MPC NEWS MAGAZINE July 2017 What Happened in June

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1 MPC NEWS MAGAZINE July 2017 What Happened in June What s Happening in July? Church World Service Kits This year we are collecting only the school kits for Church World Service to distribute to refuge camps. This is the 5th year that Rosemary Plummer and Dot Attwell have been conducting our summer mission project (July/August). The list of material for the kits is on page 2. You may go ahead and start purchasing things now, especially sale items. Collection at MPC will start soon. Stay tuned. We will have more information in the August. The Rev. Patrick Walker will be speaking about the CWS kits at MPC at 9 a.m. on July 9. Rev. Walker is a graduate of Ursinus College and Princeton Theological Seminary. In 2002, he accepted the position of Pennsylvania Regional Director for Church World Service. This position allowed him to use his passion for community building in ways Continued on page 2 Choir Sunday June 4 Here Greg Metzler (left) is leading the choir members in the anthem, Spirit Come Down, the Pentecost story. They also sang Filla Me Up, Everytime I Feel the Spirit, and Breath of Love, a piece written by Brad Sack, sung in his memory. Anne E. Culbertson and John Wright sing O Lord, in Thee Please Note You are encouraged to attend a reception for Rev. David Norse, candidate for MPC s ministerial position, on Friday July 14th any time from 7-9 PM. His spouse Eric Thomas will also be there. A congregational meeting will be held on July 16th at 11 AM, following worship, to vote on issuing a call and to agree on the Terms of Call. He will also be preaching then. Rev. Sitterley leads communion and Tim Soirez sings A Simple Song Bernstein Indeed, a lovely service, enjoyed by all Meet our New Member Well, Anne Culbertson really isn t new, as she s been with us for many years. Anne came to MPC from First and Franklin and has been an active member in the Faith Journey Group for decades. Born in Warren, PA and now living in Lake-Walker in Baltimore City, Anne has been involved musically with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, the Friends Lower School, Indiana s premier public radio station, and several educational organizations (Peabody Institute, the Universities of Indiana, Richmond, and Hartford, and the Ohio Public School System). She plays guitar, recorder and piano, and has studied the clarinet, cello and violin. Never letting the grass grow under her feet, Anne has been a lifeguard and swim instructor, and a Girl Scout counselor. The arts and many outdoor activities are definitely her main interests and continue to keep her busy. She is a lifelong Chautauquan, once won a horse show competition, and is an active advocate for animal well-being. This is only the tip of the interesting-facts-iceberg for our accomplished choir soprano leader and now fellow member of MPC! Rick Dezes Please be aware that the July and August newsletter will be published each in just 4 pages, well, maybe 5

2 Page 2 Published for the members and friends of Maryland Presbyterian Church, 1105 Providence Road, Towson, Maryland (410) Editors: Jo Sack, Rick Dezes Production and distribution Dale Salah, Alma Smith, Other Contributors to this Issue: Joy Appel Brown, Carol Mason, Mary Jo Zimbro, Rosemary Plummer, Danell Gill Editorial Comment Party Game When your guests have had dinner on game night and you are still at the table, perhaps you need a warm-up game as a mood stimulator. Here is my favorite: Fortunately/ Unfortunately The introducer begins with a short story, then says fortunately, the person on his/her right continues with unfortunately. Here is an example, but keep in mind that it is my creation. When others participate with their creative genius, it is really much more interesting and usually has everyone laughing. Aunt Edna is a great cook and she had Carl for supper one night. Fortunately she served one of her famous homemade apple pies for dessert. But unfortunately, she forgot to put in the sugar and it was impossible to eat. Fortunately, however, she happened to leave the room to answer the telephone and Carl was able to give the pie to the dog. But unfortunately, the dog wouldn t eat it. Fortunately she returned, had a bite, discovered her mistake and apologized. But unfortunately, a candle on the table fell over and set the cloth on fire. Fortunately, the water glasses were enough to put out the fire. On and On Unfortunately, I have run out of room Patrick Walker Jo Sack Continued from page 1 that helped to address poverty locally and globally through CWS, a cooperative ministry of 39 Christian communions with the mission of working together with partners to eradicate hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice around the world. Rosemary Plummer A Good Old Fashioned Gospel Hymn Sing I love the word serendipity! It sounds happy, just like its meaning. Some of life s best moments can be summed up as serendipitous and one of those happened after church on Sunday, May 28th. Anne Culbertson comes weekly for a music and movement therapy session with my 91 year-old dad, Sam. My dad was a Baptist minister until the early 60 s when he felt the call to be more socially active and became a United Presbyterian pastor. When Anne planned A Good Old Fashioned Gospel Hymn-Sing, I am sure she wanted to share the fun that she and dad have singing old songs every week. Her little program said that it would be led by The Reverend Mr. Sam Appel & Dr. Anne E. Culbertson. Of course, because of his Alzheimers, Dad had no part in the planning of it, but you would never know it. He did, in fact, lead while Anne accompanied on the guitar. And he and Anne and I didn t have to sing alone. Altogether there were 16 of us! Ethel Riggin sang and smiled and cried happy tears! Between songs, people spontaneously told stories as they remembered times gone by. Ann Kaiser Sterns shared comments from her new book and showed us her skills on the tambourine. Thanks, Anne, for putting this together! Thanks to everyone who sang and shared. I had to be the happiest one in the room! Joy Appel Brown CWS School Kit Supplies needed: One pair of blunt scissors removed from the package (rounded tip, only) Three 70-count bound notebooks or notebooks totaling pages No loose-leaf or filler paper. One 30-centimeter 12 ruler One hand-held pencil sharpener removed from the package One large eraser No pencil cap erasers Six new, unsharpened pencils with erasers removed from the package One box of 24 crayons (only 24) One 12 x14 to 14 x17 finished size cotton or light weight, solid colored canvas bag with cloth handles (no logos). No reusable shopping bags or backpacks. All items must be packed inside of the cloth bag. Do not enclose money inside the kits or the shipping boxes. Laugh of the Month People who live in covfefe houses should not throw covfefe. Hillary Clinton ( tweet)

3 Page 3 Changing the Conversation Mission Update February was the focus month for Butoke (Congo) and the budgeted and envelope funds were needed desperately and so sent in April. However, $375 more has been collected and now sent. And One Great Hour of Sharing contributions totaled an enormous $1,083. Thank you for your generosity McCabe Avenue Habitat Build Day and Home Dedication Purity and Michael Saturday, June 3, was a very special day on McCabe Avenue. In addition to being our second volunteer build day of 2017, three completed homes were dedicated at a special ceremony held in Alhambra Park. The festivities included a Welcome by Mike Posko, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake, Congratulatory Remarks by Catherine Pugh, There will be an opportunity for all who join the Faith Journey Group, Sunday July 9th at 4 PM at MPC, in the discussion of this book, to explore MPC s future and how we can work together. Never been to FJG? It doesn t matter. Please come and help us define our course forward. Need a book? Ask Jo Sack. Carol Mason Baltimore s Mayor, and Presentation of Bible and Key to the three new home owners. At the end, everyone joined in to sing the Closing Song This Little Light of Mine which was followed by more music, cake and a tour through one of the completed homes. What a wonderful celebration! Finally, MPC s four volunteers including Purity Njagi, Tom Koch, myself, and first-timer Mike Dupont, as well as Jocelyn (a future Habitat owner) had the honor of planting five shrubs in front of each of the three homes (15 shrubs in total). Although it was hard work, it was extremely rewarding to put the finishing touch on each of these new homes. Mary Jo Zimbro See more pictures on page 5 Session Highlights May 2017 Session began with a discussion of Chapter 3 of the book, Changing the Conversation. It was noted that Bruce Layton has returned to his home and is recuperating there. Brad Sack s death was noted on April 24, 2017, and his wonderful life was honored. A Camp Director has been hired for the summer camp in the McCabe community. MPC will be partnering with Ashland Presbyterian on July 3, 5,6,7 of the camp s operation. Lunch and snacks for two of the four days will be provided by each church. Ten volunteers from MPC will be needed. The PNC is preparing for face-to-face interviews of candidates. The Session approved alignment with the Sanctuary Coalition of Central Maryland (SCCM). Rev. Sitterley will be on vacation June 13th-19th. There will be no Session meeting in June. Anne Culbertson is approved for membership. She will be transferring from 1st and Franklin. Donna Mistr will register MPC with the Faith Communities of Baltimore with Pride, for the Pride parade on June 17th and the fair on June 18th. $85 will be donated for our participation. Treasurer s Report April 2017 MPC Finance and Administration Summary Income during April was $13,896, and expenses were $16,556, resulting in deficit for the month of ($2,659). Total income was $56,529, 11% or $7,332 below Budget. YTD 4/30/2017 Income and Expense, Balance Sheet and Fund Highlights Operating Income: $ 56,529 Restricted Fund Balances Operating Expenses: $ 63,861 Mission: $ 2,539 Operating Funds Available: $ 10,375 General: $ 11,667 Memorials: $ 44,887 Reconciled PNC Balance: $ 48,845 Total Endowment: $ 357,972** **This balance reflects an end-of-year update to actual market value on December 31, 2016, and will be reduced by the amount of Endowment transfers in Carol Mason

4 Exciting Activities MPC News Magazine Maryland Presbyterian Church 1105 Providence Road Towson, Maryland Above: Danell Gill and Donna Mistr at the Baltimore Pride Parade June 17th Above: MPC Choir Singing Hallelu at close of Choir Sunday service June 4th See page 1 Left: Folks enjoying the Gospel Hymn Sing on Sunday May 28th See page 2 Mission: To be a welcoming, progressive faith community, nurturing inquisitive Christians for life and service in the twenty-first century. Thursday Choir rehearsal 7:30 PM Again in September Sunday Worship 10:00 AM Beginning 6/11 Communion First Sunday of each month July 2017 Church Staff Rev. Bill Sitterley, Interim Minister Greg Metzler, Director of Music Anne E. Culbertson, Choir Section Leader John Wright, Choir Section, Leader Dale Salah, Administrative Director Kathy Ramirez, Custodian Sun 2 Worship 10:00 AM Tue 4 Happy 4th of July Sun 9 Special Speaker, Rev. Patrick Walker, CWS 9:00 AM See p. 1; Worship 10:00 AM; Faith Journey 4:00 Tue 11 Session 6:30 PM Fri 14 Meet Rev. David Norse, candidate for MPC s ministerial position at MPC 7-9 See p. 1 Sun 16 Worship 10:00 AM Rev. Norse preaching Congregational meeting following worship Styrofoam Sun 23 Worship 10:00 AM Thanks so much for all your efforts Sun 30 Worship 10:00 AM recycling this material. 12 trips to the recycle center between 28th and 29th Streets right off the JFX were made. That's 12 carloads! We will not be recycling during the summer The pictorial directory but will resume in September. Meanwhile, hold will be printed in late onto your Styrofoam until then. Remember, it August this year. Get your copy must have this symbol: then. Rick Visit our website at Facebook and Twitter

5 Left: Jocelyn, future Habitat owner, Tom Koch, and Mary Jo Zimbro Planting shrubs in front of one of the finished houses on McCabe Avenue Right: Dedication Ceremony See p. 3 Hungry and Sick This from Butoke A Congo village home in the Forest The Catholic Church was able to wake up the United Nations and they are now helping in the Congo, reports Cecile desweemer. They published statistics on the number killed: 3,384 known in the parishes and the fact that many were women and children. Displaced persons are estimated at more than 1.5 million. No one seems to know how many are orphans, let alone how many have chronic or acute malnutrition. People have started coming out of the forest and they are trying to set up a malnutrition rehabilitation activity. This has disrupted our food forecast, says Cecile. Can you encourage our friends to raise money for this activity? At the moment we are in tremendous difficulty. Please help. Make out your check to MPC, put Butoke in the memo and drop in the offering plate or mail to the office.