Disability Access/Inclusion Sunday
'The Wounds of War: The Church as a Healing Community'
June 27, 2010
Is the church ready? Are we prepared to be a community of healing for those who are living now, and will be living for many years, with the wounds of war? Every day the news media reports on the physical and emotional costs of war. One in five soldiers returning from Iraq or Afghanistan lives with major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Suicide rates and domestic violence have soared. Is the church prepared?
Members of the PDC Leadership Team believe that the physical, emotional and spiritual wounds are intertwined. We believe that the church can and must be a community of healing. This is the challenge we are issuing to the church in our 2010 Inclusion Sunday resources.
Continue readingPHEWA Awards Celebration Reception - 219th General Assembly
Monday, July 5, 2010 5:15-7:15 p.m.
Westminster Presbyterian Church
1200 Marquette Avenue, Minneapolis, Minn.
Join us in recognizing and celebrating exemplary justice outreach ministries across the Presbyterian Church (USA); faithful servants who have proven ministry models to share, as effective methods of evangelism and transformation. Too often, these ministries work tirelessly on the margins and this is your opportunity to join in lifting them up for denominational thanks, well deserved! Hot hors d’oeuvres will be served. Tickets through G.A. Meeting Services: $15.
Awards will be presented to ministries and individuals most effectively addressing domestic violence, addictions prevention & awareness, disabilities, HIV/AIDS, congregational transformation through community ministry, and for demonstrated excellence in the fields of pastoral care and counseling.
PARO G.A. Luncheon
Monday, July 5, 2010 11:45 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Westminster Presbyterian Church
1200 Marquette Avenue, Minneapolis, Minn.
Order tickets through G.A. Meeting Services, $22
Eminent Keynote Speaker: Frances Kissling.
Write an essay for PADVN
The Presbyterians Against Domestic Violence Network (PADVN), a ministry of the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association (PHEWA), is requesting essay submissions from Presbyterian youth in grades nine through 12 for inclusion in the PADVN 2010 Congregational Domestic Violence Packet. Essays will be reviewed by the PADVN leadership team and three essays will be selected. Each selected recipient will receive a $100 award and have their essay published in the 2010 PADVN Congregational Domestic Violence Awareness packet in October. Essays should be between 200 and 300 words in length and answer one of the following questions:
- Have you ever been in a disagreement with your parents/guardian where you have spoken or acted out in anger? How did you repair the relationship?
- What factors do you think promote violence in relationships?
Essays must be submitted in electronic format no later than June 30, 2010, to Joan Fenton. Award recipients will notified by the PADVN leadership team in August, 2010.
Offering Our Gifts
New From Presbyterians for Disability Concerns (PDC)
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
I Cor. 12:4-6
Offering Our Gifts is a PowerPoint presentation with pictures and audio that features the personal experiences of persons with disabilities. Included are “Access Your Heart,” by poet Sarah Nettleton, and “Beatitudes for an Inclusive Church,” by Bebe Baldwin. The resource celebrates the valuable gifts people with disabilities bring to the Body of Christ and offers practical suggestions for including people with disabilities in the church’s life.
Originally developed by the PDC Leadership Team for orientation of Commissioners to the 219th General Assembly (2010), the PowerPoint is appropriate and recommended for all church gatherings.
What to do NOW
- Watch a Power Point presentation of PHEWA’s recent work.
- Register your congregation on the Wellness Connection.
- Order “Repairers of the Breach: Five Bible Studies on Social Justice Issues in New Orleans in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina,” by Margaret P. Aymer Oget; prepared for the 2007 PHEWA Social Justice Biennial Conference in New Orleans.
- Learn about and consider support of Winds of Hope, Winds of Healing, an organization that raises awareness and funds for mental health and pastoral counseling services in underserved areas through music.
- Contribute to PHEWA’s Sustaining Prophetic Values into the Future Fund by sending your gift to the PHEWA Office. Your donation will help to maintain and strengthen PHEWA’s prophetic ministry within the life of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a witness much needed in a hurting world.” Send to:
PHEWA
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
100 Witherspoon Street, Rm. 3228
Louisville, KY 40202-1396