January - February 2020

Dear Friends,

There will not be another newsletter

before Lent (which begins with Ash

Wednesday on February 26th), so I

thought it would be a good time to

start thinking about it. First, be as-

sured, there is nothing mandatory or

obligatory about observing Lent. It is

a kind of a “made up” religious sea-

son. However, from ancient times,

Christians have found dedicating this

season to intentional devotional

practice increases intimacy with

God.

Lent lasts for

40 days be-

tween Ash

Wednesday

and Easter,

not counting

S u n d a y s .

The 40 days reminds us of Jesus’ 40-

day temptation in the desert and the

Israelites 40 years wandering in the

wilderness. Inspired by these stories,

traditionally Lent is a period of pen-

itence (which is why Sundays don’t

count toward the 40 days. Sundays

What’s

Inside?

Churchworks

Special Sunday Luncheon Series

One to One Relational Training

January & February Birthdays

2

Calendar

Poetry Corner

3

Upcoming Preaching Schedule

Getting to Know One Another

March Birthdays

4

Facing Death Together by Rev. Jenny Williams

5

Happy New Year from Kay Papa Nou!

6

AshWednesday Service

Book Club

Pastor Tom on Vacation

7

THE HERALD & BELLRINGER

N e w s f r o m G o v a n s

P r e s b y t e r i a n C h u r c h

FACING DEATH TOGETHER

by Rev. Jenny Williams

It seems that no sooner have we shared

the joy of Jesus’ birth and celebrated

the New Year’s promise of birth and

rebirth then we are facing the ever-

present peril of Jesus’ death. In the

Gospel of Matthew, we have one short,

sweet chapter out of 28 to hear about

the baby Jesus before the shadow of

death looms. The new family is warned

of imminent danger and flees to safe-

ty. In the Gospel of Mark, just 14 vers-

PASTORAL PONDERINGS by Pastor Tom Harris

Continued on p. 3

Continued on p. 5

es into the first chapter the prophet,

John is arrested for proclaiming Jesus’

ministry and the threats to Jesus begin.

By the end of Chapter 4 out of 24, in

P a g e 2

CHURCHWORKS - NEWS FROM THE SESSION

This was shared by Session with the congregation on December 22 in both services:

The Session met for our regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, December 17th. We have three announcements about Personnel. The first is that the Associate Pastor Nominating Committee has a favorite candidate who is very interested in serving at Govans. Unfortunately, we cannot move forward with hiring him because his husband is a medical student and will be matched for a residency in March. The match could be anywhere in the country. We hope it will be in Baltimore, but until the match, we cannot move forward. So we are waiting. In the meantime, we are creating two very part-time transitional positions. One is a Transitional Coordinator or Youth and Young Families who will be organizing one young family gathering per month and two youth groups per month. For this short term position, we are hiring the Associate Pastor Candidate. He is scheduled to start in January. His name is Billy Kluttz. Due to continuing commitments at another church, he will not be able to be with us on Sunday mornings. He will start in Janu-ary and serve to the end of May. The second position is a Pastoral Assistant for Worship Leadership. This person will provide worship leadership in both services similar to the worship leadership model we followed when we had Co-Pastors. This person will also preach three times over the 5-month term of January to May. For this position, we are happy to announce that we have hired our own Lea Gilmore. She will continue in her position as Band and Congregational Song Leader in the first service and will add these new duties in both the first and second services. If you have any questions or comments please speak with an elder or Pastor Tom.

January Birthdays 1- Chris D’Arezzo

5 - Jean Van Buskirk

5 - Bob Wong

6 - Wayne White

7 - Elizabeth Ceanfaglione

7 - Jane Wilson

12 - Drew Anderson

12 - Justin Conrad

12 - Lisa Beacham

15 - Audrey Wilson

19 - Ruth Williams

19 - Amy Bryant

21 - Jackie Williams

22 - Kaycee MacDougall

24 - Evan Bush

28 - Liz Baer

28 David Peck

30 - Katie Field

30 - Jessica Sheeks

31 - Renate Dombrowski

31 - Julie McDill

February Birthdays 3 - Chris Hoffman

4 - David Sandles

4 - Scott Wong

5 - Felicia Traynham

8 - Lyndell Smith

9 - Patricia Short

10 - Chad Koehler

10 - Barb Taber

11 - Karen DeCamp

11 - Karen Wulff

12 - Susie Sutherland

14 - Xavier Henderson

15 - John Laube

16 - George Van Buskirk

18 - Bonnie Thomson

19 - Andrea Cox

21 - Mimi Cooper

22 - Doug Gaede

23 - Wendy Smith

24 - Wesley Fuller

27 - Loren Western

T h e H e r a l d & B e l l r i n g e r

Special Sunday Luncheon Series:

PLANNING FOR DEATH AND DYING FOR YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES

March 8 - Planning Your Estate

March 15 - Planning for Disability & Life Transitions

March 22 - Planning for your Death & Funeral

The series will be held at 12:15 pm each Sunday. A simple lunch will be included. RSVP

requested but not required and childcare is available if requested

One to One Relational Meeting Training: Everyone is

invited to join us January 28 from 6:30-9:00 p.m. in the Waverly Room for this hands-on training. Our trainer will be Rev. Kate Foster Connors, Executive Director of The Center, which is a Ministry of the Baltimore Presbytery. One to One Relational Meetings are a way of talking to people about the things that are most important to them and helping people with common passions get connected. This type of meeting is being used by churches across the country as a way to do ministry that goes beyond just twisting arms to get people to do what has always been done or fill committee slots. This is a free training, but please RSVP to Pastor Tom so we can plan accordingly.

P a g e 3 N e w s f r o m G o v a n s P r e s b y t e r i a n

January

13 - Earth Care Committee, 5:30 p.m.

Finance Committee, 7 p.m.

17 - Youth Group, 6:30 p.m.

20 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Office Closed)

25 - Flapjack Fundraiser at Applebee’s, 8:00 a.m.

27 - Session Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

28 - 1-to-1 Relational Meeting Training, 6:30 p.m.

February

3 - Community Sing with Lea Gilmore, 7:00 p.m.

5 - Personnel Committee, 6:00 p.m.

7 - Youth Group, 6:30 p.m.

10 - Finance Committee, 7:00 p.m.

14 - Bookends Book Club, 10:00 a.m. (Youth Room)

17 - President’s Day (Office Closed)

18 - Session Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

21 - Youth Group, 6:30 p.m.

26 - Ash Wednesday Service, 7:00 p.m.

POETRY CORNER

are the Lord’s Day and always a day to celebrate the

resurrection). When a person dedicates Lent to peni-

tence they might do some level of fasting. Even ab-

staining from one thing like alcohol, chocolate, or so-

cial media is considered a form of fasting. We ab-

stain from various things as a way to remind ourselves

of our dependence on God and, hopefully, knock our

ego down a few notches and open our hearts to

God’s guidance.

In modern times, faithful people instead of abstaining

from something have also used the season of Lent to

add a spiritual practice. So they might pray or medi-

tate for 10 minutes every day. They might volunteer

for a worthy organization once a week. They might

commit to attending church every Sunday in Lent.

Regardless, as people, we simply don’t do

well with doing something every day forever.

So Lent is a time to give extra energy to some

practice for a limited time. Perhaps we find the

experience so helpful or inspiring that we de-

cide to go further with it. Or perhaps we are

relieved it is over and vow never to try that

again. This is still a success because we have

learned something about our limitations.

So we’ve got some time. Let’s think and pray

about what we will do or not do this Lenten

Season. Will we accept the invitation of mil-

lions of faithful Christians throughout history to

use this time to increase our intimacy with God?

Peace,

Tom

Pastoral Ponderings...continued from Page 1

The deadline for submissions for the March-

April 2020 newsletter is February 10. Please

send to Andy Wilson

(wilson@govanspres.org) or call the church

office.

CHURCH CALENDAR

What’s

Going on

@

Govans?

P a g e 4

T h e H e r a l d & B e l l r i n g e r

March Birthdays

1 - Andrew Nuckolls 3 - DeAnne Bylerly

5 - Phyllis Ross 9 - Shelly Clay-Robison 9 - Grace Sutherland

9 - Becky Vickers 10 - Denise Evans 10 - Chris Herfel

14 - David Greenlee 14 - Bob Vickers

16 - Jenny Hoffman 17 - Terry Shaw

20 - Mary Beth White 21 - Grace Johnson 22 - Abbie Vickers 26 - Jon Morgan 29 - Ashley Short

30 - Paulina Conrad

GETTING TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER: -

In an effort to learn more about each other at Govans, we are starting a new

series for the newsletter called “Getting to Know One Another.” Church members

will asked to answer the following questions below. If you or someone you know

would like to be featured in the future, please contact Joyce Kruse. Pastor Tom

got the ball rolling with this issue. Here are his responses.

What is your favorite book? I just finished “The Ship of Magic” by Robin Hobb. I love fantasy books and I’ve read the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy three times. But lately, I’ve been trying to read fantasy fiction by women and people of color.

Who is your favorite author? I really enjoy N.K. Jemisin. In the past few years, I’ve read her “The Broken Earth Trilogy”, “The Thousand Kingdoms Trilogy” and “Dreamblood Duology”.

If you could choose to do anything for a day what would it be? Work in my yard and nap on the back porch.

In the evening, would you rather play a game, visit a relative/friend, watch a movie, or read? Tough choice. If I’m not tired, I’d like to play a game. If I’m tired, read or watch a movie.

What makes you angry? What we are doing to the planet and how powerless I feel to stop it.

What would you do if you won the lottery? Retire early and establish a foundation. If it were enough I would want to provide a universal basic income to some group of people.

If you could go back in time to change one thing, what would it be? That’s a hard one because everything is so connected. If I had the pow-er I would stop the War on Drugs in America because people of color have been unfairly targeted for enforcement and communities and families have been destroyed.

What is the most daring thing you ever did? I’m not a big risk-taker. At least, I don’t realize it is a risk before taking it.

What is your favorite family tradition? Putting away the Christmas decorations.

What is your favorite childhood memory? Swimming and boating around the mangroves in the Banana River La-goon in Florida where I grew up.

What was your favorite subject in school? Biology.

UPCOMING PREACHING

SCHEDULE:

Jan. 19 - Mark 4:1-34

Lea Gilmore

Jan. 26 - Mark 5:1-20

Tom Harris

Feb. 2 - Mark 5:21-43

Tom Harris

Feb. 9 - Mark 6:1-29

Tom Harris

Feb. 16 - Mark 7:1-23

Tom Harris

Feb. 23 - Mark 8:27-9:8

Tom Harris

Continued on next page...

P a g e 5

T h e H e r a l d & B e l l r i n g e r

Facing Death Together...continued from page 1

Luke, the entire congregation

tries to throw Jesus off of a cliff.

And in the Gospel of John, Jesus

begins speaking of his own death

by the end of the second chap-

ter. We are right in thinking,

wow, so much of Jesus’ ministry

and teaching focused on living in

the face of suffering and death.

In fact, in Luke we are fore-

warned by Zechariah that Jesus’

coming is the dawn from on high

breaking upon us “to give light to

those who sit in darkness and in

the shadow of death, to guide

our feet into the way of peace.”

Luke 1:78-79.

While facing suffering and death

is a major preoccupation of the

scriptures and religions in gen-

eral this interest is not always

reflected in the conversations

and activities of the church. Our

cultural and social context have

convinced us that we can work to

eliminate suffering and keep

death at bay – at least as long

as possible. These goals are in-

spired by hopeful and compas-

sionate intentions but also sup-

press the very real need to help

each other accept both suffering

and death as not only inevitable

but of value. Our Christian theol-

ogy as expressed in scripture,

prayers, hymns and writings can

help us talk with one another and

hold each other as we experi-

ence our unique but shared suf-

fering and dying.

During Lent we will have some

opportunities to learn about im-

portant steps in preparing for

our own deaths. This will be a

time to share together our own

experiences and ideas and also

hear what the Bible, the church,

spiritual writers and community

professionals have to say. In the

meantime, I’d like to recommend

two valuable resources to inform

our minds and prayers.

Making Faithful Decisions at the

End of Life, by Christian ethics

professor Nancy J. Duff, en-

courages us to talk about

death in the context of our

faith. It helps with decision

making but also clarifies the

seemingly conflicting messag-

es about death in the Bible.

Our Greatest Gift: A Medita-

tion on Dying and Caring, by

spiritual writer and priest

Henri Nouwen, places dying

and caring for one another

front and center on our spir-

itual path.

Our church brings us together

in so many beautiful and pur-

poseful ways. It is obvious

that people in this congrega-

tion care for each other and

want to witness to God’s

abundant love and grace for

all. Acknowledging and fac-

ing our suffering and death

together is sharing that love

and grace with one another

too.

Getting to Know Pastor Tom...continued from previous page

What verse in the Bible is your favorite? Exodus 20:1-6: “Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.” I know that is an unusual favorite, but I think idolatry is the root of most of our problems. I also think we can make images and idols of our thoughts and feelings so that this principle has interesting resonance with Bud-dhist meditation and teachings.

P a g e 6

T h e H e r a l d & B e l l r i n g e r

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM KAY PAPA NOU! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020 to all our friends and supporters! A special thanks to you for your love and generosity towards the Haitian children.

2019 Year in Review God has blessed us abundantly in 2019 and we look forward to what he has in store for all of us in 2020. We are blessed to have you as a supporter and the many teams that have come to help us to continue working towards the vision that God has given. Here’s a glimpse of what happened in 2019 You may have been a part of the 75 missionaries and 12 teams from all over North America either physically, through prayer, or by donating. We thank you for that. You have helped: Purchase and renovate the Kay Papa

Nou House Build the dining room and the kitchen in

Kay Papa Nou Pay school fees for elementary and

high school children Pay college fees for some young adults

of Kay Papa Nou and Unity House Help with after-school programs Medical checks Art program Music program Class field trips This year, unfortunately there are no teams booked to come down to Haiti. Your prayer is needed so the almighty God may touch people’s hearts that riots will stop and give way to calm so many of you may come to Haiti to share your love with the lovely children – come and be a part of it…Praise the Lord!

Continued on next page...

P a g e 7

T h e H e r a l d & B e l l r i n g e r

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM KAY PAPA NOU!...continued from previous page

The Canaan Project In the new community of Canaan, Haiti, there is a new generation of children, who, without in-tervention, could fall into the same cycle of poverty and hopelessness of previous generations. Through your financial support, we built a space where our children and 70 other children of the area go to school since 2012. We, MIEU “Evangelical mission of Unity” are working to-wards expanding and renovating the property to expand their programming and use it in the afternoon as a trade school as well as run leadership and discipleship programs and many more uses. Sponsorships With the help of a Canadian organization, 100+ children are going to school through the Haiti school building project, Nouvelle Institution Chricha. Just 25 more are wait-ing. Maybe you or someone you know would choose to make a difference in a child’s life today! School days extended Due to the loss of classes last year because of the violence and rioting, the Haitian government has extended the academic year 2019-2020 until August 7.

In God’s love, David and Danny Guillaume

ASH WEDNESDAY

SERVICE

Join us Wednesday, February

26 at 7:00 p.m. for our Annual

Ash Wednesday Service.

The service will include scripture, message,

music, prayer, and the Imposition of Ashes.

Pastor Tom will be on vacation from

January 14th to January 21st. If you need

to talk to a Pastor please contact, our

Ministry Associate,

Rev. Jenny Williams

at 410-523-3961

BOOKENDS BOOK CLUB: The next meeting is on February 14 at 10:00 a.m. in the Youth Room. They will be reading

Where the Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens. All are welcome!

5828 York Road

Baltimore, MD 21212

410-435-9188

www.govanspres.org

“Govans Presbyterian Church is a

theologically progressive community

empowering people to make the world

better.”