Walk the [CROP] Walk!

C+C Co-Chair Fred is one of Sixth's most faithful CROP walkers. Won't you join him and others on Sunday, October 11th, as Sixth Presbyterian walks through the East End of Pittsburgh to raise funds for Church World Services?

Our fall calendars fill up so quickly: please mark your calendars now so that you can walk or participate in some other way on October 11th.

Summer Calendar Alerts

It's Vacation Bible School Week at Sixth! Yay! Do you have a favorite Bible school memory? My two strongest memories of those days as a child are (1) grape kool-aid plus pretzel sticks tasting soooooo good; and (2) loving the way we got to all call out together "His steadfast love endures forever" during the psalm reading.

Taking a staycation and want to do a little volunteering? Sign up for the Tuesday, August 4th (10 AM till Noon: plenty of afternoon left for ice cream and the swimming pool!) volunteer stint at Global Links! Global Links collects unused medical supplies from local hospitals and ships them to hospitals serving the poorest of our extended human family in less developed countries. Contact Jan Maxwell if you'd like to help!

The deacons invite you to the first monthly Family Gathering on Tuesday, August 11th: an evening of supper and sharing. You're invited (but don't need to) bring a gently used item for little ones under 2 to be shared with other families who might need those items right now during a family expansion period! Babysitting and children's activities will be provided.

Pittsburgh Presbytery Says 'Get Connected!'

Presbytery has a new service, Let's Get Connected, that allows churches to list their talents and their needs online. In this way, congregations that need help in a certain area can find fellow Pittsburgh Presbyterians to help them, while those with gifts and talents can find opportunities that best match those gifts.

See Let's Get Connected! on the Presbytery website.

Allegheny County Council Approves Non-Bias Ordinance

Sixth's Session wrote to Rich Fitzgerald of the Allegheny County Council to express our support for the establishment of a county ordinance that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity. That bill -- and an accompanying move to establish a Human Relations Commission -- was approved yesterday.

Session's letter noted that, since 1978, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has had a policy of supporting exactly this type of anti-discrimination ordinance; the General Assembly of that year agreed that “vigilance must be exercised…to initiate and support federal, state, and local legislation that prohibits discriminating against persons on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodation.”

Council supporters included John DeFazio, James Burn Jr., Joan Cleary, Rich Fitzgerald, Dr. Charles Martoni, William Robinson, Robert J. Macey and Amanda Green. See http://www.alleghenycounty.us/council/members.asp should you wish to write a note of thanks to your County Council representative regarding the approval of this ordinance.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09183/981333-455.stm#ixzz0K75YkVMw&C .