Pastoral Care

CROFTON'S Community United Methodist Church has welcomed an addition to its family. The Rev. Betsy Halsey has joined the parish as assistant minister for pastoral care.Halsey brings a varied background. After several years in her home state of Florida as a lobbyist and organizer for issues of social justice, she came to Maryland to do graduate work in public management.While a graduate student she realized that God was calling her to a different kind of ministry, and she attended a seminary.

Listings are accepted on a space-available basis. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday prior to date of publication at the latest. To submit volunteer items, mail to Volunteers, Patuxent Publishing Co. Editorial, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21278; email hccalendar@patuxent.com ; fax 410-332-6336; or call 410-332-6497. Howard County Arts Council — Seeking applications from artists to fill one available resident artist studio space, which will become available Nov. 1; about 216 square feet; rents for $137.75 per month; and has shared access with two other artists in an adjoining studio.

Sister Mary Thecla Lancaster, R.S.M., who was a compassionate and ubiquitous presence in the hallways and patient rooms of Mercy Medical Center for more than 40 years, died there Saturday of leukemia. She was 77.Assigned to the hospital's pastoral care department since 1976, she visited the sick and their families until several weeks ago when she was hospitalized, complaining that she was "being grounded."It was not uncommon to see Sister Thecla visiting patients in the wee hours."She brought an extraordinary gift of being able to connect with the sick who so often feel vulnerable and alone," said Sister Helen Amos, R.S.M.

A memorial service will be held at The Berlin Nursing Home, 9715 Healthway Drive, Berlin, MD on Wednesday at 3PM. A funeral service and interment will be held at the Church of the Redeemer, Baltimore, Md on Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 11AM. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Atlantic General Hospital, Pastoral Care and Service Department, 9733 Healthway Drive, Berlin, MD 21811. Arrangements by Burbage Funeral Home in Berlin.

Sister Mary Gemma Neville, who established and led pastoral care programs, died of leukemia Wednesday at University of Maryland Hospital. She was 82. A deeply spiritual woman, she loved keeping journals, which eventually led her to write her own psalms and poetry. She thought of writing in her journal as corresponding with God. "If you have a favorite friend with whom you share your thoughts, you might write to them," she said in a 2005 Sisters of Bon Secours newsletter article. "With this, it's basically the same thing."

The Rev. Elizabeth B. Hewett is the new associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Annapolis.Hewett is a recent graduate of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pa. She has internship experience and religious training in Christian education, youth and single-adult ministry, mission and community outreach, worship and pastoral care. She has worked at churches in Pittsburgh and with the Presbytery of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minn.She will coordinate First Presbyterian Church's Christian education and community mission programs and its ministry to young people.

A memorial service will be held at The Berlin Nursing Home, 9715 Healthway Drive, Berlin, MD on Wednesday at 3PM. A funeral service and interment will be held at the Church of the Redeemer, Baltimore, Md on Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 11AM. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Atlantic General Hospital, Pastoral Care and Service Department, 9733 Healthway Drive, Berlin, MD 21811. Arrangements by Burbage Funeral Home in Berlin.

Sister Mary Ann Garvey, a volunteer pastoral care associate at Mercy Medical Center and former teacher, died in her sleep May 12 at The Villa, her order's retirement home in the Pinehurst section of Baltimore County after complaining of feeling ill. She was 73. Born in Baltimore and raised in Catonsville, she was a 1948 graduate of Mount St. Agnes High School and entered the Sisters of Mercy several months later. She was given the name Sister Mary Godfrey, but later reassumed her birth name.

ORLANDO, Fla. - More than 100 activists draped with rainbow-striped sashes streamed to the front of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Assembly yesterday and stood in silence as the denomination's chief legislative body denied ordination to gays and lesbians in committed relationships. The assembly also voted to encourage clergy and congregations to offer pastoral care for "all to whom they minister." An earlier proposal had specifically mentioned people in same-sex relationships, language that was interpreted as allowing pastors to conduct the informal blessing of gay unions without certain sanction.

The Rev. W. Duane Brown was installed as pastor of Grove Presbyterian Church in Aberdeen.Brown comes to Aberdeen from West Middletown, Pa., where he was pastor of Grove Presbyterian Church for four years.He received a bachelor of science degree from West Virginia StateCollege and master of divinity from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary,where he was recognized by awards in biblical studies and evangelism.Brown, 37, of Charlestown, W.Va., has served on the Music Ministries and Evangelism Committee of Washington Presbytery.

With people in white lab coats and nametags around a conference table, it wasn't your typical wine-and-cheese book club. The topic at Mercy Medical Center this particular evening was battlefield medicine. Dan Collins, director of media relations at the Baltimore hospital, was talking about the dismaying number of injured and killed in Iraq. Karen Arnold, the book club's facilitator, offered that survival rates were improving. And Sister Carole Rybicki noted the level of dedication to care on display.

Deadline for pastoral care training is today The Howard County General Hospital Pastoral Care Department offers a 16-week training program, beginning March 11, for volunteers who will provide spiritual care for patients. Today is the last day to apply. Participants are asked to volunteer for at least one year. The hospital is an acute-care medical center that offers a range of treatments, from neonatal care to oncology to outpatient and critical care. Information: Jack Dunlavey, 410-740-7898.

How would Jesus drive? A Vatican commission issued guidelines yesterday reminding drivers not to ignore Christian principles and to respect life - and the rules of the road - as they shift into gear. The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People acknowledges the prominence of the automobile in society with its warnings against the use of vehicles in the "occasion of sin," such as road rage, prostitution and trafficking of people. "Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road" is a four-part document that also addresses the needs of prostitutes, street children and the homeless.

Sister Mary Gemma Neville, who established and led pastoral care programs, died of leukemia Wednesday at University of Maryland Hospital. She was 82. A deeply spiritual woman, she loved keeping journals, which eventually led her to write her own psalms and poetry. She thought of writing in her journal as corresponding with God. "If you have a favorite friend with whom you share your thoughts, you might write to them," she said in a 2005 Sisters of Bon Secours newsletter article. "With this, it's basically the same thing."

The Rev. Estella Young, assistant pastor at Mount Calvary Star Baptist Church, died of heart failure Jan. 3 at Sinai Hospital. The Owings Mills resident was 69. She was born and raised Estella Evans in Quitman, Ga., and after attending nursing school moved to Baltimore. She worked briefly as an administrative assistant at Sinai Hospital, then on East Monument Street. From 1961 until the mid-1990s, Mrs. Young owned and operated a day care center. Mrs. Young was a graduate of the Baltimore School of the Bible and for the past six years had been assistant pastor of Mount Calvary on North Milton Avenue, where her husband of 48 years, the Rev. Alex Young Sr., is pastor.

ORLANDO, Fla. - More than 100 activists draped with rainbow-striped sashes streamed to the front of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Assembly yesterday and stood in silence as the denomination's chief legislative body denied ordination to gays and lesbians in committed relationships. The assembly also voted to encourage clergy and congregations to offer pastoral care for "all to whom they minister." An earlier proposal had specifically mentioned people in same-sex relationships, language that was interpreted as allowing pastors to conduct the informal blessing of gay unions without certain sanction.

End-of-life care certainly fulfills a spiritual role The Rev. John William Klein's concerns that the "secular mission" of Joseph Richey House hospice has been emphasized at the expense of the spiritual mission points to his fundamental and disturbing lack of understanding about hospice care ("Feud threatens to close AIDS hospice in city," May 21). The spiritual care of persons with terminal illnesses is so crucial to our end-of-life care that a pastoral care representative is an integral and equal member of our interdisciplinary team, attending weekly team meetings, contributing to the plan of care, and ministering to all patients who desire clergy visits.

Sister Mary Ann Garvey, a volunteer pastoral care associate at Mercy Medical Center and former teacher, died in her sleep May 12 at The Villa, her order's retirement home in the Pinehurst section of Baltimore County after complaining of feeling ill. She was 73. Born in Baltimore and raised in Catonsville, she was a 1948 graduate of Mount St. Agnes High School and entered the Sisters of Mercy several months later. She was given the name Sister Mary Godfrey, but later reassumed her birth name.