metropolitan community church
BALTIMORE

Below are items of interest that were previously posted on our News & Events page. In some cases, you may find that the Web links contained in these old news items will no longer work.

"Sent Into the Harvest" Weekend "Advance"
Teaching, Training, Preaching

Posted February 2004

Rev. Sandra Turnbull
Pastor, Glory Tabernacle MCC
Largest GLTB Charismatic Christian
Ministry in Southern California
Recently Hosted Tammy Faye Messner

Ms. Janet Robinson
Executive Director
Encounter Missions International
Missionary Training and Sending Center

Friday, March 5

4 - 6 PM Workshop "Preparing for the Harvest"
Intercesory Prayer

7:30 PM Worship "Freed for the Harvest"
Deliverance/Generational Curses

Saturday, March 6

10 AM to Noon Workshop "Empowered for the Harvest"
The Gift of Tongues, What Are They?
Where Do I Get Mine?

1:30 - 4:30 PM Workshop "Leaders for the Harvest"
The Offices of the Church
Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher

7:30 PM Worship "Sent into the Harvest"
Commissioning Service

Sunday, March 7

Baltimore - 10:00 AM "The Fields Are Ripe, The Harvest in Asia"
Harford County - 6 PM

Valentine's Dance

Posted February 2004

St. Valentine's Day Dance Saturday February 14th 9 PM to Midnight. Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Contact Diane Knaus for details (dianestar@toad.net).

Mothers' Support Group

Posted December 15, 2003

MoMs (Mothers on Mondays) will meet on January 5, 2004 at 7:30pm. We will have a special speaker, Lina Ayers, Esq., who will share legal information you need to know about second-parent adoptions, medical powers of attorney, how to be sure your partner inherits from you, and other legal matters. THIS MEETING WILL BE OPEN TO ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED, not only the MoMs members. Questions? Contact Martha Daniels Wollam, 410-354-9595 or mdbiblemoth@aol.com

Calling all mothers! Want some advice on mothering, or just a place to vent? Are you looking for information on parenting, financial issues, or legal concerns? Do you want to have fun with other mothers and their children? Then come join together in a discussion and support group sponsored by MCC Baltimore. The group is open to all mothers and partners of mothers, to mothers of all ages, with children of all ages-infant to adult.

We will hold an organizational and get-acquainted meeting at MCC Baltimore at 1 PM Sunday, September 21, 2003, to talk about our needs and hopes - what we want from this group - as well as a meeting time, place, and topics we want to discuss or hear from speakers about. Come meet with your sisters for mutual support, education and socializing!

Your Own Prom - the Prom You Missed

Saturday, September 13
8 PM until Midnight
Tickets $5.00

Was your first prom a good memory or something to forget? On Saturday, September 13, you have a chance for a "do-over". Corsages may be ordered with payment in advance for your sweetheart (or a sweetheart of your choice!) Volunteers are needed to help with decorations, A refreshments table, and clean up after the prom. Check the sign up table today for volunteer lists. Let’s make this an affaire to remember.

DIGGING OUT - WE NEED YOUR HELP

Posted February 20, 2003

Our prayers are with everyone as you dig out and get life back to normal after the record breaking snowfall last weekend..

We got to the church today and are happy to report that all the roofs hold and there were no leaks evident. The condition of the sidewalks and streets though confirmed our decision not to hold the Wednesday evening service. Druid Hill Avenue has been cleared to one lane, but it is a snow emergency route even though there were cars illegally parked along each side. Eutaw Street had been cleared, along with the 300 block of W. Monument Street, but the 400 block had not been plowed and the two cars parked there were still buried.

So, Saturday, February 22, at 9:00 AM we will have a digging party to at least clear the sidewalk on the Monument Street side of the building and get a walkway clear on Druid Hill Avenue. Please bring your own shovels, and we will provide coffee, cocoa, and donuts.

Our best recommendation for parking for the service on Sunday (which we do intend to hold) is the covered parking garage at Maryland General Hospital. There is a charge for parking there, but it is the best available option. The alley that runs next to Coconuts bar has been plowed, as has the 300 block of W. Monument Street, so a clear walking path is available right to our sidewalks.

Again, pray for those who are still not able to dig out, and pick up the phone and call each other to say "how are you holding up friend."

JOIN US FOR OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS "AT HOME"

Posted December 5, 2002

This year marks our first Christmas in our own building. We will have a special Christmas Eve evening service at 10 PM at the new facility at 401 W. Monument Street. This also marks the Advent season, a time of new beginnings and a change in liturgical colors. Please join us for our holiday events this season.

30TH ANNIVERSARY DEDICATION OF NEW WORSHIP FACILITY AND WEEKEND CELEBRATION

Metropolitan Community Church of Baltimore is celebrating 30 years of ministry with the Dedication of their new Worship Facility at 401 West Monument Street, in the Seton Hill neighborhood.

The Anniversary Celebration will kick off Friday evening, October 11, 2002 at 7:00PM with a Dinner/Dance and Silent Auction at the Best Western Conference Center in Baltimore.

The evening includes Appetizers, Buffet Dinner, Dancing, Cash Bar, Door Prizes, Silent Auction and tons of fun! Tickets are on sale through October 6th for $45 per person (credit cards are accepted). Tickets will not be sold at the door so don’t be late! As of September 1, 2002 over $4,000 in auction items had been donated, with more on the way!

Saturday, October 12, 2002 promises to be a day of Celebration from 3:00 to 5:00 PM with the “Gospel Joy Celebration”. Choirs from Christ the Liberator, MCC in New Jersey and MCC Philadelphia will be part of this event, along with MCC Baltimore’s Gospel Chorus and the Choir for the Unity Fellowship. This promises to be a celebration of great music and God’s Holy Spirit! There is no cost for this event.

Following the Gospel Joy Celebration, at 7:00 PM will be the official Dedication Service of the Worship Facility. Rev. Elder Troy D. Perry will be preaching (founder and moderator of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches). Don’t miss the special music and presentations.

Sunday Morning Worship Service at 10:00 AM October 13, Rev Elder Perry will be preaching at MCC Baltimore.

Sunday Evening Worship Service at 6:30 PM - MCC Howard County -- Rev. Elder Perry will also be preaching in Columbia, Maryland, at the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center. MCC Howard County is a parish extension of MCC Baltimore and the newest MCC in Maryland. Everyone is invited to come and experience this young, vibrant congregation.

MCC BALTIMORE NOW PERMANENTLY LOCATED ON W. MONUMENT STREET

MCC Baltimore is now holding weekly worship services at its new facility on W. Monument Street. This is the realization of a 30 year dream to worship in our own facility.

The big move is complete. The sanctuary is done and in use. The office space has been completely moved out of its temporary location. MCC Baltimore is finally HOME!

This week the new phone lines were connected, and the phones now ring in the new office. The new phone number for MCC Baltimore is 410-NOW-MCCB (410-669-6222).

Ministry Leaders: please review all business cards, pamphlets, signage and letterhead you use to be sure you are using the correct address and phone number.

For directions to the new facility and administrative offices, please visit our Directions page.

EVERYTHING ON TRACK FOR MAY 12 SERVICE AT NEW SANCTUARY

Please read the next two articles for details about the Saturday May 11 Move and Sunday May 12 service at the new sanctuary on W. Monument Street. Everything is still on track for worshipping in the new space as of Saturday May 11, 2002.

NEW SANCTUARY UPDATE - MOVING DAY IS ALMOST HERE!

In faith, we plan to hold our worship NEXT SUNDAY, Mother's Day, May 12 in our new home at 401 W. Monument Street. We say in faith because work will continue through this week and we are depending on the final inspections to be completed by the city.

On Saturday, May 11, at 10AM we will meet at the EZ Storage facility at 4001 Southwestern Blvd. in Arbutus to pick up some (or all) of our chairs and bring them down to the facility. Then, probably starting about noon at the facility at 401 W. Monument Street, we will unload the chairs into the sanctuary, and move items over from our rented storage building next door at 423 W. Monument Street so that we can have worship in our new home next Sunday.

If, for some unanticipated reason, the building is not ready for inspections next week, we will postpone our move until the weekend of May 25 and 26, meeting at 10:00 AM on Saturday, May 25, at the EZ Store facility, then moving additional items on Sunday.

We have a new phone number!
It is 410-NOW-MCCB
(410-669-6222)

For now it will take messages, but it will not physically ring anywhere until we are in our new offices. Thanks for your patience!

COLUMBIA WORSHIP'S THIRD YEAR A MILESTONE!

The Metropolitan Community Church Howard County officially became a "Parish Extension" of M.C.C. Baltimore at the March 2 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic District Committee. By unanimous vote the committee, made up of elected lay and clergy representatives of the 22 ministries and churches in the six-state and District of Columbia Region, the new group was given the designation of Parish Extension, the first step toward becoming an independent congregation. A Parish Extension has the authority to call a Pastor, whose appointment will be approved by the pastor of the sponsoring congregation and the District Coordinator.

The District Committee also challenged the new church to raise five thousand dollars, to be met by a grant from the New Works Fund for five thousand dollars and then another four thousand eight hundred dollars also to be met dollar-for-dollar by the fund before the end of the current calendar year. The church was also charged to take the steps to qualify as a Mission Church before year-end which will include incorporation and increased attendance, giving and development of a stewardship campaign.

The worship service was started in Howard County in April of 1999 on Easter Sunday, and has witnessed the commitment of many individuals since the beginning, now primarily attracting folks who are not and were never a part of the Baltimore congregation. Sunday services are held at 6:30 PM at the Oakland Mills Interfaith Center on Robert Oliver Place at the southern end of Thunder Hill Road in Columbia. Programs of the congregation include a singing ensemble, a weekly Bible study and newsletter, and monthly pot luck dinners. A Board of Advisors was appointed for the congregation in September and our pastor, Reverend R. David Smith, has acted as pastor in Howard County until the congregation became ready and able to support a dedicated pastoral leader for this work.

REVIVAL MARCH 9 AND 10

Saturday and Sunday, March 9 and 10, will bring Spring Revival to MCC Baltimore. The Reverend Pat Baumgardner, Pastor of MCC in New York City, will be our special guest preacher. Those who experienced Pat's fiery and challenging preaching in Revival in 1998 will tell you that you won't want to miss this weekend. Worship services will be held on Saturday, March 9, at 7:00 PM, and on Sunday, March 10, at our usual 10:00 AM. We will also have a workshop on Sunday afternoon (bring a dish for a covered dish lunch). The subject is to be determined, but the general theme will be "doing justice."

Come expecting to be inspired and challenged as we revive ourselves in preparation for a "New Day" at MCC Baltimore.

SHEPHERDS WANTED

The Little Lamb's Sunday School is looking for more shepherds. Our morning Sunday School Service has become very popular. The work involves teaching, preparation, and some patience. We need both helpers and leaders. Contact the Little Lamb's Ministry Leaders at service on Sunday mornings.

NEW BIBLE STUDY STARTS IN HANOVER, MD!

WHAT'S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE? begins this Thursday February 7 at 7 PM in Hanover, MD (near Arundel Mills Mall). This is the MCC Howard County Bible Study program that previously met in Ellicott City. See the Bible study news at the bottom of the Calendar page.

WORK ON NEW FACILITY CONTINUES

Work continues on the new facility purchased by MCC Baltimore. Artist renderings of the front and rear views have been added to the Online Tour of the New Facilty page.

Moving, Moving, Moving

Yes, we are moving our Administration and Education Center to temporary facilities and storage immediately adjacent to our new home in the 400 block of W. Monument Street. To accomplish this we need to have several "packing parties" as well as a "packing day" to prepare for the move. Sign up sheets are located in the lobby today for the following packing events:

Wednesday, November 14 7:00 - 10:00 PM
Saturday, November 17 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday, November 20 7:00 - 10:00 PM

We are also looking for a "Moving Coordinator" to handle the overall arrangements for the move into storage. If you have the time to contribute this month, please see the pastor.

Thanks again to the team of six who showed up in Reisterstown Monday evening to move our four new beautiful pews to the storage facility on W. Monument St. These pews will lend a beautiful wood finish to our new worship space.

LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS SUNDAY DECEMBER 2

We have seven positions of leadership at MCC Baltimore to be elected at the December 2nd Congregational Meeting. These include four positions on the Board of Directors, two Lay Delegates, and one Alternate Lay Delegate. Three of the Board terms begin January 2002 and run through December 2004. One position runs through 2003. The Lay Delegate positions will serve from the Congregational Meeting until the first Congregational Meeting after UFMCC’s General Conference in 2005.

WE'RE OVER THE TOP!!!!!!!!

With the funds raised last night at our Homecoming Dinner Dance and Silent Auction, and the $520.00 raised the weekend before at our fundraiser at the Baltimore Eagle, we are confident in saying to you WE'RE OVER THE TOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The "Welcome Home Campaign" has met it's goal of raising $150,000 toward the down payment on a home of our own, a base for our ministries in Central Maryland. Already we have purchased the first property at 401 W Monument Street and begun renovations there. With the completion of our bond campaign we will take the second property to closing, and then begin renovating both properties with a goal of worshiping in our new home by Easter of 2002.

Now that the "Welcome Home Campaign" is completed, we will continue to take up a building fund offering on the last Sunday of each month toward the cost of our new home. We have also established these teams to facilitate the remainder of the process:

A Bond Campaign Committee
A Design Team
A Facilities Funding Team
A Moving Team

As we celebrate the conclusion of the "Welcome Home Campaign" we look forward to the day we first sing praises in our new home.

PRAISE GOD TODAY FOR REACHING THIS MILESTONE!

CONGREGATIONAL FORUM SET FOR SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2001

PRAYERS IN THE TIME OF TRAGEDY

From Pastor David Smith

M.C.C. Baltimore will observe the national day of Prayer and Reflection on Friday, September 14, by holding our prayer chapel [in the Administration and Education Center] open for reflection and prayer from noon until 9:00 PM. You are invited to come and spend some time in prayer, or to stay in your homes with your families but also to take a moment to spend in silence to remember those whose lives have been changed forever.

I, like many of you, have found it difficult to "get going" this week or to pull myself away from the television reports. I believe the greatest testament to our faith we can make is to spend time in intentional prayer tomorrow, and as we go through our daily routines, to thank God and to remember all those whose routines will never be the same. We have a God who promises us that we will never be alone or forsaken, and we know that this too was true for the thousands of individuals who lost their lives in this tragedy.

As difficult as it is for each of us, we must also pray for the hijackers and terrorists who believe in a God who would reward such violence. As people of faith we must be representatives of another way--a way reflected in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I join each of you in prayer, and hope to see you in worship Sunday if not before.

MCC BALTIMORE PURCHASES FIRST PROPERTY

Check out the new Floor Plan image on the New Facility page posted on Sept. 23, 2001.

The Metropolitan Community Church of Baltimore, organized in 1972, has closed on its first piece of real estate and is planning a new ministry facility at 401 W. Monument St., just west of the Mt. Vernon area in historic Seton Hill. Currently a vacant printing company and a garage, the facilities are scheduled for massive renovation to become a sanctuary space and hall which will seat over 200 people, as well as housing other classrooms, meeting space and offices. The facility will total over 8,000 square feet of space when completely renovated.

Purchase of the second building and renovations will be funded through the sale of church bonds in a campaign to kick off by mid-October. To date the congregation has raised over $140,000.00 for this project through various fundraisers including a recent successful theater event. A Dinner-Dance and Silent Auction are planned for Saturday, October 13 at which the completion of the "Welcome Home Campaign" with a goal of $150,000 will be celebrated. Church bonds will allow members and friends of the congregation and others in the community to invest in our future while earning attractive dividends. M.C.C. churches in Washington, D.C., Harrisburg and Mountville, PA, have been funded through this method. There will also be a variety of opportunities to make designated gifts in honor or memory of individuals or groups.

When the new facility is completed, the Baltimore worship services will be held there and all church functions will be located there with the exception of the Howard County service. It is our intention for the Howard County service to eventually become an independent congregation, perhaps as early as 2002. We also someday hope to extend our current outreaches of Bible studies in Carroll and Harford Counties into full-fledged congregations. M.C.C. Baltimore will celebrate its 30th Anniversary in 2002 with the dedication of its new home.

Get more details on our New Facility page.

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING ON NEW FACILITY

On Sunday, August 12, 2001 the congregation of MCC Baltimore at a special meeting voted to purchase and renovate properties at 401 and 405 W. Monument Street as their future home. The congregation also voted to issue $350,000 in church bonds to fund the purchase and renovations. Closing on the first property is expected to take place in the immediate future, with the second property to be purchased and renovations to begin after the completion of the bond issue (in approximately 90 days). It is anticipated that the new home will be dedicated as part of the congregation's 30th Anniversary celebration next year. Praise God!

Get more details on our New Facility page.

THE MAJORITY OF RESTRUCTURING PROPOSALS PASSED BY OUR MOVEMENT'S GENERAL CONFERENCE DELEGATES

GOD IS GIVING US A NEW SONG... DOING A NEW THING ... BRINGING NEW PEOPLE.

New Chapter Opens For UFMCC -- Delegates to UFMCC’s World Jubilee and General Conference again made history on Wednesday, July 4, by approving the majority of the denomination’s restructuring proposals. Only the proposals for proxy voting and to create a unicameral body for both lay and clergy delegates failed to win approval.

With passage of the restructuring, UFMCC will begin a transition from its current U.S. and European District system (currently 12) to an international regional system (nine proposed) and change its governance from a two-tiered system of Elders and District Coordinators to an expanded Board of Elders.

MCC Baltimore will tentatively be a part of a region which will include New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Parts of Northern Virginia as well as Brazil, the Eastern Caribbean Islands including Puerto Rico and part of Central America.

Election News:

Conference delegates elected three Elders during business on Wednesday. The Rev. Elders Hong Tan and Darlene Garner were re-elected to terms on the Board of Elders on the first ballot and Mel Johnson, a chief executive officer for a non-profit forestry association and current chair of the International Commission on the Laity was elected on the second ballot.

Jude Litzenberger of M.C.C. San Diego and Stan Kimer were elected by acclamation to the Commission on the Laity.

The Edith Allen Perry Award is presented at each UFMCC World Jubilee to honor parents’ unconditional love for their children. The award is named in honor of the mother of UFMCC Founder Rev. Troy Perry.

This year’s award was presented Monday evening to the Rev. Dr. James Tanis, a retired Presbyterian minister and the father of the Rev. Justin Tanis, UFMCC Director of Clergy Development. Rev. Tanis Sr. spoke movingly about his journey as Justin, then known as Maggie, first came out to him as a lesbian, and then years later came out again as a transman. He credited their time together walking for the bonding which made each of these transitions possible, and noted that his greatest sadness was that Justin is not ministering in the Presbyterian Church of his heritage.

BIBLE STUDY NEWS NEW BIBLE STUDY IN CATONSVILLE:
WOMEN IN THE GOSPELS

Everyone is invited to Catonsville for a new Bible Study focusing on women’s stories from the Gospels: stories with important lessons for people of all genders. Throughout his public ministry, Jesus taught women he wasn’t supposed to teach and healed women he wasn’t supposed to heal. Women followed him and were touched by him and, sometimes, argued with him. 

Their stories include: *Elizabeth, who prophesied Jesus’ coming, and Mary Magdalene, who proclaimed his resurrection *Mary and Martha famous for their argument about doing the dishes who also teach us about faith and trust in God, *the Syro-Phoenician woman, to whom Jesus said one of the only truly unkind things he’s recorded as saying who teaches us all about inclusive love. These are great stories that can help us deal with the challenges in our own lives and help us understand what Jesus’ life and mission mean for us today. 

WHEN: 7:00 p.m., 2nd & 4th Fridays each month.

FIRST MEETING: 7:00 p.m., Friday, June 22

AIDSWALK - JUNE 3, 2001

MCC Baltimore will had three designated walkers participating in the June 3rd AIDSWALK, an annual fundraiser for the Health Education Resources Organization, a major AIDS services provider which serves a community that is least able to access other services and health insurance. Our clowns will also be entertaining the crowds at the walk "warm up. 

Our walkers raised over $1400 for AIDSWALK this year.

© 2005 MCC Baltimore