April 25, 2005
WE DO AND WE WILL The newly elected elders and deacons of Chestnut Grove Presbyterian Church stood before Ken Ironside and me. I was given the privilege of propounding the constitutional questions. There were many questions and sometimes eyes begin to glaze – but then, there it was and it caught me a bit off guard – “Do you promise to further the peace, unity, and purity of the church?” In some ways a simple enough question – as long as one doesn’t think too hard about the situations we face. Most all of us who are reading this have responded, “I do.” And, truth be told, most of us yearn for this question to be turned into a statement of fact. Last week staff members from our synod’s presbyteries met together – and we talked about what we were going to do when the GA Task Force reports later this year. Our own Presbytery Task Force will invite us into its discussions at our Presbytery meeting in Frostburg. We’ll be talking about Christology. The members of our Task Force found a fair amount of unity in the midst of their own theological diversity. I expect the same on Thursday. It is Christ who calls us together. It is Christ’s grace that restores wholeness. It is Christ who commissions us to go into the world. And it is the peace of Christ that awaits us. Let us find ways to say, “I do and I will,” when this question is asked of us. May the Peace of Christ Jesus be with us all. Peter Nord	Inside this issue Take Note/Act Now § Presbytery Meeting § An Afternoon with Brian McLaren § TAMFS:Baltimore § Real Kids, Real Faith § Faith Sharing § Sacred Ground Dance Group § Local Church Announcements § Job Opportunities Online Prayer Concerns § Brown Memorial Park Avenue PC § St. Andrew PC
	People Prayers for Steve & Julie Tisinger, waiting the birth of their second child in May. Jack Sharp starts May 1 as Interim at Springfield PC. Elizabeth Johnson was ordained on April 17 at Canyon Creek PC by Grace Presbytery. Elizabeth begins May 1 at Dickey Memorial PC.

Prayer Concerns Brown Memorial Park Avenue PC asks for prayers: § New directions for the church § The growing pains that will be experienced as the church goes in new directions. St. Andrew PC asks for prayers: § As they begin construction. § As they continue day-to-day operations with two entrances blocked off. § As they seek to restructure in light of their growth.	Take Note/Act Now Presbytery Meeting, April 28 1pm at First, Frostburg PC. The Council will bring “Beyond Project Support, Report of the COGOS Mission Task Group” to this meeting for consideration by the Presbytery and adoption of the Mission Goal recommended in the report. An Afternoon with Brian McLaren, author of “A New Kind of Christian” on May 10 at noon at Woods PC. Cost $12. Call the Presbytery office to register, 410-433-2012. The Board of Directors of That All May Freely Serve: Baltimore, Inc. invites everyone to a Service of Worship celebrating three new covenanting churches on Sunday, May 22 at 3 pm at Maryland PC. (read more) Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary presents “Real Kids, Real Faith” Conference, presented by author Karen-Marie Yust, a one-day conference on April 29. http://www.lpts.edu/News-Events/article.asp?intID=120. The upcoming issue of Good News, a publication of Evangelism and Witness, will be entitled Faith Sharing. If you would like to submit a personal story as an example of sharing your faith through Health Ministry (limit of 400 words), please send it to Pat Gleich at pgleich@ctr.pcusa.org. They will try to include as many as possible in the newsletter and will post all of them on the National Health Ministries website. Sacred Ground, Goucher College’s Christian Dance Group, and special guest Ad Deum Christian Dance Company from Houston, TX, will present a variety of dance works on May 3 at 8 pm. Contact Dani Fey for more information. 410-337-3082 or http://students.goucher.edu/dfey/sacredground.html. Also on our website The Presbytery of Baltimore posts job opportunities: http://www.baltimorepresbytery.org/opportunitycalls.html Issues of Tidings are available at: http://www.baltimorepresbytery.org/midweekmail.html Local Church Announcements / Presbytery Yearly Calendar
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