News

Welcome

SONYA-MARIE H. MORLEY, a native of Washington, DC, has joined the Beaver-Butler Presbytery as the new student pastor of Refreshing Springs Mission Church. In 1998, Sonya-Marie graduated from the George Washington University (Wash., D.C.) with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in psychology, and married her high school sweetheart, Nathaniel E. Morley.

By 2010, Sonya-Marie and Nathaniel had lost two sons within as many years. The ongoing journey of healing that followed led Sonya-Marie to a parent support group whose authentic witness of survival and healing helped Sonya-Marie rediscover the loving God who knows first-hand what it is like to lose an only begotten Son.

Sonya-Marie is a servant-leader and visionary who looks forward with humility and joy to bringing over 20 years of customer-facing service experience, including direct care and case management experience with diverse populations, to her work with the precious, powerful people at Refreshing Springs Mission Church.

Welcome, Sonya-Marie!

Protect Your Church from Increasing Phishing Scams

Phishing scams send emails, social media posts, text and ads that mimic reputable businesses like banks, online resources and credit card companies to trick people into sharing their financial and personal information and/or downloading malware. Scammers also pretend to be pastors from local churches emailing people for small financial assistance as not to raise any red flags. However, the damage to reputations and trustworthiness of pastors and their churches is tremendous.

Here are five simple tips to avoid Phishing Scams:

  1. Be cautious of all emails and messages sent to you. Be 100% sure you know who is sending you the email/message. Never click on link(s) unless you are 100% sure who it is from and you know it is 100% safe.
  2. If you are not sure of the validity of the email/message use another form of communication (like phone call, text, etc.) to reach out to that person and/or entity to confirm they sent you that email/message and that it is safe to click on their link(s).
  3. Scam emails/messages are always designed to get you to react quickly and impulsively. So pause, use your common sense, and check it out before reacting.
  4. If you know the entity and need to send personal or sensitive information always make sure it is to a secure website. All secure websites have https:// and a security “lock” icon. Never use public WIFI to send sensitive information, always do it from your personal WIFI account.
  5. If you receive any scam emails, before deleting forward it to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov .

As our lives continue to connect with more digital technologies we will need to learn how to safeguard ourselves and our family in this new environment. As we navigate this fast changing technical terrain we will need to stay educated and rely more on our old fashion common sense.

Thank you to John Fong, Presbytery Digital Disciples Ministry & Communication Consultant, for providing this information.

If you need help or have questions, contact John.

Facebook Help Desk: http://bit.ly/AskJohnFong
Email: johnfong@elizabethpresbytery.org
Text: 732-318-7955

Welcome

REV. JAMIE FOWLER has been called to serve as the pastor of Concord Church in Baden. She began her work on August 1. She and her husband Jeff have relocated from Venango County where Jamie previously served two congregations. Her husband serves with Penn State Extension services. Welcome!

Taking Nominations for 224th General Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland

June 20-27, 2020

The Beaver-Butler Presbytery is looking for one Minister and one Elder who would like to represent the Presbytery at the upcoming General Assembly meeting.

In addition to the above, young adults (ages 17-23) are invited to apply to be Beaver-Butler’s YAAD (Young Adult Advisory Delegate).

The eligibility requirements are below. Please go to our Presbytery website under Forms, Reports, and Policies for the full details and questionnaire to be completed by those interested. Rev. Dr. Judy Angleberger, chair of the General Assembly Nomination Task Force, may be reached at:

judy.angleberger@comcast.net or 724-846-7818  (First Pres. Church, Beaver Falls).

The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, July 31.

Hymnals Available…

Songs of Faith and Praise (blue)
Howard Publishing Co., Inc.
1994

The Hymnbook (red)
Presbyterian Denominations
1955

If you are interested in having them, contact Chris Ann Goossen at the Beaver-Butler Office: chrisanngoossen@beaverbutler.org or 724-452-7515 X 12.

Free Music

Cantata Books for Choirs

The Presbytery Resource Center no longer will be keeping choral cantatas in their music lending library. A large selection—over two dozen, mostly gently used and others well-loved—is available for free. The majority are Christmas themed with the remaining centered on Holy Week and Good Friday. The books are on display for easy perusal in the resource center while supplies last.