Arundel Association
Members of The Church at Severn Run are busy doing outreach ministry this winter. The Women on Mission group is collecting candy, popcorn, hot cocoa, prepackaged cookies, crackers, gum and other treats to send to send to college students for Valentine’s Day. The ladies are also gathering names of those serving in the military in preparation for a special prayer service for the troops.
The youth are working to raise $500 to buy a cow to donate to an African village through a program called “Heifer International.”
Church wide, February is “Souper Bowl” month. Members are bringing cans of soup to the church to help the needy.
Brent Rawson, the church’s youth pastor, has taken a position with the North American Mission Board as a regional representative of World Changers. He will work with the church as interim youth pastor until another pastor is called.
Donnie Hatcher is the church’s new children’s pastor.
Journey Church, Crofton, prayed asking God to show them a way to let their community know they exist. Church members pondered the possibilities. Early in 2008 they came up with what they felt was a God-given idea. They read about a church in Charlotte, N.C., seeking to make an impact on their community by dropping plastic eggs from a helicopter. What if Journey Church dropped candy at Halloween? Now that might get some attention!
On Oct. 26, 1,500 people gathered at Old Mill High School for a carnival, with local businesses manning booths and giving away prizes. At about 12:50, a helicopter flew over the football field and dropped close to 20,000 bags of candy.
“People screamed and cheered” Robby Ott, Journey’s pastor, said. In fact, it was so loud, the helicopter pilot said he could hear the cheering over the sound of the chopper even with his headphones on.
The church organized children by age group and they ran out when it was their group’s turn to collect the candy.
“They had the field cleared off in about two minutes,” Ott laughed.
“This was a huge undertaking for a church of about 50 people,” the pastor admitted.
But Ott said Journey was desperate to reach the community and show people the church loves them. “Our goal was to bless the community and ask for nothing in return,” Ott said.
New Beginnings Church & Ministries, Pasadena, is planning service projects for this year as part of its “Mickey” ministry, in honor of Gordon “Mickey” Babbington who died late last year. He was an unassuming man who gave of himself quietly to help with various outreach projects. He especially enjoyed helping with Inner Harbor Ministry’s feeding program in Curtis Bay.
Severna Park Church members make first time guests feel welcome by giving them homemade pies.
The Bridge Church, Stevensville, will celebrate Valentine’s month with a date night featuring a catered dinner and movie at the church.
Baltimore Association
Colonial Church, Randallstown, will host its 10th Annual Missions Conference March 8-10. This year’s theme is “Cultivating Laborers for the New Harvest” (Matt. 9:37b, 38 NIV).
Ken Ellis will be the guest speaker as the conference begins on Sunday with the 11 a.m. service. Ellis is the team leader for the People Group/Interfaith Evangelism for the North American Missions Board.
Eight Missionaries from local and international service will conduct workshops each night on a variety of subjects. All are welcomed to come, be blessed and support these missionaries who make such great sacrifices in spreading the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
For additional information please contact Clarence Smith at (410) 655-1080.
The women’s ministry at Gunpowder Church, Freeland, offered “A new year to rejuvenate your body, mind and soul” event for women. The afternoon included a lunch, seminars on weight loss and exercise and a special women’s health issues time. There was also a session for questions and answers.
The church’s “knit wits” group is now busy knitting caps for needy children in Afghanistan and in Tanzania. They’re also continuing to knit chemo hats for local cancer patients.
Johns Hopkins University Clinical Practice Association (JHUCPA) teamed up with Bethlehem Church for its fall food drive. Darnell Ranson, pastor of the church, said the church’s pantry had been empty for several months, but unexpectedly JHUCPA staff called the church seeking to help.
The campaign ran for three weeks resulting in five needy families receiving boxes of non-perishable food items along with meats provided by the church for their Thanksgiving dinners. Each box also included informational packets about the church and New Testament Bibles. The church also received the families’ contact information for future follow-up.
“One cannot help but think that God may not come when you want Him to, but He is always right on time! That is so true for these families,” Ranson said.
The church also teamed up with Middle River Church to have a Christmas party for Jesus and to provide 48 at-risk children with toys and clothing.
Blue Ridge Association
Fellowship Baptist Church of Middletown started a new photography club. It’s open to photographers of all levels, but its geared towards beginners. After a short lesson, club members get hands-on practice time taking pictures both indoors and out. Lessons range from basic introduction to computer enhancement. All of the lessons include ways to use photography to learn about and share God and the glory of His creation.
First Church, Thurmont, will sponsor a Valentine’s dinner at a local restaurant. As a fellowship/outreach, the church has a monthly scrapbooking fellowships.
Delaware Association
Friendship Family, Newark, will have a football party to celebrate the Super Bowl this month. The church youth group is active, meeting for “Funtastic Fridays,” retreats, missions and more. The teens will attend “PlanetWisdom,” a youth retreat in Washington, D.C. in March.
Hockessin Church had its annual men’s conference, “Becoming the Men of God” last month featuring Mac Powell and Tim Cash. Powell is the founder of the Christian rock band “Third Day.” Cash is a former Houston Astros baseball player and now is the national director for Unlimited Potential, a ministry geared towards reaching those in professional baseball through chapels and Bible studies. UPI also ministers to children through clinics and camps.
The church has a men’s Sunday school class and monthly men’s breakfasts.
Eastern Association
Allen Memorial Church, Salisbury, has a “Facedown Day of Prayer” from 6-8 a.m. Each week a pastor or ministry volunteer leads a prayer time. Individuals, families and groups are urged to come spend five minutes or two hours praying.
As last month’s mission project, the elementary school aged children at the church collected cough drops, peanut butter crackers, tissues, candy, gum, juice boxes, deodorant and shampoo for a homeless shelter.
First Church, Cambridge, has a Sunday School class for kids ages nine to 14 called “Everything You Need to Know About Being a Teenager.” The class is designed to help tweens make that difficult transition and how their faith should be reflected in their actions.
Mid Maryland Association
Friendship Church, Sykesville, helps Oasis Homeless Shelter. Each month members serve food to homeless people in Baltimore.
The church will have a father/daughter Valentine’s dinner on Valentine’s Day at the church.
Hope Church, Laurel, had a family movie night last month and served snacks during an intermission.
The church also had a men’s prayer breakfast with a devotional time, prayer and a “big” breakfast. Hope Church members serve meals at Elizabeth House, a pregnancy center, day care center and life skills facility for those in need or crisis.
Montgomery Association
Members of Barnesville Church members sent 110 mattress pads to Baghdad for U.S. troops last year. To show their appreciation, the soldiers sent Barnesville an American flag that flew over Forward Operating Base Loyalty, Baghdad, Iraq, on Oct. 27 along with a certificate of authenticity and a picture of the unit that received the pads with personal thank you notes.
Barnesville celebrated their annual “Baptist Men’s Day” with a three-day rally, Jan. 16-18. The theme was “Where are the men?” Speakers for Friday and Saturday evening services were Danny Moore, pastor of Towne Church and Ellis Moore, pastor of Georgia Avenue Church. The men cooked breakfast on Jan. 18 before worship. One of the highlights of the Sunday service was a special by the “The Men of Barnesville.” Ian Godwin, a well-known businessman and sportsman was the guest speaker.
Georgia Avenue Church, Wheaton, supports “Grandmas for Jesus,” an initiative to help older women in third world countries who have been left to die of poverty, malnutrition or poor health. The church supports a 71-year-old “Grandmas Esteri’ by sending her a monthly donation to help with her daily needs.
The church also helps a small family of orphans in Liberia. The three children, ages 9, 6 and 4 lost their father in 2003 in the Liberian war. Their mother died of an illness in 2007. They stayed with a neighbor temporarily then were reunited with their grandmother in 2007.
Greenridge Church ordained Brandon Turner as a pastor on Sunday evening, Nov. 9. Turner has been serving as the minister of discipleship at the church since January 2008. He is a graduate of Carson-Newman College and the Gardner Webb University School of Divinity.
The church has been busy with outreach to their community and world. Greenridge served as a regional collection center for Operation Christmas Child, Samaritan’s Purse for 2008. They launched a partnership with the SHARE Food Network to help supplement local families’ food budgets.
Greenridge members are also very active helping with the ongoing Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. Ten members of the church traveled to New Orleans at the end of October to assist with Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, the seventh trip sponsored by Greenridge.
Seven Locks Church, Potomac, had an installation service for Paul Craft, the church’s new associate pastor for children and youth.
Members collected blankets, clothing, toys and school supplies for Operation Outreach, an initiative supported by soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilian contractors who volunteer their free time helping the people of Afghanistan.
The church-sponsored Boy Scout Troop 1434 was selected to represent the Capital Area Council BSA during the presidential inauguration.
Potomac Association
The women of First Church, LaPlata, had a baby shower for The Catherine Foundation in Waldorf.
Lexington Park Church (LPBC) has exercise classes from 4:30-5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In January the church offered women’s self defense classes.
LPBC has a “BUMP” initiative—bathe “uth” in prayer. Adult church members adopt youth members to pray for daily.
Nineteen members from Trinity Church, Waldorf, traveled 500 miles to Pikeville, Ky., in December along with other local churches and community volunteers, for a Christmas give away program sponsored by Thankful Hearts food pantry.
Team members distributed food to needy people, many of them seniors, who stood in line for hours in the 20-30 degree temperatures for staples such as eggs, bread, potatoes, juice, dairy and some frozen food items. The next day they gave underwear, socks, coats, shoes and toys to about 400 children at a local elementary school.
Prince George’s Association
Cresthill Church, Bowie, member Cathy Plunkett, who founded and directs “Good News Bible Recycling” is now collecting non-prescription reading glasses in addition to Bibles to distribute to prisons and other organizations that request them.
Former BCM/D executive director, Charles Barnes, has been leading a study based on the book “A Christian Guide to Islam” by Michael McCullar. The study examines Mohammed and the Quran.
First Church, Capitol Heights, hosted a men’s conference “Manning the Gap” on Jan. 16.
New Song Bible Fellowship, Bowie, had a day of prayer and reflection with special speakers and music on Jan. 19 in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Church members and friends gathered to pray for their communities, to thank God for what Dr. King accomplished and to pray for President Barak Obama.
Susquehanna Association
Allen Carter retired on Dec. 31. Carter served as pastor of Calvary Church, Bel Air, for 20 years. He was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1961. His first pastorate was Alston Church in Alston. Ga.
Calvary started an assistance program to help those interested in adopting children.
First Church, Havre de Grace, has a “From the Heart” clothing closet on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from 11:30-2:30 p.m. and on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month from 5-7 p m.
First Church, Perryville, has a cookie ministry. Members bring cookies to church on the first and third Sunday of each month. The cookies are delivered to local businesses and schools in the community as a church outreach.
Real Life Church, Abingdon, has a “Bring the Word” ministry. On the first Sunday of each month the church has a time of worship and devotional at the Parkview Senior Apartments.
Western Association
Cumberland Community Church had a blood drive last month. Church members at CCC regularly recycle aluminum cans to buy Bibles for missionaries.
Obituary
Homer Christian South, Jr., died on Dec. 3. He was 85-years-old. South was born in Washington, N.C., on Sept. 11, 1923 to Rosa and Homer South. His mother died when he was three years old and he moved to Gloucester, Virginia where his aunt, Marie Davis, and his grandparents raised him.
He served in the US Army Air Corps, and then returned to Baltimore to reunite with his father. In Baltimore, he met and married Charlotte Hall. South attended Toccoa Falls University, Ga., where he was able to receive both his high school diploma and Bachelor of Arts in Theology in three years. God called him to pastoral ministry and Homer South served churches in Maryland and Virginia for 57 years. South planted several churches throughout his life including Manchester, Berlin and Parkville Christian churches.
In 1982, South and his wife moved back to Virginia and South served as pastor of Olivet Church, Lower King & Queen Church and Beulah Church. When he retired he still served as associate pastor of Poroporone Church.
Homer South was preceded in death by his parents and his aunt; his brother, Philip Ray South, and a granddaughter, Alicia.
He is survived by his wife, Charlotte; his daughters, Jean Thomas of Baltimore, Md., and Mryna Ashley (Tommy) of King & Queen, Va.; his sons, Chris South, and wife Pamela of Salisbury, Md.; and Philip South and wife Marian of Keller, Va.; as well as 12 grandchildren and 19 great-grand children.