Next Presbytery Meeting to Focus on Peacemaking & Urban Violence

The next meeting of Baltimore Presbytery will take place on Thursday, April 26, at 4:00 p.m., at the The First Presbyterian Church of Howard County, 9325 Presbyterian Circle, in Columbia, Maryland. The focus of the meeting will be peacemaking and urban violence.

Rick Ufford-Chase, Moderator of the 216th General Assembly (2004) and Executive Director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, will be our featured speaker. At 7:00 p.m., following dinner, the Initiative Against Urban Violence Task Force will present a panel of local experts:

April Lewis, Director, Drug Abuse & Violence Prevention, Baltimore City Public Schools

Rev. Heber Brown, III, Maryland Mentoring Partnership; Young Clergy for Social Change

Dr. Philip Leaf, Director, Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence

Major John Hess, Organized Crime Division, Baltimore City Police Department

The panelists have been asked to help us discern how we as Presbyterian churches can best contribute to reducing violence in our communities. Each panelist will have about 10 minutes to address two questions: 1) What is currently being done in Baltimore to address urban violence? 2) What can churches do to help reduce urban violence? Following the panelists' presentations, there will be about 45 minutes for questions from the floor and further discussion.

Prior to the April 26 Presbytery meeting, Ministers and Elder Commissioners are encouraged to read "Pursuing Peace in Our Cities: An Urban Violence Reader," which was distributed to every church in January.