tidings sep09

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” – Psalm 122:1

The psalm tells the story of someone who is headed to Jerusalem, for one of the important feasts. Perhaps it’s someone on a pilgrimage returning home for Passover. As we read along in the psalm, we find that the poet is now standing within the gates of

Jerusalem, filled with the pleasure and relief that comes when you stand at your destination. Standing in Jerusalem, the poet exclaims how glad she is that someone suggested that they go to the house of the Lord. It’s almost as though she realizes that not everyone is glad to hear the suggestion. There

is, after all, a great deal involved in getting there. Suitcases have to be packed. The grass needs a fresh cut. Neighbors must be called upon to let the cat out and feed the hamsters. The ATM machine needs to cough up some cash to pay for expenses along the way. If the psalmist has as much trouble as my family getting out of the house, then I can see that going to the house of the Lord might be more trouble than it’s worth!

I think about the psalmist as we step back into the fever of the “academic” year. Already I see the calendar filling up with soccer practice, after school activities, evening engagements, and family chores. The suggestion of feeding this already bloated schedule with the commitment of church can sound more like a burden than the place that gives meaning to everything else. Scrambling to get the kids dressed, dragging teenagers out of bed, or forfeiting a quiet morning with the newspaper hardly seems like something to be glad about.

But if I close my eyes and imagine what I will find when I get to our corner of God’s community – children eagerly sharing their spiritual wisdom and wonderings, the choir singing to us in the language of heaven, adults risking the comfort of alienation for the deepening of the community together, a new preacher bringing us new testimony to challenge us and nourish our wells (Welcome Emily!), opportunities to stand together for God’s justice within our church, our city, and our world, friendships to be kindled across dinner tables – if I really imagine what God is preparing for us in this community this year – then I trust that what God has waiting for me will be worth the effort that it takes to get here.

I learn this most clearly from those members of our community who are physically unable to get here because of distance, illness, or age. Often they testify to a longing to be back in church together in the community that outlasts most other organized groups. Mary Walker, in describing how moved she was singing in church, once said, “I thought my heart would leap out of my chest!”

Sounds like the psalmist to me. If you can get here, then make the effort this year. Let this community be the place that brings meaning to all that you are and all that you do. You just might find that what God has waiting for you is more than worth the effort.

Pastor’s reflections

TheTidings

sePtember 2009

Good news from

PasTor’s reflecTions 1

new associaTe PasTor aPProved ......2

sePTember “Ushers” in new era ..............2

The Tiffany series sUnday afTernoon concerTs .................2

“elijah” Performance cds are here! ........2

a sUmmer of commUniTy organizing ..............3

chrisTian edUcaTion

news........................4

The docTor is noT in! ................4

wn@b ....................5

are yoU in The looP? ............5

good news ..............5

birThdays ................5

in this issueby andrew fosTer [email protected]

• The Tidings sePTember 2009

“Elijah” Performance CDs Are Here!

The CDs of the Chancel Choir’s extraordinary performance of Mendelssohn’s “Elijah,” conducted by John Walker and featuring the renowned Frederick Swann as guest organist, have arrived!

The 3-disc set is $15 and can be purchased in the Assembly Room after worship on Sundays, in the church office during the week, and online at: www.browndowntown.org (a small shipping fee applies to online purchases).

The May 17th concert, the culminating event in last season’s Tiffany Series, garnered thunderous applause and pew-thumping from the 300-member audience. It drew high accolades from a wide variety of sources.

Eileen Guenther, President of the American Guild of Organists, called the concert “superbly performed” and “memorable.” “I have seldom been so struck by a total musical experience,” she added. Deborah Wood, an organist and choir director, wrote, “The soloists melted my heart with their musicianship.”

— Shirley Parry

the tiffany seriessunday afternoon concerts

early november – date and time tba – “how can i KeeP from sinGinG?”

This will be a lively, varied vocal concert by acclaimed Brown Memorial soloists Lydia Beasley, soprano, Diane Schaming, alto, James Cox, tenor, and Andrew Sauvageau, baritone. John Walker will accompany the ensemble pieces.

march 14, 2010 at 4 P.m. –baltimore area handbell festival, richard frey, director

Five choirs of handbell ringers will play as a 300-bell ensemble and as 60-bell individual choirs. It will be a sonic and visual treat for all ages.

aPril 25, 2010 at 4 P.m. – GosPel music festivaldr. barbara baKer, director

This inspiring festival concert will be presented by the combined choirs of Brown Memorial Park Avenue Church and Colesville United Methodist Church of Silver Spring, Maryland.

At the congregational meeting held after the worship service on Sunday, August 23, 2009, the Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church congregation

voted overwhelmingly in favor of accepting the (APNC) Associate Pastor Nominating Committee’s recommendation of Emily Rose Martin as a candidate for Associate Pastor. During the morning service, BMPA members listened attentively as Emily described the faith journey which led her to seek a leadership

role at Brown. After the decisive vote, Emily was

greeted at a reception held in the Assembly Room.We welcome Emily as she begins her work with us. The

APNC is commended for their diligent efforts which were performed with rapidity and dispatch. Members of the committee were: Barbara Christen, Barbara Cook, Julie Hanks, Andy Johnston, Deb Milcarek, Shirley Parry, Rachel Smith, Henry Taylor, and Chairperson John Tucker.

new associate Pastor aPProved

BMPA Associate Pastor candidate Emily Rose Martin

sePtember “ushers” in a new era

Beginning this September, ushers will be in place before, during, and after worship services to assist visitors and BMPA members. They will identify and help to make newcomers comfortable. In addition to greeting persons at the front entrance, some ushers will be assigned to do the same at the side entrance. Additionally, they will be available as needed during the service.

If you are interested in being a “doorkeeper in the House of the Lord,” contact Monica Rakowski at 410-383-6524 or at [email protected]. You can contact Jenny Williams at 410-523-3961 or at [email protected] for more information about ushering.

sePTember 2009 The Tidings •

a summer of community orGanizinG

Ever since Brown Memorial participated in the April 18th neighborhood walk through the neighborhoods surrounding New Antioch Holiness Church and Eutaw

Marshburn Elementary school, I had been very anxious to hear what progress had been made. We all returned from our respective walks so enthusiastic about the people we met and so hopeful for the communities and what we could do to partner with them.

A follow-up meeting took place May 7th, where people whom we had met on the

New Antioch walk were invited to share what we learned on the walk and begin a dialogue about what the neighborhood would like to do to address some of the community issues. No one from Brown Memorial was able to attend the meeting. However, a group of us were able to assist with making phone calls prior to the meeting to remind people about the meeting. In addition to our phone calls, Lottie Sneed, our West Baltimore BUILD organizer, and Reverend Michael Wilson, the Pastor of New Antioch, recanvassed the neighborhood and distributed flyers announcing the meeting. Approximately 50 people were invited.

I called Lottie after the meeting to see how it went. She told me that only one person from the community showed up for the meeting. “Only one?!” I thought to myself. What happened? People were willing to talk to us during the walk and when we asked them if they’d like to come to a community meeting they said yes. We followed up with flyers and phone calls. Why didn’t they come?

Although only one person may have come to the meeting, Lottie shared with me that she was the right one. The woman was a daycare provider who lived in the community. She has been an excellent connection in terms of knowing neighborhood families and understanding the challenges they face.

Lottie and Pastor Mike realized that this community has grown weary of having people show up claiming to have new ideas or plans to help but then failing to make something happen. It would take more than one neighborhood walk to convince the people of the community that BUILD and New Antioch were here to stay.

Since then, Pastor Mike and his wife have personally walked the streets of their community, meeting residents and learning about what’s on their minds. Since our initial walk, Lottie and Pastor Mike have agreed the best way to begin the conversation with people is to ask them about how the lack of recreation for youths has impacted them. This issue seems to be an easy one for

people to talk about; while it is personal, it isn’t too threatening.

Lottie and Pastor Mike have made another powerful connection. As part of their recanvassing the neighborhood, they met Justine Bonner. Some of you may remember meeting her because she had a beautiful garden. Lottie has since visited with Miss Justine in her garden and has begun to develop a relationship with her. Miss Justine invited Lottie to attend the Upton Community Health Fair. At the Health Fair, Lottie met several other people in the community. Making the time to attend the Health Fair created energy to follow up and open more doors into the community. Since then, Miss Justine has paved the way for conversations with her pastor at Metropolitan United Methodist Church. Lottie has also left letters of introduction at the other churches in the community and she will be following up with phone calls requesting to meet with the church leaders.

Lottie has also been working closely with Pastor Dellyne Hinton and Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church. On July 30th, Pastor Hinton, Lottie, Andrew Foster Connors and nine other people participated in a community walk in McCulloh Homes. Lottie said it was very powerful because several members of City Temple and Sharp Street are residents of McCulloh Homes and they, along with Pastor Hinton, led the walk.

In addition to working with church leaders, Lottie is reaching out to the local schools. Brown Memorial’s volunteer readers at Eutaw Marshburn Elementary School (EMES) introduced Lottie to Patricia Palmer, the parent coordinator at EMES. Lottie also attended the spring School Improvement Team (SIT) meetings at EMES. She is hoping to meet with the principal soon. She is also planning to meet the new principal at Booker T. Washington Middle School. Several members of the BUILD Youth Leadership team attend Renaissance Academy High, which is located in the same building and are helping to set up the meeting.

Follow up meetings are currently scheduled for the following dates:

• monday sePTember 14Th – 6:30 P.m. sharP street memorial united methodist church – corner of Dolphin and Etting Streets• thursday sePtember 17th – 7 P.m. new antioch holiness church – 823 West Lanvale

If you are interested in attending, please contact Elizabeth Reichelt at [email protected]. We are in a great place to deepen the relationships in the communities around us.

by elizabeTh reichelT, bUild liaison

Known as the “Blood Lady” (because of her aggressive and persistent pursuit of blood donors for the BMPA blood drives for five years), Karen has worked with BUILD and the Urban Witness Committee. She has served on two PNCs (Pastor Nominating Committees). Inspired by the speakers at two Adult Forums, Karen is now working on the History Project, an endeavor to provide the beginning and evolution of Brown Memorial in pictures and texts.

The former “Blood Lady” would like to see an expansion in our mission efforts and more diversity of the membership. Karen would like the congregation to concentrate more on serving its shut-in members. In the future at Brown Downtown, she will probably be dubbed the “Casserole Lady” because of her solicitation of persons to fix casseroles for Our Daily Bread.

Karen is still focused on children and family. She and Ken have been married for 47 years. They have a diverse family: Eric, Liz, Joel, Linnea, and Tida. Along with the four grandchildren she took fishing, other “grands” are Greta, Jalil, Khari, Maia, and Aquillah. Recently, she led eleven children and fifteen adults on a Caribbean cruise to Nassau.

Karen Nelson

Eleven years ago, the child-centered pediatrician retired from the Baltimore City Health Department as it became enmeshed in a lot of paper as opposed to service to children. So, not only is the doctor not in, she goes fishing. This interview was delayed until Karen Nelson returned from fishing with four of her grandchildren: Jair, Jihar, Chloe, and Jake.

This peripatetic lady was born in Seattle, Washington. Her mother was a native of Alaska and her father was a native of Oregon. Because of the nature of her father’s work, Karen moved every two years until she entered high school in California. The family settled there and she completed her undergraduate studies.

Because she often had to care for two of her three siblings, Karen decided to attend the University of California Medical School where she focused on pediatrics. After graduation, she labored as a resident pediatrician at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. This proved to be a life-changing event because she met her future husband, Ken at the hospital.

Karen became a Presbyterian while she was in high school, so it was a natural move to visit Brown Memorial in 1986. By then, the family had settled in Baltimore and Ken was employed as an epidemiologist for the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. It was whispered that a lot of his colleagues went to BMPA. For Karen, this has been a comfortable fit. Her initial reaction was that Brown Memorial was a place where the sermons were thoughtful, people were friendly, and the music was divine.

the doctor is not in!by ellen carTer cooPer

by rachel cUnningham, direcTor of children and family [email protected]

christian education news

Rally Day – SeptembeR 13thAt 10:00 a.m. the Church year officially begins with

Adult Forum and Sunday School followed by Worship at 11:00 a.m. Don’t let the day end there. Catch up with friends at the annual church picnic, 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the Robinson’s (10522 Burnside Farm Road, 21153). Bring a dish to share along with a lawn chair or blanket and we’ll take care of the drinks and paper products. Rain Date: September 20th.

Yes, you read correctly, pageant news. Even though it is only September, around here we are already thinking ahead. As many of you read in the May Tidings, W. Court Robinson has decided toretire as the director of the annual Christmas Pageant. We can’t quite remember when he took the job over from his mother. That’s how long he’s been gracefully directing the pageant, but we figure he’s been at it 15 or more years. For the past 4 years, I have been particularly grateful for his expertise

pageant newS

because directing pageants is not one of my gifts. That being said we are looking for someone to take over the role of pageant director. If you are interested in taking on this role and continuing this tradition, please let me know.

• The Tidings sePTember 2009

09/02 Max Blinkoff

09/02 Monica Rakowski

09/02 Mary Randall

09/03 Hilda Imhoff

09/04 Ang Robinson

09/08 Elisabeth McMillan

09/10 Azra Sara Bartell

09/10 Jacqueline L. Cole

09/10 Anne Sledge

09/11 Elizabeth Bernos

09/13 Emma Fesperman

09/14 John Burton

09/14 Youngmi Song

09/16 Nannette Mitchell

09/16 Karen Nelson

09/16 Linell Smith

09/18 Nicole Mitchell

09/20 Trevor Bishai

09/22 Dylan Aaron Smith

09/22 Douglas Warner, Jr.

09/24 Luke Clippinger

09/24 Barbara Hull Francis

09/24 Helen Logan

09/25 Jack Burton

09/25 Mia Goodwin Davis

09/25 Sabine Goodwin Davis

09/25 Grace Peng

09/28 Keiffer Mitchell, Jr.

09/28 Donna Senft

09/28 Jim Veatch

09/29 Elizabeth Garcia-Bunuel

09/29 Lisa Hoffberger

Note: If you wish to have your birthday listed in The Tidings, please contact Sharon Holley, church secretary, at 410-523-1542, or via e-mail at [email protected].

sePtember birthdays

During a facility inspection it was discovered that there was extensive termite infestation in the Church, Assembly Building and Church House basements.

Command Pest Services was hired to address the problem with the work completed August 21, 2009. Mr. Charles Brubaker, owner of the company did the work at cost as a contribution to the Brown Memorial Community. The company will assume responsibility for the other unwanted pests and rodent control on a monthly basis, also.

We thank Mr. Brubaker for his expertise and assistance.

Good news

WN@BThe first session of our Wednesday evening

fellowship program begins September 23rd and runs through October 28th. We gather for a catered meal followed by educational programs for children and adults. Dinner reservations are required.

Contact Rachel Cunningham for more information, (410) 523-1542, Ext. 14, or [email protected].

SeptembeR 23RD

are you in the looP?

Stay informed by receiving the weekly e-mail announcements from the church. Each week we send out an e-mail with information about worship, educational programs, community events and much more. If you are not currently receiving our weekly e-mail, This Week At Brown Memorial Park Avenue, contact RachelCunningham at (410) 523-1542 Ext. 14, or e-mail her at [email protected].

§

sePTember 2009 The Tidings •

TheTidingsPublished for members and friends of

Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian ChurchAndrew Foster Connors, Pastor

1316 Park AvenueBaltimore, MD 21217

410.523.1542www.browndowntown.org

Published monthly by the Membership Committee. Send contributions by September 18th to Ellen Carter Cooper

([email protected]) or to Sharon Holley ([email protected]).

1316 Park AvenueBaltimore, MD 21217Phone: 410.523.1542Fax: 410.523.5501www.browndowntown.org

TheTidings

daTed maTerial

address service reqUesTed

non-ProfiT organizaTion U.s. PosTage

PaidbalTimore, mdPermiT no. 2610

Good news from

tidings sep09

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