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November
18, 2004 - Issue #3
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- Mission
Within The Presbytery
- Nov
Presbytery News
- Missional
Church Corner
- One
Good Idea
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A
JOYOUS THANKSGIVING! |
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The
Staff of the Presbytery of Donegal wishes and prays
for you to have a very joyous, spiritual, and blessed
Thanksgiving!
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WEBSITE
NOW HAS RESOURCES ON-LINE! |
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Visit
the following: www.donegalpby.com
today to check out the new Resource Library search
engine! You may search the library and then send
an email to order resources! |
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CONTACT |
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Presbytery of Donegal
P.O. Box 10054
1861 Charter Lane
Lancaster, PA 17605-0054
717.392.4035 (phone)
717.392.8922 (fax)
To
unsubscribe from this news, send an email to: kathy@donegalpby.com
and put in the subject line - unsubscribe eNews
http://www.donegalpby.com
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MISSION
WITHIN THE PRESBYTERY
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NOVEMBER
PRESBYTERY NEWS
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The
November Presbytery meeting was a great gathering at the
Oxford Presbyterian Church. There was an excellent
response to the Alternative Gift Market, and Workshops!
Rev Mark Koenig, from the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program
office was with us to lead a workshop and
preach! His sermon was, "Come Down from the
Tree," from Luke 19:1-10. His workshop taught the
skill of "mutual invitation" to speak at a gathering
and he also shared excellent peacemaking resources.
Donegal Presbyterian Church and Wayside Presbyterian were both
recognized for their outstanding efforts in peacemaking (and
for telling us about them!) John Diller and Aimee
Brackbill were both received as Candidates. We also
received Rev Gary Arntessoni as a Presbyterian Minister from
the American Baptists. John Blewitt was dismissed to the
Presbytery of South Louisiana with our blessings. Camp
Donegal increased the number of non-Donegal campers by 54% but
decreased Donegal campers by 2%. The Nominating
Committee brought forward excellent committee members and the
Overtures, Amendments and Review Committee led us through a
number of amendments. We prayed for our missionaries,
Marcia Towers (Guatemala) and David and Lee Hall (temporarily
in Ghana). Diane Burkland and Suzanne Uittenbogaard, and
the Oxford saints were thanked for their hosting the
Presbytery.
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MISSIONAL CHURCH CORNER - HIGH THRESHOLD
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According
to "Shaped by God's Heart," the first characteristic
is having a high threshold for membership. The
author explains that Jesus "placed the truth boldly in
front of people so they could make informed decisions.
In so doing, He maintained a high threshold for His
followers. This threshold weeded out some whose
motivation for following was less than genuine love for
Him. Missional churches clearly communicate the
responsibilities of church membership." Elements
that express the missional churches' high threshold for
membership are: a concern for nominal church members;
Membership is not casual; They are a unified community; The
church has clear expectations of members; Members have clear
expectations of the church. More next time....
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ONE
GOOD IDEA
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Rev Tom McKinnon,
Donegal Presbyterian Church, uses a time in worship to allow
members to share how God is working in their lives. A
few members will take turns and witness to God's life-giving
Spirit in their lives and their families' lives. As
followers of Christ, there are always stories that we can
share about God's awesome power, grace and influence in our
lives.
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