PW Spring Connection is Takin' it to the Streets

“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” ~Matthew 25:40 On Saturday, April 9, 2011, at the First Presbyterian Church, 1204 13th St. in Dallas Center, IA 50063 the Des Moines Presbytery's PW Gathering will be held. Guest speaker is Dr. Roberta Victor of CROSS Ministries. Worship and Holy Communion will be lead by Rev. Julie Sterling. Activities include a Street Fair with church mission displays available. Don’t forget to bring your Birthday Offering! Plus the offering of the day will go to CROSS Ministries. Don Justo Coffee from El Salvador, Egyptian Scarves and other items will be available for sale. Bring money to spend! Lunch cost is $6. So make your reservations by April 2, to PW Moderator Rev. Linda O’Connell, 641-203-3660. See you on the Streets!

Presbytery PW Fall Gatherings set for Oct. 16 & 17

The Friday, Oct. 16 Gathering will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Audubon and the Saturday, Oct. 17 Gathering will be held at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Des Moines. Beginning at 9 a.m. each day with fellowship and the program Wonder of God’s Word with the Rev. Linda O’Connell and the 2009-2010 HORIZONS Bible Study – Joshua: A Journey of Faith.

Afternoon workshops include: Wonder of Mission – Columbia Accompaniment with Paul Walther at the Audubon church. Or Wonder of Mission – El Salvador with Betty Dyer, at Highland Park church.

Other workshops offered at both locations are: Wonder of Discipleship with Moderator Linda O’Connell, Historian Pat Summers, and Treasurer Angie Williams or Wonder of Presbyterian Women – A Report on the Churchwide Gathering by PW Correspondent Emily Seeger.

The worship offering will go towards CROSS Ministries and a local mission at each location. Local mission shower gift needs include: Audubon – the Women’s Crisis Center (personal hygiene items) and Highland Park – the Heart and Hand Mission (items for infants and medical supplies).

Lunch at both locations is $5 and reservations are due October 12. To make your reservations:

• Friday Oct. 16 at Audubon First Presbyterian Church, contact Angie Williams at 712-563-2213
• Saturday, Oct. 17 at Highland Park Presbyterian Church, contact the church office at 515-288-5703

Some of the Extras

While Linda O'Connell and Emily Seeger have been taking care of business, I've been enjoying forums and workshops and some of the extras associated with the Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women.

I went to a forum on immigration led by Julia Thorne--she's an attorney-turned-director of the Office of Immigration Issues in the Office of the General Assembly. All of us learned a lot about the history of U.S. immigration policies since the 1830's--the relocation of Native Americans, criminalizing aid to runaway slaves, barring entry to the country for Chinese, and moving the Japanese to internment camps. Presbyterians have responded to immigration issues through the years, and Julia helped us to understand the issues of the day. We heard stories of undocumented immigrants, each ending with the statement: ...and I am a Presbyterian.

I went to a workshop led by the author of the 2009-2010 Bible study on Joshua. Mary Mikhael is on the faculty of the Near East School of Theology in Beirut and brings a very contemporary perspective to the study. There was a lively Q&A time and Mary offered stories from her life in the Middle East as illustrations for the sometimes difficult passages in the Old Testament scriptures.

Another workshop was led by Eva Clayton, former US Congresswoman from North Carolina who now works as a consultant to the UN on world hunger issues. We talked about Ordinary Women Serving as Agents of Justice. More of a round table discussion, everyone offered stories from their own experience and Eva kept pointing out the extraordinary things that ordinary women were sharing.

When I'm not in worship, workshops or the dining hall, I'm usually in either the book store or the Great Room. And the Great Room is my favorite place to explore. There are areas for learning about all the ways Presbyterian Women are at work in the world. There are areas full of resources to take home. There is a Global Garden where we can meet our international guests. There are lots and lots of Presbyterian booths, as well as booths for Heifer Project, Bread for the World, Alternatives for Simple Living, and lots more. There area areas to relax, areas to be creative, and areas to play games. And there is the Global Marketplace where we can learn about fair trade and development projects and support them with our purchases. The Great Room is a very busy place--I still haven't experienced it all, even after several visits.

During the Monday evening plenary, 22 mission personnel were commissioned for new postings, one of them my friend, Nancy Collins. Nancy was the facilitator in Egypt for our Joining Hands partnership and she is now the Regional Liaison for East Africa (Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia). She invited me to the reception for these new mission workers afterwards, and it was a treat to meet some of the people and their families who will soon be serving the church worldwide.

PW Churchwide Gathering Business Meeting

Emily Seeger (Atlantic, First United) and I (Linda O'Connell) are the voting delegates to the PW Churchwide Gathering this Triennium. We had our first business meeting on Sunday afternoon.

We heard and/or received reports from the Churchwide Coordinating team about their work for the 2007-2009 Triennium. Then we began to vote on the recommendation brought to us from the Coordinating Team. The vote today that will have the most impact on the future of Presbyterian Women was that we voted to incorporate PW and become our own 501C3 cooperation while still affirming our covenant agreement with the PC(USA). There were lots of questions about why and how of this process but in the end it was an almost unanimous decision to incorporate.

On some of our less controversial issues we tried out the consensus model to come to agreement on the motion. I must say that we all need a little more practice in this area before I would recommend using it in our Presbytery.

Two issues that we did come to consensus on were to add a person to the Coordinating Team representing new immigrant women and to become informed about the use of rape as a form of genocide and as a weapon of war in Sudan and other areas of conflict and take action to support women and others who are working toward peaceful solutions.

The plenary sessions have been outstanding. On Sunday, we heard two excellent sermons. This morning we heard about the mission projects of Presbyterian Women. We have celebrated through music, movement and dance. Best of all we have renewed old friendships and made some new ones. Want to know more about the gathering? Ask me to come and give a program at your PW or church group.

See you at Presbytery,
Linda O'Connell (Lucas, First & Chariton, First)

Louisville, Here We Come

I flew from Des Moines to Houston on Saturday morning with the usual folks--people making connections to here and there. But when I got on the Expressjet from Houston to Louisville, I noticed proportionately more women on board. And when I got to the baggage claim at the Louisville airport, there were women galore. Women of all shapes and sizes, women of color, women speaking Spanish and Korean, women young and not so young. And we all found ourselves at the taxi stand heading for the Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women.

I found Rev. Linda O'Connell (Lucas First & Chariton, First) and we joined a group of women from Kansas City who were going to the same hotel. Linda and I will be roommates for the next few days, two of about a dozen who are here from the Presbytery of Des Moines. The lobby of the Galt House Hotel was a crush of women getting registered and waiting for the elevators. After settling in we hiked the skywalk to the convention center and I went to the first-timers' orientation.

I learned that there are over 2,400 of us here. We come from every presbytery in the U.S.--and among us are global partners from around the world. Counting Linda, I've seen four others from my presbytery--and several friends who are Hunger Action Enablers from across the country (our Gathering follows this one, finishing out the week here in Louisville).

I've been to lots of "big conferences" of Presbyterians, but this feels like the most diverse and friendliest one yet. Linda and I will keep you posted over the next few days...

Nancy Lister-Settle (Dallas Center, First)

PW's Newsletter Announces Fall Gatherings

The June 2008 issue of The Grapevine newsletter from the Presbyterian Women of the Des Moines Presbytery is now available! Presbyterian Women's Moderator Emily Seeger has included information on the PW Fall Gathering coming up this in October. You'll have two choices to attend, October 17 in Guthrie Center at the First Presbyterian Church or October 18 in Hartford at the Community United Presbyterian Church. Registration begins at 9 a.m. So mark your calendar to attend at the location nearest you!

If you'd like to submit to the Presbyterian Women's quarterly newsletter, the next deadline is Friday, November 28, 2008. Please submit articles in Microsoft Word or compatible format; digital images and photos are both acceptable!

This issue of The Grapevine and archived past issues are available on the Presbytery's Web site. Go to the Mission page and scoll down in the left-hand column under Presbyterian Women Section. If you have problems opening the pdf-formatted attachment, please let us know. If needed, you may download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

If you have questions or would like a hard copy, contact the Presbytery Office Manager Betty Dyer at 515-276-4991.