November 28, 2005

Together

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”

1 Corinthians 12:12

In my new position as Associate of Mission and Justice, I’ve begun to visit churches and Pastors to gather information about mission projects, partnerships and hopes for justice in our world. It has fascinated me; the diversity, creativity and the love that is present in your congregations. What is even more fascinating is how alike we are in doing the good work of The Kingdom.

We were recently given a time to reflect upon the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King. I share with you his words from A Christmas Sermon on Peace (1967):

“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. This is the way our universe is structured; this is its interrelated quality. We aren’t going to have peace on Earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.”

We as churches, we as pastors, educators and staff, we as people are, indeed, interrelated. What affects one affects the entire Body. What brings joy or sadness to one brings the same to all. We discuss, we debate, we listen, and we amend. We are partners on this journey. I look forward to working with you to discover the ties that bind us.

May God bless our journey together-

Deb Milcarek

Inside this issue

Together

Take Note/Act Now

§ Presbytery Meeting

§ Proposed Motion

§ Ecumenical Prayer Service

§ Support Group for Interim Ministers

§ Big Event

§ 2006 Legislative Agenda

§ Web Briefing for Treasurers

§ Presbyterian Men’s Conference

§ Free tables and chairs

§ Katrina Work Trips

Prayer Concerns

Highland PC

First PC of Annapolis

People

Judi Forrester’s home experienced severe damage from a fallen tree.

Pray for Dottie Sharp as she continues to recover at home.

George Toole’s son, George, returned safely from his third tour of duty in Iraq.

Prayer Concerns

Highland PC

asks for prayers:

of support as they begin their Stephen Ministry Program
as they continue planning for building improvements
of thanksgiving for a year in which they successfully raised funds for capital improvements while meeting their mission commitments and contributing generously to disaster relief

First PC of Annapolis

asks for prayers of:

thanksgiving for a season of abundance - for a good stewardship drive, for new officers, and for a thriving partnership with a congregation in Letohrad in the Czech Republic
intercession for the following: the launching of our STAIR program, the local Habitat for Humanity Fund Drive, the new legislative session in Annapolis, our newly installed officers, and our venture into gift based inventories

Take Note/Act Now

The next Presbytery meeting will be on January 26, 2006 at First and Franklin Street PC starting at 1:00p.m.

The Presbytery has received notice that at the January 26, 2006 meeting of Presbytery the Rev. Don Stroud will move the following motion: "That the Presbytery of Baltimore opposes any amendment to the Maryland Constitution that will ban marriage or any legal incidents thereof for same-sex couples." This matter will be considered after 2 PM after consideration of the two overtures to be considered by the Presbytery (read more).

There will be an Ecumenical Prayer Service on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at 7:00p.m. at St. Jude Shrine in Baltimore.

Joe Reggin invites all interim ministers to meet on Thursday afternoon after the Presbytery meeting to discuss forming a Support Group for Interim Ministers. Contact him for details and to advise him of your interest: joereggin@atlanticbb.net.

The Big Event will be held at Woods Memorial PC on Saturday, February 25, 2006. Brochures have been mailed to each church. The brochure is also available as a PDF off of the home page of the Presbytery website: click here.

The agenda for the 2006 Maryland Legislative Season has been posted to the Presbytery website within the Advocacy section (a sub page of the “Our Ministry” section or click here).

The Board of Pensions invites you to view a new Web Briefing dedicated to the issues that concern church treasurers (read more).

The 2006 National Presbyterian Men’s Conference will be in Chicago from April 21-23 (Brochure). More information is available at http://www.presbyterianmen.org.

Free children’s tables and chairs: Kenwood PC is no longer using them so both are available to any interested church that can pick them up. Call Carol at the church: (410) 668-4664.

Hurricane Katrina work trips:

§ A work team from First PC Howard will be going to Mississippi on March 5-11, 2006. Anyone interested in joining them should contact Kris Holmes at krisholmes13@comcast.net or Doyle Nichols at doylenichols@comcast.net.

§ If you're interested in joining with a work team from Second PC to travel to and work in New Orleans during the week of March 12, 2006, please be in touch with Karen Meyers at 410.825.6940 or krnmyrs@yahoo.com.

Also on our website

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

Past Issues of Tidings are available at: http://www.baltimorepresbytery.org/midweekmail.html.

Presbytery Yearly Calendar

Peter Nord, Executive Presbyter

pnord@baltimorepresbytery.org

Bill Millen, Associate Executive

bmillen@baltimorepresbytery.org

Deb Milcarek

Associate of Mission and Justice

dmilcarek@baltimorepresbytery.org

Charles Forbes, Stated Clerk