November 28, 2005

Breaking Free to Serve

I have had the humbling opportunity in the past month to visit many of our local partners in mission. From Western Maryland to Baltimore City to Parkton, I have been witness to kindness, compassion and faith on levels that I’ve never experienced. A transitional house in the city, a soup kitchen, a legal aid clinic, a health clinic, a retreat center that brings city kids to the farm….most operated by people who’s eyes tear as they speak about their missions.

Albert Einstein said:

A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe’, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest-a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

I look forward to sharing with you all that I’ve experienced; not with pictures or words, but rather by building bridges between these oases and your congregation. In joining hands with other churches within our Presbytery, we will widen our circles of compassion, thereby making a huge difference in the mission work of these committed and faithful people. We can make a big difference in the lives of others.

God’s peace-

Deb Milcarek

Associate for Mission and Justice

Inside this issue

Event of the Week

Educators’ Roundtable

on Thursday, April 6, 12:00pm

at the Presbytery Office

Take Note/Act Now

§ Educators’ Roundtable

§ Rescheduled Katrina Workshop

§ Dinner for GA Participants

§ EAPCE Spring Meeting/Training

§ Anti-Racism Leadership Training

§ PC(USA) Mission Thank-you DVD

§ 40-Day Prayer Vigil for GA

§ Synod April Bulletin Inserts

§ Presbyterian Men In Action

§ Baltimore Jewish Times Article

§ Nat’l Day of Action: Immigrant Rights

Prayer Concerns

Trinity PC

People

Judy Forrester is at home recovering from a broken rib.

Barbara Barstow’s mother died on Sunday, her funeral will be on Friday.

Brett Morgan (pastor of Ashland PC) was elected to serve as the moderator of the permanent judicial committee of the Synod.

Carol S. Parham, member of Madison Ave PC, is a candidate for a board position on the PC(USA) Board of Pensions.

Prayer Concerns

Trinity PC

asks for prayers:

· for the people as we prayerfully go into new areas of ministry, for us to be of one accord and to support one another as we try to minister to new areas of the community

· for our new partnership with the Berean PC in New Orleans, that we would continue to grow closer together as we seek to support them in their time of transition

Take Note/Act Now

Baltimore Presbytery Items

Educators’ Roundtable at noon on Thursday, April 6^th at the Presbytery office. The new topic: Leadership Training and developing human resources for your church, led by Debbie Schmidt. Please bring ideas and a lunch.

Hurricane Katrina work trips & training:

A rescheduled workgroup for those who want to organize such workgroups will be held Saturday, May 20^that First PC of Howard County. RSVP by May 12^th. (New Flyer).

The Presbytery will host a dinner for everyone attending General Assembly from Baltimore on Saturday, June 17, at 6:00 PM at the Cobb Lane Restaurant http://www.cobblane.com/.

The cost will be $10 and reservations must be made in advance. Contact Wanda Morgan at the Presbytery Office and also indicate if you prefer chicken roulade or herb encrusted pork tenderloin.

Synod and GA items

The spring meeting of the Eastern Region Association of Presbyterian Church Educators, will be held at Princeton Theological Seminary on May 1st through 3rd. (View brochure and letter from the EAPCE President).

The Presbytery of Donegal will be hosting an Anti-Racism Leadership Training Conference on May 19-21 at Lincoln University, PA. For more information: Brochure and website.

The PC(USA) mission-funding thank-you video can be viewed off of the PC(USA) website at http://media.pcusa.org/05specialreq/dec/missionfunding-thankyou.wvx If you do not have DSL or a cable modem, you may contact Rita Walters at the Presbytery office to request hard copies of the DVD.

Presbyterian Elders in Prayer have created a 40-day Prayer Vigil Calendar leading up to the General Assembly, June 15-22. The publication does not take positions on any current issues.

The Synod has prepared an April bulletin insert and Military Prayer list. You can download them at: www.synatlantic.org/bulletin.

The spring 2006 edition of PMIA, Presbyterian Men in Action, is out, and can be accessed from the menu on the web site www.presbyterianmen.org or from this newsletter link.

Other Resources and Articles

There was an article in the March 31^st issue of the Baltimore Jewish Times regarding a March 22 panel discussion about Israel and Palestine between local Jewish and Christian leaders. A number of Peter Nord’s comments are noted in the article. (Read article online).

Other Events

There will be a number of rallies across the U.S. on Monday, April 10^th as a part of A National Day of Action on Immigrant Rights. Local rallies will take place in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. For more details contact Susan Saudek at saudek@comcast.net.

Also on our website

Don’t miss all the new Local Church Announcements at: http://www.baltimorepresbytery.org/announcements.html Presbytery Yearly Calendar