Presbytery of Cayuga-Syracuse
P.O. Box 6010
Syracuse, NY 13217
(315) 632-5698
www.cayugasyracuse.org
July 21, 2016
Dear Friends of Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery,
Welcome to this week's edition of our e-letter, Presbytery Matters. Our goal is to highlight
things going on throughout the Church: within our Presbytery, in our congregations, as well
as in the Synod of the Northeast and across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We hope
that these are things that will be helpful, informative, challenging, encouraging, supportive.
In other words, we hope that these things will matter. Your input is valued, and your
comments are always welcomed!
Presbytery get-together
Again and again over these past few years, we have heard people say, "We need to get
together more than twice a year as a Presbytery. We don't need to have a 'business
meeting' each time, but how can we get to know each other better, share more together,
support one another more effectively if we don't gather together?"
Well, the opportunity has arisen to do just this! This coming Tuesday, July 26, we are going
to have a Presbytery Picnic! The picnic from 5-8pm on Tuesday, July 26, at the home of
Jenn and Henry Chapman, 7662 Elkhorn Road, Manlius, NY 13104. Jenn (Northminster
PC) is one of the Triennium advisors this year.
The picnic, co-sponsored by our presbytery's Leadership Team and the Korean
Partnership M&M Team, is an opportunity for folks from throughout our presbytery to meet
and greet one another, make new friends, and hear first-hand what the Presbyterian Youth
Triennium (PYT) experience meant to the students and advisors from C-S who will have
just returned from that very special event. This will also be the farewell event for
our four Global Partner students from South Korea who leave early the next day.
Activities include music, lawn games, mingling with friends old and new, and a special
video presentation, directed by PYT advisor Rev. Mario Bolivar (FPC Skaneateles),
featuring our Triennium students and their reflections on what Triennium meant to them.
Dinner begins at 6:00pm. Menu includes beverages provided by our hosts; burgers, brats,
etc. provided by the Korean Partnership; desserts provided by the Leadership Team; and
salads and side dishes provided by willing guests!
Reservations are requested by Monday, July 25 to Kathy Bohnsack (UC of Fayetteville)
at
[email protected] or 315-682-8890. Please leave the name(s) of guest(s) coming,
name of local church, and nature of dish-to-pass side dish if you plan to bring one. (Food
contribution not required but greatly appreciated, and walk-ins welcome!) For more
information contact Linda Russell at 315-730-6930 or [email protected].
Joys and Concerns around the Presbytery
In our prayers together this week...
Pray for Donna Chapman (CRE pastoral leader at Whitelaw) and ruling elder Becky
Wind (Isaiah's Table) as they continue their recuperation from recent surgeries.
Pray for the Rev. Dave Movsovich, interim pastor at the Port Byron congregation, and
the members of that church, as he leads the congregation through this time of
transition.
Give thanks for the ministry of the Rev. Eileen Winter, honorably retired (as of the end
of this month), whose last Sunday at First Pres. in Auburn was last Sunday.
Give thanks for the 215th anniversary of the Presbytery community in the village of
Skaneateles. First Pres. is celebrating this anniversary this Sunday, July 24.
In the cycle of prayer for our Presbytery, please pray for these congregations, faith
communities, and individuals: our Presbytery (the Leadership Team, Work Groups, and
Mission and Ministry Teams), the Synod of the Northeast, General Assembly staff.
If you'd like to share a particular joy or concern with the Presbytery, please contact Steve
Plank at [email protected].
From the Stated Clerk/Communicator
I am floored. I'm an extrovert, and have had decades of experience in public speaking...so
I seldom am at a loss for words. However...
However, when U.S. Representative Steve King (from Iowa) said the following, I confess
that, for a while at least, I was left pretty much speechless, mouth agape:
"I'd ask you to go back through history and figure out, where are these contributions
that have been made by these other categories of people that you're talking about,
where did any other subgroup of people contribute more to civilization?... It's rooted (all)
in Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the United States of America and every place
where the footprint of Christianity settled the world. That's all of Western civilization."
(Quoted in a July 18, 2016 online article from The Washington Post.)
Really, Mr. King? You really are going to go on television and proclaim that white, European
civilization is the only group that's made any lasting contribution to "civilization?"
Well, let me think...
George Washington Carver, an African-American, developed 300 derivative
products from peanuts among them cheese, milk, coffee, flour, ink, dyes, plastics,
wood stains, soap, linoleum, medicinal oils and cosmetics.
Lewis Howard Latimer, an African-American, invented and patented an
incandescent light bulb with a carbon filament in 1881. An engineer for the Edison
Company, Latimer invented the carbon filament, thus making the light bulb practical.
Among his many other inventions, African-American Garrett Augustus
Morgan invented an early traffic signal, that greatly improved safety on America's
streets and roadways.
Islamic scholars, especially in what Europeans know as the Middle Ages, kept alive
such scientific fields as geometry and medicine. They gave us our current system of
numbers, including the then-new concept of the number zero. They also invented the
mathematical field of algebra and contributed immensely to the field of astronomy.
Many believe that part of our American idea of representative democracy originated
not so much with Presbyterian polity (although that certainly played an influence), but
with our own regional influence of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Gun powder (for weapons, as well as for fireworks) was invented during the Tang
Dynasty of the 9th century in China.
Dr. Carlos Juan Finlay, a modest Cuban physician, was the one who originated the
theory that yellow fever originated with mosquitos.
Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable, a black man living in the 1700s, is considered by
historians to be the first permanent resident of Chicago.
Thomas L. Jennings, the inventor credited for inventing the dry cleaning process, was
the first African American to hold a U.S. patent, issued in 1821.
African-American Frederick Jones invented the ticket dispensing machine in 1943.
This invention revolutionized the transportation and entertainment industries. This
Ohio inventor is credited for 61 patents, including the portable X-ray machine, the
portable refrigeration unit, and the two-cycle gasoline engine.
Dr. Charles Drew discovered a method for the preservation of blood that was used
extensively during World War II by the British military to save the lives of wounded
soldiers. After the war, Drew was appointed the first director of the American Red
Cross Blood Bank. He was only one of many outstanding African-American
scientists.
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed the first successful open heart surgery in 1893
and founded Provident Hospital and Training School for Nurses (the first black-owned
hospital in America) in 1891.
The formal invention of paper can be dated exactly in the year A.D. 105, and was the
work of one who should surely be honored among the great contributors to human
civilization. He was Ts'ai Lun, a man attached to the Chinese imperial court.
I confess I'm just tired. I'm tired of ignorance being lauded over knowledge. I'm tired of
people who believe that their personal beliefs are "facts," just because they say so...the
preponderance of other information notwithstanding. I'm tired of racism and bigotry being
paraded as patriotism. I'm just tired.
St. Paul wrote it best, I think:
Christ is just like the human body - a body is a unit and has many parts; and all the
parts of the body are one body, even though there are many.... If the foot says, "I'm not
part of the body because I'm not a hand," does that mean it's not part of the body? If
the ear says, "I'm not part of the body because I'm not an eye," does that mean it's not
part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, what would happen to the hearing?
And if the whole body were an ear, what would happen to the sense of smell? But as it
is, God has placed each one of the parts in the body just like he wanted. If all were one
and the same body part, what would happen to the body? But as it is, there are many
parts but one body. (1 Corinthians 12:12, 15-19; CEB)
Surely we need to live out this reality in the Church. But if we also could model this,
proclaim this, insist on this in the broader society... well, wouldn't that make our lives richer
and allow us to continue to build on that beautiful, intricate mosaic that is what makes
American society strong?
Blessings and peace,
Steve Plank
Around the Presbytery
Blessing of the Animals
Westminster Church (Auburn) will have some fun with a Presbyterian-style "blessing of the
pets" on Sunday, August 7, during the worship service starting at 9:30 am. The Blessing of
the Animals will recognize the special bond we share with animal friends and companions,
and will be blended into the morning worship on the church's front lawn at 17 William Street
in downtown Auburn. All God's creatures (two footed, four footed, no-footed, paws, claws,
talons, or other) are welcome (on leashes or in carriers, please). For information, call 315253-3331.
LaFayette Community Band Concert Benefit
The LaFayette Community Band will have a concert at Columbian Presbyterian on
Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at 7:30pm. We will take a free-will offering with all proceeds to
benefit the LaFayette Outreach (food pantry). After the concert we will have a reception with
refreshments in the Session Building, at which time Tom and Nancy Redmore will present a
check to Outreach -- proceeds from the Annual Memorial Day Benefit.
Global Partners join Presbyterian Youth Triennium
Global Partners and host siblings leaving for Triennium, which has been occurring this
week on the campus of Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana: Changi "Ryan" Jeong,
Myungjun "Jimmy" Jang, Alex Blodgett, Huiu "Rachel" Kim, Marissa Everts, and Sumin
"Jasmine" Bae:
And remember that you may keep abreast on happenings in and around the Presbytery
by
checking the Presbytery events calendar (http://cayugasyracuse.org/calendars) and the
church events calendar (http://cayugasyracuse.org/calendars/church-events).
The Rev. Steven W. Plank, Stated Clerk/Communicator
| [email protected] | http://www.cayugasyracuse.org |
P.O. Box 6010
Syracuse, NY 13217-6010
(315) 632-5698
"I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them
bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
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