Presbytery of Western New York
E-Newsletter

May 18, 2010

Lynette Sparks Installation at Wrights Corners
Wrights Corners Presbyterian Church is very excited to have Lynette Sparks become our stated supply pastor on Sunday, June 6.  We will be celebrating with a covenant service at our 10 am service.  The Deacons of the church will be hosting a ham dinner after the service in our Fellowship Hall.   We would like to extend an invitation to anyone in the Presbytery to join us.  If you are planning on attending the dinner, please contact Marilyn Soemann at 778-7685.

Healthy Congregations Workshop Canceled
The Healthy Congregations workshop scheduled for Friday June 21 and Saturday June 22 has been cancelled. It will be rescheduled in the fall.

Save the date for Stewardship
Save June 12 from 9:30 to 2 for a stewardship workshop. Topics will include How to talk About Money, Consecration Sunday and other models, Strategic Planning and more. Cost is $5 per person.  Bring a team of people so you can capture all the good suggestions!

Presbyterian Communicators'   
Click here for the latest from the Presbyterian Communicators' network.

2nd Pres Starts a New Thing
Second Presbyterian Church, Lockport, is looking for musicians and party people for Saturday nights this summer to help us thank God and make a joyful noise.
We usually meet at 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and we continue that practice, but, starting June 19, we'll add a twist. We will be meeting outdoors on the beautiful field next to the church, 71 Van Buren St., Lockport, right across the canal from the historic center of Market St. After worship we will sponsor a community dinner, then at 7 p.m., a special performance program.
We invite everyone in the Presbytery to our Saturday night gatherings, but we especially would like you to consider having your church picnic with us. Pick a date, contact Barbara Wallace (wordsupply@yahoo.com or 550-1898) and plan a party!
If you are collecting anything for your own mission, please consider leaving a barrel or box or bin with us so that the Lockport community can contribute what we have.
We are also looking for musicians, solo and group, church-based and secular, to perform. Practice on Saturday night for your own worship on Sunday. Get some publicity and an appreciative audience. 
 
Second Presbyterian Church, Lockport, is choosing frontier over fortress, fun over drudgery, community over isolation, bold over mild, right now over later, and life over death by expanding its ministry in Lockport. Please help us, and add something different to your summer schedule!

Some of the mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers who came forward after the May 9th service to join God's Kids choir in a Mother's Day photograph at Hamburg Presbyterian Church.

Renewed Partnership/Global Mission Opportunity
     South African Work Group of PWNY

Do you have a heart for global mission?

    We are excited to offer the opportunity for involvement in the latest mission trip of the newly revived South Africa Work Group.  This group was initiated in 1985 as a series of renewable covenants between the Presbytery of Western New York and the Wynberg (Cape Town, South Africa) Presbytery as partners in mission.
    The South Africa partnership exemplifies the Presbytery’s goals of enhancing collaborative mission and communication, and in equipping lay leaders and pastors who make the trip to South Africa.
    We have been invited by the Wynberg Presbytery for a late October-early November trip.
    An application for those interested in going on this trip is currently being developed and will be made available shortly.
    The Work Group has the endorsement of five congregations, which firmly establishes the commitment to this mission trip.
    The deadline for submission of an application is June 21, 2010.
    More information will be available on the Presbytery website should you have additional questions.

   The last trip to South Africa on behalf of the Work Group was in April 2002. and was a deeply significant experience for the participants from both Presbyteries.  It was clearly a life changing event in their lives.  Our ability to grow in connection with our African brothers and sisters truly exemplifies commitment to our mission goals.  Is God calling you?

50 Years of Golden Fellowship

This year Island Presbyterian Church is celebrating the 50th anniversary of our founding. On Sunday, June 13th, we will mark the occasion with a special worship service at 11:00 a.m., followed by coffee and fellowship. The church will host a luncheon at 1:00 p.m.

You are cordially invited to help us commemorate 50 years of Christian ministry on Grand Island. Please join us as we recognize the work of our founding pastor, Rev. Hal Tyson, and the pioneering efforts of our founding members, welcome old friends and new, and share the gift of fellowship with our community.

If you plan to be with us for the luncheon, please call Carolyn at 883-4695 by Sunday, June 6, to make a reservation or e-mail CA@mckibben.com.

Nickel City Reptiles at Deerhurst
Click here for a flyer about the evening at Deerhurst Church with Nickel City Reptiles

Network of Biblical Story Tellers Workshops
Click here for a flyer about the Network of Biblical Story Tellers workshops to be held on June 5, 2010.

Concert at First, Clarence
Click here for a flyer about the Spring Concert taking place on June 6 at 3:00 p.m.

Gather at the Well
Click here for a flyer about the PACHEM event for those who work with college students.

Parishioner and Veteran Gerrit Blees Age 96

Gerrit Blees, age 96 and a member of the Randolph United Presbyterian Church, was given special recognition for being the oldest at the annual reunion of veterans receiving boot camp training at the Sampson Naval Training Base on Seneca Lake held in Little Valley on May 11.  Blees took his boot camp training in 1942 before the more than 2000 acre base was completed.  Fellow Navy veterans gave him big round of applause when he was recognized as the oldest.  He has been a member of the Randolph United Church for many years and when younger attended church quite regularly.   Parishioners congratulate and pray that Blees will be able to attend future reunions with the ease of this one.  God Bless! Photo by Jack Berger