Fall Gathering of Presbyterian Women in the Presbytery of Albany
First Stop in a Five-Presbytery Tour by Judy Persons, Vice Moderator of
Mission Relations on the PW Churchwide Coordinating Team.
The Fall Gathering of Presbyterian Women in the Presbytery of Albany was held Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at Schoharie United Presbyterian Church.
This Gathering a was part of a four stop trip by Judy Persons, Vice Moderator of Mission Relations on the Presbyterian Women’s Churchwide Coordinating Team.
Judy Persons arrived in Albany on Mon. Sept. 12. She stayed over night with Charlotte Hasselbarth. On Tues. they drove to Schoharie, NY for the PW in the Presbytery of Albany Fall Gathering, hosted by PW in Schoharie United Presbyterian Church. This is a church that was severely damaged by flooding from Hurricane Irene in 2011. A member of its PW group showed pictures in the terrible damage. The program was in the renovated Christian Education building. We were taken on a tour of the renovated Sanctuary.
Our first speaker was Felicia Kollie-Gambles from Westminster Presbyterian Church in Albany, which supports Hope Mission School in Liberia. Felicia is from Liberia and upon visiting her homeland, she felt there was a dire need for improvement in The Hope Mission School. This became a mission of Westminster Presbyterian Church. Felicia is Chairman of its Hope Mission School Committee and this church is submitting a Thank Offering grant application for ’17 grant. Felicia is also member of Westminster’s Ad Hoc Exploratory PW group. They are currently learning about PW and are considering becoming a PW group.
Our second speaker was Judy Persons. She gave an update on what was going on in PW at the Churchwide level and led a participative activity, Our Gifts, What a Difference a Lens Make. Judy had us list things we do to relax and talked about how those peaceful activities could be developed into projects that live out Christ’s teachings. Therefore, feeding our spirits and being of service at the same time.
Including Judy, 27 people attended and six churches were represented. The freewill offering totaling $120 was sent the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, which provided support to Schoharie after Hurricane Irene. Hygiene items for school children from kindergarten – high school were collected for the Schoharie County Social Services.
After the program Judy was taken to Herkimer, NY to meet a member of PW in the Presbytery of Utica. The following day, Judy spoke at a joint Retreat of Utica & Cayuga – Syracuse PW in the Presbytery groups. She then went on to Geneva and Western NY Presbyteries, to speak at PW events there.
PW in the Synod of the Northeast covered Judy’s airfare to and from New York State.
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