Dear Friends and members of the Ark and Dove Community,

The Session is pleased to announce that starting May 16, we will be adding a second worship service back to our Sunday mornings.  Outdoor worship will take place on the church property – every other Sunday – as long as there is no rain (because of electricity). Outdoor worship will begin at 9:15 am, and there will be two sung hymns and two sung responses. Much like we did for the Taize ordination and installation service, and on Easter Sunday, we will gather in circles, so people can maintain social distance, and we will ask people to register by family or social pod online, so that we are prepared. As a matter of courtesy to fellow members, who might be anxious or as of yet un-vaccinated, we are asking that you wear masks. What the state allows is different than our responsibility to and care for each other as brothers and sisters in the church of Jesus Christ. Just as COVID has surprised us time and time again, the Session is constantly evaluating the science and guidance we receive form the CDC, the governments, the Presbytery of Baltimore and the PCUSA. Let’s keep in mind that children cannot yet be vaccinated, and we have vowed at each baptism to raise our children, all our children as disciples of Christ. We want to keep them safe.

COVID has required constant change and flexibility, and the main change for many people will be the moving of livestream worship to 10:30 am, on May 16 and forward. Other than that, livestream will look pretty much the same for the short term.

The Session is also pleased to announce that outdoor summer Sunday school will begin on Sunday, May 23 at 9:15 am. Summer Sunday school will include at least one adult education option.  More details to come. SO the way this works is we will have outdoor worship one week and outdoor Sunday school the next – alternating.

RAIN – if it rains, we will cancel and maintain our original schedule, which will be posted on the homepage of our website. We will post whether Worship or Sunday school is on or cancelled at or before 6:00 am.  Wake up, check the web, and plan accordingly.

I am excited about seeing you all once again. Outdoor ministry is the norm for many churches, and for us it will continue until it gets too cold or it is safe to sing in the sanctuary.

Elder Deb Saylor is our outdoor worship coordinator, and she needs team members to make this happen. She is a former worship elder, and she knows how to coordinate people, but we need the people. Please contact her to volunteer to help in the parking lot or as an usher or as a roadie (a mover of equipment).

Sunday outdoor worship is BYOC – Bring Your Own Chairs

One thing that will make life safer for everyone is for people to get vaccinated. If you are medically able to get a vaccine – speak with your doctor – then please get vaccinated. The more of us that are 16 and older and vaccinated, the safer the world will be for our children.  Happy to say that Kelly and I are fully vaccinated, as are Jon and Christina, Margaret and Todd, and Pat.  I feel relieved to be vaccinated.

The Peace of Christ be with you in this season of Easter,

tstern@arkanddove.org

Dear Friends and Members of Ark and Dove,

When questioned by a lawyer about the greatest commandment of the law, Jesus replied, "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." Presbyterians have, as adherents and critics will say, focused on the last part of the command. We love God with our minds.

But how does one love God with the mind? We don't often talk about loving a person with the mind, but surely we do. Loving someone requires that we spend time getting to know them. We consider their strengths, needs, passions, circumstances, opinions, and self-expression. We try to understand and empathize with those we love.

In a similar sense, we love God with our minds by getting to know God, contemplating who God is, and understanding what God desires. We love God with our minds by reading revelatory Scripture, meditating on God's words and action, and dreaming God's dreams.

We also love God with our minds by individual and group study. We try to learn new and different perspectives from authors, teachers, and fellow students. For this reason, the Christian Education team tries to provide ample opportunity to learn about and love God. In the late spring and summer, we will have opportunities for children to learn on our church grounds on Sunday mornings and simultaneous classes for adults. We will have courses on trauma and healing (see "My Grandmother's Hands"), a series exploring different ways of knowing God (see "Intersectional Theology"), a study of lament and hope (forthcoming), and a fiction book club (see "Summer Book Club"). There are so many ways to love God with our minds.

If you want to cultivate a love of God in children and youth through Summer Sunday School and VBS, please contact me or Elder Sara Fox (christianed@arkanddove.org). If you want to love God more with your mind, please just join one of our offerings.

Peace,

jnelson@arkanddove.org

PRAYERS OF HEALING AND SUPPORT for Ardeth and Bob Johns; Karen Schell; Steven Kirby; Arlyce Lohr; Patty Plander; Krista Klohr; Christa Kronser; Dick Paronto; Richard and Edie Budd; ; Vaughn Brown; Camille Dubois’ uncle and parents; Debbie Saylor’s sister, Christine; Ryan Stavely’s father, Brian; Brooks Emrick and her sister, Susan; Amanda Crose’s grandmother, Betty Davis; Dotty Kaufman, her son, Bill, daughter-in-law, Carol, granddaughter, Sarah, and grandson Nathan; Michelle Schoonmaker and her friends Bri Reed and the Liggon-Horn family; Steve Debus' cousin-in-law, Stephan; Kathy Miller’s brother-in-law, Jeff Miller; Lewis Shorter and Lewis Shorter’s niece, Jennifer Schwandt-Gayle; Bob Fuller’s brother, Joe Fuller; Dot Forloines’ family, granddaughter Melisa Tucker Saatthoff and her great-grandson Luke; Donna Anderson's brother-in-law, Tom Brown; Debbie and Bruce Arey’s family in Connecticut and daughter, Allison, and niece, Naomi; Linda Taylor’s mother, Izola; Grant Kirby’s mother, Caroline, and Julia Kirby's mother, Margaret Floyd; Kennon Bauman’s uncle, Dan Johnston; Amy Goldberg’s grandmother, Ruth Cooper; Christy Yeager’s mother, Linda Jordan; Linda Jordan’s niece, Bonnie; Diane Johnson's Uncle Ed, Aunt Janet, and cousin Richard; Shelley Franklin's father; Hollis Butterworth’s daughter, Rachel Mershont; Amanda Wehage’s sister and father, Dave; Laurie Barrow’s nephew, Gunther Kurtz; Sabonna Keeney’s mother; Bernabe and Griselda Solano, and Griselda's sister, Irma; Laura Doughty’s brother-in-law, Carl Hahn, and Paul Doughty’s mother, Ruth Doughty; Laura Willoughby's father, Norman; Bill Ruble’s mother, Mary Jane Weathers; Ann Hirschy’s aunt, Cindy, and brother; Christina Nelson’s grandmother, Pat Dole; Kelly Burnett’s nephew, Justin; Patriceo Green’s cousin, Philip Brown; Lou Kareha’s aunt, Judy Kochis, and cousin, Thomas; Cheryl and Doug Walcutt’s grandchild, Gray Adacutt; Cheryl Walcutt’s mother, nephew, and sisters; Erika Sealing's son, Trip, and grandmother, Margaret Schade; Lourdes Cordero's granddaughter; and Kim Young’s friend, Kurt Kost.

THE LOVE AND THE PRAYERS OF THE CONGREGATION goes out to the Dubois family on the death of Camille’s uncle, Jean-Baptiste.

PRAYERS OF HEALING for those with COVID-19 including: Dot Forloines’ granddaughter, Abigail; Julia Kirby’s great niece, nephew, his wife, and friends, and the Coffey family; Michelle Schoonmaker's friend Ajita Robinson; and Jennifer Roman's aunt, Laura Clay, and grandmother, Louise Nothdurft.

PRAYERS OF LOVE, SUPPORT AND PROTECTION for all essential workers around the world, including: Mike Stiegler; Bill Gaurin; Tricia Gray’s mother, Sabrina Johnson; Becca Distad; Jack Burnett; Caitlyn Bussey; Emily Sanders; Audrey Miller; Linda Jordan’s nephew, Russell; the Ralston’s family members and friends; Simone Stiegler’s friend, Jean Marie; Amy Grimm’s mother; Jeff Grimm; Amy Goldberg’s brother, Joseph Alexander, and parents, Michael and Maryann Cooper; Judy Cooper’s daughter; John Mikeska’s son, Jonathan; and Hollis Butterworth’s sister-in-law, Cyndie.