Presbytery of Western New York
E-Newsletter 

June 2, 2009

Presbytery Meeting
The next meeting of Presbytery will be on June 9 at First Presbyterian Church in Gowanda. Click here to see the call papers for the meeting. We will be installing the new moderator, Rev. Donna Kay Lewis.

Pbywny Forum
Click here to check out new topics on the Pbywny forum!

WNY Apologetics Round Table
You are invited to the next WNY Apologetics event to be held on Sunday, June 7 at 6:30pm at Whitehaven Road Baptist Church (1290 Whitehaven Rd., Grand Island, NY  14072). Our speaker will be Mr. David DiTullio. David is a Behavior Detection Officer with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He will present a talk entitled, "Raising Children in the Midst of the Storm." The presentation will look at the safety risks children take when using cell phones and similar technologies. This will include discussion of the recent phenomenon of "sexting" among kids and how you can tell if your child is lying. Questions and discussion from the audience will follow. Free refreshments will also be available. The event is open to all, so feel free to bring a friend. 
Click here to see a full flyer. 

Part-time Accountant Needed
The Education Committee of WNY, an ecumenical 501c organization which runs the Resource Center, Lay Academy and education seminars, is seeking a part time accountant to keep, maintain and report all finances and investments for its work. The Committee is seeking an individual with an accounting degree, nonprofit accounting knowledge, payroll, tax and investment background, excellent verbal and writing skills, and three to five years work experience. This individual must have the ability to work with a diverse group of people including bank and investment professionals, staff, and volunteers. This position requires a working knowledge of Quickbooks and/or similar accounting program. For further information or to submit resume to:
Carol Timmerman-Yorty, education committee of WNY co-chair, Resource Center, 300 North Forest Rd., Williamsville, NY 14221, Ctid726@aol.com

Journey’s End to Celebrate World Refugee Day
Journey's End Refugee Services to celebrate World Refugee Day on June 20th. Journey's End is supported by both the Presbytery and many local churches. This year on June 20th, Journey’s End will celebrate World Refugee Day by sponsoring The Refugee Experience – an event for youth over age 14(all day) and adults (in the afternoon).This event will begin at 8:30am at St. Martin’s In-the-Field Episcopal Church on Grand Island for youth and their leaders or at 1:00pm at Trinity United Methodist Church on Grand Island for adults and parent and end at 4:00pm at Trinity United Methodist Church. During the day participants will experience a snapshot of the life in a refugee beginning with their escape from persecution; meet refugees, who now live in Western New York and hear their stories; eat a community meal and worship together.

Please encourage the youth and adults in your church to participate in this event. Registrations are required by June 8th to John Harbison, 773-7002 or johnharbison1@gmail.com or Tom Tripp, 8395868 or tntljt@roadrunner.com.

Click here for full details about the event.

Eco Justice Resources 
The National Council of Churches has some good resources for reducing your congregation’s carbon footprint.  Click here to read about these websites.

AROUND THE PRESBYTERY

Elder Calvin Lay was honored for his heroism during World War II by the Irving American Legion Post. The Post held a dinner at the Seneca Niagara Casino in May. When asked what he did during the war Calvin said, “I had to go for things. They would
say ‘Chief, go get this,’ or “Chief, go get that.’ Sometimes it was in the dark and it was scary.” Calvin earned a bronze star and other honors for his heroism. Congratulations Calvin and many thanks to you and others who have served or are serving in our armed forces.

Choir Robes
Available free of charge: 26 navy adult choir robes and 16 light blue youth choir robes. Contact First Presbyterian Church, Portville at 716-933-6426 or portville.presbyterian@gmail.com.

Chicken Barbeque at Glenwood
Click here for all the details on the Chicken BBQ on June 20 at the Glenwood Church, famous for their homemade potato salad. Flyer on newsletter e-mail

Over fifty pets were blessed.  They included dogs, cats, and two ferrets, two iguanas (Spike and Zeus).  Pictures of pets who were unable to attend were brought forward and placed on the Communion Table.  There were pictures of 2 horses, an Amazon parrot, a cockatiel, and a box containing the ashes of a beloved dog was also placed on the Table. The pets were amazingly well behaved occasionally joining in during the hymns.
Immediately after the worship service Buffalo Companion Animal Network (C.A.N.) sponsored a Microchip Clinic at the church.  To date, Faith United has met its goal to donate 1,000 pounds of pet food to Buffalo C.A.N.'s pet food pantry. 

Kenmore Presbyterian Church Presents Harry Potter and the VBS Disciples Vacation Bible School

To promote their upcoming VBS, members of Kenmore Presbyterian marched in the Kenmore Memorial Day Parade. They sported their t-shirts with names of the different characters on the back, handed out candy and passed out postcards with information about the VBS. Pastor Howard Boswell let them decorate his PT Cruiser to be their "float". The Harry Potter VBS will run August 17th -21st from 9 AM- 12:15 PM. Our themes for the week are Food, Choices, Friendship, and Love. Each day will focus on one of the themes with Bible stories, Harry Potter stories, games, crafts, and music. If you have any questions, please contact Kenmore Presbyterian's Coordinator of Educational Ministries and VBS Director, Nancy Fuster at 875-7600.  Click here to see some of the photos.

Native American Churches Meet
Representatives from the three Native American churches on the Seneca Reservations met with Rev. Mary Lee Talbot, director of Spiritual Nurture and Discipleship on May 9.  Representing the congregations were Jane and Judy Blackchief (Tonawanda Indian) Calvin Lay and Janis Quinn from Wright Memorial and Rev. Marv Abrams and his wife Jan from Jimersontown. Also present were the three moderators of the churches, Rev. Richard McConnell (Tonawanda Indian), Rev. David Persons (Wright Memorial) and Rev. Leslie Latham (Jimersontown).  Tonawanda Indian will be working on finding more preachers on a regular basis, Wright Memorial will be starting Bible Study in the fall. Jimersontown will explore doing a Vacation Bible School with the help of First, Randolph and perhaps other congregations.

Children’s Mission Activities
(Send news of your children’s mission activities to the newsletter at newsletter@pbywny.org.)

Children in the Sunday School at First Presbyterian Dunkirk have collected d over $300 over the past two years for The Smile Train.  The children at North Church in Williamsville are “Read(ing) 4 Smile” to raise money for The Smile Train. They are hoping to raise $500.

The children at Wright’s Corner raised $200.00 for the Heifer Project.

The Sunday School at First Presbyterian Portville has adopted a girl from South America through the Christian Children’s Fund.

7th and 8th graders at North Church, Williamsville have an ongoing mission project with Bethlehem Presbyterian Church.

Vacation Bible School
(If you are having a Vacation Bible School send the dates and any theme to the newsletter, newletter@pbywny.org.)

Kenmore – August 17-21  Harry Potter and the VBS Disciples
First, Lewiston – July 20-24 Studio Go
Riverside – August 3-7
First, Tonawanda – July 6-10 Discovery Canyon, Explore the Wonder of the Word
North, Tonawanda – July 26-30 Power Lab, Discovering Jesus Miraculous Power

Mission Trips
(if your youth group or church is taking a mission trip in the next six months, send the information to the newsletter, newsletter@pbywny.org.)

First, Youngstown – June 28-July 3 Pittsburgh, PA   Week of Hope Mission
North, Tonawanda – June 26-July 3 Dunkirk, NY    Chautauqua Co. Rural Ministries
Riverside – TBA – Smithers, West Virginia

Other Summer Activities
Music Camp
North, Tonawanda – July 13-17 for older elementary and youth. Music, bells, drama and more plus 2 performances.