"Bid to Build: An Afternoon Extravaganza" to build homes for poor families

Three churches in Linthicum plan to raise enough money during an afternoon silent auction and entertainment extravaganza to build an affordable house for a low-income family through Arundel Habitat for Humanity.

The 14-member planning committee from St. Christopher's, Linthicum, United Methodist Church and St. Johns' Lutheran Church is aiming high for their first annual fundraiser. "Bid to Build: An Afternoon Extravaganza," the formal name of the event, is hoping to raise $75,000 to sponsor the building of a new house on vacant land in Anne Arundel County for a family that cannot afford decent housing without the help of Arundel Habitat.

Already the foundation for the event has been laid.They've nailed down a date, November 7 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and a site, La Fontaine Bleu in Glen Burnie. They're hammering out a list of area businesses to ask for donations of services and goods for the auction. Sports stars are being invited. A savory menu of hors d'oeuvres has been planned. Famed vocalist and Baltimore native, Jocelyn Taylor, will provide entertainment. Ms.Taylor studied at the Peabody Preparatory and has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Chorus, the Handel Choir of Baltimore and the McLean Choral Society. She has performed at Carnegie Hall.

"The committee hopes to attract as many as 400 people to the event," said Robert Abel, Director of Volunteers for Arundel Habitat for Humanity and a member of the committee for the Linthicum Heights United Methodist Church.

Ticket sales have just begun -- $30 per person or two tickets for $50. So far items up for bid include a motorcycle, Orioles baseball tickets, Ravens football tickets, autographed boxing gloves, a bus trip, overnight packages at local hotels, a condo stay at the Outer Banks, NC, and a hotel stay at Myrtle Beach.

"All three churches have done fundraisers on a smaller scale for Arundel Habitat for Humanity before," said Eloise Vaughan, who is chairing the threechurch committee."Combining our efforts for this event not only brings us closer as a community but also will add one more homeowner to Anne Arundel County much faster."

Arundel Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian organization dedicated to eliminating poverty housing. Habitat brings together people with resources and people in need to build simple, decent, affordable houses.The houses are sold to those in need at no profit, through no-interest loans.Arundel Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1987 and has built or renovated more than 65 houses in Anne Arundel County.

For more information, and to buy tickets or donate auction items for Bid to Build:An Afternoon Extravaganza, call 410.859.0020.
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Mondays at Memorial

By THE REV.T. STEWART LUCAS

A long tradition is back! This fall we will have a seven-week education series on Monday evenings centered on our education theme for the fall: Faith and Citizenship. Our first class will be held Monday evening, September 27 beginning at 7:30 p.m. We will meet each Monday thereafter through Monday, November 8. Our basic text will be Broken We Kneel: Reflections on Faith and Citizenship by Diana Butler Bass. The Rev. Martha Macgill, Rector, and John McIntyre will lead sessions on this topic combining culture, the Bible and more. There will be plenty of time for discussion in small groups.

Ms. Bass will be with us on Monday evening, Oct. 18 to lead a session on the book. She currently is senior research fellow and director of the Project on Congregations of Intentional Practice, a Lilly Endowment funded research study of vital mainline churches at Virginia Seminary. From 1995-2000, she wrote a weekly column on American religion for the New York Times Syndicate.

Cost for the book and class is $25. Please call the church office at 410.669.0220 if you can join us! Memorial Episcopal Church is located at 1407 Bolton Street, Baltimore.
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A slumber party for grown-ups?

By THE REV.T. STEWART LUCAS

Staying up late, playing board games with friends and watching a good movie-to most folks, it sounds like a great way to spend an evening, including John, a Samaritan Community client. John, a 54-year old man who attends the Breakfast Club support group, recently participated in a game-night sleepover. A group of eight clients attended the event held in the Memorial Episcopal Church parish hall. They played board games, watched movies and spent the evening laughing and chatting with one another. For John, this fun-filled night also provided some serious reflection. He says,"I had forgotten that people have fun like this-eating ice cream, telling jokes-it was emotional for me because at one time I had forgotten how to have fun without getting high." John grew up in Baltimore and started using heroin at age 15, which sent his life into a downward spiral that he refers to as "suicide on the installment plan." For nearly 12 years, John drifted from state to state, using drugs and sometimes relying on homeless shelters for help. When he was ready to change his life, John returned to Baltimore and to the Samaritan Community. He credits his recovery to Sharon Krieger's belief in him, as well as his belief in himself. He says that the support he receives at the Breakfast Club and at Memorial Church is important to his continued sobriety. John now attends the group regularly and is always willing to share his story with others in the hopes that he can help someone whose situation is similar to his own. He is a role model for others and has this advice for people who are trying to stop using drugs: "Listen for the similarities with other people's situations. Join a support group. Pray. Keep coming back to your support group to maintain sobriety." The Samaritan Community, housed at Memorial Episcopal Church, provides counseling, food, provisions and financial assistance to local people in crisis. For more information, contact us at 410.669.1229 or info@SamaritanCommunity.Visit us online at www.SamaritanCommunity.org!
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Miracle on Lappans Road

By THE REV.ANNE O.WEATHERHOLT, RECTOR, ST. MARK’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Early in the evening of June 15, a violent storm blew across south Washington County. Running roughly southwest to northeast, the storm took down trees along a ten-mile area. The track of the storm took it right across our seven-acre campus, causing damage to three of our four buildings. But the old stone church, 155 years old, was completely untouched despite trees falling on three sides.

A large tree was uprooted and laid across the wall that surrounds the church, pointing south, just missing a large stand of upright tombstones dating from the earliest years of the church.

I was on vacation during the storm and, upon hearing the news, planned to say a few words when I returned the following Sunday about things "falling apart" when the Rector is away. Nothing could prepare me for what I found upon my return. Over a dozen large trees on the campus were partially or completely destroyed-toppled, split or cut in half like broken matchsticks. One large tulip poplar, probably planted when the church was built in 1849, was lying on its side. The hole made by the uprooted stump was about four feet deep and over 15 feet in diameter. What was more impressive, however, was the way the tree, located next to the large stone wall built in 1923, fractured that same wall, offsetting 30 feet of the wall like a railroad buckled in an earthquake. A small section of the wall next to the roots was thrown upsidedown into the churchyard by the force of the tree when it was uprooted. Pictures taken on Wednesday morning show the entire front yard of the church filled with debris as high as twenty feet or more. People described the scene to me saying it looked like a war zone with several trees literally blasted apart.

The Church, directly in the path of the storm, was totally untouched, despite the location of five large trees on the west side, any one of which would have pierced or crushed the roof. A large tree was uprooted and laid across the wall that surrounds the church, pointing south, just missing a large stand of upright tombstones dating from the earliest years of the church. Other delicate upright stones were also untouched either by limbs or branches that littered the yard. It was as if God placed his hand over the church and cemetery and directed the wind away from its structure. While shingles were ripped off the parish hall and trees punctured the roof in several places, not a single one of the cedar singles was disturbed on the roof of the church. The caretaker's cottage roof was damaged from four large pine trees that bent, and then broke, crushing the chimney and damaging the porch.

Since the storm was in the late afternoon, the Junior and Senior Wardens, Church Treasurer, Parish Administrator and others arrived on the campus promptly. Excellent lay leadership was the key to knowing how to respond to this unexpected crisis. The insurance agent was persuaded to come and assess the damage and a local tree and landscaping company was contracted to begin cleaning the campus. They worked for an entire week to remove the downed trees and limbs.

By Sunday, the walks had been cleared and the clean up from water damage in the parish hall had begun. Services were held on their regular schedule, with many members present to give thanks. Pictures of the storm damage and the untouched church appeared on the evening news and the front page of the local papers the day after the storm. None of the church staff were on campus during the storm and the resident of the caretaker's house, the son of a former Rector, was not injured, although the house was damaged on four sides.

It is impossible to know exactly what happened and how the church was spared when trees on all sides, some of them lower than the church steeple itself, were twisted out of the ground. Suffice it to say that the same God who stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee still puts his hand on us today. The tree damage has opened up our front yard so that those driving down Lappans Road now see straight through to the church, one of the most picturesque sites in our area. The storm has brought sightseers and members alike to the campus to pause, wonder and give thanks.

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80th Birthday Celebration Honoring Chaplain Norman Forde

By MARJIE MACK

The Rt. Rev. Robert Ihloff presents medal to Fr. Forde

How many of us can even contemplate that we will still be answering our call when we are 80 years old? Well, Chaplain (Colonel) Norman P. Forde, US Army, Retired, was 80 years old on Aug. 11, 2004, and the two, yes, two congregations who are currently served by his ministry celebrated his birthday with the Holy Eucharist followed by a festive reception on Sunday, Aug. 1. Up until Friday at noon, the party was in doubt as Fr. Forde was taken ill and hospitalized early in the week. Norman's wife, Shirley, kept us all informed, and our prayers were answered for healing.We heard rumors Fr. Forde might have ordered the doctors to release him in time for the celebration, but he did take their advice to travel in a wheelchair for a few days!

The Rt. Rev. Robert W. Ihloff was the celebrant at the service at St. George's Chapel, Ft. Meade. During his moving sermon, Bishop Ihloff described how Fr. Forde, who has been canonically resident in the Diocese of Maryland throughout his career, was so successful at being a chaplain because it has always been a vocation that he was called to, rather than a job he could retire from.And indeed, despite the fact that Fr. Forde retired from active duty in 1982 after serving all over the world, he has served over twelve years since then as contract Episcopal Minister at Ft. Meade,Maryland, and Ft. Myer,Virginia. He is currently serving as Episcopal Chaplain, Ft. Meade, and also at the National Security Agency.

NSA Chaplain (LTC) H. Bryant Wilbourne, USAF, who mentioned that even a Methodist had been invited to join the party, gave the invocation at the reception. Emcee Garland Mitchell introduced special guests who included Chaplain Wilbourne's wife, Jackie, and Bishop Ihloff's wife, Nancy. Presentations were made by the NSA congregation and Chaplain Wilbourne on behalf of the Director of NSA; members of St. George's Episcopal Community; and by Bishop Ihloff on behalf of The Rt. Rev. George Packard, Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies of the Episcopal Church, who was unable to attend.

In his certificate, Bishop Packard called attention to the fact that Norman Forde and his wife Shirley have not only served as faithful supply priest and "first lady" for the two worshipping communities when they were without a chaplain but they both have been friend, encourager and confidant of each Episcopal Church chaplain and spouse that has been assigned at Ft. Meade. In addition to the certificate, Bishop Packard presented Fr. Forde with a beautiful service medallion with ribbon necklace, which Bishop Ihloff placed around his neck.

Fr. Forde was quite moved by all the presentations, but then he surprised us all by standing to give his own very moving response based on The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson, and reminded us how we are all pursued by God until, sooner or later, he gets us!

What a glorious celebration of the ministry of Norman Forde at 80 years young!
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St. James', Lothian, transformed into C.S. Lewis' 'Narnia'

Afew year ago, St. James' Lothian experienced its first adventure in Narnia using the program offered by Leader Resources based on C.S.Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In subsequent years, the Associate Rector,The Rev. Eileen House, has adapted The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,The Silver Chair, and finally, this year, The Magician's Nephew as a multigenerational adventure including drama, crafts, games and worship.

This year's production was, perhaps, the most challenging, as a small, dedicated group painted scenery, prepared materials for activities, and cooked and served meals to 100 people.The cast and crew ranged in age from three years old to well past retirement age.

The cast of characters in this prequel included the elderly Mabel Kirke (narrator), played by Sharon Angel; Digory Kirke, Mabel's son, played by Christopher Kelly; and Polly Plummer, a neighbor girl, played by Katie McGlaughlin.

The production focused on the messages in the book and how they relate to our Christian life.Aslan, the Lion, with the message that we need to concentrate on pleasing God and not ourselves, delivered the Homily. The production ended with the Eucharist.

While a stupendous effort went into creating the Narnia experience, it was well worth the time and energy. For years afterward, both children and adults remember the lessons they learned on their trip though the magic world.

(c) 2004 The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland
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