MPC NEWS MAGAZINE March 2019 What’s Happening in March?

The Beloved Community: Training in Holy Listening; Our First Campaign Our training is starting on Wednesday, March 20th at 6:30 PM with a simple supper of soup and bread. And then we will begin the training at 7:00 PM in the “most radical tool of community organiz-ing,” the Relational meeting. We will learn how we can build powerful relationships with people, listen-ing for the cold fire that motivates, and where folks have energy to take action to move the world from how it is, to how it should be. Rachel Brooks from Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD), an Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) community organizing group, will teach us the difference between organiz-ing and activism, and how we can build collective power to actually make long term, sustainable change, through Relational meetings and communi-ty actions. We will spend time meeting with folks at MPC, and then launch a Listening Campaign to folks not yet a part of MPC, but who have interests in similar values and concerns to our community. You can still sign up for the training, and to bring bread, soup, or desserts.

Why are There no Kangaroo’s in the Zoo? Child Health Foundation is March Mission Focus.

Kangaroos babies are called joeys. A Newborn weighs about .03 ounces at birth; picture a lima bean. After birth, the joey crawls into its mother's pouch. There it nurses and grows until it is about 8-months old.

In the developing world, many babies are born prema-turely. Even those full term are underweight. Thus a program called Kangaroo Mother Care has been de-veloped to provide for the mother to act like an incubator with the baby held close to her body. The baby is retained in this position, except for short breaks for bathing, diaper changing, or when the mother is attending to her personal tasks. It facilitates on-demand breastfeeding, increases the mother-baby bond and keeps the baby warm by transmitting the mother’s body temperature to its body. It also allows babies to go home early. Mothers at home, of course, require adequate follow-up. And this describes one of Child Health Foundation’s pro-jects in Rwanda, where Bubble CPAPs have saved 15,802 babies during this past year that might have died without this technology. I will not describe this heroic process here, except to say that it starts a breathless newborn breathing. And then, kangaroo care is begun, and when the normal birthweight is reached, the mother can take the baby home. The Rwandan, Claudine, who heads this program, wants to reach out to other areas with this good news.

There are envelopes in the pews if you would like to help us get this good news out.

Jo Sack

Ash Wednesday Service March 6th at 7:00 PM Join us for a contemplative service as we reflect on our mortality and the enduring love of God in Christ Jesus. We will engage in the ancient prac-tice of imposing ashes on our foreheads, and wor-

First Reformed Our Good Friday film this year is First Reformed, one of the Oscar nominees for best screen-play (Paul Schrader). It is spiritu-al, religious, environmental, and psychological in nature (probably a lot of other adjectives could be applied as well). Starring Ethan Hawke (in one of his best perfor-mances) as the pastor of an his-

torically famous church and one who brings much baggage to his calling, Cedric Kyles as the mega-church supervising pastor Continued on p. two

Spring clocks ahead one hour on March 10th

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Congregational Meeting On January 27, Rev. Norse-Thomas opened the meeting in prayer. The Congregation voted to approve Donna Mistr to continue as a Session member and Danell Gill to be-come a new member. They will be the class of 2021. Financial Information reported was that over 55% of the Congregation submitted pledge cards for a total amount of $78,114. In addition to pledges for the gen-eral operating budget, over $8,000 has been pledged to the Building Fund for major upkeep projects. The 2019 budget will be approved at a Congregational Meeting on February 17th. Five large trees will have to be removed. This work will begin in February. The Mission Committee welcomed Andrea Madsen and Joe Wright to its ranks. A total of $11,500 was provided in 2018 through the Operating Funds of the budget and $22,491 was given in weekly offerings to our local and international partners. Our international partners are Butoke, the Child Health Foundation, and Madres de los Pobres. Our local partners in 2018 were the Assistance Cen-ter of Towson Churches, The Shepherd’s Clinic, the Baltimore County Detention Center, the McCabe Ave. community, and the Student Support Network. Bill Breakey commented on the continuing need for volunteers at Shepherd’s Clinic, even though we will not contribute a monetary donation in 2019. We also have advocacy projects for Bread for the World and SHARE. Special Offerings each year are given for the One Great Hour of Sharing, Christmas Joy, and the MPC Christmas Project. In 2018 the Christmas project ben-efited Madre Senior Day Care. The Community Conversation--In order to practice the strategy of Holy Listening we will be discussing in pairs the time change for Worship Service. On Feb. 17 members will return with the results of their discus-sions and there will be a vote regarding changing the time to 10:30 am, beginning the second week in June. The meeting was adjourned with prayer by Rev. Norse-Thomas. Carol Mason

We’d like to welcome our newest members, Sam and Leigh Erdman, shown here with their four kids, Parker (12), Macy (10), Marc (9), and Noah (8). Sam and Leigh were both born and raised in Balti-more. They met when they were 12 but did not start dating until they were in college in Virginia. Leigh was raised in a non-denominational evangelical church. Sam attended a Catholic church as a child but came to the same non-denominational church as an adolescent. Today, Sam is a private wealth advi-sor, helping people, churches and businesses with their financial planning. Leigh is a stay-at-home mom, currently doing work with the Reformation Project and applying to seminary in order to explore the possibilities for the next chapter of her life. Their kids are involved with many sports and in many activities and enjoy playing with the many, many kids who live on their street. Sam and Leigh love reading everything they can get their hands on and having intentional conversations with their friends. The Erdman’s came to MPC seeking an affirming church where their kids could experience the diver-sity of God's family. They are so happy to be a part of MPC and are excited to see how God moves our community forward into more and more depth, growth and impact for the world. We’re very happy this family landed at MPC and look forward to them becoming an integral part of our church family!

Good Friday Film Continued from p. 1 who has much to balance on his proverbial plate and Amanda Seyfried, a pregnant parishioner whose hus-band is so zealous about environmental issues that it affects their life to its core, this film obviously touches many bases. The denouement of these subplots is any-thing but satisfying but will undoubtedly lead to a thoughtful discussion afterwards. Showtime is Friday, April 19th at 7:00, in the fellowship room. Discussion to follow. Please bring friends, and, if you’d like, a bever-age and snack. Rick Dezes

Providence Press Published for

the members and friends of Maryland Presbyterian Church,

1105 Providence Road, Towson, Maryland 21286.

(410) 825-0719 Editors: Jo Sack, Rick Dezes

Production and distribution Lauren Rohrs, Alma Smith, Other Contributors to this Issue: David Norse, Carol Mason, Leigh Erdman, Justin Gallardo

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Editorial Comment Aha! I search for words that end in A, not very many, Except ones on the map, like Australia, Africa, Ethiopia, Argentina, and Rwanda. A novena in Lima opened with an a cappella hymn. Rev. Riana read some verses from Joshua. An opera singer sang Ave Maria, then Gloria. Donna sat on the sofa, drinking tea, writing to mama, Then took off her pajama and had a banana. For supper she had lasagna with Okra. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra plays a Mozart sonata. Among instruments there are a viola and a tuba. This all held in a large arena, Fa-la-la. Silvia contracted diarrhea after a visit to Cambodia, Relieved, it wasn’t cholera, ‘twas salmonella. Once she got malaria while living in… India. In Myrna’s yard in California, an area for a big garden. She planted plots of azalea, begonia, dahlia, forsythia, magnolia, poinsettia, but no… Papaya. Take your Chihuahua puppy to the Philadelphia zoo. Show her the hyena, panda and zebra. Play a game and win a stuffed… Panda. Alicia in her taffeta gown, licks on vanilla ice-cream, Then plays Ol’ Suzanna on her harmonica. Needs her alpaca sweater. Or is it… Llama? Barbara got her diploma, a BA in algebra, from UCLA. Then she drove to Florida in her Toyota Corolla. In Tampa, she met Teresa and scuba dived. La di da. Jo Sack

Laugh of the Month Hymns and Haws. Dentist’s hymn: Crown Him with Many Crowns

Contractor’s Hymn: The Church’s One Foundation

Baker’s Hymn: I Need Thee Every Hour

Oprometrist’s Hymn: Open My Eyes That I May See

Tailor’s Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy

IRS’s Hymn: All to Thee Shopper’s Hymn: In the Sweet By and By From Guideposts

Directories will soon be available.

Providence Press Page 4

Those Were the Days Godspell

For as long as I can remember, at the beginning of every June, choir Sunday took place. It heralded the end of another year of choir music as well as the beginning of the summer hiatus of the choir. It would be another three months before they’d offi-

cially start singing again as a group. Greg Metzler (and be-fore him several other ex-tremely competent music di-rectors), the choir and often-times musicians would cele-brate music and song during

an entire service around a particular theme blowing the congregation away year after year. Each year you’d wonder how they would be able to top the previous year’s perfor-mance, but they always did. 2012 was memorable for several reasons. Un-der the direction and piano playing of music director Charles Hayes, and with David Morgan accompanying on the drums, Paula Whitacre on the guitar, and Louise Carlson on the organ, and the interpretive dancing of Diane Pierce and Collette Kokinos, the choir performed selections from the musical God-spell, Stephen Schwartz's musical interpretation of the gospels. They began with a processional singing Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord. With solos by several of the members, one song and dance in particular by Lynn Flanigan and Tim Soirez (Turn Back Oh Man), the congregation was not only entertained, but in-spired and enlightened. Although asked to reserve applause until the end, we all showed our appreciation after many of the songs.

Charles and his fellow musicians ended the program with an instrumental medley (expertly arranged by Louise) that brought down the house. Singing that Sunday were Brad and Jo Sack, Ann and Bruce Layton, Tim Soirez, Lynn and Maggie Flanigan, Ann and Brent Mat-thews, Purity Njagi, Anne North, Wayne Caskey, Joe Wright, Alma Smith, Charlene Reinke, Peg Cas-tle, and Jane Schnepfe. Many of those voices have since retired, but some still continue in service to us all. Linda Koch and Branch Warfield dramatized a Biblical story from John 8: 3-11 about the woman who was to be stoned for committing adultry. A special fellowship followed the service after the choir recessed to Long Live God. Music has always been an important part of our spiritual well-being. Not only on Choir Sundays, but each and every worship service during the year. The musical part of worship morphs over time but it never ceases to provide a warm feeling when we leave the sanctuary. Rick Dezes

Looking Ahead to April * Palm Sunday April 14th * Maundy Thursday & Service of Tenebrae April 18th at 6:30 PM Join us as for a potluck meal as we remember Jesus’ commandment to love one another, cel-ebrate the Lord’s Supper together and begin our remembrance of Christ’s passion at the hands of the powers and principalities. * Good Friday Film April 19th 7:00PM * Ecumenical Easter Vigil Saturday, April 20th 7:00 PM Divinity Lutheran Church * Resurrection/Easter Sunday April 21st, 11:00 AM

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Mission Update No mission deposits this month

Update on Manuel The International Rescue Committee...the re-lief agency you never heard of...helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by con-flict and disaster to survive, recover and regain control of their future. Their outreach extends to over forty countries and twenty cities in the United States, Sudan, Myanmar, Congo, Syria, Yemen, and Bangladesh. They are there within

72 hours to help stabilize crises, their goal being to help people regain control of their futures. Aid is pro-vided in areas of educa-tion, health care, econom-ic well-being, power, and safety. *Manuel Muraoka’s lawyer, Alexa Siegel, re-ferred him to the

IRC. Their Baltimore office is at 1900 N. How-ard St. When we went for the first visit, we learned that he was eligible for six months of benefits, which include food stamps, a monthly stipend ,and Medicaid. On the second visit on February 12th, he received an EBT card for food stamps, his first stipend check and his initial doctor’s appointment. The EBT card will cer-tainly help with groceries and it will be a great relief to have access to a doctor if necessary. The check, however, cannot be cashed without a So-cial Security number! We will have to sit on it for a while. The IRC also has a job placement program, so we are waiting to hear details about that. Wanted to share with everyone at MPC that progress is being made in getting Manuel estab-lished and that he is now receiving some finan-cial aid from this relief agency that works largely behind the scenes. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. He still very much wants to work at any odd jobs you have. Carol Mason

*Manuel is a 25-year old man from Mexico City who came to the U.S. and has gained asylum. Carol has hosted him and he takes part in wor-ship at MPC.

Rain Barrel Workshop Saturday, March 9, 2019 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Maryland Presbyterian Church

Build your own rain barrel! Choose from white or blue. The water you save can be used for garden and lawn watering or washing your car!

Save water, save money, and save our creeks all at the same time! Rain barrels help reduce storm-water runoff that carry pollutants to streams, creeks, and ultimately the Chesa-peake Bay. This FREE workshop is meant for individuals interested in conserving water and protecting our local waterways. Anyone can attend this educational workshop to learn about the benefits of a rain barrel. There is, however, a cost for the rain barrels (assembly kits included) Residents of Clear Creeks Project watersheds... $30/

barrel Save 50% with our cost/share program and receive installation assistance free of labor charges

Visit gunpowdervalleyconservancy.org/clearcreeks to see if you are eligible. Gunpowder Valley Conservancy members... $50/barrel • Non-members: $60/barrel Justin Gallardo

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Congregant of the Month Way, way, way back in the last century…1990 to be

exact, Carol and I were searching for a church to make our home. That summer we tried MPC, right down the street from us. It was a beautiful day, there was a substitute pastor and a good number of people in attend-ance. After worship I was greeted by Tom Koch. Tom acted as if he’d known me his whole life. He spent a bit of time answering my questions about the church and basically dis-

played the casual and friendly atmosphere that is a hallmark of our members. To this day I can place my-self on that summer Sunday, talking to Tom…the first person I ever met at MPC. What you see is what you get with Tom. Soft spoken, always up, positive, great sense of humor, he is one of the oldest members at MPC…in longevity. He has been very instrumental in the life of the church right from the beginning. Tom met his wife, Linda, when they both had sum-mer jobs teaching tourists about the Amish near Lan-caster, PA. According to him, she was most impressed when he arrived for their first date driving his Dad’s 1948 pickup truck. Five years later they were married. They celebrated their 50th anniversary last August! After the birth of their second daughter, they sought a progressive church; its location was of secondary importance. On their first Sunday visit to MPC they knew they had found a home. Such welcoming peo-ple! Such an inspiring pastor! Tom has worn many hats at MPC. He has been a Sunday School teacher, Clerk of Session, worked with the church computers, helped with church fi-nances, helped with Habitat for Humanity, been on various mission committees, and played a significant role in the Church’s Re-visioning efforts in 2002. Not one to tout his own horn, whatever the job, Tom did it in his signature quiet and competent way. Outside of church, Tom’s jobs have focused around directing medical laboratories that perform testing on human patients. That field has undergone dramatic changes in the last 50 years and he feels fortunate to have been there for that revolution and the improved quality that has been the result. Last year he and Linda sold their house near MPC along with many of their belongings and moved to the

Wild Goose Festival

Do you love music? Do you love art? Are you passionate about social justice? Do you love camping in the woods with hundreds of your clos-est friends? If you answer yes to any of these questions, the Wild Goose Festival might be for you! A few folks at MPC are looking into travel-ing to the festival from July 11-14 in Hot Springs, NC. If you'd like more information or to join the party, see Leigh Erdman. The Wild Goose Festival is (according to Wik-ipedia) an art, music, and story-driven transforma-tional experience grounded in faith-inspired social justice. It encourages co-creation of music, story, theater, and spectacle, and engagement in a wide variety of conversations with participants. Wild Goose is welcoming and hospitable to people of all faiths...or no faith... who join in seeking the common good. It is rooted in Progressive Christi-anity, moving beyond belief and centered in jus-tice and compassion, in solidarity with the margin-alized and the oppressed.

Broadmead retirement community. They felt the move was necessary since he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and there was a need to live on one level. They’re still adapting and overall feel the move was a good one. But, Tom confess-es he’s still learning to retire. He is and always has been an avid reader, a founding member of a men’s book club made up mostly of MPC guys, but also enjoys movies, being outdoors and learn-ing in various formats. He loves the outdoors and especially sitting on his patio. Yep, one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet, and MPC is better for him being here. Rick Dezes

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January Session Digest On Monday, January 14th we were joined by Justin Gallardo, the Chesapeake Conservation Corps member for the Up-town Metro Ministry group. He shared his proposal for his capstone project, working with the Gunpowder Valley Con-servancy to install grant subsidized rain barrels and two rain gardens on our property to reduce our storm water runoff into our forest, which has been eroding away the topsoil, putting a number of our trees in the forest are at risk of falling. The GVC surveyed our property and will draw up plans for us to be good stewards of our land, and lessen our impact on our local streams, rivers, and the Bay. Justin also has a plan to invite our neighbors to consider installing rain barrels and gar-dens on their properties, and will host two educational events where they can learn more. If you are interested in being involved in this project, stay tuned! The session voted to go forward with this project and to explore ways to fund it, in-cluding the possibility of inviting the community to sponsor a rain barrel, or a plant in the rain garden. We are looking for someone who would like to champion for this project for 3 years. We were also joined by Max Hill, who is in his final semester at Princeton Theological Seminary. He shared the pro-gress that has been made on the Presbytery grant funded fellowship program that would bring him to MPC part time to support our outreach efforts in the larger community. The Session voted to go forward with this project. I shared with the session that I have been in conversation with our mission team to schedule a memorial service during Sunday worship for Cecile DeSweemer in February. We will extend invitations to the “Friends of Butoke” and other peo-ple who knew her, and focus on the amazing legacy she leaves behind. We also reviewed our annual Presbytery Statistical Report, which shows our growth, our increase in age and racial di-versity, and the growing percentage of LGBTQ+ identifying folks in our community. Our Personnel committee is conducting annual reviews of all of our staff in 2019, and is working on the variety of poli-cies that provide a safe and ethical working environment for our staff. They are also exploring how to make our building more secure, so that our staff can respond well in emergencies that may arise. The Board of Pensions has contacted us about a new program, known as Healthy Pastors, Healthy Congregations that provides a $10,000 grant for debt canceling, savings, and retirement, along with personal financial management training and financial advising. To receive this grant congregational lay leaders must participate in 2 hours of training related to financial management as it relates to pastoral issues. The Session was enthusiastic to enroll in this program (for which I am deeply grateful). We ended our time together with a prayer led by Donna Mistr, who will be wintering away from us for a while, and we sent her with blessings for traveling mercies. David Norse

With permission

Thursday Choir rehearsal 7:30 PM Sunday Worship 11:00 AM Communion Sunday, to be announced

March 2019 Sun 3 Worship 11:00 AM Wed 6 Ash Wednesday Service 7:00 PM Sun 10 Set clock ahead Worship 11:00 AM Mon 11 Session 6:30 PM Sun 17 Worship 11:00 AM Wed 20 Training with supper 6:30 PM See page 1 Sun 24 Worship 11:00 AM Mon 26 Mission Group 6:30 PM Wed 27 Training with supper 6:30 PM Sun 31 Worship 11:00 AM

Mission: To be a welcoming, progres-sive faith community, nurturing inquisitive Christians for life and service in the twenty-first century.

Church Staff Rev. David Norse, Minister Greg Metzler, Director of Music Anne E. Culbertson, Choir Section Leader Lauren Rohrs, Administrative Director Kathy Ramirez, Custodian

Visit our Website at www.mpc.org

MPC News Magazine Maryland Presbyterian Church 1105 Providence Road Towson, Maryland 21286 mpc@mpc.org

Zainab Chaudry, a moslem, supported the Sunday morning rally, February 17th that filled the church, to protest the desecration of the sign (below). MPC folks open the door and their hearts to all faiths, genders, colors, ages, and sexual preferences.

Her words: Whether it is a church, mosque, a synagogue or temple, any place where God’s name is invoked in worship is a sanctuary where all of His crea-tures should feel safe regardless of how we pray or self-identify.

February Happening