“Lord, help me put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and

holiness.” Ephesians 4:24

For the week of April 27, 2020

Presbytery of Cincinnati 4309 Cooper Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45242

Blessed Easter!

The Cincinnati Sampler MORE PRESBYTERIANS—MORE ENGAGED

Let’s Make the Table Bigger

Thank you Presbytery of Cincinnati, for being a Matthew 25 church by

feeding those in need and answering the Great Sandwich Challenge!

The homeless and abandoned of Cincinnati are in desperate need. Shelters are not taking in new people, many social services have shut down and volunteers are leaving those that are still open. The prison downtown has let more than 200 low-level offenders out to lessen the possibility of an outbreak in the prison, and the public restrooms downtown are mostly closed. Restaurants are closed, and many pantries are closed. One of the few service organizations and largest soup kitchen in the city, Our Daily Bread, remains open – and is serving more than twice what they usually serve. They are feeding more than people than ever – in normal times more than 500 a day – on a skeleton crew.

In our first week we delivered more than 3700 sandwiches!!

Thank you Aurora First, Blue Ash, Jim and Westi Brazell, Calvary, Community of Faith, Covenant-First, Gordon Deviney, Harrison, Heritage, Korean, Knox, Indian Hill, Lakeside, Loveland, Mt. Auburn, Madeira-Silverwood, North, Northwest, Pleasant Run, Richwood, St. John Westminster Union, Springdale, Trinity, Union, Westwood First, Williamsburg, Winton Hills! If you want to be a part of the Presbytery-wide mission,

contact Lisa at lisa@cpresby.org.

Stay safe and thank you! for all you do!

PRESBYTERY STAFF AND OFFICERS

Lisa Allgood, Executive Presbyter— lisa@cpresby.org

Rev. Erwin Goedicke, Stated Clerk—erwin@cpresby.org

Margaret Heidenreich, Office Manager—secretary@cpresby.org

Barbara Jean Havens, Coordinator Eastern Area Council

Bill Maney, Treasurer—finance@cpresby.org

Bill Bogdan, Moderator

Rev. Carol Ferguson, Vice Moderator

Rev. Adam Fronczek, Council Chair

PRESBYTERY OFFICE HOURS ARE 9AM-2PM Monday through Thursday

Updated Presbytery of Cincinnati

Guidance on Worship We’re clearly in evolving situations.

Final governor guidances on the stages of re-opening have not been issued, and while churches were never deemed essential or non-essential, and the last guidance from us said April 26 – the Presbytery strongly urges all congrega-tions to continue virtual worship and church activities until the Health Department and Governor of your respective states, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lift gathering size and social distancing restrictions currently in place, particularly for faith-based organizations.

That may be well into May, as peak infections in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana have not yet hit, and restrictions need to last at least 14 days beyond the shift from peak to decline.

In extending this directive, we understand, and feel with you, this time of great uncertainty and upheaval. Thank you for your unwavering faithfulness to the Gos-pel in every time and circumstance. We all look forward to the day when we can gather together again, and we’ll celebrate when we do!

We also recognize that the timing is out of our hands, and we’ll continue to issue updates on a regular basis. At this point, the health experts have said that finding a “new normal” will be a complex and ongoing process that will involve multiple timelines about when and how people can start to gather together again safely.

Guidance from the White House and CDC:

Guidance from the Presbytery:

Please stay safe.

WH Guidance for Gradual Re-Opening.pdf

Questions Your Church Should Answer Before People Return.pdf

Stories published in PresbyterianMission.org this week:

Flattening the Curve Means Staying Closed: The Rev. Todd Freeman, pastor of College Hill Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, posted on social media that this week the session voted to stay closed to in-person church activities “until reason and science indicate it is safe for our members and visitors!” All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial.

Does the Church Dare to Move Forward?: The Rev. Donna Fr ischknecht Jackson, editor of Presbyterians Today and a part-time rural pastor in upstate New York, questioned whether normal was ever normal, and says, “I want that crazy new future God is presenting to us. I want it for the church. And I want it in my personal life as well. I want to dream again — and dream big. I want to finally take that leap of faith and get that 18th century house in another state that I have been lusting over, the one with the huge open hearth to cook over and a rustic post and beam barn for the goats that I have been wanting for a decade now. The truth is, I don’t want to get back to normal, because that normal was killing me. It was zapping my creativity. It was trying to measure success by how much I took on and got done. It affirmed my worth by the accolades I received. Normal was not normal. It was a half-life. It was shallow. It was wearing me down. Yet we seem to be rushing back to all that is not life-giving.”

Sources of help from PC(USA)

DEADLINE to apply is April 30th!!

COVID-19 Grants from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance | Español | 가가가 | More information on PDA web page

Matthew 25 Grants | Español

Emergency student loan management information and resources from PC(USA)'s Financial Aid for Service office

Living Out the Mission in the COVID-19 Era

Absurd times call for absurd amounts of love and grace.

The Presbytery of Cincinnati has organized a three-week, Presbytery-wide sandwich mission to benefit Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, 1730 Race Street, Cincinnati. If you wish to participate, please contact Lisa Allgood, Tyler Pettigrew or Bill Bogdan and we can arrange to transport the sandwiches downtown if you wish. All we need are simple homemade sandwiches, individually wrapped and labeled (if containing peanut butter or ham). If you’re transporting, consider adding a prayer or Bible verse and the name of your church in the bag—and let us know how many sandwiches so we can keep a tally!

THANK YOU to the churches who continue to do Matthew 25 life-giving work in this time!

West Chester, Pleasant Ridge, and Northminster continuing local food pantry donations and pick-up sites.

Crestview is a food distribution site for Princeton schools and partnering with UMC Food Ministries.

Westwood and Covenant-First supplying City Gospel Mission.

Wyoming partnering with Valley Interfaith.

Lakeside initiating a funding challenge that raised $30,000 for the Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission.

Sycamore supporting the NEEDS pantry with carloads of supplies.

Knox and Third in partnership to feed hungry families.

Indian Hill for supporting La Soupe.

Loveland supporting the NEST food pantry.

Aurora First, Blue Ash, Calvary, Community of Faith, Covenant-First, Harrison, Heritage, Korean, Knox, Indian Hill, Lakeside, Loveland, Mt. Auburn, Madeira-Silverwood, North, Northwest, Pleasant Run, Richwood, St. John’s Westminster, Springdale, Trinity, Union, Westwood First, Williamsburg, Winton Hills for making sandwiches for Our Daily Bread.

Union for supplying food to local schools and families.

And so many more— let us know what you’re doing to be the church in the world,

and send photos!

"Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor."

Proverbs 22:9

Living Out the Mission in the COVID-19 Era

Thank you to Crestview for honoring the medical community

And thank you Mt. Auburn for supporting Social Justice

Each year, the congregation of Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church, through our Social Justice Committee, identifies those local agencies who would receive financial support from part of our annual mission budget. This typically is done in the fall but due to the COVID-19 and the reduction in city support for many non-profits and agencies, our committee decided to split the mission funding to be sent in two equal amounts, one now (spring) and one in the fall. The following list are recipients under Mt. Auburn benevolence gifts during this time of funding cutbacks from city and county administration. This is the spring distribution that will be again made in the fall. Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC), Im-migrant and Refugee Law Center, 3R Fund for Immi-grants, Freestore Foodbank, Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank, YWCA.

The Presbytery of Cincinnati Ruling Elder Preaching Institute

Are you interested in becoming part of the Presbytery pulpit supply? The Ruling Elder Preaching Institute is a course of 6 weeks’ study designed to enable PC(USA) Ruling Elders to prepare and preach a sermon giving an exposition of a scriptural text based on the skills of exegesis and spiritual disciplines of Christianity. The REPI training uses an apprenticeship model for learning to prepare and preach, supported by reading, lectures, and other exercises. The aim is to help Ruling Elders understand what is essential for effective preaching and to take significant steps towards preparing and delivering such sermons. Ruling Elders who complete the class will be able to be on the Presbytery Pulpit Supply List. In addition, the class counts as one of the 9 required courses for those considering CRE accreditation. Classes are taught by the Reverend Ron Allen, Christian Theological Seminary, and the Reverend Dr. David Childs, Antioch Baptist Church and NKU, with a bonus class from REPI grad David Paulik. Classes have been moved to June 2 – July 7; every Tuesday evening from 6PM to about 8:30PM, at the Presbytery Office. The cost is $125.00. Email secretary@cpresby.org to sign up!

NEW OFFERING: The Presbytery of Cincinnati Youth Preaching Institute Details and dates are being worked out, but let’s get our youth (ages 15 and up)

preaching and serving! With the powerhouse leadership of Rev. David Annett, Rev. Amy

Snow and Elder David Paulik, stay tuned!

Notes from the Presbytery

GA will be online only in 2020

For the first time in the history of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the denomination’s General Assembly will be held online only. The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a plan for a reduced assembly gathering that will require everyone involved — commissioners, advisory delegates, corresponding members and staff — to participate in a digital assembly. “As we have discussed, we knew we would reach a point in time in our contract with the Baltimore Convention Center and hotels where they would not be able to meet the agreed upon services listed in our contracts and that day is today,” said Julia Henderson, OGA’s interim director of assembly operations. “This is a force majeure. We need to let them know we are canceling because they cannot meet their obligations.” Force majeure is a clause in contracts that frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the contractual parties prevents services from being performed. In this case, the COVID-19 virus has resulted in numerous conference cancelations. The General Assembly was scheduled to be held June 20-27. The convention center has converted space into a field hospital for infected patients. Over the last few weeks, COGA and staff of the Office of the General Assembly have been working on contingency plans should the convention center not be available. The assembly will take place over three days; Friday, June 19; and Friday and Saturday, June 26 and 27. Details are still being worked out, but the plan includes: Question and answer session (town hall gathering) for moderator candidates followed by the

election of a new moderator/co-moderators on Friday, June 19 Opening worship, two plenaries on Friday, June 26 Critical business, three plenaries, including stated clerk election and budget, on Saturday, June

27. Mid-Council leaders are meeting virtually with OGA staff to get everyone ready. Other planned events will include technical training for commissioners and advisory delegates, participation in a virtual Poor People’s Campaign event, Bible study and electronic group gatherings. COGA continues to meet to finalize the agenda.

Level 1: Monitoring the situation

Presbytery office open

Increase sanitation practices throughout the building

Update all personal contact information of staff and members

Increase food handling precautions (in the local church this includes Communion Elements)

Encourage those who are ill, medically vulnerable, and those who have travelled to infected areas to stay home

Work with local congregations, Pastors, and other leaders to care for their faith communities in a time of increased anxiety, illness, and isolation.

Encourage local congregations, Pastors, and other leaders in safe practices (alternate ways to greet one another, pass the peace, handout bulletins, count the offering, etc.)

Plan ways to encourage continual giving of pledges and offerings so ministry is not hampered

Encourage congregations with a preschool to develop a Pandemic Action plan

Explore alternate meeting technologies

Communicate plans and updated information through the Presbytery communication channels: Sampler, Presbytery Facebook page, Presbytery website

Level 2: Limiting

Presbytery office open only for essential functions

Increased sanitation practices continue

All non-essential meetings and gatherings postponed or rescheduled

Encourage Pastors, Elders, and Deacons (the spiritual leaders of the congregation) to create worship liturgy, prayers, devotions, etc. that can be shared with congregation members who self-isolate and for widespread use in the event of closure

Work with congregations, Pastors, and local leaders as they open the building for only worship and essential leadership functions.

Begin to use technology resources to gather as a faith community

Encourage safe distancing in all gatherings

Level 3: Closing

Presbytery office closed

Work with the congregations, Pastors and local leaders as local churches close for worship and all activities

Presbytery staff work from home

Implement use of technology for essential leadership functions

Communicate with local congregations, Pastors, and other leaders to offer updated information, encouragement

Presbytery of Cincinnati Pandemic Action Plan

This policy is drawn from resources that have used local school action plans as well as incorporating information from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA). This policy may be adapted as more information comes available.