev. Phil Bougher at (614)766-7865. These events are free and open to the public.