The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jeremiah 31: 31-33

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end, nor do I really know myself.  And the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

“The Merton Prayer” by Thomas Merton from Thoughts in Solitude 

THIS SUNDAY at 12:30pm is the Beau Soir Ensemble concert. Here is the link to purchase tickets for $20. Children under 17 are FREE, and the musicians have graciously offered to talk about their instruments or the music, for anyone who might be interested in chatting after the concert. This concert will be roughly an hour, and lunch will be provided for anyone staying after the 10:30 service.  

Also, you are in for a big treat during services, as Brittany Wellington will sing the offertory, called Here, as sung by Kari Jobe. Brittany's beautiful voice will be featured a few more times between now and Christmas, as well as her superb cello playing. We are so fortunate to have her in our midst. Have a wonderful weekend.

With love,

Rebecca

Director of Music

rechols@arkanddove.org

YTD Expected Unpledged Income $37,500

Actual Unpledged Income $12,417

Behind $25,083

YTD Expected Pledged & Electronic Giving $383,563

YTD Actual Pledged & Electronic Giving $375,907

Behind $7,656

How Close Can You Get?

Mask required at 9:00 am Worship, Mask Optional at 10:30 am Worship

October is Pastor Appreciation Month!

This is our chance to show Pastor Tim, Pastor Caroline, and Pastor Stephen how much we appreciate all that they do to shepherd us along our life travels with God. Let's show them our love!

Previous Episodes

18 September

Join this week's Lobby guest host Lilly as she interviews Amy Tardiff as they discuss and experience what it's like to take part in a Godly Play class. Anyone interested in teaching Godly Play? Please contact Sara Fox.

11 September

Join Lobby guest host Jim Cooper while he discusses all the upcoming events at Ark and Dove and the mysterious new gizmo in the kitchen with Earth Care Team Lead, Bob Fuller.

Candidate Action

Upcoming Actions both in person and via zoom

Ark and Dove will host ACT’s Anne Arundel County Candidates nights in our Sanctuary

We are now offering Childcare for both actions!

Please email Cheryl Walcutt if you will need childcare: walcutt_family@hotmail.com 

The county-wide Candidate Action is today, Friday, October 14 at 7pm! Accountability Action with Candidates for County Executive and County Executives.

To register please click HERE.

The statewide Candidate Action is Thursday, October 20 at 7pm! ACT- Candidate Accountability Action with candidates for Governor, Attorney General, and Comptroller.

Governor: Democrat Wes Moore CONFIRMED

Comptroller: Democrat Brooke Lierman CONFIRMED

To RSVP for in-person meeting please click HERE

To RSVP for Zoom Invitation click HERE

We will need help in the following areas:

-Tech Team

-Hospitality

-Registration

-Parking

Please contact Cheryl Walcutt, Core Team Leader, if you can help with the Floor Team: walcutt_family@hotmail.com

Refugee Resettlement: Abawi Family

As the Abawi family settle into their new home, we can then concentrate on the many other ways we can support this family. 

Clothing Donation Needed

In need of donations of men’s casual clothing size large. Please contact Debbie Arey at debarey@hotmail.com. 

Living with Hope

Our 2023 Stewardship Effort theme is Renewed in God: Embracing the Future, Renewed in Faith, and Living with Hope and Love. This week we will explore how renewal in God allows us to confidently embrace the future together while Living with Hope for a better world. A biblical definition of hope is more than simply desiring or wishing for a certain outcome. With our faith firmly rooted in God, our hope is an expectation with certainty that God will do what God has promised. Getting through the past couple years has been challenging in so many ways, yet at Ark and Dove we have remained committed to doing God’s work of justice and inclusion for all. How do we persist on this path in the face of so many obstacles? It is with our hope in God, set free by Christ, that our strength is renewed daily and we “mount up with wings like eagle’s” ready to run without growing weary. Hope redefines what is probable and opens paths to accomplishing the seemingly impossible. Living with Hope means that we forge ahead despite the odds, growing and creating new areas of ministry and mission in order to meet the evolving needs of God’s people. 

It is in this vein that we continue to support people in need in our immediate community, across the nation, and around the world with thriving missions such as our partnership with Anne Arundel Connecting Together (ACT) and our newly active Community Engagement Team. Our Anti-Racism and Social Equity team is planning to begin making financial reparations to organizations of People of Color in order to make amends for our collective participation in acts of oppression in the history of the Presbyterian church. Our GLEAM Team is starting a support group for LGBTQIA+ youth, and our adult and Ally support groups continue to be safe places and sources of support for those who have so often been excluded and alienated by others in the past. Our Earth Care Team continues to make strides in helping us all become better stewards of God’s creation. The team is planning specific projects to help us make our church building, operations, worship services, education, and outreach more respectful of the glory of God’s creation. While we alone cannot solve all the environmental problems that exist, we can continue to integrate more environmental practices into the life of the church and together find renewed hope in the future. 

These ministry and mission activities and so many more are proof of the personal and collective renewal we experience living as a new creation in Christ. God is continually renewing each one of us. Each day we are loved, forgiven, and set free from sin and death because of Christ. As such, we are empowered to boldly engage God’s mission in the world filled with hope for the future. Our giving is in response to God’s immeasurable love for us and the hope we have in Christ. Our very lives and all that we have are gifts from God. We are called in Scripture to give back to the work of Christ through the church. This Fall, spend some time reflecting on the ways that Ark and Dove help you experience God’s renewal and brings hope and healing to yourselves and to a fractured world. Our prayer is that you would consider increasing your pledge an additional 1% of household income. This would help us not only maintain our current level of ministry and mission work but would also enable us to confidently make strides toward our future goals and dreams encouraged by the hope that dwells within us.

Tricia Gray & The 2023 Renewed in God Stewardship Team

For five weeks each fall, we collect the Peace and Global Witness Special Offering. This offering is our way of supporting our financial commitment to ACT and to make a financial donation to Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services. Your generosity in past years has made this a very successful offering. We would like you to prayerfully consider participating in this year's last call for our Peace and Global Witness Offering if you have not already done so. Thank you for your gifts!

New Arrival at the Library

Thanks to Ark and Dove’s Mission Ministry, our library has been able to obtain a subscription to Sojourners Magazine. This month’s issue is currently on display and features a series of articles by an international faith delegation who went to Ukraine to pray for peace. This quote towards the end of one of the articles really spoke to me:

“Putin’s war against Ukrainians should make American Christians very uncomfortable. Not only because of the immense human suffering, the threatened use of nuclear weapons, and the potential downstream impact of famine in Africa and the Middle East from stalled grain exports, but because our own Christian nationalism takes a page directly from Russkii Mir (“Russian World”) teaching.”

There are also timely articles dealing with reconciling Christian and Indigenous worldviews, as well as the perceived rift between faith and science. I am very proud of the fact we have been able to obtain Sojourners Magazine, for which we have access to both print and digital versions. Please email Kim Champagne at Librarian@arkanddove.org if you’d like digital login information.

To see these and other books in our library, check out the catalog HERE.

Ark and Dove is always growing. Celebrate the past 30 years and the 30 years (and more) to come! We will be having a catered and potluck dinner at 5pm on October 23rd in the sanctuary. We are asking folks to bring dishes that remind them of "community", something they feel connected to. There will be multiple ways to get involved - pay attention to the Arkive for even more news to come! Click Here to RSVP!