Category Archives: Congregational

Festival Choir of Praise, June 24-25, 2023

UPDATE! — The registration deadline for the Festival Choir of Praise has been extended to June 4th.

Westminster Presbyterian Church in Washington, Indiana is hosting a choir workshop on the campus of Vincennes University under the direction of renown composer, conductor, concert artist, and humorist Pepper Choplin on June 24-25, 2023.

The Festival Choir of Praise (FCP) is open to all adults and students ages 12 and over. This two-day event will consist of a rehearsal on Saturday and a performance on Sunday in the beautiful Red Skelton Performing Arts Center. Thanks to a generous gift from the Center for Congregations, the cost of registration is only $20 with an Early Bird discounted half price registration fee of $10.

Included with your registration you will receive music for 12 anthems, lunch on Saturday, a post-concert reception, participant gift, as well as the experience of working with Maestro Pepper Choplin and performing in RSPAC. The entire package is valued at $200 and is limited to the first 160 applicants.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Saturday, June 24, 2023

  • 9:15 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. Check in. Receive packet with music and folder, seating assignment, lunch ticket, and participant gift.
  • 10:00 a.m. Rehearsal with Maestro Pepper Choplin.
  • 12:00 p.m. Box lunch provided.
  • 1:00 p.m. Rehearsal with Pepper.
  • 3:00 p.m. Travel home or visit historical sites in Vincennes.
  • 5:00 p.m. Dinner for all choir directors and accompanists with Pepper Choplin.

Sunday, June 25, 2023

  • 12:30 p.m. Doors open at RSPAC for performers.
  • 1:00 p.m. Dress rehearsal on stage.
  • 2:30 p.m. Doors open to the theater for the audience.
  • 3:00 p.m. Festival Choir of Praise in concert with Pepper Choplin.
  • 4:00 p.m. Post-concert reception at RSPAC.

MORE INFORMATION:

TO REGISTER: https://festivalchoirofpraise.rsvpify.com/

  • Or, download, fill out, and mail a paper registration form.

QUESTIONS?

You will receive more information about the festival weekend after you register. If you have any questions before you register, please contact Joyce Kim-Rohrer at swindcantatachoir@gmail.com

First Presbyterian in Columbus presents Laws Lecture on 5/7/2023

First Presbyterian Columbus is honored to host the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, President of Sojourners, as a Laws Lecture speaker

Event Details:

  • When: Sunday May 7th, 3:00 pm lecture
    Moderated Q&A with speaker and reception to follow
  • Where: First Presbyterian Church, 512 Seventh Street, Columbus IN
  • Speaker: Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners, an ecumenical Christian organization that works to advance justice and peace
  • Title: Where do we go from here? Toxic Polarization or the Beloved
    Community?

“In A More Perfect Union (book upon which the lecture is based), Rev. Adam Russell Taylor,
president of Sojourners, reimagines a contemporary version of the Beloved Community that will inspire and unite Americans across generations, geographic and class divides, racial and gender differences, faith traditions, and ideological leanings. …The pursuit of the Beloved Community can help cure deep polarization and partisanship that is crippling our politics and culture, enabling our nation to live up to its best ideals and realize a more perfect union.” [Front matter, A More Perfect Union]

About the Laws Lecture Speaker

Rev. Adam Russell TaylorTaylor previously led the Faith Initiative at the World Bank Group and served as the vice president in charge of Advocacy at World Vision U.S. He has also served as the executive director of Global Justice, an organization that educates and mobilizes students around global human rights and economic justice. Taylor is a graduate of Emory University, the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology. Taylor is ordained in the American Baptist Church and the Progressive National Baptist Convention and serves in ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va. Follow him on Twitter @revadamtaylor

2022 Prayer Partners in Presbytery of Ohio Valley

The Prayer Partners chart for the year and information for the month of February are now available! They can be downloaded from the Presbytery of Ohio Valley website using the following links:

Beginning with this year, the presbytery office will be responsible for gathering and distributing the monthly Prayer Partners information. As we got started, we found it necessary to shift the calendar forward by a month in order to allow us the time to adjust to this change; therefore you will see that the chart begins with February, and some churches may be positioned in a different month than usual this year, but we were still able to fit in all churches that are due to be part of this year’s cycle.

The monthly Prayer Partner information will continue to be posted for download on the Prayers of the Presbytery webpage.

Submissions for churches should be sent to office@presbyteryov.org. This address goes to both myself and Stephanie Worden. In order to distribute the monthly Prayer Partners info in a timely manner, we will need to have the information by the 10th day of the month that precedes the month in which your church/organization is listed. We just need a paragraph or two telling a little about your church or organization – size and activities, location and neighborhood, special programs, history, and anything else that would help others in the presbytery get a better sense of who and where you are. Also send us any joys you’d like to share or prayer requests for your church activities or programs.

Thank you,
Rhonda Seymour

COVID-19: Finding Information and Resources

Updated: 02/05/2021

Council Guidance on In-Person Worship 2.5.2021 – Click Here

All Presbytery Council guidance is collected here.
Resources for Congregations may be found here.

Coronavirus/COVID-19 Resources for Congregations and Members

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have compiled a series of resources for congregational leaders and members. It’s available here: https://www.pcusa.org/covid19/

COVID-19 Legislation Overview: A Guide for Presbyterian Churches and Ministers

OGA web mapping tool to show COVID-19 confirmed cases

Additional Sources of information:

Check these sites regularly, as information is subject to change.

The Presbytery of Ohio Valley is Posting a List of Online Worship Opportunities

In an effort to help us stay connected with one another, the presbytery has complied a list of our churches offering online worship services. The presbytery cannot provide technical support for any of the links, and if you experience any difficulties, please contact the specific church directly.

Churches, should email Stephanie Worden by noon each Thursday with new or updated worship service information. If you are posting on Facebook, please include a direct link to your Facebook page.

Click here to go to the Online Worship Services page.

PC(USA) Articles: Social Distancing and Ways to Stay Connected

Here are links to some of the recent articles published by PC(USA) regarding social distancing, and ways to use technology to keep congregations connected.

Social distancing and the love of neighbor
Zooming to the rescue in the face of COVID-19
Three hundred participate in 1001 Zoom conversation on streaming worship services

Free Resources from the PC(USA) store may be found HERE.