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UMCs help kids with homework

LUSBY – For almost 30 years, the East-John Youth Center has been a haven of empowerment in the Lusby-Solomons community by helping children from grades 1-12 to reach their full potential in education.

The Lusby Charge UMCs started the homework center as a resource for children who need extra assistance in math, reading, science and social studies. For the past seven years, the program director, Nancy Smith, has maintained the center in Lusby, currently housed on Mill Bridge Road.

The youth center has won numerous awards for its positive affects in the community, reported Shanae Gray of St. John UMC. Last spring, the Calvert Crusade for Children presented the center with the 2010 Champion for Children award, recognizing it for innovative programs and cooperation with local organizations to provide information on leading healthy lives. One healthy-lives success story is of a youth who lost 30 pounds in nine months.

‘God’s Kitchen’ opens in Mt. Airy

MT. AIRY – God’s Kitchen, a new ministry of Calvary UMC, opened its doors to the community in January, to provide a free meal to any and all who wish to come.

The church already runs a food pantry, but members at a Bible study said they wanted to do more, explained the Rev. Jen Karsner.

The meals are served on Thursdays, and are for everyone, whether someone needs a meal because money is tight, they don’t feel like cooking that night, or they want the company of others. No RSVP is required.

Volunteers who cook come around 4:30 or 5 p.m., and food is served promptly at 6:30 p.m. But if someone comes in late, “we’ll certainly give them food,” Karsner said. They will also provide carryouts for late comers.

Advocacy experts train church leaders

ANNAPOLIS – More than 80 women and men assembled at Asbury UMC, near the Maryland State legislative buildings, Feb. 17, for the United Methodist Women’s Maryland Legislative Day 2011.

They heard briefings on The United Methodist Church’s Social Principles and the Maryland General Assembly legislative process. Advocacy experts on immigration, human trafficking and the proposed alcohol tax informed the participants about their particular issue. Participants also met with their legislators.

“We now have many new advocates as a result of this experience,” said Ann Price, the UMW’s Social Action Coordinator.

Pastors build their faith in Holy Land

FULTON – Ten mostly “new” Baltimore-Washington Conference pastors and their spouses took a Holy Land pilgrimage in early February, led by retired Elder, the Rev. Stephen Rettenmayer.

The trip fulfilled a longtime dream of Rettenmayer’s, to further the education (and inspiration) of new clergy in the foundation of Christian belief and practice, by an immersion exposure to the places where Jesus lived and worked.

“A visit to the places where Jesus walked opened my eyes to an entire new way of seeing the lands of the Bible,” said the Rev. Sarah Dorrance of Taylorsville UMC. “It has already enhanced my preaching and teaching.”

Kudos to:

• The Rev. Katherine Brown, a commissioned Deacon on appointment to Woodside UMC, was selected as one of 13 students for the Dempster Graduate Fellowships, which support students who are committed to serving the church by becoming seminary professors. She will begin Ph.D. studies at Catholic University in the fall, focusing on the Hebrew Bible. The Dempster Fellowships are sponsored by the General Board of Higher Education.

• The Rev. Donna Claycomb Sokol, pastor of Mount Vernon Place UMC in Washington, D.C., has been named a Trustee for the Fund for Theological Education.

• The Rev. Rodney Smothers, pastor of St. Paul-Corkran Memorial Cooperative Parish, who is working with the new Talbert Institute to provide mentors for the nine fellows who make up the first class of gifted young people embarking on a two-year journey to become effective, ethical leaders for The United Methodist Church.