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March 26, 2007 |
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March 26, 2007 |
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Who is my neighbor? “..You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as
yourself.” Luke 10:27-29 I attended a wonderful workshop last week, so
today’s essay was supposed to be an uplifting and inspiring piece on
the benefits of practicing good stewardship. I had every intention of sharing
with you the top 10 ways to practice good stewardship for faithful living as
presented by Rev. Rick Ufford-Chase, 216th Moderator of the
General Assembly. While his top 10 list could be daunting, I was ready to
rise to the challenge. After all, I thought I had already accomplished number
three, “Examine where you live. Are we putting ourselves where we can
do the most good?” He emphasized resisting the temptation of living in
a gated community and ones encircled by walls like many Presbyterians already
do. He went on to say that the problem, of course, is that we’re
separating ourselves from the very people that Jesus called us to be with. I
nodded in agreement. After all, I moved from the suburbs to the city and with
my city living I experience petty nuisances that are an integral part of city
life; but, we also experience a level of community that is new and inviting,
filled with people who are different, interesting, passionate and not afraid
of conflict, so of course, I understood exactly what Reverend Ufford-Chase
was saying to “those other people.” Over the weekend and in the midst of my writing, I
critically examined what I thought he meant by this challenge, and I was
ashamed at my audacity to think that just by virtue of living within the city
limits I had placed myself on the margins “to do the most good.”
Margin living is more than geography and proximity; after all, it begs the
question, who is my neighbor? Do I love him or her as myself? Without him or
her having to ask, am I aware enough that I will recognize his or her need
and respond? In this season of renewal and rebirth, it is fitting
that we are in the midst of One Great Hour of Sharing; I look forward to
joining with you at the margins. I am convinced that it is the best way to be
renewed, held accountable and challenged. In His Service, Rita L. Walters Director of Development p.s.
to read more about the conference and the thoughts of Rev. Rick Ufford-Chase,
please visit www.pcusa.org and the
Presbyterian News Service article
on stewardship. |
Inside this issue Events of the Week: What is
Transformation? Workshop Mar. 28 9:30am-12:30pm Christ Memorial PC,
Columbia What is
Transformation? Workshop Mar. 31 9:30am-12:30pm Brown Memorial
Woodbrook PC Take Note/Act Now § Part-time DCE § Retreat Centers in MD § Money for Youth § Bishop John Rucyahana § PW Spring Gathering 2007 § April Presbytery Mtg. Focus § Synod April Bulletin Insert § ICJS Event in April § Stony Point Spring Conf. § Diploma in Lay Pastoral Ministry Prayer Presbyterian Church in |
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People and Office |
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Prayer Concerns St.
John United PC asks for prayers: ·
To bless and guide their
efforts to plan and construct a new church building by 2009 as part of the
Wilde Lake Interfaith Center campus in Columbia ·
For new membership and
evangelism efforts to grow in numbers and more fully meet the growing needs
of the downtown Columbia community ·
For renewed strength in
stewardship to more fully support their mission and outreach programs ·
For healing for their
members dealing with serious health issues, and for comfort and peace for
those who are shut-in The
Presbyterian Church in Cameroon asks for prayers: ·
For the Bawouk people who
have been victims of violence by their neighbors, the ·
For the many people whose
homes, fields and livestock have been destroyed ·
For those who instigated
or carried out these violent attacks and those who hindered appropriate government
response to immediately stop these attacks carried out over a couple of days ·
For the PCC workers who
have been victimized ·
For the reconciliation
between these people and the fons, who are their traditional leaders |
Take Note/Act Now Baltimore
Presbytery Items (non-dated items
first; dated items in date order) Kenwood
PC is seeking a part-time Director of
Christian Education (more). Wanda
Morgan has compiled a list of retreat
centers in the area that church groups may use. The list is available on
the resource center section of the Presbytery website (more). Money is available through application on the Youth Committee section
of the Presbytery website for Middle/High School Youth who wish to fund a
youth outreach program or project at their local church or wish to attend a
Baltimore Presbytery youth event such as a Rally or Retreat. Central PC will be hosting a special evening with Bishop John Rucyahana from Rwanda on
Monday, April 2nd at 7:00pm. Bishop John is one of The Spring
Gathering of the Presbyterian Women of the Presbytery of Baltimore will
be on April 21st from 9:00am – 2:00pm at Woods Memorial PC.
Mission Speakers will be The next Presbytery meeting will be on April 26th
at 4:00pm. The focus of the meeting will be on Peacemaking and Urban Violence with special guest speaker Rick
Ufford-Chase and the Initiative Against Urban Violence Task Force will
present a panel of local experts on reducing violence in our communities (more). Synod and General
Assembly The
Synod April Bulletin Insert and
Military Prayer List are now available on the synod website: www.synatlantic.org. The
ICJS presents “An Evening with
Walter Bruggemann and Peter Ochs: Jews and Christians Reflect on How
their Minds Have Been Changed”, April 18th at 8:00pm at
Chizuk Amuno Congregation in Baltimore (more). Stony Point Conference
Center in
NY will be hosting a number of events this spring including a Global Mission
Lecture on April 27th-28th and a Prayer Retreat with
PC(USA) Moderator Rev. Joan S. Gray on May 20th-22nd (more). Other Items Also on our website Don’t miss all the new Local Church Announcements at: http://www.baltimorepresbytery.org/announcements.html Presbytery
Yearly Calendar Past Issues of Tidings are available at: http://www.baltimorepresbytery.org/midweekmail.html. Contact Information For the Presbytery Offices: Phone: 410-433-2012 or 800-511-0087 Office
E-mail: office@baltimorepresbytery.org Website: www.baltimorepresbytery.org To Unsubscribe: email Alice
McGee or call the office |
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Peter Nord, Executive Presbyter |
Bill Millen, Associate Executive |
Charles Forbes, Stated Clerk |
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Deb Milcarek Associate of |
Jane Johnson |
Rita Walters Director of Development rwalters@baltimorepresbytery.org |
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Director of Public Policy |
Judi Forrester Coordinator of Financial Services |
Alice McGee Coordinator of Information Services |
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Coordinator of Resources |
Coordinator of Communications |
Questions? Comments? |
