MPC NEWS MAGAZINE April 2021 - What's Happening in April ? - Maryland Presbyterian Church
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MPC NEWS MAGAZINE April 2021
What’s Happening in April ?
Maundy Thursday will be on April 1st, celebrat-
Easter Sunday ed at home over dinner at 6:30 PM on Zoom.
April 4th at 10:30
This year for Easter Sunday we will
celebrate with a Drive-In Worship ser- Good Friday Movie Night by Zoom
vice at 10:30 AM. It will also be live- April 2 7:00 PM
streamed on Facebook, and on Zoom. First Reformed
First Reformed is spiritual, religious, environ-
mental, and psychological in na-
ture. Starring Ethan Hawke (in one
Ministry Focus for April of his best performances) as the
SAGE/Farm to Stoop pastor of an historically famous
Earth Day is coming, friends! As in other years, environ- church and one who brings much
mental activists will honor the Earth on April 22th, and baggage to his calling, Cedric
MPC will recognize Earth Sunday on April 18th. But, of Kyles as the megachurch supervis-
course, our stewardship to the Earth is never confined to ing pastor who has much to bal-
just one Sunday, and so our ministry focus for April will be ance on his proverbial plate and Amanda Sey-
a partnership between the SAGE and Farm to Stoop minis- fried, a pregnant parishioner whose husband is
tries. so zealous about environmental issues that it
On April 3 (the Saturday before Easter), SAGE is hosting affects their lives to their core, this film obvious-
an intergenerational Native Planting event at MPC at 10 a.m ly touches many bases. Discussion to follow.
(see article in other column). All are welcome to help, with Rick Dezes
any skill level! We hope to also do some light weeding of
the rain gardens on the MPC campus.
In addition, we will spend time in April connecting our
SAGE ministry with Farm to Stoop. Our friends Derrick
Weston at Rockrose Farm will be joining us at MPC for a
dialogue sermon on April 11 and Atticus Zavaletta from the Plants for Easter
North Avenue Mission will be here on April 25. We know April 3rd 10 AM-Noon
that food security, social justice and care for the land are all
connected and look forward to hearing more. This year for Easter, we will be planting native
For Earth Sunday itself, April 18, SAGE is very excited to flowers and plants around
host a special service of reflection dedicated to the Earth. our property to celebrate
After the worship service, we will host a viewing of the new life, and care for
short film Earth, Water, Woman, about a community in God's creation. The plants
Trinidad and Tobago inspired by their faith to protect and will be provided by Her-
restore their watershed and local ecosystem. After viewing, ring Run Nursery. to sup-
SAGE will lead a discussion of the film for the congrega- port Blue Water Balti-
tion. All are welcome! more.
Lorraine Eakin We ask that, for COVID
protocol reasons, you please bring your own gar-
dening items (gloves, a gardening trowel), your
own water bottle, and a small snack if you like.
You can donate a plant, and have it marked in
memory or honor of someone. Everyone of all
ages and abilities is invited to join us to help
plant, and weed our rain gardens. To donate go
to bit.ly/EasterPlantsMPC
Page 2
Providence Press
Reading the Bible Chronologically
Proverbs
Proverbs—the original self-help book
“A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to Mission update
instruct its readers on solv- These amounts have been donated and
ing personal problems. will soon be dispersed (in addition to the
Proverbs certainly fits the budgeted amounts.)
bill. Much of it was writ- Butoke $1100 (majority donated in memory
ten/compiled by King Solo- of Tom Koch)
mon around 950 B.C. It Child Health Foundation $380
was not completed until ACTC Operating $2400 (a fair amount do-
after the Israelites returned
from exile in Babylonia, nated in memory of Tom Koch)
approximately 538 B.C. Madre Godparenting $4975
“Some of the main topics Joy Offering $100
of the book of Proverbs are OGHS $275
comparisons between man's and God's way of living, sin, gain- Habitat for Humanity $100
ing wisdom, fear of the Eternal, self-control, proper use of Souper Bowl $50
riches, training children, honesty, helpfulness, diligence, lazi- Mission Other $25
ness, health and alcohol use, plus several others.” Here is a
summary of topics.
Adultery - Alcohol (Wine) - Anger
Blessings - Children - Correction It’s worth a reading of Proverbs to pick out the
Debt - Envy - Fear of the Lord gems and leave the rocks.
Fools - God Hates - Good and Evil After Proverbs, the idea of composing advice
Happiness - Health - Hope and Mercy volumes persisted, as later, we have Cicero’s
Justice - Laziness - The Mouth writing in ancient Greece on “how should we
Parents - Poverty - Pride live?” and Ovid’s “Art of Love.” Many Islamic
Trials - Trust & Faith - Truth and Lies scholars also compiled what could be considered
Virtuous Wife - Way of the Lord - Wealth behavior guides.
Wisdom - The Wise - Women By 1859, there was a best-seller, entitled Self-
There are 39 proverbs about wisdom, such as Proverbs 4:6- Help by Samuel Smiles. From there, the occa-
7… Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, sional guide became a plethora of lessons, devel-
and she will watch over you. oping into a cultural phenomenon in the late
One of my favorites is Proverbs 4:13: As a retired, but al- twentieth century.
ways learning educator, it speaks to me... Hold on to instruc- However, for pithy, succinct advice on the
tion, do not let it go, guard it well, for it is your life. most important aspects of life, Proverbs is still a
For wise King Solomon, wisdom was a feminine trait! As winner. Carol Mason
you read those 39 wisdom proverbs, the she pronoun domi-
nates. Obviously, that emphasis was lost on the generations of
males who eventually took control of church doctrine and bu-
reaucracy, making women subservient in the process.
That feminist emphasis does not apply to the rest of the
book, however. Many of the proverbs are noted as instructions
to sons. Evidently, daughters didn’t need any tips on proper
behavior. This conservative, traditionalist viewpoint is appar-
ent throughout the Proverbs. The picture we see is pretty
much black and white. Either you are wise or a fool, righteous
or wicked. Also, today we would not condone the violent solu-
tions of sparing the rod, spoiling the child or in Chapter 20:30:
Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the
inmost being.
As always, we must approach scripture thoughtfully, for
there is also much good advice in Proverbs...to speak wisely,
live with respect for others, be cheerful, humble, and without
envy and to love God. These are all valuable life-long goals.
Page 3
Providence Press
Published for
the members and friends of
Maryland Presbyterian Church,
1105 Providence Road,
Towson, Maryland 21286.
(410) 825-0719
Editors: Jo Sack, Rick Dezes First game with Red Sox April 1st TBA
Production and distribution
Lauren Salah
Other Contributors to this Issue: Home game with Red Sox April 8th TBA
Carol Mason, Pastor David,
Lorraine Eakin
Editorial Comment
What’s on the PLATE?
P Pancakes for breakfast with Prune juice.
For lunch, Peanut butter sandwich with a Pear. Laugh of the Month
Later, Pork roast, Pasta, Peas, Peach juice, and Now That I'm Older…
Pineapple upside down cake. If you can’t think of a word say “I forgot the English word
Popcorn with a movie at bedtime. for it.” That way people will think you’re bilingual instead
L Life cereal in the AM with Lingonberry juice. of an idiot.
At noon, Lasagna and Lettuce salad, Lime tea.
Suppertime, Lamb stew and Lima beans, I’m getting tired of being part of a major historical event.
Lemon meringue pie.
Glass of Lemonade with game at bedtime. I don’t always go the extra mile, but when I do it’s because
A Alphabits cereal with Apricot juice. I missed my exit.
Acorn squash soup with sliced Avocado.
American cheese with macaroni and Asparagus, My goal for 2020 was to lose 10 pounds. Only have 14 to
Apple crisp. go.
Some Almonds with movie at bedtime.
T French Toast with a cup of Tea. Ate salad for dinner. Mostly croutons and tomatoes. Really
Cream of Tomato soup with Tuna salad. just one big round crouton covered with tomato sauce, and
Sliced Turkey with Turnips and a Tangerine, cheese. FINE, it was a pizza.... OK, I ate a pizza! Are you
Chocolate Truffle. happy now?
Some Taffy with a game at bedtime.
E Scrambled Eggs with toast and Elderberry tea. I just did a week's worth of cardio after walking into a spi-
Eggplant casserole with Endive der web.
Edam cheese with spaghetti and sautéed Escarole,
Glass of Eggnog. Kids today don't know how easy they have it. When I was
Some English walnuts at bedtime. young, I had to walk 9 feet through shag carpet to change
the TV channel.
What’s on your Plate?
Candy! OH! Remember back when we were kids and every time it was
C Bowl of Cornflakes with glass of Cranberry juice. below freezing outside they closed school? Yeah, me
Chili Con Carne and Cottage Cheese. neither.
Fish and Chips with Carrot and Celery salad,
Cherry pie. A thief broke into my house last night. He started searching for
Slices of Cantaloupe at bedtime. money so I got up and searched with him.
I think I'll just put an "Out of Order" sticker on my forehead and
Jo Sack call it a day.
Providence Press Page 4
New Members 2. Glenn Wells Glenn Wells, Amy’s husband,
1. Amy Wells, lives in the Lutherville- is a music lovers and enjoys
Timonium area, right near experiencing live music. Real-
the Ridgely Middle School. izing that avenue has been
She is an art teacher and a closed for the present, he looks
Pre-K assistant at Haven- forward to the future, and to
wood Preschool. Amy also the wonderful musical program
freelances graphic design/ that MPC makes possible.
publications, which was her Glenn is a volunteer with
Acts4Youth, a program that
primary career for 30 years. works with city youth to help
She and husband Glenn them with conflict resolution,
have four children who are spiritual and academic growth.
all young adults now. She
enjoys drawing, painting,
reading, and watching the Orioles and Ravens.
They also have 2 little mini schnauzers that bark a 3. Mary Sturm was born and raised in Baltimore and
lot, and three cats. Wow! She and Glenn trans- left to explore the world at 23, living
and working Stuttgart, West Germany
ferred from Havenwood Presbyterian where she for several years. Then she returned to
had been a member since childhood. She met Pas- work for the U.S. Government in D.C.
tor David and Carol Mason two years ago when She got a degree in philosophy from
she was helping with the Woodbourne-McCabe Goucher College. She says that life
summer camp. They visited MPC several times was good at a Va. Eastern Shore get-
and met with Leigh to discuss their faith journey away, including lots of boating and
and began following the services on Facebook dur- fishing. She moved to Broadmead Re-
ing the pandemic, finally deciding it was time to tirement Community in 2015, where
commit to Maryland. Amy and Glenn are looking her volunteer work and livelihood con-
forward to getting to know other members and tinues.
participating in the life of the church. Mary was raised Catholic. She vol-
So glad you are with us, Amy! unteered to drive Broadmead friends to
MPC for Sunday services beginning
sometime in 2017 and is delighted to continue attending
ever since. She says, “Really nice people, feeling of be-
longing and now I look forward to becoming more in-
volved and enhancing my personal and spiritual relation-
ships within the community.”
Welcome to MPC, Mary!
4. Julia Wells. daughter of Amy and Glenn, lives in the Lu-
therville-Timonium area with her parents
and two of her three brothers. She gradu-
ated from Lebanon Valley College in
Pennsylvania last May, 2020, where she
studied music and visual art. Currently
she is working at Havenwood Preschool
as a teaching assistant. Julia was drawn
to MPC because of the inclusivity of our
During COVID times residents of Broad- congregation, as well as our focus on
mead received their meals in nice heavy-duty outreach to help the environment and
paper bags with handles. MPC residents marginalized groups. She is excited to help in aiding our
saved their bags for ACTC and North Ave. community as well as participating in making music with the
Ministry food distribution. Here is J. Wright congregation.
picking up one batch from a resident, Bill We are pleased to have you, Julia.
Breakey. Clients much prefer these bags to
the usual paper/plastic combo. Recycling!!
Page 5
Providence Press
Session Digest March 2021
On March 8th, our Session gathered, beginning our time together sharing where we have experienced
gratitude recently. We reviewed the estimates of giving we have received so far, an impressive $51,088!
We reviewed the minutes of the ministry coordination team, and are excited for their hard work, includ-
ing events where we can gather together as a community safely outside. We also reviewed needed up-
dates to our website that highlights their work, and procedures for disbursing funds more efficiently
throughout the year. The Property Team has asked to meet via Zoom, and we are so grateful to Rocky,
Sam, and Tim O’Neil for their hard work to keep our property repaired, along with all of those who care
for our grounds and the Memorial Garden. Recently we had a leak of our radiant floor heating, and
thanks to Rocky’s hard work we have had it repaired and are pursuing having the labor costs covered by
our insurance company.
The remainder of our meeting was spent exploring the topics that will need to be addressed for regath-
ering in person. Our Elders made it clear that, while they are excited for us to be able to be together, it
makes the most sense at this time to focus on what we know we can do. We can gather outside for prayer
stations and fellowship opportunities after drive-in services. And we can have outdoor games for kids,
drive-in movie nights with our friends from Divinity Lutheran Church and another seed starting event for
our friends from Farm to Stoop.
Later, we will be exploring how to prepare our sanctuary and services to be hybrid in person and
online, how to retrofit our space for the needs of a post-Covid world and how to know when it is safe to
be able to be inside and worship together with children and adults. It is a massive undertaking, but we
are grateful for the help of local health experts at neighboring churches and for your patience as we pre-
pare. The guidance we are hearing from the Presbytery and others is that churches who want to be able
to sing together and are multigenerational (like us) will be able to begin to regather in the Fall, unless
virus variants change the course of the pandemic. We are grateful though, for the variety of ways we can
gather outside, online and at Drive-In Church while we prepare.
Peace be with you, Rev. David Norse Thomas
With permission
MPC News Magazine
Maryland Presbyterian
Church
1105 Providence Road
Towson, Maryland 21286
mpc@mpc.org
Continue to Support ACTC
Please!
Mission: To be a welcoming, progressive faith community,
nurturing inquisitive Christians for life and service in the twenty-first century.
Sunday Worship 10:30:00 AM Church Staff
Rev. David Norse Thomas, Minister
Communion Sunday, to be announced Leigh Erdman, Minister of Family Values
Choir Director, Cassidy McGinty
Anne E. Culbertson, Choir Section
Coffee Time after Worship by Zoom Leader
Lauren Salah, Administrative Director
April 2021
Thu 1 Maundy Thursday 6.PM by Zoom
See page 1
Fri 2 Good Friday Movie by Zoom See page 1 If no access to building:
Sat 3 Plants for Easter See page 1 To join in worship on Sunday, here is what you
Sun 4 Easter Sunday Worship 10:30 AM need to know: To watch from home on Facebook
Live (even if you don’t have an account) go to:
Drive-in https://www.facebook.com/
Sun 11 Worship 10:30 AM; marylandpresbyterianchurch/
Mon 12 Session 6:30 PM Scroll down until you see the video. If you have a
Sun 18 Earth Sunday Worship 10:30 AM profile, you can type a comment to share prayers. If
After worship, Film with Discussion See page 1 you don’t have a profile, you can text or call in
Sun 25 Worship 10:30 AM prayer requests to Pastor David at 443-384-7546
To join Zoom, go to www.bit.ly/ during the worship service or before.
To join by phone, dial 1-301-715-8592 You can call into Worship. If you are calling in
Enter our meeting ID: 924-8377-5185# from your phone, dial 1-646-558-8656, then
When asked for your participant ID, when asked for meeting ID, dial 878-627-277#.
simply push # When you are asked for a participant ID, just hit #.
Visit our Website at www.mpchurch.org
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