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VOL. 15, NO. 1

UM Habitat House dedicated

BALTIMORE With efforts that took 18 months from vision to viability, the Baltimore-Harford District Habitat House was dedicated Nov. 22. District Superintendent, the Rev. Mark Derby, was instrumental in organizing the coordinated effort.

The Wood family, who moved in that day, are from Ayres Chapel UMC.

They began to really build in April, said Michael Ann Meehan from Fallston UMC, who was in charge of volunteers. With a list of 300 volunteers from about 10 United Methodist churches and others, the three-bedroom home was completed over the weekends.

During the summer, a group of Care-a-vanners came in, camped in their RVs, and spent two weeks working on the site, said Parker Boone, a member of Fallston UMC who coordinated the project.

Several pastors were also deeply involved. One was the Rev. Paul Papp who came almost every week, Meehan said. He was a member of the steering committee and led devotions each working day.

Homeless man remembered in death

WASHINGTON John J. Maher was one of two homeless men who died in Washington within a week. His partially snow-covered body was found in the wooded northern tip of Glover-Archbold Park, near Wisconsin Avenue and Van Ness Street. He had spent time, off and on, in the small shelter at St. Lukes UMC, and was a fixture in the community along the Wisconsin corridor, said the Rev. Anne Yarbrough.

Maher had become homeless as a teenager, the Washington Post reported. He received case management services from Friendship Place, a nonprofit organization.

Friendship Place was started by St. Lukes 12 years ago. It was the first homeless shelter in the affluent Ward 3. It has room for six men at a time.

Friends and social workers attended Mahers memorial service at St. Columbas Episcopal church Dec. 16.

Mourning the churchs maintenance man

WASHINGTON Members and staff at Metropolitan Memorial UMC are mourning the death of a stalwart of the church family. Gordon G. Brigham, 55, who had been the building superintendent for the past 11 years, died of an apparent heart attack Nov. 27.

Brigham had his own home repair and remodeling business, which specialized in restorations.

He was also the churchs Santa Claus when needed, and occasionally sang spirituals at services, according to an obituary in the Washington Post.

Brigham was a baritone, trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts and the University of Maryland. He sang with the Victorian Lyric Opera Company and the Washington Savoyards, which performs the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. Both groups sang at his memorial service.

On patrol with the police

HAGERSTOWN The Rev. Stephen Robisons pulpit isnt just at Otterbein UMC where he has served for 18 years; its sometimes in a Hagerstown city police cruiser, at a crime scene or on patrol.

Since 1985 Robison has worked with the police department. For many years he rode or walked along with a beat officer on each of the three shifts at least once a month, reported the Morning Herald in a feature story.

The whole idea to have a police department chaplain was never to hold Bible studies or therapy sessions, Robison said. I am there as a friend the officers can talk to in complete confidence.

Officers are sometimes overwhelmed by the horrors of child abuse and other cruelties people inflict on each other. They also must keep their emotions in check and Robison is there to help them cope.

Retired pastor recognized for fundraising

CARLISLE, Pa. The Rev. Carl E. Young was chosen as the 2003 Outstanding Cumberland County Senior by Senior News.

The recognition was based on Youngs idea to build a new Health Care Center at Bethany Village Retirement Center in Mechanicsburg, Pa. He raised $1.5 million and completed the project in 1983.

He also established the Care Assurance Endowment Fund to assist those who have outlived their assets. It was started in 1984 with $1,500. The endowment fund now exceeds $8 million.

I went through college selling brushes, Young said. Then I was assigned to a church in Baltimore with a high debt. I became good at meeting people door-to-door.

At age 95, Young hasnt stopped. He has accepted the honorary chairmanship of Bethany Villages capital and endowment campaign, seeking support for a new Alzheimers unit.