"Take me out to the ball game, Take me out with the crowd.

Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack, I don't care if I never get back,

Let me root, root, root for the home team, If they don't win it's a shame.

For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,

At the old ball game."

I have fond memories of watching Harry Caray lean out the broadcaster’s booth during the seventh inning and lead the Wrigley Field faith in singing “Take me out to the ball game.” In case you didn’t know, I attended my first professional baseball game at Wrigley Field while I was in seminary. So

the Cubs hold a special place in my heart.

Now that cold weather is almost history, I am glad to see that the O’s season has begun. I am looking forward to going to Camden Yard to see them play when the weather gets warmer. With baseball only a few weeks into the new season, I was surprised to hear the release of the Raven’s football schedule this week. The announcement seems early, however, if you are a Raven’s faithful and like to plan ahead the news hasn’t arrived any too soon. You now have adequate time to plan

on which games you want to attend.

After conversing with the Education and Worship Ministry Teams and our Community Spirit Coordi-

nator, I want to share our plans for the summer. We are trying some new ideas.

Too young to attend denominational workcamp? Or is your schedule too busy to take off a whole week to work on a disaster project? Then this summer’s Intergenerational Summer Service oppor-tunity might be just right for you! It only requires less than an hour a week and all ages can partici-

pate! Summer worship Schedule Begins June 29. Mark your calendars! Worship - 9:30am 10:45am - Summer Service Opportunity

June 22 - Worship at Meadow Branch CoB to Celebrate Vacation Bible School June 29 - Sermon Talk Back & Bring/Sort good, used clothing for Shepherd’s Staff Clothes Closet July 6 - Annual Conference Sunday (No summer service opportunity) July 13 - Assemble Back-to-School kits for Shepherd’s Staff

July 20 - Build and Paint Birdhouses for Shepherd’s Spring July 27 - Food/Fellowship Opportunity in honor of our very own Brethren Disaster Ministries Volun-

teers before they head out on their weeklong rebuilding assignment in New Jersey. August 3 - Assemble Cleanup kits for Brethren Disaster Ministries (rebuilding efforts theme) August 10 - Assemble hygene kits for Brethren Disaster Ministries August 17 - No summer service opportunity due to church picnic August 24 - Boys & Girls Club Gardening Project

August 31 - Labor Day weekend service in the park. No summer service opportunity.

Pastoral Ponderings by Glenn McCrickard, pastor

WESTMINSTER

CHURCH OF THE

BRETHREN

May 2014 The Chimes

The Chimes

Inside this issue:

Leadership Team XYZ Fahrney-Keedy Happy Mother’s Day

2

Birthdays/Anniv. Christian Ed. Book Club

3

Fellowship & Hospitality About Peace

4

Comm. Spirit Thank You Letter

5

About Peace (con’t) Peace Related Courses Thank You

6

Announcements College Birthdays MAD COB Night at Camden Yards Graduates Names Needed

7

Prayers Community Spirit Heifer International

8

Calendar 9

Worship Themes

10

Page 2 The Chimes

News from the Leadership Team

“Then the church throughout the whole of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. God strengthened the church, and its life was marked by reverence for the Lord. Encouraged by the Holy Spirit, the church continued to grow in numbers.” (Acts 9:31)

An interesting thing happened a few weeks ago. My hairdresser asked me about coming to our church. Not so unusual, you say? Perhaps, but I had been talking with her for more than two years about all the great things at WCOB and had invited her to attend several times. I was reminded of Pastor Glenn’s message where he advocated a gentle form of evan-gelism in letting people know what we like about our church. He also has said a strong way to evangelize and bring new folks into the church is based on relationships with others. I think he’s on to something. Will you make a commitment this month to tell someone who doesn’t attend here why you appreciate our church? Maybe you can interest someone in checking us out!

The Publicity Task Team was busy in April doing its part to bring new folks to Westminster Church of the Brethren. They placed an ad in the Carroll County Times for our Easter Services, directly gave out invitations to those services to Loaves and Fishes guests as well as to homes around Belle Grove Square. In addition, they submitted two articles to the Carroll County Times, one about Jeff Carter’s inauguration at Bethany Seminary and the other about the CROP walk last month.

Another project the publicity group has in progress is publishing a small book of poems by Helen Duckworth, our resident poet. The first draft is completed, and members of the team have proofread and submitted their recommendations for changes. When estimates come in from several printers, one will get the job of producing the book. Then you will have a chance to purchase the book if you like. Exciting prospect!

XYZ Group

at the latest. Combined ticket admis-sion price for both venues is $12 for

age 62+ and $14.50 for adults. Reservation deadline is noon Mon-

day, May 12. If you register, be pre-

pared to reimburse Chuck Izard the

day of the event for your tour ticket(s),

which will be purchased in advance.

Questions? Please contact Cinda

Showalter at 301-514-8619, or cin-

dashow@comcast.net.

~Cinda Showalter

XYZ DAY TRIP: Everyone is invited to join the XYZs for a fun Tuesday May 20th outing. We will leave the church parking lot by 8:30 a.m. and car pool to Columbia, Pennsylvania, arriving at the National Watch and Clock Muse-um by 10 a.m. Following our tour, we’ll have lunch at the John Wright Store and Restaurant in Wrightsville (Dutch treat; menu prices average $15). Then we’ll enjoy touring Turkey Hill Ice Cream Factory in the afternoon. We should return to the church by 6 p.m.,

Fahrney-Keedy

You are invited to our 5th Annual Open House on Saturday, May 10 between 1:00-4:00pm. Visitors will be able to tour available independent living residences in the Village, see resident accommodations in the Main Building and tour our ex-panded Therapy Gym. It will be an opportunity to talk to residents and staff members, learn more about the various as-pects of our Master plan project and to sample healthy refreshments from Culinary Services Group, our dining services

partner.

A mother laughs our laughter, sheds our tears, and fears our fears. She lives our joys, cares our cares, and all

our hopes and dreams she shares. ~Unknown

Happy Mother’s Day

Page 3 The Chimes

Sunday School classes meet every Sunday from 9:30am to 10:30am. Adult supervision for the children and youth begins at 9:15am. The following clas-ses are available this month:

Pre-Kindergarten through early elementary meets upstairs in room 201.

Middle School Youth (Grades 5-7) meets down-stairs in the Middle School room with their teacher, Beth Tevis.

Sr. High Youth meets in the Senior High Room. They are studying Life Keys and Philippians.

Bible Study Class meets in the parlor. They are stud-ying A Guide to Biblical Studies, “First Things.”

Adult Discussion Class is currently doing a Great Courses DVD series on the History of Christianity from the Disciples to the Dawn of the Reformation. The class meets on the second floor in room 204.

Sojourner’s Class meets

May Birthdays and Anniversaries

Removed for privacy

reasons

in the conference room. They will be starting in Jan-uary, Soul Among Lions:

Musings of a Bootleg Preacher by Will D. Camp-bell.

HELP WANTED Helpers Needed for the PreK-3rd grade Sunday School class. If you are in-terested, please sign up on the sheet on the bulletin board.

Christian Education

Book Club News

Jan Flora will be host-

ing the book club at her

home on Thursday,

May 8 at 7:00pm. We

will discuss the book

Olive Kitteridge by Eliz-

abeth Strout. We hope

you will join us for lively conversation

and fellowship!

If you love books, we invite you to read along with us and join us for some fel-lowship and some great discussions! Please feel free to contact Mary Hone-man if you have any questions.

Happy reading! Hope to see you at our next book club meeting!

“But for my own part, if a book is well written, I always find it too short.”

~Jane Austen

We are updating our birthday and anniversary list so please call the office or email us at office@westminsterbrethren.org with your birthday or anniversary. Thank You!

Page 4 The Chimes

Fellowship/Hospitality/Worship

Sunday, May 4 First Sunday Service & Luncheon

10:15-11:15am Worship 11:30am Carry-in Luncheon

(After the meal there will be a family activity in downtown Westminster)

Sunday, May 11

Mother’s Day (A special gift for all ladies) 11:00-1:30 Last McDaniel Brunch until September ($9)

Sunday, May 18 9:15am Koinonia (Join us for a time of fellowship and refreshments between the first service and Sunday school.) 12:00pm Luncheon at St. Paul’s UCC

(Call WCoB office by 5/14 to make your reservation)

Saturday, May 31 2:00-4:00pm Planting to Eating Workshop with Regina Hubble in the Fellowship Hall

(Please sign-up in the library or call the church office at 410-848-8090 [Plants will be provided])

Questions About Peace

Statements About War A Book Review of War Horse

I first encountered the book two months ago. The author is Michael Morpurgo, and the American publisher is Scholastic

Press. Morpurgo is a former Children’s Laureate of Britain, who I believe is still living.

The story centers on the experiences of a horse named Joey in the time of World War One and the young man Albert who raises and trains him on a farm in Devon until Joey is sold to the British cavalry officer at the beginning of the war. The horse, Joey, is the sole narrator of his own story. While Joey initially is a British horse, he later is captured by the German cavalry. Joey has no concept of nationality; his loyalty is to the soldiers who care both for him and Topthorn, his fellow horse, during most of the story. Both horses are superb animals who are admired and treasured by both British and Ger-

man soldiers. The ways in which the soldiers related to them is the focus of the excerpts that follow.

After a cavalry charge that produces extensive death and damages to both sides, Joey and Topthorn are captured by Ger-mans who use them to transport the wounded. A German doctor says, “There are men, brave men, German and English, lying out there on stretchers in the trenches, needing transport to the hospital. Do you want them all to die? If these horses could be hitched up to a cart, they could bring them back in dozens. Another German officer agrees to this use of the hors-

es.

After a short respite when Joey and Topthorn are released to work with a French farmer and his granddaughter, they are assigned to pull heavy guns as part of a team of six under the leadership of a German soldier who is called Crazy Frie-drich who will take on any task assigned, and who spends much time talking to himself. Friedrich talks to the horses as they work, and he says, “I tell you that I am the only sane man in the regiment. “It’s the others who are crazy, but they don’t know it. They fight a war and they don’t know what for. Isn’t that crazy? How can one man kill another and not really know the reason why he does it, except that the other man wears a different color uniform and speaks a different lan-guage? You two are the only rational creatures I’ve met in this stupid war, and like me, the only reason you’re here is be-

cause you were brought here.” Shortly after this, both Friedrich and Topthorn are killed in battle.

Now Joey is alone. He wanders into no-mans-land and is trapped by the barbed wire in a location between the two lines of trenches. As the morning light begins to occur, Joey is seen by both the Germans and the British, and one man from each trench ventures out to free the horse. For a while the two men stand and stare at each other silently, but then they proceed to free Joey from his capture. Because both of them know horses, they recognize that Joey needs attention if he continued on page 6

Page 5 The Chimes

Thoughts from our Community Spirit Coordinator

I’ve decided that you’re never too old to go on a scavenger hunt. My favorite scavenger hunt of recent years (since owning

a cell phone that takes great photos) is searching for flowers in unlikely places and photographing them.

One of my absolutely favorite photos is pictured here. It was taken during a walk with Matthew (our son) in Red Rock Can-yon near Las Vegas during one of my trips westward for my museum-related job. Besides simply enjoying its sheer beauty, this photo reminds me that if you look for it, lots of color/life can be found in a seemingly dry, desolate place. And that the

more there are (flowers, colorful objects, people, etc)…the more vibrant the resulting effect.

As you plan your summer schedule…consider deliberately building in moments to participate in church/community events/activities that through fun and fellowship with others (and yes, sometimes hard work) will support efforts to have a “colorful”

impact on a seemingly barren landscape.

“Teach with Your Life: Hands to Work, Hearts to God”

To Pastor Glenn McCrickard and the entire Westminster Church of the Brethren Family:

On behalf of all of the very large family and friends of Jordan Davis, I want to thank you all for your loving support during

our time of shock and grief last month.

While those days were among the most difficult we have faced, the spirit of your gentle care and compassion was deeply felt and sincerely appreciated. Truly, your Church is an example of exactly what Church is supposed to be - the communal care and love that Jesus taught. We feel truly blessed that Jordan was welcomed into your Church family and that the wel-come was so selflessly extended to everyone who knew Jordan. Everything about the Church’s involvement during the

days following Jordan’s passing was perfectly done with care and empathy.

Pastor Glenn was so easy to talk to and quickly “got” what we wanted to do with Jordan’s service. I can tell you that every-one I have spoken to after the service immediately talked about wanting a service just like that. I think people were greatly touched and moved by the experience. I appreciate his willingness to allow us to create the overall themes and direction of the service. He lovingly wrapped our expressions in a beautiful service with his passionate reading of our words and more

importantly, with his heart-felt words, prayers, and many contributions that fit our vision perfectly.

We also sincerely appreciate the use of your facility and the many, many volunteers that contributed to the evening, partic-ularly considering the scope and task given the overwhelming crowd. We were truly moved by the number of people that worked in the kitchen, with traffic control, production, organization, and printing of the programs. If ever there was an ex-ample of Jesus’ teachings in our lifetime, certainly Jordan’s life and passing give us much to consider and think about. He

was loved by many and loved many. Your Church was a large part of that unconditional love throughout his life.

On behalf of Gary, Patti, and Emily Davis; MiMi and PopPop (Peggy and Dennis McCafferty); and Aunt Sue (Susan McCaf-ferty), please accept this small token of our heartfelt appreciation to the Deacon’s Fund in Jordan’s memory. May it assist in some measure in helping you provide the same loving care with which you touched us. With Love and Appreciation. ~Gary Davis

Page 6 The Chimes

F.A.B.B. (Fixing, Assisting, Building, Brethren) Please contact Bruce Darsch at 410-374-4207 if you plan on attending.

is to survive. But which of them is to take Joey to his respective veterinary hospital? They use a coin toss, and the British soldier wins. The German soldier says, “In an hour or two we will be trying our best to kill each other. God only knows why we do it. We have shown them, haven’t we, that any problem can be solved between people if only they can trust each other. Isn’t that all we need?” And the British soldier replies, “I think if they would let you and me have an hour or two out here together, we could sort out this whole wretched mess. There would be no more weeping widows and crying children

in my valley and no more in yours.”

Joey survives and is reunited with Albert as the war ends, and they return to the farm in England where presumably they

live out the rest of their days in peace. May it be so!

Postscript: Steven Spielberg made a film of this story in (I believe) 2012. I have a DVD of the film which I would be willing

to share with anyone who would like to see it. ~Bill Achor

F.A.B.B. Thank you to everyone for the cards, prayers, study snacks, and kind words for me and my family as I completed my MAT program this past year. We are truly blessed to be part of this church. I am happy to report that I will be graduating on May 24 with dual certification in Secondary Mathematics and Secondary Special Education. ~Marsha Larrick

Thanks to everyone for supporting our youth in their recent fundraisers! They earned $225 from “Cheesecakes for a Cause” and $567 from the Easter morning breakfast in support of their upcoming participation in the Church of the Breth-ren National Youth Conference and Junior High Workcamp this summer! ~ Nancy McCrickard

Thank you for all the prayers, cards, calls and emails. Max’s right eye is still sewn shut for another six weeks and he

weighed 151 pounds at the doctor yesterday. We are well and enjoying the warmer weather. ~Max & Deane Myers

I really appreciate the birthday card the church sent. Thank you! ~Alex Reuschling

Thank You!

Financial Support for Peace Related Courses at Common Ground on the Hill

For some years the Peace Education Scholarship Fund has assisted congregational members to attend those courses at Common Ground on the Hill that relate to the Brethren tradition of concern for peace and non-violence. In general we will provide half the cost ($100) for taking a single week-long course. A person who receives this assistance is required to

write a report of the course to be published in the Chimes.

The first week this summer is June 29 through July 4, and the second week is July 6 through July 11. Nearly all courses meet five times a week for a period of 75 minutes daily. The periods are 9:00-10:15am, 10:30-11:45am, 1:00-2:15pm, 2:30-3:45pm, and 4:00-5:30pm. The courses, which are approved for support during the first week, are Sacred Journey’s, Samaritans at the Border, Non-Violent Problem Solving, Getting Real, Beyond Borders, Imagining the World without War, and Teaching for Eco-Justice. The courses, approved for support during the second week, are Imagining the World with-out War, Non-Violent Problem Solving, A Change is Gonna Come, Language Diversity and Prejudice, Samaritans at the Border, and Search for Common Ground. Detailed descriptions of the courses for Week 1 are found on pages 8-33 of the

catalog; Week 2 courses are found on pages 34-57. Registration forms are found on pages 81 and 81.

Copies of the course catalog will be found on the table in the main floor hall. For further information, contact Bill Achor, or

Common Ground on the Hill at 410-857-2771.

Page 7 The Chimes

Let There Be Light and Sound! If you would consider helping with sound or the slide show dur-ing worship, please join us on Wednesday, April 30 from 6:00-6:45pm, in the sanctuary, for a

workshop to find out how these things work. Snacks provided when the workshop is finished.

On Sunday, May 4, you may join Jack Tevis for Listening Time after the service in the Middle

School room to share any compliments and concerns you have about our church.

All women of the church (and their guests) are invited to attend the Celebration of Women Banquet on Saturday, May 10 at 6:00pm. The delicious meal will be a little Taste of Italy...Ceasar salad, Italian marinated grilled chicken breast, bacon-wrapped green beans, red potatoes with Parmesan crust, and Panna Cotta with berries. Please sign up in the church li-

brary if you plan to participate. Invite your family, friends, and neighbors to this celebration!

In preparation for our Celebration of Men in June, everyone (men & women) is invited to submit photos (with names) in either digital or hard-copy format of the men who have shaped your life (alive or deceased). Please submit photos to the

church office by June 1.

Camp Mardela brochures for Summer Camp 2014 are available in the church library.

St. Paul’s United Church of Christ has invited us to be their luncheon guests in St. Paul’s Fellowship Hall on Sunday, May 18 following the 10:45am worship service to celebrate the relationship between our two congregations, community, and the love of God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. RSVP by calling the WCoB church office 410-848-8090 by May 11, so we can provide a count to our hosts. St. Paul's UCC is grateful for the hospitality showed to them at the lunch-

eon we hosted last fall and eagerly awaits the opportunity to reciprocate.

All men of the church (young and not so young) and their guests are invited to attend the Celebration of Men Breakfast on Sunday, June 15 at 9:30am. The delicious buffet-style meal will feature a “down home” menu including sausage gravy, biscuits, egg casseroles, grits, hash browns, fruit, cinnamon rolls, juice and coffee. Please sign up in the church library if

you plan to participate. Invite your family, friends, and neighbors to this celebration!

Announcements

WE NEED NAMES OF GRADUATES. Do you have someone in your family who is graduating this spring? The Education Ministry Team is looking for the names of individuals associated with the congregation who will be graduating from high school, college or grad school this spring. Would you please phone the church office with the name of the graduate, his/her school and something

about future plans? These names are needed by May 5. Thanks for your assistance.

College Birthdays

Removed for privacy reasons

MAD COB Night at Camden Yards

June 14, 2014 at 4:00pm Baltimore vs. Toronto

We have reserved seats in sections 326 & 328 (behind home plate) at $8.00 each.

Registration deadline – May 9, 2014!!! (See the bulletin for more details)

Page 8 The Chimes

Hold These in Your Prayers

Church Family

Removed for privacy reason

Hands to Work, Hearts to God Spotlight

Did you know that Connie Davis volunteers one day per week (Mondays) at the Children's Disaster Services office, which is part of Brethren Disaster Ministries, at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor? In July 2013, she also began the first year of a five year term as a member of the Mission and Ministry Board of the Church of the Brethren (meeting twice per year in Elgin, IL and at Annual Conference).

Each month, we'll be spotlighting the ways our congregation is being of service in the world (beyond the Westminster Church of the Brethren). If you haven't already done so, please let Nancy McCrickard

know about your volunteer involvement in the wider community.

Heifer International

We will be collecting donations for Heifer International between Sunday May 25 and Sunday June 8. Heifer was begun by Dan West, an Indiana farmer, a vol-unteer, relief worker, and a member of the Church of the Brethren. The first cows sent abroad were donated by West’s neighbors and distributed throughout Europe following World War II. Now Heifer sends 30 types of animals such as

goats, geese, guinea pigs, bees, silkworms, and water buffalo worldwide to help end hunger and poverty. Please consider

making a donation in honor of or in memory of the important men in your lives.

Page 9 The Chimes

May 2014

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 6:30pm Westminster Ringers

7pm Bell Prac-

tice @ St. Paul’s UCC

2

3 8am - Disaster Auction

11am-1pm Organ Re-

hearsal 12pm L&F

4

1st Sunday 9:00am SS 10:15am Worship 11:15am Lunch

5 6:30pm Accelerando Practice

6 1:00pm XYZ

Planning Mtg. 7pm CSC Advisory Group

7 6:30pm Publicity Team mtg. 6:45pm Streams of Joy

7:30pm Sr. Choir

7pm Education Ministry Team

8 6:30pm Westminster Ringers

7:00pm Bell

Practice @ St. Paul’s UCC

7pm Book Club

9

10 7am F.A.B.B.

11am-1pm Organ Rehearsal

12pm L&F

6pm Celebration of Women Banquet

11 Celebration of

Women focused

worship

12

6:30pm Accelerando Practice

13

6:30pm Area 5 Lenten Comm @ Edgewood

CoB

14

6:45pm Streams of Joy 7:30pm Sr. Choir

15 6:30pm Westminster Ringers

7:00pm Bell Practice @ St.

Pauls UCC

16

17 11am-1pm

Organ Rehearsal

12pm L&F

18

9:15am Koinonia

Noon - Lunch @ St. Paul’s UCC

19 6:30pm Accelerando Practice 7pm Finance Ministry Team

20 12:30pm XYZ

7pm Leadership Team Mtg.

Deadline for June Newsletter

21 6:45pm Streams of Joy 7:30pm Sr. Choir

22

6:30pm Westminster Ringers

7:00pm Bell

Practice @ St. Paul’s UCC

23 24 11am-1pm Organ Rehearsal 12pm L&F

25

2:00pm Brusca Wedding

26 Office Closed 6:30pm Accelerando Practice

27 8:30am XYZ to SERRV

10am Ministerium

Meeting

28 6:45pm Streams of Joy 7:30pm Sr. Choir

29 30 31 11am-1pm Organ Rehearsal 12pm L&F 2-4pm Planting

to Eating Seminar

Worship Schedule 8:25am Contemporary Worship

9:30am Sunday School

10:45am Traditional Worship

Remains constant unless otherwise

noted.

WESTMINSTER

CHURCH OF THE

BRETHREN

1 Park Place

Westminster, Maryland

21157

Phone: 410-848-8090

Fax: 410-848-0735

E-mail:

office@westminsterbrethren.

org

Visit us on the web.

www.westminsterbrethren.org

May 18 Theme: Let Your Face Shine Scripture: Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 Preacher: Glenn McCrickard

8:25am Service Worship Leader:

10:45am Service Worship Leader: Children’s Time: Liz Haff Music: Senior Choir

May 25 Theme: Keep My Commandments Scripture: John 14:15-21 Guest Preacher: Glenn McCrickard

8:25am Service Worship Leader:

10:45am Service Worship Leader: Children’s Time: Liz Haff Music: Belle Grove Legato

May 4 First Sunday

10:15am Service Theme: What Shall I Return to the Lord Scripture: Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19 Preacher: Glenn McCrickard Worship Leader: Children’s Time: Liz Haff Music: Streams of Joy & Senior Choir

May 11 Theme: Celebration of Women Scripture: Psalm 23 (6) Preacher: Glenn McCrickard

8:25am Service Worship Leader:

10:45am Service Worship Leader: Jennifer Hollenberg Children’s Time: Liz Haff Music: Senior Choir

May Worship

We are a biblically grounded community committed to continuing the work of

Jesus. Peacefully. Simply. Together. By:

~creatively worshipping God

with a unified Spirit;

~expansively studying what it means

to be Christian;

~willingly reaching out to others in

service, locally and globally;

~intentionally supporting each other; and

~honoring Christ’s call to be

peacemakers