The Synod of the Covenant is delighted to announce that it has awarded over $50,000 in scholarships to 37 students from 10 presbyteries and 21 churches. These awards, ranging from $1,250 to $2,000, go to the winners of the Higher Education Scholarships for Christian Leaders. These scholarships include 33 bachelor degrees, 1 associate degrees, and 3 masters degrees. Of the 36 scholarships 32 were given to people who self- identified as Black, Korean, Asian, and African. These

Nov 1 Celebrate Communion at Final Worship Service at the First Church of South Lyon (Detroit Presbytery)—Chip Nov 4-6 Attend Swanigan Scholars Conference (St. Louis, MO)—Ruth-Aimée Nov 7 Lead Preaching Laboratory (Muskingum Valley Presbytery)—Chip Nov 8 Preach at Memorial Presbyterian Church Midland, MI (Lake Huron Presbytery)—Ruth-Aimée Nov 8 Preach at First Church Ashland, OH (Muskingum Valley Presbytery)—Chip Nov 8-10 Attend Church Professionals Retreat (Scioto Valley Pre

Nevada, a three-year-old had an encounter with law enforcement. To all spectators and soccer enthusiasts, Nevada was an outstanding player. He played in a soccer league for 5-year-olds. Anyone invested in the sport would have applauded the high-level skill set that Nevada exhibited at such a young age. A three-year-old having fun, playing, being with friends, learning about society, receiving constant messaging about what is acceptable, and the unwritten rules of how to live

Greetings Siblings in Christ! We are excited to share with you all that we will be creating a pre-recorded post-Christmas virtual worship service again this year! It is designed for use on Sunday, December 27, 2026. We, the Synod of the Covenant, recognize the hard and fruitful work of pastors, musicians, and worship teams during the season of advent and we hope this virtual service will be a gift of Sabbath for all of you. We will make the virtual worship service availab

Just a few weeks ago, we held a CGPI Pop-up event or Mini-Conference on Saturday, October 17 in Mackinac Presbytery at FPC Marquette, MI. The Rev. Natalie Handley and her staff welcomed several prospective participants along with a handful of current participants, alumni, and synod staff (pictured above). We worshipped together and were blessed by a fantastic sermon from CGPI alumnus Bill Flemming, We had in workshops: one on planning a worship service, led by CGPI mentor Jer

Greetings Co-Workers in Christ We are anticipating that the Synod Assembly will endorse the Pastoral Leadership Conference scheduled for July 2027, and want to introduce you to another member of the conference leadership team. Today, we meet The Rev. Dr. Deborah Rundlett, our keynote speaker for the conference. Debbie’s scholarship and research focus on this one animating question: Who are we becoming in this moment in time, now and how does that shape what becomes possible

Election day is Tuesday, November 2, as if the incessant advertisements and news stories don’t make that abundantly clear. As some of my favorite commentators like to point out, it’s the most recent edition of “the most important election of our lifetime.” The stakes are indeed high, with control of the House of Representatives and the Senate up for grabs. I wanted to take the opportunity to bring some thoughts to bear on how we decide to vote. I don’t think clergy peopl

Oct 4 Preach at Bloomfield Church in New Concord, OH (Muskingum Valley Presbytery)—Ruth-Aimée Oct 4 Preach at Ottawa Church in Ottawa, OH (Maumee Valley Presbytery)—Chip Oct 7-9 Attend Alma College Board Meeting (Lake Huron Presbytery)—Chip Oct 8 Lead Book Club Bible Study, First Ashland, OH (Muskingum Valley Presbytery)—Ruth-Aimée Oct 10 Keynote Speaker, Presbyterian Women of Miami Valley Gathering (Dayton, OH)—Ruth-Aimée Oct 11 Preach at College Hill Church in Dayton,

Greetings Co-Workers in Christ We are excited about planning the Pastoral Leadership Conference for July 2027 and wanted to introduce you all to the team! Today, we meet Dr. Robert McManus, our co-host for the conference planned for Muskingum University July 21-23, 2027. Some of you may remember Robert from our 2025 workshop series on Leadership (you can find the two workshops here and here). And you can find his bio at the end of the article. Robert’s scholarship focuses o

We are beginning to focus on recruiting participants for the next class that will begin the program in June 2027 (the Alma Kick-off conference is June 10-14). To that end, we are hosting a CGPI Pop-up event or Mini-Conference this October (16-17) in Marquette, MI. Our aim is to give attendees a taste of the full CGPI program by offering some of our conference workshops, a mock cohort meeting, a worship service, and more. If anyone reading this is interested in attending, p

“…por sus frutos los conoceréis” (Mateo/Matthew 7:20) “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Martin Luther King, Jr. “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.” Martin Luther King, Jr. “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on

Artificial Intelligence has been in the news a lot over the last month, after a tweet by an industry insider a couple of weeks ago said, “The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” If you’ve been considering the impact of AI on culture and ministry, please plan to come to an all-day in-person workshop at our Synod Assembly on October 30 in Adrian, OH. You may remember that we received a $94,000 grant from the OpenAI Foundati

Sept 6 Preach at Westminster Presbyterian in Portage, MI (Lake MI Presbytery)—Chip Sept 7 Labor Day—Synod Office Closed Sept 12 Lake Michigan Presbytery Meeting--Chip or Ruth-Aimée Sept 13 Preach at Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Paw Paw, MI (Lake MI Presbytery)--Chip Sept 15 Lake Huron Presbytery Meeting--Chip Sept 15 Maumee Valley Presbytery Meeting--Chip Sept 19 Mackinac Presbytery--Ruth-Aimée or Chip) Sept 19 Muskingum Valley Presbytery Meeting--Ruth-Aimée or Chip) Se

We have been given significant time focusing on new recruitment strategies for the 2027-2028 round of CGPI participants. One thing that we have discovered over the last few months is that there are still many congregations and individuals in the Synod who are unaware that the CGPI program even exists, in particular smaller rural and urban congregations. In order to get the word out we are planning a handful of CGPI “pop-up” events around the Synod. These “pop-up” events are d

Colleagues and Siblings in Christ, I am always so pleased when a congregation invites me to take part in an anniversary celebration. Having the opportunity to represent our 625 churches across eleven presbyteries is such a joy! Whether I’m preaching, praying, celebrating communion, or bringing greetings, I wish that I could attend all those to which you invite me. In this column, I’m eager to tell you about the 150th Anniversary of First Presbyterian Church of Petoskey, MI

August 2 Preaching, United Presbyterian Church, Cuyahoga Falls, OH August 4-5 &7 Toward Liberation Workshop: Christian Leaders Edition, ZOOM August 8-9 Preaching, 180 th Anniversary of Ottaway Presbyterian Church, Ottawa, OH August 9 Tim Pollock Ordination Service, Bloomfield Presbyterian Church, New Concord, OH August 11 Eastminster Presbytery Meeting, Canfield Presbyterian Church, Canfield, OH August15 Cincinnati Presbytery Meeting, Korean Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati,

Greetings Co-Workers in Christ It is with great excitement to announce the Pastoral Leadership Conference will be July 21-23, 2027, on the campus of Muskingum University in New Concord, OH! The theme of the conference will be “The Leadership Moment” and will focus on four aspects of leadership: Understanding the Leader, Followers and the Leader-Follower Relationship, Developing a Shared Vision and Meaningful Goals, and Leading Within Context. Each focus will include an openin

Our new participants are settling into their cohort groups and will have their second online meeting this August. Their focus this month is on the role of imagination in preaching. The role of the imagination is not of course to make things up but rather to connect with those to whom we are called to preach. One of the books that our participants read is the now classic A Sermon Workbook: Exercises in the Art and Craft of Preaching by Thomas Troeger and Leonora Tubbs Tisdale.

“Mami! My friends!” —Anouk-Aimée Belonni-Rosario Govens “There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” —Thomas Aquinas “A friend is one of the best things you can be and the greatest things you can have.” —Sarah Valdez “…I have called you friends...” —John 15:15 “What are you teaching your child about what friendship requires?” —Kimberly Seals Allers Friendship is a widely digested and consumed concept. Simultaneously, it often needs resurfacing. Tra

Colleagues and Siblings in Christ, You may remember that I had a total knee replacement on July 13. July 30 was my first post-operation check-up with the surgeon’s team. The good news is that the Physician’s Assistant said that the x-rays were “textbook” and that my flexibility was about a month ahead of schedule. The bad news is that the intensity of my pain is unlikely to subside soon and that it will most likely be 2 to 4 more weeks before she would recommend beginning t