Congregation

Concerts Karaoke and more Karaoke and DJ Dean will be featured Fri., Nov. 25, 9 p.m., at the Second Chance Saloon (Columbia, 410-545-5844). An acoustic showdown featuring a variety of local guitarists will take place at the Second Chance Sat., Nov. 26, 9:30 p.m. On screen Jewish films The Columbia Jewish Congregation is now accepting subscriptions for its 20th season, which starts in late January 2012. The series opens Jan. 21, 8 p.m., with a screening of the 2008 Israeli drama "For My Father," which examines the subject of suicide bombers.

Rabbi Yerachmiel Shapiro says he has found his spiritual home at Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah Congregation in Mount Washington. After 18 months working together, one of Baltimore's oldest Jewish congregations has made Shapiro, 30, the youngest spiritual leader in its history and officially installed him in a ceremony Sunday. The service was "a celebration of the beginning of my life's work," said Shapiro. MMAE, the shorthand name most members use, was chartered in 1887 and has evolved through mergers of several orthodox congregations.

Members of one of the smallest and oldest African-American churches in Carroll County are leaving the United Methodist Conference and are gearing up to try to retain the church and its property, largely a cemetery where many have ancestors buried. Congregants of White Rock Church in Sykesville, founded by freed slaves in the 1860s, said Sunday that they felt neglected by the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church and feared their church would be ordered to close or merge with another because of its demographic: a tiny congregation with a largely graying membership.

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.

Unfortunately, The Sun missed an opportunity to highlight the contributions and impact of black LGBT-affirming congregations in your editorial "Marriage equality and race" (Nov. 1). Since marriage equality became a hot-button issue, a growing number of African-American ministers, both straight and openly gay, have weighed in with support for our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters and elevate the message that we are all children of the creator. Where there is love, there is God. Leaders such as Rev. Dennis Wiley, a Maryland resident and pastor of Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C., have spoken out publicly and unapologetically about their support for all loving and committed couples.

About 200 gift boxes, plus school supplies with backpacks, at least 40 little girl's dresses sewn by the ladies of the congregation, and medical supplies are being shipped from the Church of Christ, 90 Mount Royal Avenue in Aberdeen, to Panama. These gifts and supplies will be added to shipping containers that will have additional gifts from other Churches of Christ to enable the children of Panama to enjoy Christmas. Panama Mission is associated with the Churches of Christ, and overseen by the Childersburg, Ala., congregation.

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.

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 tiny church tucked inside Patapsco Valley State Park dedicates a pew Sunday to one of its most famous former congregants, the late William Donald Schaefer. Gary Memorial United Methodist Church has just 80 worshipers most Sundays, but for many years, one of them was the former mayor, governor and comptroller. Schaefer found his way to the stone church in the woods when the pastor was Luther Starnes, his former secretary of human resources. He left Gary Memorial $10,000 in his will.

Healing body and spirit are equally important to believers who congregate for Hope Presbyterian Church's monthly healing services. If you're seeking solace for physical or spiritual pain, walk in to 4748 Shelbourne Road at 4 p.m. Friday, May 20, to experience God's comforting touch. • Hope's members also welcome you to an outdoor picnic Sunday, May 22, following the 11 a.m. worship hour. Pack a picnic basket, bring the whole family and enjoy an afternoon of fun. While there, ask about reserving space for the church's June 25 yard sale.