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August 14, 2006 |
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August 14, 2006 |
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The Missional
Church The
renewal of the Presbytery of Baltimore is underway. The Presbytery’s
Vision Team has completed its report on the Evangelism Goal (read
report). New Church Developments will be designed as missional churches.
Existing congregations will be encouraged to transform into missional
churches. For
much of the Modern Era churches have been attractional, dualistic and
hierarchical. By attractional I mean we are anticipating that if we get our
internal features right (parking, programs, preaching) then people will flock
to us. The missional model focuses on delivering the Good News by going out
into the community two by two. By
dualistic I mean that we separate the sacred from the profane, the holy from
the unholy and the “in” from the “out”. Missional, by
its very nature, exists organically within its host community and abandons a
dualistic worldview in favor of a whole-of-life spirituality. By
hierarchical I mean bureaucratic, top down, as opposed to structured around
grass roots efforts. The missional approach is more to create hierarchies
where people are fellow heirs to the grace of God. Many
in the Presbytery are reading The Shape
of Things to Come by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. I recommend this
resource to those who are interested in learning more about what it means to
be a missional church. Renewal
is exciting and difficult work. Join us. Bill
Millen Associate
Executive Presbyter |
Inside this issue This
week’s event: § Vision Committee August 14, 6:00pm Hunting Ridge PC Take Note/Act
Now § PUP Implications Task Force § Presby. Men’s Breakfast § Mission Money Available § Pastoral Care Gathering § Transformational Conf. § Multicultural Institute § Youth Triennium 2007 § Seminarian Medical Plan § Congregational Resources § Seeking Hospital Chaplain Prayer
Concerns New Life PC |
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People We welcome Ron Johnson, Organizing Pastor for New Imani, who will begin on
August 12th. We also welcome his wife, Jane Johnson, also a
minister. Your emails returned? Please be
advised that our email server has added a spam filter which may result in
your emails to the Presbytery being rejected - the first time. If this
happens to you more than once please call the Presbytery office. |
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Prayer Concerns New
Life PC asks for prayers: ·
For progress on the
senior housing project on their property; that issues with the surrounding
neighbors may be resolved quickly ·
For the hire of a
new pastor of education and youth; that their candidate may be a good fit for
the community and help to bring in younger families |
Take Note/Act Now Read
a report from the PUP Implications
Task Force concerning their recent meeting. The Baltimore
Presbyterian Men’s Communion Breakfast and Mini-Workshop will be on
Saturday, October 21st from 7:00am – 1:00pm (breakfast at
8:00am) at Churchville PC. The keynote speaker will be Rev. George Goodman,
Assoc. Presbyter, Presbytery of the Peaks, VA. Cost: $20 for 2 meals. More
info: view
flyer or contact David Hodge. Money
available for Mission: read about two sources of mission funding that are available
now to your congregations (read
more). Synod and GA
items The Presbytery Pastoral Care Network presents their 7th
Annual National Gathering on September 25-28 at Columbia Theological Seminary
in Atlanta, Georgia. The theme is “Hurricanes, Earthquakes and Traumas
in the Pastorate: Caring for Clergy in Times of Crisis,” with keynote
speaker Dr. Katrina Cochran. Learn
more. Doing
Church in the 21st Century, the PC(USA)’s transformational conference, will be held
on October 19-22 in Las Vegas, NV. Learn more from brochures and a blog on
the event website. The
Third Annual Multicultural Church Institute will
take place on October 23-27in Stony Point, NY. The institute is open to
clergy and laity and includes a wide variety of workshops on incorporating
multiculturalism into all areas of church life. More.
Youth Leaders: The 2007 Presbyterian Youth Triennium
will be held at Purdue U. from July 17-22, 2007. The gathering is open to
high school youth in the PC(USA) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, ages
15-19. For more information, see the info
sheet for the event or go to www.presbyterianyouthtriennium.org.
Seminary Students may apply for participation
in the Board of Pensions medical plan
between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30. If interested, go to www.pensions.org. The
Dept. of Ecumenical & Agency Relations of the PC(USA) has sent notice of
resources that may be of interest to you: 1) Materials for the celebration of Reformation Sunday are available
through the World Alliance of Reformed Churches at www.warc.ch. 2) A brochure for the celebration
of the Week of Prayer for Christian
Unity is available through www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/news/index-e.html.
Other Resources
and Articles Harbor Hospital is looking
for a clergy member
who can provide spiritual counseling and guidance to patients and families.
The ideal candidate lives within 15 miles of the hospital and can commit to
48 hours of on-call coverage weekly (two days a week). Harbor is offering a
quarterly stipend. For a job description, please call Sally Lewis:
410-350-8218. 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. |
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Peter Nord, Executive Presbyter |
Bill Millen, Associate Executive bmillen@baltimorepresbytery.org |
Deb Milcarek Associate of Mission and Justice |
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Charles Forbes, Stated Clerk |
Rita Walters Director of Development rwalters@baltimorepresbytery.org |
Julie Erickson Director of Public Policy |
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Alice McGee Coordinator of Information Services |
Judi Forrester Coordinator of Financial Services |
Wanda Morgan Coordinator of Resources |
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Janice Kominski Coordinator of Communications |
Questions? Comments? E-mail
Janice Kominski or office@baltimorepresbytery.org
To unsubscribe email Alice McGee or call the
office. |
Office: 410-433-2012
or 800-511-0087 Fax: 410-433-2066 Online: www.baltimorepresbytery.org |
