Congregation

The Rev. Steve Smith knows what it's like to have church members play matchmaker.It's subtle. A church member takes him to dinner and spends the evening talking about an eligible granddaughter.But the 28-year-old single pastor, also knows how to get out of a sticky situation."Oh gee, have you heard I'm engaged?" asks Mr. Smith, who serves a Lutheran church in Virginia, Minn.The truth works every time. The matchmaker's fantasy sizzles. Talk quickly shifts to mashed potatoes.It used to be that single pastors were expected to find a mate in congregations they served.

Del. Emmett Burns, a Baltimore minister, directed his Sunday sermon at the children of his congregation, warning them to be careful in their dealings with police, after a white officer killed an unarmed 18-year-old black man in Ferguson, Mo., last week. Burns, 73, who marched in the civil rights movement with activist Medgar Evers, echoed the sentiments of protesters in the St. Louis suburb and around the nation decrying the shooting of Michael Brown, but he said blacks need to recognize that they still face inequality.

The centuries-old church affectionately known as "Old Brick" is far from imposing. It more closely resembles a one-room schoolhouse than it does the newer, larger building that has housed its congregation since the 1990s. Yet Old Brick's historic role as a witness to the development of Howard County and Columbia looms large in the hearts of many, and has inspired its congregation at Christ Episcopal Church to restore the red-brick building on what is now Oakland Mills Road to a close facsimile of its original.

John J. Ray, a retired Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. administrator of quality assurance who was a founding member of St. Thomas More Roman Catholic Church in Northeast Baltimore, died July 12 of acute myeloid leukemia at his Parkville home. He was 82. "Jack was a great guy, father and husband. He was a person you admired because he was a great family man, and you could see that in his interaction with his family," said City Councilman Carl Stokes, a longtime friend. "He was also a good church guy, and I always admired how he lived his life and how close he was to his family.

The Rev. Ryan W. Roberts was installed as the new pastor of St. Stephen Lutheran Church on October 23. His first Sunday was October 30. Pastor Roberts grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Franklin High School and the University of Maryland . He went to Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkley, Ca. Pastor Roberts lives with his wife, Breonna, and his daughter, Rosie, in Arbutus. Mrs. Roberts is also a pastor, and serve as the assistant pastor at Christ Lutheran Church in Baltimore, near the Inner Harbor . We welcome Pastor and Mrs. Roberts to our community.

Members of a North Baltimore church congregation felt they could not hear their own voices while singing a hymn. Others complained they could not hear the choir. Aware of acoustical dead spots in the sanctuary of Second Presbyterian Church, the congregation resolved to spend nearly $5 million on a dramatic refurbishment of the 1929 structure. They closed the main sanctuary for more than a year and held services in an adjoining hall while the church was filled with scaffolding. "It was time to make a bold move," said the Rev. Dr. Thomas Blair, pastor of the church.

A minister who saw his congregation double in size at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Hampstead has left to become assistant pastor at a larger church in Lancaster, Pa.The Rev. John M. Smaligo moved last week to Lancaster, where he will begin duties July 1 as associate pastor of the 1,800-member St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church."

The Columbia Jewish Congregation is looking for a home -- not for its congregants, but for lower-income county residents who can't afford to buy one on the open market in Howard.The congregation has formed a nonprofit corporation to purchase older homes with the help of government subsidies and private low-interest loans, make cosmetic repairs and eventually sell the homes to tenants with incomes of about $27,000 to $35,000.The congregation launched the program by buying two townhouses this summer in the Jeffers Hill section of Long Reach village, both for just less than $100,000.

When Valley Brook Community Church's executive pastor, the Rev. Rob Lamp, talks to his congregation today, he won't just speak as a minister. He'll be doing a comedy routine.Mr. Lamp will imitate comedian Tim Allen, star of ABC's hit show "Home Improvement," at a kickoff service for the congregation's four-week family series also titled "Home Improvement"."We're going to do a little spoof on it [the show]. I'm going to be your host Tim Allen," said Mr. Lamp, who has helped produce the church's annual Christmas program and other productions.

The candles burned brightly on the altar as the 15 Lutheran worshipers lowered their heads and prayed. After a unanimous amen, the men's heads straightened and they began to read the Bible and sing "Jesus, Remember Me.""The theme for this evening kind of picks up from last week when Jesus announced to the world that he was the bread of life," the Rev. Charles Robert Frederick told the men. "When God fills us with his spirit, we have new purpose for our lives."The Lutheran pastor's sermon and the chapel's decorations resembled many other churches.

Dorothy G. Ellison, a retired medical secretary who was a longtime member of Beth Tfiloh Congregation, died June 30 of kidney failure at her Pikesville home. She was 94. The daughter of Maurice Hirschhorn and Sarah Polonsky Hirschhorn, Dorothy Gertrude Hirschhorn was born and raised in Baltimore. After graduating in 1937 from Western High School, she began training as a nurse at Sinai Hospital, then located on East Monument Street, before leaving the profession in 1935 to marry Max Milton Ellison.

For many Christians, Easter morning is a time when churchgoers flock to their places of worship to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. One church in Timonium, however, is sending its parishioners away — specifically, 3 miles south along York Road to Towson University's SECU Arena. "It's our first time being at SECU Arena, and we are very excited. Our ministry teams, from 7 years old and up, are very excited to serve [Easter] Sunday," said Kellie Caddick, matter conference coordinator at Church of the Nativity.

Traditional rituals of Passover — the stories, the questions, the food — get a modern spin when Rabbi Geoff Basik presides over Kol HaLev's community seder. The second night observance, held this year on April 15, has become a tradition for the Reconstructionist synagogue congregation. Kol HaLev annually invites members of Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church on North Charles Street, where Jewish community is located, to join the celebration. It is one of the ways Kol HaLev seeks to reach out into the broader community.

Once, when heavy rain hit the roof of the Maryland Presbyterian Church in Towson, there was so much runoff that it would wash away the wood chips and soil that cover the children's play area. Today, the church on Providence Road uses rain barrels and a rain garden to help filter the water - and reduce the polluted runoff that eventually makes its way to the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland Presbyterian is one of many religious and nonprofit groups in Maryland that are trying to address that pollution, an effort that has grown more urgent now that they must pay the state's new stormwater management fee. The church's fee - dubbed "the rain tax" by critics - comes to about $1,000 a year.

Rabbi Daniel Plotkin was in the marching band at the University of Wisconsin and one of his highlights came when the football team took part in the Rose Bowl parade in 1994 - the school's first appearance in the game in 31 years. When Plotkin became the rabbi at Beth Shalom in Columbia less than three years ago, he soon learned of several other congregants with dormant musical backgrounds but no outlet to keep sharp or exhibit their skills. With the assistance of Steve Cohen, who joined the congregation in 2005, Plotkin created Divine Intervention, an eclectic mix of musicians who held An Evening at the Coffee House on Jan. 25 as a fundraiser for Beth Shalom.

Highland Presbyterian Church dedicated its newly-completed construction on Sunday, Dec. 8. Leaders of the church, the contractor and a representative of the Presbytery of Baltimore were in attendance as the congregation worshiped together, had a lunch and heard remarks from dignitaries before formally dedicating the facility. In spite of the rapidly-accumulating snow, more than 90 people worshiped at 10 a.m. and more than 80 stayed for the luncheon and program. Among those in attendance were Donald Scarborough of D & D Scarborough, contractors, and the Rev. William Nickels, associate general Presbyter of the Presbytery of Baltimore.

Members of Beth Shalom Synagogue exchanged greetings of "Good Shabbas" as they welcomed Shabbat with candles, song and blessings Friday."May the merciful one bless all of us together with the blessing of peace," about 30 people prayed.Twice a year, the Taylorsville congregation gathers at a table laden with challah bread and bottles of sweet red wine to celebrate Shabbat with the traditional Friday evening dinner for Jewish families.After Joyce Wiener lighted the candles that signified the beginning of the Sabbath, Rabbi Seymour Essrog promised "an eating experience" and instructions that would be "everything you ever wanted to know about Shabbat."

Like weary pilgrims who have found a haven, members of the Christ United Methodist Church of the Deaf celebrated yesterday in a place of their own.For years, the congregation of deaf people -- one of four in Baltimore -- shunted between school cafeterias and cold church basements, losing ministers and meeting places in their trek from building to building. Yesterday, the nearly 50 pilgrims ended their wandering, gathered in their own church building off Beechfield Avenue near Arbutus."It's all theirs," said the minister, the Rev. Peggy Johnson, smiling at the fresh white paint and pink curtains in the renovated sanctuary.

Emmett Burns has been protesting since he was 15. The Maryland delegate and Lochearn preacher was born in Jackson, Miss., where he picketed in 1966 with Medgar Evers, an NAACP demonstrator who was instrumental in the desegregation of the University of Mississippi. Burns says he is a "proud jailbird," following his arrest in Washington during an anti-apartheid march in the early 1980s. All his life, he has tried to emulate the example of Nelson Mandela, the former South African president who ended apartheid and was buried Sunday.

On behalf of the congregations of Lazarus United Church of Christ and Lazarus Lutheran, I want to offer our sincerest thanks to the Maryland community for their support for the people of Lineboro as we mourn the loss of our beloved church building ( "Cause of Lineboro church fire cannot be determined," Dec. 5). Their generosity speaks to the character and strength of the people of Carroll County, and we are thankful to be part of this excellent community. We especially want to thank the brave men and women of the Lineboro Volunteer Fire Department and other area fire departments who conducted themselves with the utmost skill and professionalism.