Get to know our new presbytery Moderator and Vice Moderator

At its May meeting, Presbytery of the Miami Valley elected and installed the Rev. Tom Harmon as Moderator and the Rev. Dr. Lisa M. Hess as Vice Moderator of presbytery.

Tom Harmon is privileged to be the youngest moderator of the Presbytery of the Miami Valley. He serves as the teaching elder at First Presbyterian Church in Fairborn and has just celebrated five years of ministry with these kind and gentle Christians. His wife, Kelley Angleberger, is also a teaching elder in the presbytery who served in social work before becoming a mother to their new son, Austin. Tom is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Reformed worship and theology and will serve as the Vice Moderator of the Bills and Overtures Committee for the 220th General Assembly this summer. He has traveled extensively in the United States, Europe, and Australia, and considers Julia Child and Fred Rogers among his heroes.

Lisa M. Hess is a companion, friend, wife, professor, preacher, poet, and contemplative who serves as teaching elder in the Presbytery of the Miami Valley and professor of practical theology at United Theological Seminary, Dayton. Author of Artisanal Theology: Intentional Formation in Radically Covenantal Companionships and Learning in a Musical Key: Insight for Theology in Performative Mode, she comes into presbytery leadership through her church-of-origin, First Presbyterian in Troy, then Knox Presbyterian (Pasadena, CA), First Presbyterian (Marietta, OH), and finally, membership in the presbytery since 2002. With her husband, Brian D. Maguire, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Xenia, she loves to travel, explore foodie culture, watch science fiction series, run, enjoy tea across traditions, and bother their Basenji-mix-mutt, Marley.

Kirkmont Center Clergy Renewal Days

Kirkmont Center will sponsor several Clergy Renewal Days at the camp and conference center in Zanesfield. The next Clergy Renewal Day is Other Forms of Meditation and Prayer on May 14, followed by Nurturing Resilience on September 10. The cost of each day is $30.00, with lunch included.

More information

Family Camping Weekends

Kirkmont Center has  five exciting Family Camping Weekends, beginning in May, that provide an opportunity for fellowship and recreation with other families, planned activities, campfires, smores, and lots of fun. Learn more & register>> 

The Pentecost Offering is traditionally received on the day of Pentecost (May 27). It provides a direct way to meet the needs of children at risk, youth, and young adults. Congregations are encouraged to keep 40% of the Offering to support ministries benefiting these age groups in their communities.

The General Assembly’s portion (60%) provides leadership development opportunities for Presbyterian youth and young adults and supports children-at-risk programs at the national level. Since 1998, Presbyterians of all ages have raised more than $8 million for these ministries that benefit younger members of God’s family. Learn more & get promotional resources>>

How one PMV church is using its Pentecost Offering to make a difference

Slifers Presbyterian Church, Farmersville, has used its portion of Pentecost Offering mission dollars to support high risk students at Miami Valley Career Technology Center, Clayton, where a church member teaches. The Slifers Pentecost Offering has helped purchase school supplies, books, uniforms, and other items for those students who could not otherwise afford them. The teacher says her church’s willingness to designate local Pentecost Offering funds to help high risk students at her school has been “an answer to prayer.”

COVENANT GATHERING NETWORK
Annual Covenant Gathering July 1-6

The annual Covenant Gathering, which is supported by the Covenant Gathering Network of Presbytery of the Miami Valley, will be held July 1-6 at the Michindoh Conference Center, Hillsdale, MI, close to the Ohio and Indiana borders. "Join other Christians for Covenant Gathering as we send our roots deep into the ground of God’s Love and send branches upward and outward in faith. Covenant Gathering is a little bit conference, a little bit vacation with facilities for all abilities!!!" Learn more & register>>

“Don’t Let Chaos Get You Down” May 31

“Don’t Let Chaos Get You Down” will be the title of an evening’s conversation with the Rev. Robert Skipper, ordained Lutheran minister and licensed clinical counselor, at Sugarcreek Presbyterian Church, Kettering, May 31, 7:00-8:30 P.M. “This evening’s conversation won’t offer ‘the answers’ but it will invite us to actively consider and incorporate what makes for health and wholeness in mind, body, and soul” Everyone is invited to attend.  

Learn more & register

Resources for understanding per capita

Resources are available from the Office of the General Assembly to help congregations, sessions and presbyteries better understand what per capita is and how it is used. The resources include leaflets, brochures, a PowerPoint presentation, articles, per capita offering envelopes, etc. Get the resources>>

Blankets+ helps people in need around the world

Church World Service (CWS) Blankets+ project provides funds to help people in need around the world, including the U.S. Some 8,000 congregations and groups across the U.S. hold CWS Blankets+ events to raise awareness and funds for this project. Blankets+ contributions have provided blankets, tents, food and other emergency supplies in the wake of a disaster, aided refugees displaced by disaster or violence in need food and shelter, provided tools and seeds for refugees returning home to replant their fields, and dug wells for families living in drought prone areas. Learn more & help>>

Synod Multicultural Youth Conference June 21-24

The Synod of the Covenant will hold its 1st Annual Multicultural Youth Conference for grades 9-12 June 21-24 at Kirkmont Center, Zanesfield. The theme of the conference is “Wade in the Water- God’s Going to Trouble the Water.” Keynote speakers are the Rev. Lindsey Anderson and Dr. Claudio Carvalhaes. Learn more & register>>

Peacemaking Conference at Ghost Ranch July 11-14

The 2012 Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference will be held July 11-14 at Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center, Abiquiu, NM. “This conference is different:  Peacemakers, we are listening to you and challenged by you! Peacemakers from across the country are invited to the sacred space of Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center to explore the Kin-dom of God as expressed in Isaiah 58:12, holding fast to our call to be Restorers of Streets to Live In. This is a conference about restoring and transforming the streets in which we live and mentoring new and younger peacemakers…” Learn more & register>>

Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women July 18-22

More than 2000 Presbyterian women (and a few men!) from around the world will gather at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center, Orlando, FL, July 18–22, for the 2012 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women.  The theme of this year’s Gathering is “River of Hope,” based on Psalm 46:4–5. Learn more & register>>

Northminster Mission Fund

Grants up to $5,000.00 are available to individual Congregations, Congregations in Partnership, Designated Presbytery Networks, and Validated Ministries of the Presbytery of the Miami Valley, for the continued purpose of building up the body of Christ. Pending available funds, grants may be renewed for one year. Learn more>>