Welcome to the
Presbytery of New Harmony
The Mission of the Presbytery of New Harmony is to strengthen, nurture, and sustain its congregations and ministers, and to participate in the wider mission of the church through its higher governing bodies.
The Presbytery of New Harmony, a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is situated along the northeastern coast of South Carolina. We have 7,644 members across 11 counties in South Carolina. The presbytery office, located in Florence, supports 66 congregations and 80 resident ministers.
Please feel free to browse our website to find out more about us.
If you cannot find what you're looking for, please feel free to contact us at the addresses listed below.
Presbytery of New Harmony
PO Box 4025
Florence, SC
29502-4025
Phone 843-662-8411
Fax 843-665-1408
office@newharmonypres.org
Contact staff:
firstname@newharmonypres.org
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| Building Community Through Information |
May 16, 2018
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Prayers for...
Our two churches for the week:
Parkwood Presbyterian Church,
Jack Humprhies, commissioned pastor.
Patrick Presbyterian Church,
Bob Sloan, commissioned pastor.
Candidate
Fred "Tripp" Brogdon, III
(First, Sumter) Columbia Theological Seminary.
Inquirers
Marcy B. Carl (Georgetown) Dubuque Theological Seminary.
Caitlyn Hathaway (First, Hartsville)
to enter seminary in 2018.
Darren Wilson
(Friendship)
Union Presbyterian Seminary-Charlotte
Flury Wilson
(Friendship)
Union Presbyterian Seminary-Charlotte
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Local Church Information
If your congregation is planning an event you would like to advertise, please submit information, to Avery Dickson by Monday of the week you want it published.
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Local Church Mission Information
If your congregation has participated in a mission project or trip recently, we would like to share it with our presbytery. Please submit the information to Avery Dickson.
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Happening This Week in New Harmony
(Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are held at the Presbytery office.)
Cheraw area Minister & Educator Lunch
May 17, 12 pm., River's Edge.
Florence area Minister & Educator Lunch
May 23, 12 pm., Stefano's.
Presbytery Office Closed - Memorial Day
May 28.
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Presbytery Spring Meeting Digest
The Digest of the Ninety-Second Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of New Harmony is available.
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| Lisa Culpepper Updates Treasured Tuesday Group on Her Most Recent Trip to Lebanon.
Participants in the May 15, Treasured Tuesday were treated to an informative morning as Lisa Culpepper summarized her recent trip to Lebanon. The presentation was spiced with pictures, as Lisa gave inspiring stories of faithful, bold, Christian servants, who minister in difficult places and war-torn areas. Her talk also included information on refugee schools for children displaced by the war in Syria
Her challenge to participants was to find ways to form partnerships in our communities to share ministries with one another.
[Pictures from the event are available online.] |
"I Give Thanks...
A Personal Summer Camp Experience"
by Julie Cox, Associate Executive Presbyter/Associate Stated Clerk, Presbytery of New Harmony, PC(USA)
"You know, you could make a living at this. You could make a living doing this that you love and that you're really good at," my pastor said. That was an informal interpretation of Frederick Buechner's definition of vocation, "the place God calls you to is where your deep gladness and the world's great needs meet." For me, that deep gladness and the world's great need met in youth ministry, by way of serving as a volunteer college-aged church camp counselor. A week at a time over several successive summers, I lived and moved and had my being with young people and other volunteers. We lived in community, ate a lot of starchy carbohydrates, laughed until we cried, sang "Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them..." through tears, studied scripture, played such raucous games that we shattered a sliding glass door, signed t-shirts with messages of blessing, and left each week renewed and transformed by God's love and the Spirit's presence among us. [ more] |
| "Other"
by Lisa Baroody Culpepper
May 8, 2018
For everything there is an application and for an application, there is everything. I have not kept count of them, but I suppose that I have filled out hundreds of applications in my lifetime for camps, schools, jobs, etc. In the majority of these applications I was able to highlight the gifts and skills which qualified me for each endeavor, such that I finished them feeling warmly positive. I remember that first job as an echocardiography technologist in which I listed my college degree program; or that application to seminary years later when I articulated my ministry calling, and after that, the one for the doctoral program where I proudly included academic honors and awards. But this application was different than all of those. This one for the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance work team presented those little boxes that you check which highlight construction and building skills. The people that pour over these want to know if you can install cabinets, repair a roof, apply dry wall, wire an electrical system, repair plumbing, and the like. And at the end of this list of skills there is the sympathetic inclusion of, "other." That is where my pencil met the paper. "Other," it meant that I didn't have any of the necessary skills needed in this mission of restoring homes that had been damaged by Hurricane Irma, but that I wanted more than anything to take part.So along with a team of 10 volunteers from New Harmony Presbytery, I packed my bags and prepared for whatever "other" would bring. [ more] |
General Assembly Bulletin Inserts
 Pre-order your General Assembly Bulletin Inserts Today. Inform your congregation with bulletin inserts that give concise, level-headed summaries of what's coming. A front/back bulletin insert produced by the award-winning staff of the Outlook will present some of the key issues the assembly will consider. Click here to order. Inserts will be available May 30. You will receive regular and large print versions. Korean and Spanish translations will be available. Post-GA bulletins (available June 23) will help you share balanced, non-anxious news coming out of GA with your congregation. Pre-order now. |
Lay School of Theology
The S.C. Lay School, sponsored by the five presbyteries of South Carolina, holds two weekend sessions each year on the campus of Presbyterian College in Clinton. The two-track program offers the Lay Enrichment Track for those who seek spiritual enrichment and study. The Lay Pastor Track is for those who wish to become qualified to serve as pulpit supply or become eligible for commissioning to a lay pastor position.
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| Camp Pee Dee Retreat Center |
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Camp Pee Dee Retreat Center Work Days
Mark Your Calendars! Upcoming Work Days:
Wednesday, September 12
Saturday, October 13
Wednesday, November 14
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Upcoming Events at
Camp Pee Dee Retreat Center
Loving Yourself Camp - Part 2
8th - 12th grade girls
August 24 - 26, 2018
Family Camp
October 19 - 21, 2018
Summer Camp Reunion
November 2 - 4, 2018
More information coming soon!
Contact Kelly Boone at (843) 479-3051
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| Latest News from the Board of Pensions
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What goes on at
Montreat Conference Center each summer?
 Summer is this little valley's busiest season! We love the influx of visitors of all ages, and we know that no matter why you visit, you'll find plenty to do!. |
Older Adult Month
The PC(USA) has designated May as Older Adult Month. Each year the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministry Network (POAMN) produces a Planning Guide that provides a variety of Models for Ministry to develop, evaluate, and build up programs, services, and ministry opportunities to, for, and with older adults. It is also a valuable tool and resource for planning an Older Adult Sunday Service. Use this resource to support and celebrate the older adults in your community. The guide may be downloaded for free HERE. |
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Presbyterian Older Adult
Ministry Conference
Register now for the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network Conference entitled "Savouring the Journey," to be held June 5-8 at Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center in Zephyr Cove, Nevada. Register online at poamn.org.
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223rd General Assembly
June 16-23, 2018
St. Louis, MO.
The General Assembly consists of commissioners elected by presbyteries. Half of the commissioners will be ruling elders, half will be teaching elders. Few will ever have been commissioners to the General Assembly before, but most will have served in one of the other governing bodies of our church: the session, which provides care and oversight of a local congregation; the presbytery, which provides care and oversight of a group of congregations; or the synod which provides care and oversight of several presbyteries. [ more]
Explore the General Assembly information on the website and subsequent links. |
Pentecost Offering
Pentecost Offering: Theme- Building a Life of Faith based on Psalm 71:17- "God from my youth you have taught me."
The Pentecost Offering helps our young people begin life with a strong start - a solid foundation of faith formed in the years from childhood through young adulthood. Join us and the whole church in building for our future, in building individual lives of faith. If we all do a little, it adds up to a lot! A gift to the Pentecost Offering helps the church encourage, develop, and support its young people, and also address the needs of at-risk children. 40% of the Pentecost offering can be retained by individual congregations wanting to make an impact in the lives of young people within their own community. The remaining 60% is used to support ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency: Young Adult Volunteers, Ministries for Youth, and Children-at-Risk. The offering is typically taken on Pentecost Sunday ( May 20, 2018). There are many resources available that have been mailed to your church.
If you can't find them or need more, call Presbyterian Publishing at (800) 533-4371 or email customer_service@presbypub.com. |
Plan to join us May 21-25 for the 2018 Festival of Homiletics in Washington, D.C.
The Festival of Homiletics annually draws more than 1,500 preachers together for amazing lectures, preaching, worship and renewal. The 2018 theme is "Preaching and Politics." Watch a 1-minute video to get a sneak peek.
Be inspired by God's Word proclaimed by some of the nation's finest preachers and teachers, including:
Walter Brueggemann Richard Rohr
Diana Butler Bass Eric Barreto
Mariann Budde Karoline Lewis
Luke Powery
We hope you will join us! Please visit our website to learn more. |
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Better Angels
"Using the Power of Community to Change the World"
October 8-11, 2018
When we look at the intersection of today's headlines and God's concern we see topics like racism, #metoo, immigration, and violence. In each of these discussions, the common thread is power. It's the same when we look at the topics of spirited discussion in our churches, like the budget, mission, stewardship, and recruitment of leaders. And yet power is something we rarely talk about, analyze, or organize around, even though we're dealing with it, using it, or finding ourselves without it, all the time.
This conference will examine the biblical, theological, and sociological understandings of power and the church's relationship to it. When do we build power for the gospel, and when do we resist the powers that oppose it? How is power necessary for congregational leadership, and when does it divide? How do we wield power in the church in unifying ways without diminishing Jesus' radical call to discipleship?
For more information, click here .
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Crossroads Antiracism Training
August 17-19, 2018
In January of 2017, Montreat Conference Center staff engaged in a day-long training session with a team from Crossroads, and found it to be useful for inspiring long-term and site-specific conversations about the journey to overcome the dehumanizing effects of racism. We want to make a similar, more in depth opportunity available to congregations, pastors, Christian educators, session leaders, church staff, and volunteers.
Space is limited, and scholarship funds are available.
This introductory training by Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training Event will provide participants with a shared analysis of systemic racism in the United States. Using an action-reflection model, the training will seek to answer three questions: What is the current reality of racism in the US? Why is this still our current reality? How can we intervene strategically to disrupt and dismantle racism?
The training will include definitions of key concepts such as racism, prejudice, power, and dominant culture. Participants will receive capacity-building tools and resources to work for antiracist transformation in their churches and institutions.
This weekend training event is intended for individuals or groups from congregations who want to learn more about how their work can be transformed, with workshop time devoted to:
- Preaching
- Leading institutional change
- Children and families
- Youth and young adults
- Public witness
For more information, click here.
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Your Own Getaway Place in the Mountains
 What better place for a getaway than your home in the mountains: the South Carolina Inn at Montreat? Whether for a weekend or for a week (or 2 or 3) come and stay in the house or an apartment. You'll be glad you did. There's a rocking chair waiting for you at South Carolina Inn in Montreat. Come rock with us!
Chuck Brown, Manager SC Inn at Montreat
800.669.7460 or 828.669.7460
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Women's Connection -
"Through the Valley"
Keynote Speaker: Kate Bowler
August 10-12, 2018
Montreat Conference Center
Registration now open.
Women's Connection 2018 will seek to be a time for women to find encouragement, empowerment, connection, comfort, and challenge. We will do this through powerful and authentic worship led by women, providing space for honest and faithful conversation, and allowing time for discernment and renewing rest.
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Meet us in St. Louis
September 24-26, 2018
for September 24-26, 2018
so you don't miss this annual
event offering plenary speakers, workshops, and worship experiences, with incredible networking
opportunities among others passionate about stewardship and generosity.
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If you have the need to advertise a job position or promote a church function, please send the relevant information to avery@newharmonypres.org. |
| Director of Youth Ministries
First Presbyterian Church of Myrtle Beach is searching for a Director of Youth Ministries. This person will guide middle school and high school youth of First Presbyterian Church and the community to a faithful ministry to the glory of God. The Director of Youth Ministries will partner and coordinate with the Director of Family Ministries and Director of Children, Youth and Handbell Choirs to create a unified youth ministry. The Director of Youth Ministries will be full-time and under the supervision of the Associate Pastor.
The person filling the Director of Youth Ministry position should be well rounded with a love of Jesus Christ and His Church Our reformed Presbyterian faith should be made evident in the candidate's life, teaching, prayer, study, growth and fellowship. Characteristics of a positive attitude, creativity, imagination, flexibility, charisma, energetic and the love of youth are necessary. This person has a passion for nurturing youth and their families in faith and discipleship.
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| Christian Educator Needed
First Presbyterian Church of Hartsville is seeking a Director of Christian Education. This position is full time and reports to Pastor and Head of Staff. Duties are: Design, implement and evaluate a Christian Education program that fits "today's reality" for all age groups, with a particular emphasis on children and families. This includes classroom, fellowships, special educational events and retreats. Provide for teacher/leader recruitment, training and nurture, recommend, then secure, curriculum and resource materials. Coordinate all educational plans and events with the church calendar. Maintain a resource room. Recommend educational resources for the library. Advocate CE's objectives and programs to the congregation. Build excitement for CE. Serve on the Early Childhood Educational Program Advisory Board. Work with Session and Pastor as a staff member in ministry.
For more information contact Mr. Bob Kearns, Chair Educator Search Committee; cell 843-858-6976 or e-mail kearnsr@aol.com. |
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Financial Help for Worship & Spiritual Formation Conferences
If you need financial help to attend PCUSA worship and/or spiritual conference, scholarship help might be available. Contact Julie Cox for more information.
Congregational Development Ministry offering grants for
positive and inspiring programs
The Congregation Development Ministry is one of the Program Ministries of New Harmony Presbytery and it is here to partner with your congregation. We stand ready to assist churches with their needs and requests. In recent history, many of these have been centered on emergencies, maintenance problems, salary shortfalls and other items that disrupt the mission and ministry of our congregations. In 2018, we are planning to offer assistance in other ways also. The CDM encourages you to apply for grants to do positive and inspiring programs in your church or community. These grants will typically be $2,000.00 each but we will consider any and all requests.
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