Every Wednesday
6:45 PM Overeaters Anonymous
8:00 PM Debtors Anonymous

Sunday, January 3
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Worship/Communion Sunday, Rev. Powers preaching
12:15 PM First Sunday Potluck Lunch & Book Conversation

Thursday, January 6
6:00 PM New Elder Training
7:30 PM Choir Rehearsal

Sunday, January 10
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Worship, Rev. Powers preaching
Ordination & Installation of New Elders
12:15 PM Session Meeting

Thursday, January 14
7:30 PM Choir Rehearsal

Sunday, January 17
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Worship, Elder Bonnie Cosner preaching

Thursday, January 21
7:30 PM Choir Rehearsal

Sunday, January 24
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Worship, Rev. Powers preaching
12:30 PM Membership Exploration Class (snow date 1/31)

Thursday, January 28
7:30 PM Choir Rehearsal

Sunday, January 31
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Worship, Rev. Powers preaching
S.O.B.E.R. Sunday

FIRST SUNDAY POTLUCK LUNCH AND BOOK DISCUSSION

On Sunday, January 3, we will have our First Sunday Potluck Lunch. Please bring a dish to share. We will also continue our discussion of Dorothy C. Bass' Practicing our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People. We will be discussing Chapter 5, entitled "Saying Yes and Saying No." Copies are available at the church at a discounted price of $15.

PLEDGING GROWS 15% -- SESSION ADOPTS 2010 BUDGET

Thanks to everyone who made a pledge to the 2010 church budget. As of mid-December, we had received 28 pledges to the 2010 operating budget totaling approximately $69,000. that compares with pledges of $60,000 received by this time last year, a 15 percent increase! This increased giving is an indication of how our congregation is growing - both in membership and generosity!

Your pledges are a great help to the Session when it comes to budget planning. If you have not yet made a pledge for 2010 and would like to, please be in touch with Carol Eshelman, our financial secretary.

As we approach the end of 2009, it looks like Light Street will end the year with a balanced budget. Considering that the 2009 budget passed by the Session last year projected a deficit of $8,000, this is great news! The church also ends the year debt-free after paying off the remaining principal of its loan from First and Franklin Street Presbyterian Church.

Looking ahead, the Session adopted a budget for 2010 that cuts in half the amount of income drawn from the Dewling Fund. It also does not depend on income from fund-raising events. [The future of fund raising events at Light Street will be one of the topics discussed at the Annual Congregational Meeting on February 7.] It is hoped that, once again, more visitors in worship and more people becoming members of Light Street will help to cover a projected deficit of $8,500.

A BRIGHTER CHRISTMAS FOR 2 HOUSE OF RUTH FAMILIES

Many thanks to everyone who helped Light Street adopt two families for Christmas!

Thank you for your generous and heartwarming response to Light Street Presbyterian's Christmas Giving Project with the House of Ruth's Adopt-a-Family Program.

The House of Ruth is one of the nation's leading domestic violence centers, helping thousands of battered women and their children find the safety and security that so many of us take for granted.

The many Christmas gifts collected for our adopted families were received and dedicated in worship on Sunday, December 13.

We know that this year Christmas was much brighter for our two families!

THE THREE-FOLD JOURNEY OF CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP
[Excerpted from "Continue the Journey," a sermon by the Rev. Roger Scott Powers, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009]

Since my wife Susan began working at Wellspring Conference Center in Germantown, MD, I've been learning a lot more about Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C., the church with which Wellspring is affiliated. Folks from Church of the Saviour talk about the journey of Christian discipleship as a three-fold journey -- an inward journey, an outward journey, and a journey together in community. I find it to be a helpful way of thinking about living as a follower of Jesus.

The inward journey refers to the attention we give to our personal relationship with God. It involves the practice of spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible study, devotional reading, silent reflection and journaling, to help us deepen our spiritual connection to God. Just as deepening a friendship with another person involves spending more time with that person, deepening one's relationship with God involves spending time intentionally with God.

The outward journey refers to our involvement in the world -- how we use the gifts God has given us in service to others. The outward journey has to do with answering God's call to each of us -- finding our vocation, that place in our lives where our greatest joy and the world's greatest need intersect. It involves our work lives (the contributions we make to society through the jobs we do) as well as our leisure time (how we spend our time off the job celebrating live and serving our neighbors). If the inward journey is about our love of God, the outward journey is about our love of neighbor.

The journey of Christian discipleship is not a road we travel alone. Following Jesus is not something we do by ourselves, in isolation from others. It is, rather, a journey we take with others in community. The community, of course, is the church. We come together as a Christian community to support and encourage one another along the way. We support one another on the inward journey of prayer and study. And we encourage one another on the outward journey of service and action. We care for one another, sharing both our joys and our sorrows.

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, January 24, beginning at 12:30 p.m. 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 by phone (410-539-0125).

JANUARY 2010 DELEGATION TO CUBA

Carol Eshelman and Carole Norris-Shortle will be part of a Baltimore Presbytery delegation to Cuba, January 22-29, 2010. Members of the First Presbyterian Church of Cumberland and Ashland Presbyterian Church (including former Light Street member JoAnn Ruther) will also be going. Please keep them in your prayers as they prepare for the journey and during the time they are away visiting our sister church in Cuba.

The next opportunity to join a delegation to Cabaiguan, Cuba, will probably be in the fall (October or November). But commitments and passport information will probably be needed by late summer in order to apply for visas and book flights. The overall cost is approximately $1,200.00 Some financial assistance may be available through the Baltimore Presbytery Cuba Partnership. (PLEASE NOTE: Only formal members of the church are eligible to travel to Cuba on our travel license from the U.S. Treasury.) If you are interested, please let Roger know.

SOUPER BOWL SUNDAY CHALLENGE

This year let Super Bowl Sunday be marked by more than football. Bring your team spirit out to tackle hunger and homelessness in the Baltimore area.

On Sunday, February 7, we will be collecting spare change to benefit Heifer International. We're hoping to fill at least one soup pot to the brim, so start saving those quarters, nickels, and dimes, and bring them to church on the first Sunday in February.

Can you spare a little social change?

ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING AND POTLUCK LUNCH - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7

Immediately after worship on Sunday, February 7, members and friends of Light Street are encouraged to attend this annual event. We'll reflect back on the activities and accomplishments of 2009, review the church budget, and anticipate what's ahead for 2010. One of the topics to be discussed will be the future of fund raising events at Light Street. The Session would like your input. Are fund raising events worth the time and energy put into them? Are there new ideas for fund raising projects? Should we focus our fund raising event(s) on a particular mission project? In keeping with the Souper Bowl Sunday Challenge, a variety of soups will be prepared for the potluck lunch. Please bring bread, salad, or a dessert to share.

COME SING WITH US!

Choir rehearsals have resumed for the fall. We have fun singing together on Thursday nights from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. On Sunday mornings we rehearse again before worship from 10:15 to 10:45 a.m. Please join us! New voices are welcome!

SOBER SUNDAY JANUARY 31

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.

South Baltimore Emergency Relief is in need of:
- For the Homeless: Men's gloves, Socks, Pop-top canned meals, tuna packs, etc.
- For Walk-In Clients: Food supplies to make up kits of (3) days of meals -- canned meats, soups, fruit, veggies, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, crackers, etc.
- Financial contributions are always welcome. Make checks out to LSPC, earmarked S.O.B.E.R.

Special re-usable shopping bags are 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!

NOTE: Please do not donate food that is past its expiration date. It cannot be used, and it will be thrown away.

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 heroes of the Bible. The group is open; newcomers are always welcome. For more information, contact Bonnie Cosner or Debbie Szostak.

VIRTUAL BIBLE STUDY

Interested in weekly Bible Study bud don't feel like getting up earlier on Sunday mornings? Light Street has begun an experiment in on-line Bible Study. Each week the scripture passage for the next Sunday's sermon is posted to the group with a few questions to consider. During the week, participants post their comments, questions, and responses to the rest of the group. Only persons who want to be part of Light Street's Virtual Bible Study receive the emails from it, so if you are interested in trying this, you need to let Roger know to include you in the on-line group.

BREAD MINISTRY

Each Sunday after worship, we offer visitors to our church small loaves of bread as a way of thanking them for joining us for worship. Many thanks to Julia Malette and Debbie Szostak for doing most of the baking in recent months. If you would like to help out by baking some small loaves of bread for this ministry, please sign up on the church bulletin board.

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 FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER: January 15
Send all newsletter material to John Ginovsky at jginovsk@aba.com