Changing Church for a Changing World-A Fresh Expressions Vision Day Zoom Event
How any RCA church can teach their folks to reach neighbors
In the midst of a rapidly changing ministry landscape, RCA Church Multiplication, the Classis of Illinois, Regional Synod of Mid-America, and Fresh Expressions invite you to join us for a day of interactive online training to equip you to live and lead fresh expressions of church in your context. Jesus calls us all to go and make new disciples. Fresh Expressions of church are perfect discipleship vehicles and can fit in any context. Join us on November 21 to discover actionable steps that any congregation can take to be a more effective witness in the world.
Part-Time Office Manager Sought for Six Mile Run Reformed Church
Six Mile Run Reformed Church is currently seeking a friendly, energetic and efficient individual to fill a part-time Office Manager position. The Office Manager will be responsible for managing activities, functions and overall operations of the church office.
The successful hire will need to have a working knowledge of online office and financial systems/ and procedures, and have proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office 365 platform and it’s applications (such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher, Dropbox, Google Docs, etc.) and online office as well as basic financial database and e-file systems. Proficiency in scheduling both face-to-face and virtual meetings is essential.
Requirements:
A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent is preferred
Two years proven experience in office management and administration
Proficiency in office, online, iCloud and web technical skills
Proficiency in basic financial database and e-filing systems
If you are flexible, adaptable, with excellent communication, interpersonal skills and engaging people skills, and are seeking to use your skills, gifts and talents to be deeply involved in the ministry the church, please respond with a cover letter of interest and resume to:
Personnel Committee
Email: admin@sixmilerun.org
Register Now for Vision 2020 Report Processing Webinar
Synod of the Mid-Atlantics Vision 2020 Report Processing Webinar
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
7 PM Eastern Time (via Zoom)
This webinar is being hosted by the Synod of the Mid-Atlantics and New Brunswick Theological Seminary. It is a time for church leaders, pastors, and RCA seminary students in our regional synod to hear from Vision 2020 Team members, ask questions, and discuss the recommendations being made by the Vision 2020 Team to the 2021 General Synod.
Registration is required. A full agenda and information packet will be emailed to registrants as the webinar date approaches. Please see the email from your stated clerk or contact the synod office at rsmat@rca.org for the registration link.
For other questions about registration contact Amanda Bruehl at abruehl@nbts.edu
Online Concert for Bessie Green Community & the Full Belly Project - 8/5 @ 8 PM
This Wednesday, August 5 at 8:00 PM on Crowdcast, Andrew Schwarz, Director of Music at Ponds Church, will be performing his ELTON JOHNish show to support Bessie Green Community and The Fully Belly Project! The proceeds of the event will be used to feed more families in Newark as the pandemic is ongoing and economic conditions worsen.
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/full-belly-project--
Spend an hour with us as we provide you some fun music and information about Bessie Green Community, the Fully Belly Project, and how you can help! Click on the link above to make your $25 admittance donation and reserve your spot for an amazing event!
Colts Neck Reformed Church Seeking Family Life Pastor
Seeking a family-life pastor for the Colts Neck Reformed Church, a vital, mission-oriented, open and affirming congregation in beautiful, suburban NJ. This is a full-time position, adding to a full-time lead pastor and a collaborative staff. Ordination is a plus, but not required. We are seeking a companion-on-the-journey who is experienced in sleeping on a church floor with youth groups, likes to laugh, is theologically passionate, has ideas just waiting to be tried, can pray hard and stay loose. A job description is attached with more information and to apply please email: cnrcsearch@gmail.com
Our website is coltsneckreformed.org
Opportunity To Participate in Churches Learning Change Process
The Synods of the Mid-Atlantics, Albany, and New York are continuing to partner together to provide our churches the opportunity to participate in the Churches Learning Change process. In the weeks ahead we hope to share testimonials from churches in our synod who have participated in the process. Please read the invitation from Rev. Greg Town below.
Change has Come!
If you haven't noticed, a lot has changed in the last few months. In fact, it seems a lot changes each day for our families, our churches, our communities, our nation, and our world. The changes seem endless - from pandemic stressors to personal/collective grief in the deaths of many loved ones to ongoing ministries within your community to the protests against police brutality and racial injustices to the factors and conversations in working to reopen to shifts in one's family and personal life to _____ (you fill in the blank). How are you managing these developments? How are you managing the anxiety that these changes are bringing you?
Unfortunately, I have a difficult truth that I'm afraid many church leaders don't want to face - change will continue to come. Change will come whether we're prepared for it or not. Change is unavoidable, and I believe the stories (as well as the overarching Story) of Scripture is that God has created humanity to adapt with creativity, ingenuity, courage, and faith.
Yet, as congregations and as leaders, who are human, everything in us wants to deny and resist that these changes have come, are coming, and will continue to come. We want "normal". We want stability. And yet, God did not call out the ecclesia to seek normalcy and work for the status quo. In fact, I think that many of our churches have been in the dire state they are in because they have been unable to adapt to the changes around and within them. And I say this, knowing that this statement brings up all sorts of defensiveness and shame in every congregational leader who hears it.
So the question is not just how are you (and others in your congregation) managing these changes and the anxiety that comes, but also how are you learning to lead missionally when no one (and I mean no one) knows what the future holds?
How will you lead and live on mission, as an individual and as a congregation, when you (and others) don't know what to do or how to address the needs in your community?
In the coming months and years, as we look toward a new future of mission, as we look toward being Christ's disciples in ways we've never imagined, and as we seek the Spirit's transformative work within us, these will be some of the questions and challenges we all will face (as I'm sure you already have). As you face the challenges of change, where will you seek the support and accountability to learn in community what it means to faithfully and courageously adapt and experience the Spirit's transformative work within you?
With that, I believe that Churches Learning Change is one of the few learning processes out there that helps support congregational leaders in creating the space and developing the values and skillsets to wonder what it means to faithfully discern and adapt, on several levels, as we work for the flourishing of all that God has placed in our care. So, I'd like to invite you to consider the CLC process as one of the best options you have available to you to help you, your family, and your congregation in the years ahead. CLC, here in the East, is planning to enter a new module in the fall, and the leadership team would love to connect with you to share more about the process of learning that CLC offers.
See the flyer for more details and contact information.
Rev. Greg Town, Minister of Revitalization and Renewal for the Regional Synod of New York
Newark NJ’s Bessie Green Community Responds to the Current Crisis
We are a non-profit operation out of North Reformed Church. Our big claim to fame has been our response to Covid-19. When our new leadership team took over in February, Bessie Green was serving a small community of 40 people. Hot meals were served on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Our clothing barn and food pantry operated within our soup kitchen hours. Each week we would help 150 people from our three services.
Once Newark was placed in lockdown, our response was immediate. We began by changing operations to fit the CDC and Newark Public Health guidelines. Meals were to go, with pantry bags and clothing available upon request.
Once the practices were in place, we expanded our food service from three to five days per week for the public. At this time, we accepted a contract to help previously incarcerated persons isolated with Covid-19 in a hotel with hot meals. This service required us to have meals available on Saturday and Sunday.
Today we serve at least 120 people daily on our slow days. Our busiest days bring in above 400.
If you have any other questions about our operation, please feel free to ask.
Noah S. Busker, Director of Development, Bessie Green Community, Inc.
To learn more about the Bessie Green Community and the crucial services they are providing, visit their website or social media pages at the links below:
https://www.facebook.com/bessiegreen510/
https://www.instagram.com/bessie_green_community/
You can also donate online at: http://bessiegreen.org/donations/336/
Where Do You See Resurrection Showing Up During This Global Pandemic?
Check out this video from City Church San Francisco
March 28 rsmat email news
A new version is out today! Read it here
Information from Vision 2020 Gatherings at Greenville Community Church and NBTS
Many of you were unable to make it to the gathering you had hoped to attend, and in light of our present situation, we still wanted to share the video and resource links below with everyone who wished to be present.
Here are the links to several items from those gatherings, for your reference and use. If you like, feel free to download #2-4.
1. Here is a video of the presentation that Jim Herrington and Trisha Taylor gave at NBTS. Some parts of our time together were not recorded (so that conversation and questions could be freely offered by everyone present), so I apologize for anything that seems disconnected. Feel free to share the link with others who might be interested.
2. Here is the PowerPoint presentation that Jim and Trisha used for both gatherings, noting that they weren't able to get through the entirety of the slides with either group.
3. Here is the list of questions that they offered for the participant's personal reflection.
4. And here's a guide to being Defined and Connected in an Emotionally Charged System that they handed out.
Our thanks to Phil Bakelaar and Greg Town for compiling the video presentation
A letter from Claudette Reid, RSMAT President
See the letter at this link or read below
Dear Sisters and Brothers: Grace, mercy and peace!
Once in a while we discover moments which we describe as "unprecedented". I dare say, this is one of those times: when much of what we know as normal living is being disrupted, almost without warning---minute by minute!
Families and friends continue to grapple with conflicting reporting of this disease, perceptible inequalities in accessing healthcare, and feelings of helplessness; and as people of faith we want to offer a way out. But for many of us, this seems like a frustrating wilderness experience. However, it’s not lost on me, that I’m writing this letter on a day when the lectionary reading brings us to the familiar Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.2 He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.3 He renews my strength.He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley,[a]I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.5 You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life,and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
COVID-19 continues to be an enemy that we must confront, and hopefully overcome. And at a time when the church has left the building, we find ourselves evaluating how to best live out/exercise our faith-walking, so we can bless others and bring honor to God. Yes, for such a time as this, we are called upon to give witness to what it means to be Church (individually and collectively) ---the means through which others have access to God; finding creative ways to lead and serve in our congregations, our communities and homes.
Like the Psalmist David, may we take comfort that the Shepherd who is lovingly leading us during this season of physical distancing, has also promised to bring us enduring comfort and restoration. And in the meantime, the officers and staff of the Regional Synod of the Mid-Atlantics will try to find creative ways to strengthen our social, spiritual, and emotional ties that bind us to each other and to Christ.
In closing, I’m blessed to also share the promise from this year’s (suspended) Crossroads Conference
This is God’s Word on the subject: “.... I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—
plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for...”
[Jeremiah 29:10-11]
Yours in Christ,
Claudette A. Reid
(RSMAT President 2019-2020)
Staff Availability During the Pandemic
In accordance with the order enacted by the Governor of New Jersey on March 21st regional synod staff will be working from home until the order is lifted. Staff will still be available to assist you through phone calls or email, and will be checking those messages regularly. You can leave a message at 862-247-8444 or email us at rsmat@rca.org
our latest email newsletter
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Crossroads Women's Conference Suspended Until Further Notice
Dear Crossroads Family: Grace, mercy and peace!
What a difference 48 hours makes! Within minutes of sending you a reassuring notice from the Harvey Cedars Bible Conference Center (HCBCC) , we received the updated advisory from the Center for Disease Control, asking that we cancel/postpone for at least 8 weeks, any gatherings of 50 or more. Since that includes our annual retreat, it is with a heavy heart that we suspend our Crossroads Retreat, scheduled for April 17-18,2020.
If you have already sent in you registration form, thanks for your enthusiasm and faithful participation. This will be returned along with your payment.
Based on the initial conversations with the HCBCC, we cannot yet confirm if we will be able to convene later this year or just wait until our regularly scheduled weekend in 2021. We will also need to confirm any new dates with our gracious panelists and workshop leaders. In the meantime, the Committee plans to engage with our own Pastor Phil Bakelaar as we investigate how to proceed with an online event that offers interactive capabilities. Of course, such an event would not be convened until late Summer or early Fall, but we will keep you posted!
Until we communicate again, please be safe. Stay positive. Remain hopeful. Keep our theme verse with you always:
This is God’s Word on the subject:
“....I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for...” [Jeremiah 29:10-11, The Message (MSG)]
Continued Lenten Blessings!
Claudette
LAY RECOGNITION DINNER POSTPONED
Out of concern for the most vulnerable in our fellowships and out of an abundance of caution given the continued spread of COVID-19 in our area, we will be postponing the Regional Synod Lay Recognition Dinner originally scheduled for March 27th.
The planning committee is working with the venue to reschedule the event and will communicate that information when we have it.
If you have any questions, please contact our office at 862-247-8444 or rsmat@rca.org. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Spring Fling Youth Rally at Camp Warwick April 24-26, 2020 (Copy)
For more information or to download a registration form visit the Warwick Conference Center/Camp Warwick website at: https://campwarwick.org/youth-programs/
