October is PCUSA
Domestic Violence Awareness Month
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According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, on average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States. That’s more than 12 million women and men over the course of a year. Nearly 1 in 4 (24.3%) women and 1 in 7 (13.8%) men aged 18 or older in the United States have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime
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Dear Friends,
What a wonderful Synod Assembly last week! Chris DeLisle and Sharon Cowen from MATE offered a wonderful workshop on how MATE is working to eradicate systemic poverty, and commissioners from the 19 presbyteries approved a budget and formed a Discernment Team to do some vision work for the synod in the coming two years. And PNNE's Dakota Whitaker is on that team!
And one more thing, here is another reminder that PNNE Stated Clerk TJ DeMarco and I will be visiting three churches in PNNE for minutes review and my sharing on the Synod Grant. Here again is the schedule:
November 1 - 6:30 PM at Midcoast Presbyterian Church
84 Main St. Topsham, ME
November 2 - 6:00 PM at Windham Presbyterian Church
1 Church Rd. Windham, NH
November 3 - 1:00 PM at Barnet Presbyterian Church
279 W Main St., Barnet, VT
We look forward to seeing you all!
Joy and Peace,
Scott
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Gospel reading for Friday, October 28: Luke 12:13-31
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13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." 14But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" 15And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." 16Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17And he thought to himself, 'What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?' 18Then he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' 20But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' 21So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God."
22He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 26If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 28But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you - you of little faith! 29And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. 30For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
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"If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to be born both within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we don't know its name or realize that it's what we're starving to death for. The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers. We glimpse it at those moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know. We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength. The Kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all of us homesick for it."
-- Frederick Buechner
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COMMON PRAYER FOR SUNDAY OCT 30
MINISTRY: Thanksgiving for the great cloud of witnesses
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Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside every weight
and the sin that clings so closely,
and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
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NOVEMBER ANNIVERSARIES OF
ORDAINED MINISTERS
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Timothy Dolan - 11/22/1981
Nancy Donnelly - 11/19/1995
Mia Dyson - 11/01/1998
Lawrence Jones - 11/09/1980
David Medeiros - 11/09/2008
Heather Prince Doss - 11/02/2008
Marion Silbert - 11/14/1982
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Congratulations and thank you! If your ordination anniversary is not listed when it should be, or is listed incorrectly, please send your information to: office@pnne.org (Connections assistant, George Huggins)
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Save-the-Date:
The Conversations We Should Be Having
November 16th at 7 PM at North Church (UCC), Portsmouth, NH
Co-Sponsored by the NH and Maine Councils of Churches
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Tanisha Johnson, Co-Founder of Seacoast Black Lives Matter, Empowered Activist, and Community Leader
Chief Elliot Moya, Elliot Police Department, Unassuming Leader, and Proponent of Community Policing
Together, they are engaging hard truths, staying in the room, and forging deeper connection while talking honestly about race and justice.
- What lessons do they have for communities of faith, and congregations?
- What does "unity" really mean?
- How does coming from a place of empathy change the conversation?
- What does Love require of those of us trying to do this work in our own faith communities?
This event will be hybrid! Live streaming details forthcoming.
Our gratitude to the Rev. Jennifer Mazur, and North Church for their hospitality, and collaboration.
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Congratulations to Mid-Coast Presbyterian Church, Topsham, ME,
on the occasion of their 35th Chartering Anniversary,
observed on October 23, 2022!!
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These PNNE categories, previously on the "Resources" page, have been given their own page and moved under "About":
A new page has been added under "About":
More individual pages will be added from categories currently on the "Resources" page. We'll add new information to each "Committees" and possibly provide them with their own page. Watch this space.
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CONFIRMATION CLASS NEEDS MENTORS!!!
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FROM JEN AT NEW ENGLAND GLOW:
"We are excited to start our confirmation class next week but before we begin we need a little more help. Each youth in the class needs a mentor. We need a few more volunteers to mentor youth during their confirmation journey. Mentors can be adults or youth. Joint confirmation class will begin with four weekly one-hour zoom sessions followed by an in person half-day retreat in November. Then we will spend five-six months completing a Faith in Action program with mentors. During this time we will complete eight mentor/large group sessions and monthly whole group zoom check-ins. We will be using the "Commissioned to Change the World: Confirmation for the Matthew 25 Congregation" curriculum.
The confirmand and the mentor covenant to walk together for six months after the confirmation retreat, sharing the experiences of reaching out, knowing and serving the disenfranchised and engaging in reflective conversation. Post confirmation meetings will focus on: building character borne of wisdom, time-honored virtues and values, such as compassion, hospitality and unity in diversity, and the interrelatedness of all persons created in God's image. Mentors should: love God and Christ's church; have a commitment to the Matthew 25 initiative; have a desire to serve the youth for their sake, not for self-serving reasons; have a discerning spirit; be compassionate; be approachable and available, with an ability to listen; and be able to foster trust and discernment. If this sounds like you please fill out this form. If you have any questions please reach out to me!
Thank you,
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CHANGES IN THE BOOK OF ORDER
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The Presbytery of Northern New England (PNNE) will vote on the amendments to the constitution at the PNNE stated meeting on January 12, 2023. We are giving advance notice because it is a lot of reading. If you have questions as you review them, you can contact the Stated Clerk, T. J. DeMarco at sc@pnne.org. The 225th General Assembly (2022) approved 33 proposed amendments to the Book of Order—including a replacement for the entire D-section—to be considered and voted on by the 166 presbyteries prior to July 9, 2023. For an amendment to be adopted, 84 presbyteries must vote to approve it.
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PAST ISSUES OF CONNECTIONS
AVAILABLE THRU WEBSITE
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Go to the "footer" on any page of pnne.org and click the "Past Connections" button. Give it a try:
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Connecting: For All Ministers
We have two weekly opportunities for ministers to connect for support and encouragement. Click here to join the Zoom meeting at the days and times, below.
- Mondays at 10:00 am
- Tuesdays at 3:00 pm
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If you're interested in serving on a PNNE Committee, contact the Nominating Committee Chair. All Committees (except the PJC) will need to fill the Class of 2025 position(s). These are current vacancies on PNNE Committees:
- Nominating Committee
- Class of 2023 (2)
- Class of 2024 (2)
- Synod Commissioners
- Ruling Elder (RE)
- Young Adult Advisory Delegate (YAAD)
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Position Openings
FULL DETAILS OF THE OPENINGS ARE ON PNNE'S WEBSITE, HERE
First Presbyterian Church of Barre, Vermont — Interim Pastor
First Presbyterian Church of Haverhill, MA — Stated Supply Pastor
Topsham, Vermont, Presbyterian Church — Part-time Pastor
Newburyport, MA - Old South Presbyterian Church – Full Time Pastor
Nashua, NH - Nashua PC - Full Time Pastor
Wales Presbyterian Church, Wales, ME- Part-time Stated Supply Pastor
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Reformation Rehab.
Five hundred years of scholarship
and learned dissertation
have never yet wiped out the blunt,
insistent humanness of Brother Martin,
his guts, his moods, his beer
and barnyard epithets. He lives
and loves, sweats, spits into the fire
and tosses inkwells spilling far across
the dessicated pages of his followers
since then. But beware!
The final irony and last revenge approach
as the princes of the church debate
proclaiming him a saint.
J. Barrie Shepherd
October 18, 1983
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SYNOD OF NORTHEAST TO OFFER COACH TRAINING
3-day training (15 hours) on Nov. 14-16, 2022
Twelve 2-hour coaching classes (held every 2-3 weeks) of training and coaching
A second 3-day training (15 hours) in June 2023
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