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The Presbytery of Des Moines |
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2007 Meeting Notes January 2007
Elizabeth Smith, Des Moines ● Nancy opened the meeting with a devotion. ● The group discussed each of the 2007 goals:
● Next regular meeting: Saturday, March 3 Notes from the March 2007 Meeting
Present: ● The group opened the meeting with a responsive reading. ● Denise England and Mary MacKenzie reported about their experience attending Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington, DC. Denise attended the Africa track and Mary attended the Eco-Justice track. The Reverend Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly PC (USA), was one of the conference speakers.
● Nancy reminded the
group that there are scholarships available for the Bread for the World
Advocacy Days, June 9-12, American University, Washington, DC. Thousands of
people of faith will gather to launch a renewed movement to end hunger and
poverty in the United States and around the world. ● Nancy and Mary are on a sub-committee with Pete Bird, of Compañeros, to make plans for our joint international mission events at three locations in the presbytery. Locations are: Western - Corning; Central - Central Presbyterian; Eastern - Newton (May 5). Other dates to be decided. ● Nancy shared the interfaith materials on the Mid East prepared by PC (USA). Also, PC (USA) will conduct a mission emphasis in October. ● Conversations continue with the partnership about this year's visiting delegation from Egypt. There are presbytery meetings on Tuesdays in August and November. The group felt it would be beneficial to coordinate with one of those days, if possible. JH News: ● Nancy announced that Alexa Smith will visit the presbytery and our group from May 3 through May 6. A schedule of activities is being planned. ● JH will re-tool the Lenten pieces for year-round use. The Guthrie Center church created a poster out of the brochure/insert. (ed. note: JH has since prepared and distributed a poster-size version, as well). ● Nancy said that JH is not intending to expand the number of countries with partnerships; rather, they want to increase the number of presbyteries participating with existing partnershi Notes from the June 2007 Meeting
Present: ● Lila Jean opened the meeting with prayer.
● Nancy C., Alexa and those present introduced themselves to one another.
● Nancy L.S. passed out the
"Suggestions for 12 Sundays of Global Mission Interpretation" which was
developed from suggestions made in the Global Mission Workshops held in the
presbytery. A bulletin insert is being prepared to distribute to churches as
well. She indicated that scholarship dollars are still available for persons
to attend workshops or other meetings. Of concern to many presbyteries is the need for help in creating a clear message about JH and help in communicating that message to others in their presbyteries. Ultimately, they want to create better "by-in" by other churches to create a covenant partnership. She commented that the criteria for inviting another presbytery to join an existing partnership would require identifying five to to seven churches with interest within a presbytery or perhaps one large, very committed church. She mentioned ways to engage those who may not be able to travel to partnership countries would be to ask them to write letters of support and advocacy to congressional members. She said that sharing photos which help explain the work and initiatives of a partnership could be very effective and also asking for prayers. She suggested that we contact the media when at appropriate times, such as a visiting delegation, and ask them write a story. When contacting the media, ask "Did you know that there is a coalition of churches in the Des Moines Presbytery who is working with Christians and Muslims in Egypt to advocate changes in law on behalf of children with disabilities?" Or if Nancy C. were visiting you might ask, "We have a coordinator from a coalition of Christians and Muslims in Egypt who is working to change laws for children with disabilities." She summarized as follows: The more simple a request for help, the better response you will receive; create an intentional, strategic plan to attract buy-in; leverage the media when appropriate; consider a conference call with your partnership from time to time or as appropriate; be certain partnership coalitions have clearly defined what actual problem/situation they are working on; promote your Web site and the JH Web site; promote and sell products from your partnership country's artisans. She suggested going to the Web site of Partners for Just Trade (www.fairtradeperu.com) to see an example.
● A short discussion followed
of possible TFD delegates for a fall visit to our presbytery. Lastly, she presented a slide show of photos from the advocacy event and presented t-shirts which were the same as those worn by the disabled children who attended the June 7 event. The wording on the front of the shirt says, "We deserve an education." ● Alexa reminded members that an Advent piece entitled "Waiting Behind the Wall" will be available to churches. ● Several members were able to stay for supper in Dallas Center. Diane and Gary Badgett hosted Alexa overnight Saturday in Corning and she preached there Sunday morning. She returned to Des Moines and Louisville Sunday afternoon. Nancy C. will remain in Ames for several more weeks. Notes from the September 1, 2007 Meeting
Present: ● The meeting opened with devotions ● Margaret explained the reusable bag project that the Atlantic church is promoting. If other churches are interested in ordering bags, contact Margaret for details. ● Nancy introduced Marcia Justice, Ankeny, who will join the next delegation to Egypt. ● Nancy talked about our visiting delegation, Mona Antar and Bassem Serofim and their organizations, New Horizons and New Vision Association, respectively.
● Together for Family
Development update: the group will be developing and discussing ways to make
an economic impact in their communities -- possibly by marketing and selling
local products.
● The remainder of the meeting was spent scheduling the delegation visit. Nancy asked that everyone use "reply all" when sending e-mails about the schedule. Notes from the November 10, 2007 Meeting
Present: ● Nancy has been in contact with Lionel and Alexa about the delegation trip in February. Lionel and Alexa plan to meet with both the Palestine and Egypt networks and their JH partnerships in February. Likely dates for the Egypt meeting are February 15 and 16 or Feb. 22 and 23. The meeting will include substantive conversation and visioning with TFD. Visits to TFD member organizations will follow the joint meeting. Persons interested in going on the delegation should be learning about the JH program and our Egyptian partnership now. ● There is is discussion of a future Middle Eastern delegation trip. ● The group discussed ways to grow membership and to interpret the JH mission and philosophy to the entire presbytery. ● TFD has decided to move forward with Fair Trade products. There will be opportunities for our group to promote these items to identify smaller retailers who would be willing to carry such products. ● The group discussed goals for 2008. Nancy will report those to JH. ● It was decided that our planned photo exhibition should include 25 photographs. The group spent the remainder of the meeting selecting the photos to be used. |
