Congregation

At the beginning of Mass, the Rev. Richard Tillman usually welcomes the congregation of St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church of Columbia, talks about the Scripture reading for the day and makes one of the corny jokes for which he has become well-known. He also asks if anyone is visiting from outside the parish so he can personally welcome them. "I think that is a really nice touch," said Anne Brusca, a former president of the parish council. Tillman's congregants say that welcoming touch along with his approachability and his respect for people of all faiths have been hallmarks of his 30 years in Columbia.

Pope Benedict XVI has signed a document that would allow more churches to adopt the old Latin Mass that largely faded from use during the 1960s, when the groundbreaking Second Vatican Council opened the door to worship in the local vernacular, Vatican officials say. The revival of the Tridentine Mass has long been promoted by Roman Catholic traditionalists, who say it is more moving, contemplative and historically authentic than the modern Mass....

When the 10:30 a.m. worship service ends at St. James Episcopal Church in Mount Airy today, congregation members will carry the altar and a large wooden cross out of the sanctuary while singing "The Church's One Foundation." That procession will mark the closing of the little 119-year-old red brick church at 204 N. Main St., where through those years, Mount Airy residents worshiped and have been confirmed, baptized, married and mourned. Then, parishioners will begin the final move to a new building at 1307 N. Main St., about a mile north on a hill that overlooks tree-covered hills to the east and the Catoctin Mountains to the west.

FAITH AND dedication are building blocks of a church -- but when a congregation outgrows its space, it can also become a matter of money, bricks and construction delays.The 26-year-old Anchor Baptist Church on West Pasadena Road in Millersville has come through such a test. The proof: its new octagonal sanctuary."A lot of thought was put into the design," says the Rev. Andy Counterman, Anchor's religious leader for nearly seven years -- a period that also saw building of a fellowship hall.

An overlooked burning candle, a prayer vigil's symbol of seeking God's help for the future, will force a tiny Eldersburg congregation to make a quick decision about whether to build a new church.A fire that started when the large candle fell off a sanctuary stand next to the organ damaged the Church of the Nazarene, in the 300 block of Liberty Road, Saturday. The Rev. Joe Ward's congregation is deciding whether to repair the damage or accelerate plans for a new building."We will meet with insurance adjusters as soon as we can and look at our options," said Ward, who became pastor in September and is working to expand the congregation of about 50."

Despite their theological differences, Jews and Christians draw from a common well for spiritual inspiration -- the dynamic personalities of the Bible.Moses is the prototype of a religious leader; Jonah is a man anguishing over a call from God; and the Messiah is a figure that embodies yearnings for peace and justice.Some of the region's most gifted preachers will share their interpretations of these biblical personae during the next three Wednesdays with members of several Baltimore synagogues and congregants from Christian churches.

Just weeks before it is slated to announce new plans to develop part of its campus, Beth Tfiloh Congregation was slapped with a fine yesterday for violating Baltimore County building codes.The congregation, off Old Court Road, was fined $1,500 at a county code enforcement hearing for tearing down a dilapidated house and garage without a demolition permit.James Kemp, a county building inspector, testified that he ordered Beth Tfiloh to stop demolition work on the house April 19 because the congregation lacked a permit.

The High Holidays are a stressful time of year for any rabbi, but in the days leading up to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, Rabbi George B. Driesen was more nervous than most.A newly minted rabbi at age 66, Driesen stood before the 300 or so families at the Columbia Jewish Congregation and lead his first Rosh Hashana service.He worried that something would go wrong or that he would offend somebody, or he wouldn't fit in. He worried that some congregants -- the ones who usually come only during the High Holidays -- would turn from religion once and for all.But then the service began, and everything went more or less smoothly, and Driesen became more and more convinced that he had made the right decision in becoming a rabbi.

Responding to a call from a concerned neighbor, Baltimore County environmental officials have halted work at the Glyndon campus of Beth Tfiloh Congregation after a construction crew chopped down about 30 trees without permission."

Concerned that the remnants of an abandoned dump might foul ground water that feeds residential wells, state environmental officials have told the Har Sinai congregation to develop a plan to clean pollutants from the site of its proposed synagogue and day care center in rural northwest Baltimore County.Maryland Department of the Environment officials said they will not certify that environmental concerns have been addressed at the historic congregation's 17-acre site until the dump's fill area has been removed.

As Rabbi Mark G. Loeb neared retirement last year, members of Beth El Congregation were given the opportunity to write letters describing what he had meant to them, a way in which he had come to their aid or a moment in which he had touched their lives. The request drew hundreds of responses. "It was just astonishing to him, the things that people remembered and the things that he had done that he didn't remember himself," said Rabbi Steven Schwartz, who succeeded Rabbi Loeb as senior rabbi at the state's largest Jewish congregation.

The Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours, an international Catholic order founded in Paris 185 years ago, is moving its world headquarters to Maryland, congregation officials said Friday. "This is an exciting time in the history of our congregation as we strive to work as one international community, carrying our message of 'Good Help to Those in Need' around the world," Sister Patricia A. Eck, elected to lead the congregation, said in a statement. "I ... will build on the rich tradition of those very strong women who have come before me while helping the Congregation evolve to meet today's needs."

The Beth Tfiloh Congregation deeply regrets the passing of Mannie Rabovsky

FREDERICK - Manbae Kim was taking a pummeling. Deputized to explain his church's plans to build a Walmart-sized worship complex at the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain, he had spent the better part of an hour politely parrying complaints from an increasingly hostile crowd about the project's impact on local traffic, the water supply, the area's rural beauty and the global climate. One woman warned that clearing and construction for the Global Mission Church would chase animals out onto adjacent Interstate 270, causing accidents.

The Beth Tfiloh Congregation deeply regrets the passing of our Member David Skurnik

The Beth Tfiloh Congregation deeply regrets the passing of our Member Bernard Mazur

In 1972, Lewis Foust and a group of men built a new sanctuary at one of Baltimore County's oldest churches, more than doubling its size. The task took months and had its share of setbacks, but when it was complete, Foust had a sense of accomplishment that never waned - until Friday, when he saw his work destroyed by fire. "That's really the hurtful part - to see what you have done just gone," Foust said in the parking lot of the Sharp Street United Methodist Church in Chase. A two-alarm fire early Friday caused the roof of the sanctuary to collapse.

On a typical summer Sunday, the doors of Temple Oheb Shalom are locked tight. With observances of the Jewish Sabbath taking place on Friday night and Saturday and religious school out until fall, the Park Heights Avenue building sits empty. Not yesterday. Hundreds of congregants of a different faith poured into the sanctuary, bringing along their love of God, their upbeat music and their fervent prayer to the otherwise quiet house of worship. A fire July 1 damaged the historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Upton and left its flock with no place to come together.

The Beth Tfiloh Congregation deeply regrets the passing of our Member Sylvia Carmel

The congregation of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Druid Hill Avenue will hold Sunday services at Pier Six Pavilion at the Inner Harbor this weekend after a two-alarm fire damaged the church's steeple Wednesday night. The fire, which officials are blaming on a lightning strike, didn't spread beyond the steeple and bell tower, Fire Department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright said, but the church's interior was damaged by water. The church was vacant at the time, and no one was injured.