Every Wednesday
6:45 PM Overeaters Anonymous
8:00 PM Debtors Anonymous
Sunday, September 6
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Worship/Communion Sunday, Rev. Powers preaching
12:15 PM First Sunday Potluck Lunch & Conversation
Thursday, September 10
7:45 PM Choir Rehearsal
Saturday, September 12
10 AM - 2 PM Gardening Day
Sunday, September 13
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Worship, Rev. Powers preaching
12:15 PM Session Meeting
Thursday, September 17
7:45 PM Choir Rehearsal
Sunday, September 20
9:30 AM Bible Study
10:15 AM Joyful Noise for children
11:00 AM Worship, Rev. Kepley preaching
Thursday, September 24
7:45 PM Choir Rehearsal
Friday, September 25
7:00 PM Pizza/Movie Night at Light Street
Saturday, September 26
2:30-5:30 PM Ashland P.C. Cooks for Sarah's Hope
Sunday, September 27
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Worship, Rev. Powers preaching
12:15 PM Membership Exploration Class
S.O.B.E.R. Sunday
ALL CHURCH READ
Over the next year, everyone in the congregation is encouraged to read the book Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People, edited by Dorothy C. Bass. We will be discussing it at our First Sunday Potlucks. Copies are available at the church at a discounted price of $15. See Debbie Szostak
COME SING WITH US!
Choir rehearsals are resuming for the Fall. We have fun singing together on Thursday nights from 7:45 to 9:00 p.m. On Sunday mornings we rehearse again before worship from 10:15 to 10:45 a.m. Please join us! All voices are welcome!
HOW DOES LIGHT STREET'S GARDEN GROW?
It takes a lot of hard work and persistent watering to keep our church's garden and window boxes looking good through the hot summer months. For a second year, a neighbor of the church, Martha Amereihn, has planted and maintained our window boxes. They have looked beautiful all summer long. We thank her for her generosity in giving this wonderful gift to the church. We are also grateful to June Risley, Carole Norris-Shortle, Curt Brown, Debbie & John Szostak, and Mike Tinley, for their faithful work in keeping the church garden watered, weeded, and mowed.
NEXT GARDENING DAY - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
Want to help with the church garden? Our next gardening day will be Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Come join Carole Norris-Shortle and other church members and friends in maintaining the church's valuable urban green space.
FORMER LIGHT STREET PASTOR TO PREACH ON SUNDAY, SEPT. 20
Fifty years ago, John Kepley received his first call to ordained ministry as pastor of Light Street Presbyterian Church. He remained Light Street's pastor from 1959 until 1964. In celebration of his 50 years of ordained ministry, John will return to Light Street to worship with us and preach on Sunday, September 20.
PIZZA/MOVIE NIGHT AT LIGHT STREET - "FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO"
Can the love between two people ever be an abomination? Is the chasm separating gays and lesbians and Christianity too wide to cross? Is the Bible an excuse to hate? The documentary film "For the Bible Tells Me So" addresses these questions. Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families -- including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson -- we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard's Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, "For the Bible Tells Me So" offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.
Come share some pizza and watch it together with your church family on Friday, September 25th, at 7:00 p.m. The screening will be followed by an open discussion.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MEMBER OF LIGHT STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH?
Come and find out! Roger will offer a Membership Exploration Class on Sunday, September 27, from 12:15 to 2:00 PM. Lunch will be provided. The class will offer an opportunity to have your questions answered, particularly: What does it mean to be a Presbyterian? Please let Roger know if you plan to attend via email or at 410–539–0125.
SERVING SARAH'S HOPE
Sarah's Hope on Mount Street in Baltimore offers shelter and support services to homeless women and their children, helping them quickly regain permanent housing and achieve long-term self-sufficiency. Sarah's Hope is a program of St. Vincent de Paul, an independent, faith-based, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who are suffering from the effects of poverty meet their basic human needs and achieve a better future for themselves and their family.
On the fourth Saturday of every month, volunteers from Ashland Presbyterian Church in Cockeysville use Light Street's kitchen to prepare dinner for the families staying at Sarah's Hope. Additional volunteers from Light Street congregation are welcome to participate. Dinner preparation takes place from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. To volunteer for September 26, contact Carol Walter via email.
NATIONAL WELCOMING & AFFIRMING PRESBYTERIAN CONFERENCE -- SEPT. 4-6
"God's Whole Family," the National Welcoming & Affirming Presbyterian Conference, will take place on Labor Day Weekend, Sept. 4-6, hosted by Second Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Mark your calendars and start making plans now to be in Nashville for the LGBT-affirming faith and spiritual experience of the year! For more information, see the church bulletin board or visit the More Light Presbyterians website.
SOBER SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 27
As a socially engaged presbyterian church, we believe that faith leads directly into action; therefore, to believe is to do. One of the many ways in which Light Street Presbyterian Church gets involved in the community is by collecting non-perishable and canned goods on the last Sunday of every month, which are given to South Baltimore Emergency Relief (S.O.B.E.R.) for the hungry in our community.
Special re-usable shopping bags will be available at church for this purpose. Take a bag with you and fill it up with canned and non-perishable goods (pop-top canned meals, tuna packs, spam, corned beef, soup, crackers, peanut butter up to 48 oz., spaghetti sauce up to 26 oz., canned fruits and/or vegetables, etc.) - however much or as little as you want. You can keep the bag in your car and fill it up with "goodies" the next time you go to your favorite supermarket. Another idea is to take the bag to work and have a can drive with your co-workers. Invite them to come to worship with you at Light Street when you return the bag on SOBER Sunday!
EVENTS COMING IN OCTOBER
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS - SATURDAY-OCTOBER 3
Many Christians around the world celebrate the life of St. Francis of Assisi in early October by blessing their pets in the spirit of this patron saints of animals and ecology. Here at Light Street we plan to have a Blessing of the Animals service outside in our church garden on Saturday morning, October 3, at 9:30 a.m. All species of household pets and their caretakers are invited to attend. The service is free and open to the public. Please let your friends and neighbors with pets know about this special worship service.
WORLD COMMUNION SUNDAY & PEACEMAKING OFFERING - OCTOBER 4
Join us on October 4, as we celebrate World Communion Sunday and receive the Peacemaking Offering. On this day we join with Christians around the world to celebrate the unity that we find at the Table of the Lord. We also receive the Peacemaking Offering to support the efforts of our congregation and our denomination to spread the peace of Christ. Remember that 25 percent of the Offering will be used in congregation for our peacemaking activities. The other 75 percent will help our partners in the Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly in their efforts to make this a more peaceful world.
SUNDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY
On Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m., a small group of church members and friends gather for coffee and Bible study. The group uses a variety of curriculum materials, and is currently looking at children of the bible. The group is open; newcomers are always welcome. For more information, contact Bonnie Cosner or Debbie Szostak.
HELP LEAD WORSHIP!
Volunteers are needed to help lead worship each Sunday. This usually involves leading the congregation in the "Call to Worship" and "Prayer for Illumination" and reading the scripture lesson(s) for that Sunday. There is a sign up sheet on the downstairs bulletin board.
FELLOWSHIP HOUR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
It's wonderful each Sunday morning, following worship, to be able to gather downstairs for a time of fellowship and refreshment. But, it means someone needs to take responsibility each week for making coffee, providing refreshments, and cleaning up afterwards. If everyone in the congregation signed up to do this just a few Sundays a year, we would have it covered. Many hands make light work! Please sign up on the downstairs bulletin board.
SERMONS
Copies of Roger's sermons are available on the downstairs hall table. Please feel free to pick one up if you missed a Sunday. Or, pass one on to a friend!
DEADLINE FOR OCTOBER NEWSLETTER: September 15
Send all newsletter material to John Ginovsky at jginovsk@aba.com