Posted by Marvin on July 5, 2010 under Uncategorized
Friends,
I arrived in Minneapolis today around 3:30 in the afternoon. After registration and looking around a bit I had dinner with Jean Marie and Kris. Jean Marie is here working in the Project Homecoming booth and Kris is here to be an Overture Advocate for the Presbytery of South Louisiana’s Wetlands Overture. The national news has generated great discussion about what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico with much sympathy begin expressed for the presbytery, its member congregations and for all who are directly affected by the oil spill.
Tomorrow the GA begins. And in the evening the new Moderator will be elected. There are six candidates, most of whom I have never heard. If you are interested, my Facebook page will have photos tomorrow. My identity is “Marvin Groote” and if you have not requested to be my friend, you will need to do so before you can view anything. I’ll try to be attentive to friend requests over the next few days so that everyone can view what they want.
As always, keep the GA in your prayers. There are many controversial issues before the assembly and God’s wisdom is deeply needed.
Shalom,
Marv
Posted by Marvin on under Uncategorized
Friends,
I am writing this the day before I depart for Minneapolis and the General Assembly of the Presbyteriam Church (U.S.A.). I will try to post information daily on the events of the G.A. I’ll also try to have our commissioners and other attendees post their thoughts as well.
Keep all of us and the entire GA in your prayers.
Marv
Posted by Marvin on June 21, 2010 under Uncategorized
Friends,
This past week the Presbytery of South Louisiana met at its regularly called stated meeting. The attitude of the meeting was warm and pleasant. There was a great deal of information sharing, outstanding worship led by our Commissioned Lay Pastors, the sharing of Holy Communion, commissioning of Triennium Delegates and General Assembly participants, and much, much more. I cannot say enough about how this presbytery has changed over the past year. You all need to pat yourselves on the back over and over again.
MG
Posted by Marvin on June 16, 2010 under Uncategorized
Today I want to be a reminder of the need we all have in the event of a disaster. Should any portion of our presbytery face the need for evacuation we will want to be able to contact you and check up on you. This is especially the case for our pastors and other presbytery leaders.
To that end the Presbytery of South Louisiana has developed a form called “In Case of Emergency”. This form, which we call the iCE form is available on this web site in electronic format. You can fill in this form online and when you click on the submit button it will be emailed to our office.
If you prefer, the form is also available in downloadable format. If you use this form you will need to deliver it to the Presbytery Office, either by FAX, by the USPS, or in pers0n.
If we have this information we can and will contact you or whomever you name as a contact person in the event there is an emergency.
Thanks for your help.
MG
Posted by Marvin on June 8, 2010 under Uncategorized
This week marks the beginning of the storm season [the hurricane season] for the Gulf of Mexico. I am new at this so I don’t know what to expect, but I’ll bet the first hurricane will be memorable.
I have been told that Baton Rouge is far enough inland that the effects of hurricanes are not as great as they are on the shore. I do believe that, but I also believe that they are not storms to which I look forward.
The Presbytery of South Louisiana is busy preparing for what lies ahead. I would encourage each of our congregations to do the same.
MG
Posted by Marvin on June 1, 2010 under Uncategorized
This is a week that is shortened by a holiday. I find myself here in the office today working on a sermon and worship materials since I’ll be preaching at the First Presbyterian Church of Iberia Parish this coming Sunday. I have appreciated the opportunities to preach in the Presbytery of South Louisiana, beginning with the February Presbytery Meeting and continuing to this day.
Since I entered into Governing Body work at the presbytery level I have missed the opportunities to preach on a regular basis. In other presbyteries I have served the Personnel Committees have been hesitant to allow me to preach more than once per month, and in one presbytery even that was too much.
Here in the Presbytery of South Louisiana I have pledged to be available to meet with pastors and congregations in any way possible. For some of you, that has included leading worship, preaching, and leading in the sacrament of Holy Communion. I am grateful to all of you for these opportunities.
On another front, my prayers continue to go out to those who are affected by the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Current events tell us that this is a mixed blessing. The oil spill continues to spew out into waters that protect so very much sea life. That is the down side and we continue to seek ways to end that spill. But the up side is that BP has uncovered a huge cache of oil that was previously unknown to us. Once we have weathered the current disaster – and that may take years – we will eventually come to know the benefits that are there as well. I do believe that we will also have to invent new technology to reach these deep sea deposits of oil.
All in all, the situation needs a great deal of prayer and action.
MG
Posted by Marvin on May 27, 2010 under Uncategorized
I am most likely among the majority of the population for whom it is impossible to remember the events that led up to Memorial Day. I was born in 1948 and have only read and heard stories about WWII and all of the victories and defeats during that era.
But I can tell you that I have benefited greatly from the heroes of WWII and I enjoy the freedoms that come from the blood they have shed for us.
As you go forth and enjoy the long weekend, don’t forget that your freedoms are made possible by the sacrifices that have been offered by those who have been before us. It is similar to the sacrifice that Christ made for us more than 2000 years ago. Without that sacrifice we would be without hope for the future. Without that sacrifice what we do today would simply be good deeds. We are indeed children of the cross, enjoying the freedom that Christ has given to us. Praise be to God.
MG
Posted by Marvin on May 26, 2010 under Uncategorized
Friends,
Yesterday I found myself in New Orleans for several meetings. At the end of the day I was at the Bayou Blue church in Gray where I had the opportunity to dine with a group of disaster recovery volunteers from the Presbyterian Church of Canada. They were in reality from all over Canada. While there I also had the opportunity to hear from a small group of wonderful folk who worked with the Exxon Valdez disaster 20 years ago. These Alaskan folk were invited to Louisiana to share their experiences with a wide variety of groups of people with interest in the most recent oil disaster. I must admit that it was daunting to hear the story from Alaska and to know that 20 years later oil continues to find its way to the shore and not all of the fishing has returned to normal.
In response to the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico the Presbytery of South Louisiana has requested and received a small amount of funding from the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, which is a part of the One Great Hour of Sharing. None of the funds have been expended to this point, but I believe they will be helpful as we discern the ways we might be helpful to the people who are affected by this disaster.
I will also call you all to prayer for inhabitants of the coastline, be it plants, fish, wildlife, humans. All are in danger of losing their homes and their livelihood and perhaps even their lives.
I’ll look forward to hearing from those who are affected most by this disaster. Please feel free to post your thoughts and feelings to this blog.
Shalom,
Marvin L. Groote, Interim General Presbyter
Posted by Allie on May 24, 2010 under Uncategorized
Friends,
This is my first foray into the blogging world. I hope that you all will join me as we navigate this interesting world of blogging. My covenant with you is that I will make every attempt to respond to your questions and I will try to keep you posted on what is happening in the Presbytery of South Louisiana. Thanks for being a part of this journey.
