Synod Trinity

Don’t forget to turn your clocks back an hour tonight!

The Synod Assembly gathering earlier this week included a special decommissioning service for our building in Camp Hill, which the Synod has been located in since 1961. We are currently in the final stages of the process of downsizing and will be completely moved out (along with the Presbytery of Carlisle) in November. You can view the decommissioning service by clicking below.

With the presidential election next week, the West Virginia and Pennsylvania Councils of Churches have released statements asking for peaceful times. "As the 2020 election draws near, we wish to reissue this call to civility. We urge candidates and citizens alike to refrain from a rhetoric of anger and violence. Such speech and rhetoric are damaging to the body politic and to our relationships with one another, stealing the humanity of our sisters, brothers, and neighbors in ...the process." - WV Council of Churches "We call upon our neighbors everywhere to respect our differences, and to come together to ensure that we have a safe, secure, and accurate election. We support peaceful demonstration upholding the right of all eligible persons to vote, and we denounce attempts to intimidate or perpetrate violence on those who attempt to exercise that right." - PA Council of Churches Downloadable and printable link here: https://www.syntrinity.org/wp-cont//2020/10/Statements.pdf

The Synod Assembly concludes today with a special closing worship that will include installations, recognitions and a decommissioning of the Synod office building in Camp Hill. Today's meeting begins at 9 a.m., with the closing worship scheduled for 10:35 a.m. You can view any part of this morning's gathering by clicking the link below.

PCUSA Co-Moderators Elona Street-Stewart and Gregory Bentley currently with us live for the Synod Assembly. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40bXGKNdY8I&feature=youtu.be

The Synod's annual Assembly continues today with opening worship and a visit from PCUSA Co-Moderators Elona Street-Stewart and Gregory Bentley. Below are more details on today's events. You can watch the proceedings through the Synod's YouTube channel (which is available by clicking below). MONDAY MORNING: Start of the Assembly at 9:50 a.m., and Opening Worship and communion with Linda Morgan-Clement. If you join us for communion, please have elements ready to partake when in...structed. Our offering will benefit the Presbyterian Hunger Program. MONDAY AFTERNOON: At 2 p.m., PCUSA Co-Moderators Elona Street-Stewart and Gregory Bentley will be with us. Together, the co-moderators will share their timely passion for the Matthew 25 movement in our Beloved Community, discussing questions like where do we go from here?, Who do we want to be? and What happens now that you’re an official Matthew 25 synod? A question-and-answer period will follow their presentation.

This Sunday's "Beloved Community" conversation will focus on "Hyperpartisanship" and will be presented by the Rev. Dr. John Welch, a Pittsburgh native who served as pastor of the Bidwell Presbyterian Church for seven years and as the vice president for Student Services and Community Engagement & Dean of Students of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary for 13 years. The discussion will begin promptly at 7 p.m. (Eastern) on Sunday, Oct. 25. More information and mandatory registration are available at the link below.

For Christians, this work has to be centered and sustained by prayer."

Great conversation last night featuring Laurie Kraus, the director of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, discussing "The Pandemic." If you were unable to attend, a link to a recording as well as the one from Sept. 27 (Character of Beloved Community by James Calvin Davis) is available below. Discussion around "The Beloved Community" continues this Sunday (Oct. 25) when John Welch will be with us to talk about "Hyperpartisanship." Registration and more information on the remaining topics and speakers is also available below.

Have you signed up for Sunday's Beloved Community conversation on "The Pandemic" yet? At 7 p.m. (EDT), Laurie Kraus, the director of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and the associate director of the Ministries of Compassion, Peace and Justice in the Presbyterian Mission Agency, will be with us to discuss where we go from here in this unique 2020. Registration details, as well as information on future conversations in this Beloved Community series, are available by clicking below.

Several organizations, including the Community Responders Network, the Anti-Defamation League and the PA Office of Attorney General, will host a conversation on "The State of Hate in Pennsylvania" on Thursday, Oct. 29, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. The focus will be on awareness, response and prevention of hate crimes, bias incidents and extremist activity. Register here: http://bit.ly/StateofHatePA More information is available on the flyer below.

The link to Wednesday night's first installment of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary's four-part online series titled "Jesus Christ and the 'Dividing Wall': Race and God's Mission" is now live. Registration for the first part in this series was full and some may not have been able to participate. This series is a combination of the planned World Mission Initiative Conference and the annual McClure Lecture. The second conversation, which will be held next Wednesday (Oct. 14) at 7:30 p.m. (EDT), will discuss "Journey to Reconciliation" with Brenda Salter McNeil. Registration is open for this opportunity.

Seeing how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected local fire departments, members of the First Presbyterian Church of Clymer, PA, (Kiskiminetas Presbytery) recently donated $5,000 to the Clymer fire department.