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| Presbytery Office Closed - Aug. 19th 868th Gathering of the Presbytery of Baltimore Mission Crossroads New Beginnings -- "Come and See" Helping Hurting Kids Mt. Paran 300 Year Celebration Brown Mem'l Woodbrook seeks Organist/Choir Director Being the Church in the City Summit Spanish Language and Culture Classes October is Pastor Appreciation Month Prayers for Peace in the Middle East Board of Pensions' Call to Health Initiative |
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Committee and Commission meetings will be held at the Presbytery's office (unless noted otherwise.)
COM Retreat will take place Aug 22 at 9am at Catonsville PC.
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Spiritual Leader Dev. Commission will meet Sept. 1 at 6:30pm
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Personnel Committee will meet 1pm on
Sept. 2.
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Administration Committee will meet Sept 8 at 11pm
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Interim Pastors Meeting will take place Sept. 8 at 12pm at Hope PC
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Baltimore/Dakota Learning Camp will meet Sept. 8 at 7pm at Catonsville PC
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Ministry Group Conveners Lunch will take place Sept. 9 at 12 noon
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Steering Cabinet will meet 1:30pm on
Sept. 9
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BAD Ministry Group will meet on Sept. 29 at 6pm at Ark and Dove PC
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New Beginnings Event will take place Sept. 11 at 12pm at Brown Mem'l Woodbrook
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Please pray for
Deborah Greene, Director of Communications, who is recovering from surgery.
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Our Shared Ministry provides vital support to our Ministry Groups, Partnerships and Commissions.
As of this date $89,500 has been received toward the $220,000 budget for 2015 Shared Ministry.
We are
grateful
to the
Sessions of the following churches
for contributions made toward their
2015 Shared Ministry pledge
:
Ark & Dove
Ashland Brown Mem'l Park Ave. Catonsville Christ Our Anchor Christ Our King Churchville Covenant Dickey Memorial Faith Fallston 1st of Annapolis 1st of Bel Air 1st of Cumberland 1st of Frostburg 1st of Howard County Frederick Good Shepherd Granite Grove Hagerstown Harundale Hughes Memorial Hunting Ridge Kenwood Maryland Mount Hebron Mount Paran Prince of Peace Roland Park Towson Woods Memorial God Bless!
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Freedom Temple
By
John Schmidt
Pastor, Central Presbyterian Church
I had the privilege of attending the dedication ceremony of Freedom Temple AME Zion Church a week ago. It was an exciting time, as this small, vibrant African American congregation celebrated moving in to their new church building. The sanctuary was packed, and the three new air-conditioners they installed could barely keep up.
Freedom Temple's roots go back at least to the 1920s. They are an old, established congregation in some respects. But in other respects they feel like a new church plant. They left their former building years ago because it was clearly inadequate to do the ministry to which God called them. That put them on a three-year journey, moving from facility to facility, including using a school building for a year.
Under the visionary leadership of Dr. Frances Toni Draper, there's a freshness to the worship, and a number of young people who attend. They seem to fit their new neighborhood home quite well, and I have great hopes for their future!
I'm sharing this with you for two reasons. The first is because this new facility for Freedom Temple is the former sanctuary of Lakeland Presbyterian Church. Through a careful process Lakeland made the decision to close their doors, and have their remaining members move on to other churches. But the death of one congregation sowed a seed for a new congregation. The work of God goes on.
Freedom Temple inherited a beautiful, usable facility. I know their pastor well, and she repeatedly told me how she was treated respectfully and fairly by the representatives of our Presbytery. The Trustees and others served our Presbytery well by selling the property, and served the mission of God well by passing it on at an affordable price to another congregation.
The second reason I wanted to share this is because it gives me hope that even old, established congregations, under visionary leadership, can establish vibrant ministry for a new generation of Christ followers. One of the core goals of the Commission on Thriving Congregations is to support and encourage churches who are seeking to make courageous decisions about ministry in the future. Sometimes the right decision is to close your doors. Sometimes the right decision is to remake yourself, and step out into an uncertain future. At the dedication of Freedom Temple, I got to see the fruit of both of those kinds of decisions. It was exciting. May it serve God well!
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| Take noteTake Note /Act Now |
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Presbytery
. . . and the
Wider Church
Presbytery of Baltimore Office Closed Wednesday, August 19, 2015.
Please be advised that the Presbytery of Baltimore office will be closed on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 due to circumstances beyond our control. We will reopen Thursday, August 20, 2015 at 8:30am.
Mission Crossroads is making changes! On-line resources
can now be found at
www.pcusa.org/missionresources
. There, you will find tools for planning mission trips, organizing committees, connecting with mission co-workers and leading mission-oriented Christian education courses. Additionally, consider attending
Mission Magnified
, a mission leader event, to be held November 19 -21, 2015 in Kansas City, MO.; and, check out
World Mission Today webinars
, too.
The
Presbyterian Mission Agency offers resources for
creating a vision for educational ministry. For details click
here.
On
September 11, from 12 to 2:30pm
, Presbytery's Commission on Thriving Congregations will be hosting
"COME AND SEE" -
an informational luncheon for congregational leaders desiring to know more about the PCUSA's New Beginnings resources. The event will take place at Brown Memorial Woodbrook Church, 6200 North Charles Street, Baltimore. A light lunch will be served at noon, and then Clark Cowden, a member of our denomination's New Beginnings staff, will offer an overview of New Beginnings resources and address any questions that arise.
If you and any others from your congregation would like to attend, please let Bill Nickels know how many we can expect from your congregation by Friday August 28. Email him at [email protected] so that we can be ready to receive you hospitably.
Churches
Central PC will host Helping Hurting Kids a one-day seminar for parents, youth leaders, and others. It will tackle some of the complex realities facing kids and unpack some strategies for how we can lovingly respond. The seminar will take place on Saturday, August 29, 2015 at 8:30am-1pm. For more information, please Click: Helping Hurting Kids.
Join Mt. Paran PC for a weekend of celebrating 300 continuous years of faithful worship, service to the community and sharing the gospel. Events are planned from Friday, September 18, 2015 - Sunday, September 20, 2015. For more information, Click: 300 Year Celebration.
Brown Memorial Woodbrook is see
king an Organist/Choir Director for one weekly service and 1 weekly choir rehearsal preceded by a handbell rehearsal. For more information please contact
Alex Short, [email protected]
or 410 323 6519.
Other
Do you work with the Hispanic community in parishes, schools, hospitals or other settings? Join Notre Dame of Maryland University for Spanish Language and Culture Part 1 classes on Tuesdays from September 22 through November 24. Registrants can choose afternoon sessions from 3 to 5 p.m. or evening sessions from 6 to 8 p.m. Part 2 classes are also available on Mondays. For more information, contact Linda Stilling, SSND, at 410-532-5306, send an e-mail to
[email protected]
or visit
www.ndm.edu/spanishlanguageandculture
A
Day of Prayers for Peace in the Middle East will be held at the Memorial Chapel, University of Maryland College Park on
October 18, 2015, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm. Click
Peace for more information.
How's your health? Each day we're reminded of the need to protect and cherish our personal health and the health of our families, loved ones, and broader community of faith. The
Board of Pensions' Call to Health initiative is one way we can each demonstrate our respect and gratitude for God's gift of life and support our obligation to care for ourselves and those we love and serve. Last year, 53.5% of plan members in the Presbytery of Baltimore completed Call to Health. This year, the goal is 50% or more.
Please actively answer the 2015 Call to Health to achieve their best health as well as savings on their 2016 deductibles.
Answer the 2015 Call to Health before September 30th!
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