Every Wednesday
6:45 PM Overeaters Anonymous
8:00 PM Debtors Anonymous
Wednesday, March 3
7:00 AM Lenten Meditation
Thursday, March 4
7:30 PM Choir Rehearsal
Sunday, March 7
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Worship/Communion Sunday, Rev. Powers preaching
12:15 PM Potluck Lunch & Annual Congregational Meeting
Wednesday, March 10
7:00 AM Lenten Meditation
Thursday, March 11
7:30 PM Choir Rehearsal
Sunday, March 14
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Worship, Rev. Powers preaching
12:15 PM Session Meeting
Wednesday, March 17
7:00 AM Lenten Meditation
Thursday, March 18
7:30 PM Choir Rehearsal
Sunday, March 21
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Worship, Rev. Powers preaching
12:30 PM Mission Committee Meeting
Wednesday, March 24
7:00 AM Lenten Meditation
Thursday, March 25
7:30 PM Choir Rehearsal
Sunday, March 28
9:30 AM Bible Study
11:00 AM Palm Sunday Worship, Rev. Powers preaching
S.O.B.E.R. Sunday
Wednesday, March 31
7:00 AM Lenten Meditation
LENTEN MEDITATION
All are invited to join us for Lenten Meditation services on Wednesday mornings at 7:00 a.m. from February 24 through March 31 of Holy Week.
ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING AND POTLUCK LUNCH - POSTPONED TO SUNDAY, MARCH 7TH
Record snow fall on February 5-6 brought the City of Baltimore to a standstill and resulted in the cancellation of worship at Light Street on February 7. Consequently, our Annual Congregational Meeting and Potluck Lunch was postponed until Sunday, March 7. Members and friends of Light Street are encouraged to attend this annual event, which will begin immediately following worship. 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? A variety of soups will be prepared for the potluck lunch. Please bring bread, salad, or dessert to share.
"SOUPER" STUDY LENTEN SERIES AT OLD OTTEBEIN UMC
Light Street Church members and friends are invited to participate in this Lenten Series in the Nelker Building at Old Otterbein United Methodist Church, 112 W. Conway St. A light soup supper will be followed by a video series put together by emergent church pastor Rob Bell. The Biblically based videos present contemporary themes to stimulate discussion about life situations that each of us face on our journey through life. Parking is available behind the church. The series will continue through March 31. Please RSVP to June Risley (410-528-1052) by Monday of each week, so that enough soup can be prepared for all who wish to attend.
BRIAN MCLAREN LECTURE - MONDAY, MARCH 15
Internationally recognized leader in the "emergent church" movement and prolific author, Brian McLaren, will give a free public lecture on "The Gospel, the Postmodern Context, and the Church that is Emerging," on Monday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m., at the Ecumenical Institute of Theology, 5400 Roland Avenue.
ECUMENICAL ADVOCACY DAYS FOR GLOBAL PEACE WITH JUSTICE
"A PLACE TO CALL HOME: IMMIGRANTS, REFUGEES, AND DISPLACED PEOPLES"
MARCH 19-22, 2010, WASHINGTON, D.C.
And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere o lay his head.' Luke 9:58
Jesus had no place to lay his head. Neither do tens of millions of migrants, refugees, and displaced persons. Be a part of an action weekend addressing this global injustice. Join hundreds of faith-based advocates in taking action on U.S. legislation that will welcome immigrant, protect refugees, and prevent displacement of millions.
Worship, study and dialogue with hundreds of people of faith at the annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days. Then join us as we go to Capitol Hill to advocate for our members of Congress to remedy these global injustices. The 2010 conference will be held March 19-22 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Crystal City, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. Registration fee: $175 includes two lunches and Sunday reception. Student scholarships are available; email for scholarship information. For more information about Ecumenical Advocacy Days, please visit our web site.
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. - Hebrews 13:1-2
ONE GREAT HOUR OF SHARING
SHARING RESOURCES, CHANGING LIVES
Since 1949, Presbyterians have joined with millions of other Christians through One Great Hour of Sharing to share God's love with people experiencing need. Our gifts support ministries of disaster response, refugee assistance and resettlement, and community development that help people find safe refuge, start new lives and work together to strengthen their families and communities.
Recognizing that the hope we have in Christ is lived out in our hope for one another, we respond with gifts that help our sisters and brothers around the world find the hope for a brighter future.
At Light Street, we will receive this special offering on Palm Sunday, March 28, and Easter Sunday, April 4.
Frequently Asked Questions about One Great Hour of Sharing
1. When and how did One Great Hour of Sharing Begin?
More than sixty years ago, in response to the devastation of World War II, a Saturday evening nationwide broadcast asked Americans to give generously the next morning in their churches. A remarkable variety of national leaders and celebrities gave their efforts to the broadcast, and more than 75,000 churches responded. For more on this dramatic story, see the web site that tells the history.
2. I hear the word "ecumenical" used to describe One Great Hour of Sharing. What does it mean to say the offering is Ecumenical?
Many Christian denominations work together cooperatively to create the resources that interpret the offering. Each denomination gives some of the gifts it receives for shared ministry through Church World Service. However, each denomination decides how the gifts its members gives will be used. See the web site for a list of the denominations that participate in the offering.
3. So just how does the PC(USA) use its offering gifts?
They are roughly divided into thirds. Each of three programs -- Self Development of People (SDOP), Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), and the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) -- receives 32 percent of the offering; the remaining 4 percent goes to the PHP for its work on homelessness and affordable housing. (See the web site for a list of how these gifts were used in 2008.)
4. How much money does the offering receive each year?
For at least the past ten years, the offering has received about $20 million among the denominations. The PC(USA) offering has received $8 million to $11 million for at least the past twenty years. For a more complete accounting of the financial side of the offering, see the web site.
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
CHRISTIANS BEGIN LENT PONDERING HOW THEY CAN ACT FOR OTHERS
Christians begin Lent Pondering how they can act for others
'Take something up rather than give something up,' says Scottish leader
by Peter Kenny
Ecumenical News International
GENEVA -- Christians observing the Lenten time of sacrifice are being urged to engage in acts that enable a better sharing of world resources.
Eastern Orthodox churches began Lent on Great Monday, two days before Western Christians on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17. It is a 40-day period inspired by the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, a story shared in the Bible's New Testament.
Observant Christians often give up meat, alcohol, or chocolate to engage in some type of fasting, but this year some Anglican bishops urged Christians to keep their carbon consumption in check.
The Bishop of London, the Rev. Richard Chartres, said that a "Carbon Fast" is "an opportunity to demonstrate the love of God in a practical way." This could be done by having a day without using a mobile phone or an iPod as a way of reducing the use of electricity and thereby cutting the amount of carbon dioxide discharged into the atmosphere.
In Edinburgh, the moderator of the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland, the Rev. Bill Hewitt, criticized Britain's "destructive" selfish society in his message for Lent, urging people to sacrifice their time and talents in service to their neighbors rather than pursuing individual greed.
Hewitt said, "This Lent I'm calling on Kirk members to take up something, rather than give something up."
In Geneva, Jenny Borden, the interim executive director of the Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, said, "More than one billion people are suffering from hunger around the world." She noted, "Despite the goodness and bounty of God's gifts to us in creation, so many people experience scarcity: famine, hunger, deprivation and want."
Speaking at an Ash Wednesday service at Geneva's Ecumenical Center, Borden said, "There are people in all parts of the world who suffer the effects of too much -- too much salt, sugar, fat, calories -- too much choice, too many things, too much wealth."
On Ash Wednesday, many Christians display ashes placed on their foreheads to represent an Old Testament custom associated with mourning, humility and repentance, and also to remind them of their mortality.
"It is a good time to think carefully about the injustice of the world food situation, where food is unjustly and unsustainably produce, and unjustly and unsustainably consumed, and where the right to food for all people is not met," said Borden.
Christians can fast for a day from food, fossil fuel or consumption as an act of support for people who are hungry and as a means of raising awareness.
Earlier in the week a joint Lenten campaign of the World Student Christian Federation, the World YMCA and the World Council of Churches was launched to end violence against women. The campaign encourages study on violence against women using videos and Bible study in local groups and churches.
The general secretary of the World Council of Churches, the Rev. Olav Fyske Tveit, recalled at the service that release in November of a Norwegian Joint Muslim-Christian statement called "Say No to Violence."
The statement says, in part: "As Christians and Muslims we see women and men as equal and nobody as the right to use violence against the other. Violence in the family and in close relationships are criminal acts against the convictions of our beliefs. We believe there is inspiration and guidance in our religion for life in love and mutual respect."
COME SING WITH US!
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 MARCH 28
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!
Financial contributions are also welcome. Make checks payable to Light Street Presbyterian Church, clearly marked for SOBER (South Baltimore Emergency Relief).
NOTE: Please do not donate food that is past its expiration date. It cannot be used, and, by law, it must 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 our focus for the Lenten Season will be Spiritual Time Management (using materials from Joyce Meyer Ministries). 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 AVAILABLE
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 APRIL NEWSLETTER: March 15
Send all newsletter material to John Ginovsky at jginovsk@aba.com