November 28, 2005

Lessons from Islam

Sixteen years ago Abdul Rahman became a Christian. Last week he was arrested, put in prison, and expected to go on trial. His crime: becoming a Christian. The likely punishment: death. Frankly, I am grateful for the efforts of George Bush to save this guy – and sorry that we Presbyterians mostly have been silent.

I don’t think this displays a problem with Islam – rather it is an increasingly common phenomenon that is sweeping through all faiths – the rise of fundamentalist legalism within religion. Christians and Jews struggle with this problem. We need to lift up our voices in opposition – not only to Muslims who seek to kill one of their own who has left the faith, but to our own efforts to work out our salvation through the Law.

This struck home for me as I read the texts for Sunday. Clearly the early church struggled with similar issues. Paul wrote to the faithful in Ephesus (2:8), “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of your own doing; it is a gift of God.” In his letter to the Galatians he seemed to need to challenge those who felt that the early converts to Christianity had to first conform to the Law. He wrote to them (2:7-10), “On the contrary when they (the folk in Jerusalem) saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised . . . they gave to . . . me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They asked only one thing; that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.”

As a denomination, as Christians considering people of other faiths or who are unsure of what to do with those who do not conform to the Law, let us remember the essential tenet of our faith – we are saved by the grace of God. Can we not extend the same grace to others and to each other?

Blessings,

Peter Nord

Inside this issue

Event of the Week

Northern Clerks of Session meeting for

reading of minutes:

April 1^st 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Perry Hall PC 410.256.6780

Take Note/Act Now

§ Katrina Work Trip Training Rescheduled

§ Annual Clerk of Session Meetings

§ Educators’ Roundtable

§ Youth Rally

§ One Great Hour of Sharing Materials

§ Harry Belafonte – Nonviolence

§ Nat’l Day of Action: Immigrant Rights

§ Anti-Racism Leadership Training

§ Synod Insert and Military Prayer List

§ Pastors: Spiritual Development

Prayer Concerns

Next Generation NCD

Babcock PC

People

Judy Forrester is at home recovering from a broken rib.

Prayer Concerns

Next Generation NCD

asks for prayers:

· for the upcoming “Journey Towards Hope” event on Wednesday, April 12^th in Baltimore.

· for their ongoing Sunday night gathering in Harford County.

· for continued relational connections.

Babcock PC

asks for prayers:

· as they continue to follow the vision for their church: “to reach out, bring people to Christ, encourage growth in faith, and discover God’s purposes for our lives.”

· for discernment as they define their strengths and identify specific needs they can address in their community.

· as they seek to address access and parking concerns to better accommodate the congregation and community.

Take Note/Act Now

Hurricane Katrina work trips & training:

There will be a training workshop for those who want to organize such workgroups this Saturday, April 1^st from 8:30am-12:30pm in Wilmington, Delaware (flyer). Inquiries and space reservations may be directed to Bob Schminkey, New Castle Disaster Recovery, schmink@risafund.org or 410-708-6463. (The original workshop, scheduled for Saturday, March 25^th in Baltimore was postponed due to insufficient registration).

Annual Clerk of Session Meetings for Reading Minutes This year we will follow our pattern of holding regional meetings; three remain: north on April 1 at Perry Hall PC, south on April 22 at Harundale PC, and Baltimore on April 29 at Govans PC.

Educators’ Roundtable at noon on Thursday, April 6^th at the Presbytery office. The proposed discussion topic is VBS for adults. Please bring ideas and a lunch.

The annual Baltimore Presbytery Youth Rally will take place on April 29^th at 1^st PC of Howard County. Registration forms are available from the Presbytery home page calendar. Registrations are due to Marla Youkers by April 17^th.

The Presbytery has acquired a four minute DVD as well as a PowerPoint presentation which are ideal for introducing the One Great Hour of Sharing offering. They may be used for worship services, as an offertory, as a call to worship, or for small or large groups of all ages. Contact Deb Milcarek at dmilcarek@baltimorepresbytery.org for information.

Harry Belafonte will be speaking about life, race, and nonviolence on Sunday April 9^th at 3pm at Brown Memorial Park Avenue PC (flyer).

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.

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

Alban Institute has an article on Pastors assessing their own Spiritual Development - http://www.alban.org/weekly/2006/060320_AssessingSpiritDev.asp

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