Presbytery of Baltimore

Encouraging, challenging and equipping congregations to thrive spiritually and be apostles for reconciliation

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West Side Story Ministry Group

Objectives

  • Christian Formation and Leadership Development
  • Congregational Development
  • Missional Engagement with Communities
  • Prophetic Witness and Action for Reconciliation
  • The Creation of New Faith Communities

Pray for the churches in West Side Story

Prayer Calendar for 2022

Leadership Team

Anita Bishop-Johnson

Mark Chaplik

Mt. Hebron Presbyterian Church created a virtual “Laying on of Hands” in the installation of their new Elders last fall. Each Elder of the church was asked to trace their hands and write a Bible verse or prayer or message of encouragement on the paper hand for each new Elder. These paper hands were then linked together and draped as a stole around the new Elders. It was a physical reminder of the love shared when we couldn’t physically touch the new Elders during installation. Many thanks to Rev. Mary Speers for the idea and for serving as our pastor that day!

WSSMG Upcoming

  • Outdoor Pastor Gathering in October 2021 at Catonsville in their new pavilion
  • Leadership Training – September 25th, 9-12. Hybrid meeting with a Door Dash. After worship together, workshops on “Assessing Church Property for Income and Mission” by John Wilson and “What Can You Learn from Mission Insite?” by Susan Moody. Budget for 2022 will be approved during the business meeting.
  • Combined Youth Event – A WSS Mission pop-up outside set for October 2nd, partnering with the Center to coordinate Mission Partners and teach around it.

WSSMG in 2021

  • Pastor Appreciation / Recognition: As a ministry group we are encouraged to be a resource of help.  Pastors especially need help in this time of Pandemic and upheaval. We provided $100 from “emerging needs” to each Session to encourage them to recognize their pastor(s). Called “Hugs from WSSMG”, we invested $1600 for the 16 pastors because they are investing in you.  
  • Pastor Gathering “Zoom ‘n Door Dash” March 4th (Discussion on coordinating a sharing of family devotions, liturgies, sermons to give pastors a break).
  • WSS General Meeting via Zoom – Saturday April 17th, 9-11am. Connecting with each other, sharing what each church is experiencing now, discussion on COVID and impacts as we re-open, sharing Presbytery Resources, followed by a Spiritual Practices “charge”.
  • Elder’s Breakfast via Zoom – Saturday, August 21st, 9-11:00am. We brought our own breakfasts, but enjoyed each other’s company. Presentation on Aggregate Net Metering by Lauren Barchi.

For more information, WSS Ministry: wssmgbaltpres@gmail.com

Grant Requests

Process for Grant Requests

Step 1

Download document, save with a unique name, and enter in your information. After completion, save and attach the form to a new email and send to wssmgbaltpres@gmail.com. The grant application must include a planned budget for spending, whether the grant is given up front or by reimbursement, and the name of the church which will receive and disburse the funds. Requests for grants should be signed by the pastor.

APPLICATION FORM (.doc)

Step 2

Once received, the conveners will review the request with the WSSMG Steering Team at their next meeting. The Steering Team will be responsible for determining if the request meets the goals of the Ministry Group and if funds are available. 

Step 3

The Steering team may approve grants up to $3000 and report this at the next WSSMG meeting; anything $3000 or more are to be approved by the majority of people at a meeting of the entire Ministry Group. These votes will be considered the decision of the WSSMG, regardless of the number of congregations present.  Funding preference will be given to churches that have paid per capita and contributed to Shared Ministry.

Step 4

A “Request for Ministry Group Expenditure Fund” will be filled out by the Steering Committee, signed by a co-convener, and submitted to Presbytery along with the original Grant Request. The church holding the funds will be responsible for saving all receipts and submitting an itemized reconciliation to the conveners within a month after the grant has been spent or by the Ministry Group’s deadline. Any unused funds will be returned by check to the Presbytery, earmarked appropriately. The church may hold the receipts in lieu of submitting copies to the conveners, but they must make copies available to the Presbytery in case of audit.

Step 5

The congregation receiving a grant will be expected to report the outcome of their use of the funds at a future meeting. It is both uplifting and a means of sharing ideas with other congregations when we jointly celebrate the good news of how we are doing the work of Jesus Christ with our sister congregations.

Additional Considerations

Although it is not absolutely required, it is certainly a sign of serious and faithful stewardship when the congregation requesting a grant uses some of their own resources in the project in the form of their own money and time. You should indicate in your request how much of your own money, if any, and time will be used.

If there is potential for other congregations within the WSSMG or Presbytery to join in a project for which the funds will be used, a statement of how other congregations might share in the ministry or project should be included with the request.

The Steering Team may approve the request for the full amount or they may reduce the amount based on available budget or other concerns. If they do, they will notify the requesting congregation with an explanation of why. If the request does not appear to meet one of the required goals, they will discuss the request with the requester, getting further written justification as necessary.

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