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You are invited to join us for the Third Sunday after Epiphany, at both the 9:30 am Traditional and 11:00 am Contemporary Worship Services, where we will begin our preaching series on the Apostle's Creed, focusing this week on "I Believe in God...." Communion will be served.
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MESSAGE FROM PASTOR TIM
Dear Friends and Members of Ark and Dove,
You are invited to the Annual Congregational Meeting of Ark and Dove on Sunday evening January 28 at 6:15 pm. The meeting will be preceded by a potluck dinner at 5:30. The purpose of our annual meeting is to: elect church officers and the new Nominating Team; to designate the Clerk of Session and the Elders as Trustees (as is required by the State of Maryland); receive reports from our Ministries and the Board of Deacons; approve the terms of call for the pastors; approve the minutes from congregational meetings in 2017; and consider any matter of business that come properly before the body. The Annual Report will be available online on Wednesday, and we will send out a link with a special edition of the
Arkive.
There will also be a book swap and book collection for
Sarah's House beginning at 5:15 pm.
Moving firmly into the 21st century, after prayer and consultation with Session and the Board of Deacons, we are changing the name of the
e-Arkive to the
Arkive. The
Arkive will be delivered by e-mail. The
Arkive will be printed and mailed to households only by special request. We will be producing a quarterly, special, printed edition of the
Arkive that will focus on faith and reflections. The first one will come after Easter. In this way we are saving money, and the environment, by cutting down on paper use and snail mail. It's the right thing to do in terms of stewardship of our globe.
It is
Per Capita season. A special offering that helps us support a national church office and a Baltimore Presbytery staff that provides us with many resources and avenues of support.
$35.00 per member.
May God guide you as we move deeper into the new year.
In Christ,
Pastor Tim
timsstern@gmail.com
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VERSE AND PRAYER
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. - Isaiah 42:6-7
The Peace of the Quiet Hours by David Adam
The peace of quiet hours
The peace of mighty powers
The peace of the rising sun
The peace of the day that's done
The peace of the deepest sea
The peace of God's prosperity
The peace of God dwelling in you
The peace of Christ and Spirit too.
Mighty God
In times of stress
Grant us your peacefulness.
In times of weakness
Grant us your forcefulness.
In times of distress
Grant us your hopefulness
In times of sadness
Grant us your joyfulness
And give us awareness.
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26th Annual Congregational Meeting
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The Annual Congregational Meeting will held Sunday, January 28, 2018. It will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a potluck dinner. Sign-up HERE for potluck items.
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"I believe..."
Christian Faith for Contentious Times
A four week sermon series on the Apostle's Creed:
January 21: "I believe in God..."
January 28: "I believe in Jesus Christ..."
February 4: "I believe in the Holy Spirit..."
February 11: "the holy catholic church..."
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Worship happens at Ark and Dove due to the dedicated work of a small army of volunteers. They work behind the scenes to make sure everything is ready for services when we arrive on Sunday morning. If you have any interest in helping out in this area, please contact Ryan Stavely (
ryan@stavely.org;
410-980-2307).
Your commitment can be as small as 5-10 minutes every few weeks. In particular needs right now are:
The Communion Prep team (a Sunday morning commitment - ensure that all of the Communion elements are placed in the sanctuary properly), and the
Worship Media team (follow the service closely and find the space bar on a keyboard; no specialized skills needed!) If you are interested doing the prep work a day or so before service, or running the sound board, we will gladly provide you the advanced training needed!
Thanks for your consideration, and thank you to the many people that already help us out!
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RECHARGE Ark & Dove will hold a Women's Retreat
on the weekend of April 20-22. Come recharge your spiritual batteries and reconnect with other women in the church. The location is at the Claggett Center in Adamstown, Maryland. Tracy Radosevic, a professional facilitator, will lead the spiritual exploration. The price per person is $290 for a single occupancy room and $260 for a double occupancy room, meals included. If you are unable to attend for the full weekend, join us for Saturday (Day Pass is $115). But hurry! The deadline to sign up and pay for the Women's Retreat is
February 15th. Click
here to register and pay online. For more information, contact
Cheryl Walcutt (Walcutt_family@hotmail.com) or Shelley Franklin (shelleyfranklin@vwrld.net).
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You are invited to an opportunity to learn more about Ark and Dove and consider membership in this congregation. We will meet this
Sunday, January 21, from 12:15 to 2 pm. Light lunch provided, childcare available. This is an excellent opportunity to get to know the church and the wonderful people that make it. This is a no obligation class. Let Pastor Jon know if you have any questions
(jgnelson1985@gmail.com).
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DONATE
Online here! Per Capita, Capital Savings Fund
and more! Many opportunities await you!
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We are still receiving Per Capita gifts.
The church is a community that depends on community-wide support, and the per capita offering is a way of providing that support. Each
member of Ark and Dove is encouraged to assist with per capita. This year the apportionment for each member is: $35. Have you made your per capita gift this year? Your per capita can be conveniently paid on line here, or drop in in the offering basket (blue envelopes in seat backs) on Sunday morning. Questions? Alta Paronto, Treasurer, (alparonto@gmail.com), or Wendy Wellington, Administration Elder (swt520@verizon.net)
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NEXT VOYAGERS To kick off the new year, please join us at the Nautilus Diner in Crofton at
8:00 am on January 27 for a delicious breakfast, great conversation, and a presentation by David Sparks, who many know as the bass in the choir with the really low voice. David will share with us about some of his life experiences, including some fascinating stories from accounting (a phrase I didn't ever expect to write ;-). We will also confer about what kind of upcoming events we would like to do together.
I am trying to reserve our usual room, but management there now prefers to only reserve it for groups of 25. Please confirm if you can make it, so I can have more leverage to get the room! Thanks! Paul Doughty, padough@verizon.net.
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ANAM CARA, Spiritual Friendships
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To grow in our spiritual lives, we need friendship. To grow in friendship, we need to journey in faith. Starting
January 25, we are forming a small group that will foster meaningful relationship and encourage spiritual growth.
Anam Cara is an ancient gaelic term for the friendships we need as we walk with God. We will explore avenues of faith formation (prayer, study, meditation, worship) through discussion and seek to help one another in our journeys. We will meet
each Thursday night, 7:30pm to 9:00 pm, until March 22. Katie and Grant Johnson will lead the group with Pastor Jon. Please contact Jon for any questions,
jgnelson1985@gmail.com.
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Join us for the second meeting of our parent group, a fellowship opportunity for all who are in a parenting role. Here you will find support, new perspective and grace for the many difficulties and joys of parenting.
We will gather for a potluck on January 26th at 6 pm. We will then split into small groups for discussion. Childcare will be provided. We will finish by 8 pm. Contact Pastor Jon for any questions (
jgnelson1985@gmail.com).
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PHOTO DIRECTORY UPDATE Did you have your picture taken for the photo directory? If so, the pictures are available for download
here (for your use only)! In the spirit of full disclosure: there is a "buy photos " link on those pages - that is all handled through Smugmug, which is who I use for my photo printing. The cost is reasonable, and I have found the quality good for my personal uses. Neither Ark and Dove nor I receive any of the money from prints purchased through them. You are welcome to use their service or download the pictures and print them at a place of your choosing. If you have any questions or issues, contact Ryan Stavely (
ryan@stavely.org).
We are also working to schedule our 100 missing families. If you are one of these families, you will be receiving an individual email asking you to sign up to have your photo taken. As this project is now far past its due date, we would really like to finish things up so please help us out by signing up and going for scheduled appointment. There is no cost for your pictures! (Donations of $10 to offset the cost of printing are appreciated.) Please contact Julia Kirby (jukirby@deloitte.com) if you have any questions.
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MUSEUM TOUR: SYRIA: PLEASE DON'T FORGET US
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Join us on
February 17, to visit the
Syria: Please Don't Forget Us exhibit at the
US Holocaust Museum. A group will be carpooling from the church at
9:30 am to take the Orange Line from New Carrolton, and expects to be back at the church in the early afternoon. To join the carpool, or let the group know that you will be meeting us at the museum, please email Katie Johnson
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More information on the exhibit can be found here.
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JANUARY'S FOOD OF THE MONTH
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C
AP WEST COUNTY FOOD PANTRY Featured item for January is PASTA AND PASTA SAUCES (semolina pasta, brown rice pasta, whole wheat, etc./Bertolli jarred sauces, Classico jarred sauces, etc.). Please drop off food items in the Mission Zone bin. Thank you for your donations!
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PRAYER CONCERNS
Please keep the following people in your prayers this week:
PRAYERS OF HEALING AND SUPPORT
for Greg and Diane Makar's mother, LeAnn; friends dealing with marital issues;
D'Alex Childers; a family facing difficult times; Christy Yeager's father, Leon Jordan; Daryl Sensenig; Linnie Girdner and Jan Hof; Charles Lawrence; Daryle Echols; Marcia Bussey; Donna Anderson's brother-in-law, Tom; Mary Beckwith; Debbie Saylor's aunt, Gail, and cousins, Ed and Jen; Nicole Howe's aunt, Linda; Bob Johns; Frances Keyes; Chip Burnett; Dot Forloines and her brother Jack; Henry Duncan; Helene Marchand-Stancil and Helene's mother, Mimi; Judy Cooper's sister, Barb Eardley; Ellen Makar's father, Don Erickson; Laura Willoughby's father, Norman; Amy Stavely's aunt; Steve and Brandi Downs; Mary Stum's sister-in-law, Sandy; Julia Kirby's mother, Margaret Floyd; Amy Carskadon's nephew; Jason Ziegler; Brenda Figueroa; Jon Nelson's aunt, Linda and uncle, Gene; Archer and Honor Bauman's grandmother, Jackie; Charlotte Davie's sister, Ann; Erika Sealing's son and grandmother, Margaret Schade; Tawes Dewyngaert; Lindsay; Carla; and Dick and Carol Baily; a member awaiting test results; a granddaughter in need of support; Wendy Wellington's mother, Janet Morgan; Linnie Girdner's friend, Sandra Warren; Karen Dodson's granddaughter, Briana.
THE LOVE AND PRAYERS OF THE CONGREGATION go out to the Robinson family upon the death of Pete's nephew Brian.
THE LOVE AND PRAYERS OF THE CONGREGATION go out to the Tisdale and Groves families on the death of Ben Tisdale's uncle, Tommy Groves.
THE LOVE AND PRAYERS OF THE CONGREGATION go out to the Benson and Dandridge families on the death of Amy Benson's stepbrother, Billy Dandridge.
If you have prayer concerns or blessings that you would like to share, please contact Deacon Sue Hanburger at avongypsygal@gmail.com, and she will add your concern to the prayer partners email chain.
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