Two Churches

The Rev. Paul James Lewis, a retired stationary engineer and founder of two churches, died of colon cancer Dec. 10 at a daughter-in-law's Northeast Baltimore home. He was 80. Born and raised in Orlando, Fla., Mr. Lewis, the son of sharecroppers, was educated in Orlando and Kissimmee, Fla., public schools. In the late 1940s, he moved to Philadelphia with his family. Mr. Lewis enlisted in the Army and served as an infantryman with the 45th Division in Korea. His decorations, family members said, included three Bronze Stars and the Korean Service Ribbon.

Two churches took 42 working firearms off the street Saturday during a gun buyback sponsored by The Catholic Review newspaper in hopes of curbing violence in the city. "Any weapons we get off the street is a good thing in this time, in this neighborhood," said the Rev. Peter Lyons of St. Wenceslaus Church in the Middle East neighborhood of Baltimore. Violence in the community just east of Johns Hopkins Hospital, he said, erupts "every weekend it seems. " At St. Gregory the Great Church on North Gilmor Street in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, the Rev. Damien Nalepa said 26 guns were collected, "the second-highest" take among the half-dozen or so buybacks the parish has held.

AT MANY CHURCHES throughout the county, residents will see a familiar holiday sight: a Nativity, complete with life-size figures of Mary and Joseph, the angels and shepherds and baby Jesus in a manger.But for two churches in the northwest county, a Nativity wouldn't be the same if it weren't live.From 5: 30 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily through Sunday, Uniontown Methodist Church in Uniontown will hold a live Nativity, complete with animals.Church member and organizer Brenda Sebastian of Uniontown calls the Nativity a group effort.

In a city where tradition still counts for a lot, it's worth taking an extra look at the Handel Choir of Baltimore. This weekend marks its 75th annual performance of "Messiah," the most famous oratorio by the ensemble's namesake. In 1935, there probably wasn't a great deal of competition at holiday time for the choir. "This year, there is a landslide of 'Messiahs,' " says Melinda O'Neal, the choir's artistic director and conductor. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra alone is responsible for three versions - last week's annual complete performance of the work, a gospel version this weekend, and a mix of the two for a community singalong on Wednesday.

Presiding over congregations at two churches can be daunting enough.But the Rev. Laura Lee Wilson also squeezes in the role of spiritual guide to 1,200 Western Maryland College students.Wilson is pastor of Shiloh and Dover United Methodist churches and campus minister at the college. The reverend can manage the dual role because she's committed to "sharing the good news."The PersianGulf war has had an impact on the spiritual needs of people in Wilson's congregations and on campus."People are struggling with moraland ethical views about war," she said.

It was a 125 years ago today, on a hot July morning, that Baltimoreans began hearing and seeing horse-drawn fire wagons racing through city streets. Great clouds of dense black smoke rose over buildings west of Charles Street.They were responding to a fire in the workrooms of Joseph Thomas & Sons, a door and sash manufacturer at Park Avenue and Clay Street, where floor boys sweeping pine shavings noticed a wisp of smoke curling up from a shavings box near the boiler room.Stacks of lumber, varnish and glue stored in the building quickly fed the growing flames.

Rev. John EvansFounded two churchesThe Rev. John C. Evans, a retired maintenance worker and carpenter who founded two churches in Baltimore, died of cancer Wednesday at his home in Pimlico. He was 96.For 20 years, Mr. Evans was pastor of Shady Grove Baptist Church, which he founded in the mid-1960s at Aisquith Street and Bonaparte Avenue in East Baltimore.The congregation grew to several hundred members and opened a second church in the 2100 block of W. Baker St. Both churches have closed.

To mark last summer's historic meeting between Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians in Emmitsburg, the Archdiocese of Baltimore has produced a commemorative book that is being distributed worldwide this week. The 120-page book documents the 10-day meeting in July at Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary in Emmitsburg, the eighth official session during the past two decades between the two churches, which are attempting to overcome a nearly millennium-long schism between East and West.

LILLIAN C. DRISKILL was born in Baltimore, May 9, 1912 and passed away August 10, 2004, in Duarte, CA. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, the Reverend J. Lawrence Driskill; their children, Edward and Mary, and two grandchildren. Before her marriage in 1949, Lillian had served as a church secretary and youth worker in two churches in Baltimore, and together they served as missionaries to Japan from 1949 to 1972. After that they served churches in Texas, Tennessee and California.

Spreading the word with a catchy beat, three top bluegrass gospel bands will perform at the 13th Annual Country Gospel Music Show at Westminster High School on Sunday.Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, The Florida Boys and The Nelons each will take the stage at 2 and 7:30 p.m. to entertain area gospel lovers and benefit two county churches."Country gospel's got a beat to it, that's where it gets the name," said Tom Diffendahl, one of the show's organizers. "They're real talented people and the music's great, not just the singing."

Charles Winfield "Sonny" Ellis Jr., a retired social worker and gospel singer who was choir director at New Psalmist Baptist Church, died of sepsis Nov. 16 at Sinai Hospital. The longtime Catonsville resident, who had lived in assisted-living facilities for the past two years, was 73. Mr. Ellis was born and raised in East Baltimore. He was a 1954 graduate of Dunbar High School and attended Loyola College and the Peabody Conservatory. Mr. Ellis had worked for the state Motor Vehicle Administration and was a social worker for four years for the Maryland Department of Social Services before retiring in 1998.

On Palm Sunday morning, the Rev. Jim Hannon awoke at 5:30, prayed and then exercised on a treadmill for 20 minutes. By 7:30, the priest was set for a day of ministry in Western Maryland. That's when the real workout began. The 55-year-old Hannon pastors six churches in Allegany and Garrett counties, the result of a priest shortage that the Archdiocese of Baltimore faces in Maryland's westernmost jurisdictions. The number of priests in the region, on the decline for years, has dwindled further since 2004, from 14 to 10. As Catholic churches throughout the world celebrate Holy Week, the sacred - and busy - period on the Christian liturgical calendar, Hannon's road-warrior routine has become even more frenetic.

The Rev. Paul James Lewis, a retired stationary engineer and founder of two churches, died of colon cancer Dec. 10 at a daughter-in-law's Northeast Baltimore home. He was 80. Born and raised in Orlando, Fla., Mr. Lewis, the son of sharecroppers, was educated in Orlando and Kissimmee, Fla., public schools. In the late 1940s, he moved to Philadelphia with his family. Mr. Lewis enlisted in the Army and served as an infantryman with the 45th Division in Korea. His decorations, family members said, included three Bronze Stars and the Korean Service Ribbon.

When Philip Hall unlocked the doors one recent morning at Calvary Baptist Church and its affiliated school, he found a violin in the hallway. Hall, a deacon at the Dundalk church and principal of the school, knew then that something was not right. He walked upstairs and found shattered glass in the hallway. Calvary Baptist had become another target in a recent rash of burglaries at Baltimore County churches. Yesterday, county police said three men have been arrested and charged in two of those burglaries, including the break-in this month at Calvary Baptist.

Hagerstown -- Almost 189 years ago, Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury visited John Wesley United Methodist Church, as it is now known, and was unhappy with what he saw. African-Americans were relegated to one part of the sanctuary, and some say blacks weren't allowed to take Communion. Asbury was instrumental in buying property down the street and helping black members start their own church, since renamed Asbury United Methodist. Though there has been a move and a fire, the two downtown churches have never been situated more than 200 yards apart.

Two-thirds of the money donated by churches to political campaigns will be returned - a sum that was buoyed yesterday when three more elected officials vowed to refund thousands in religious contributions. Del. Emmett C. Burns Jr., a Baltimore County Democrat who had received more from churches than any other Maryland candidate, said yesterday he will refund about 80 contributions that total about $16,000. "The law is the law - though I don't agree with it - and must be honored," Burns said in a statement yesterday.

THE WORDS came from an unexpected source. Here was Commissioner Donald I. Dell embracing the governor's Smart Growth plan, turning down a church request and wincing at the prospect of more development in Carroll County. At issue was the petition of two churches outside Mount Airy seeking a county waiver so they could be annexed by the municipality. One of them needed a hookup to the municipal water and sewer lines. Without the waiver, the churches by law would have to wait five years for the annexation.

The international Roman Catholic-Eastern Orthodox dialogue, an ecumenical meeting to forge closer relations between the churches, will hold its first session in the Western Hemisphere in July at Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary in Emmitsburg. The gathering, which draws Roman Catholic and Orthodox leaders from around the world, was originally scheduled for last summer at the Western Maryland college but was postponed because of the Balkans conflict. The talks are scheduled for July 9-19.