What can we rely on in an ever-changing world? Who can we turn to in the brokenness and craziness that seems to be all around us? These are questions that people, especially youth, feel pressed to know the answers to.
What do you call it when 4,500 youth, young adults and their leaders gather for a weekend retreat in Ocean City, Md.? In the Baltimore-Washington Conference, we call it ROCK. The event, which will celebrate its 25th gathering next year, is consistently the largest group of United Methodists in...
Frances Deane Thomas McDonald, 88, wife of the late Rev. Ramon E. McDonald Sr., an Elder in the BWC, died Feb. 5, 2017. A funeral service was held Feb. 9 at Mt. Zion UMC in Lothian. Frances Deane Thomas was born April 25, 1928, in Moorefield, W. Va., to the late John and Elizabeth Thomas. She...
This timeline first appeared in New World Outlook, May-June 1992. Adapted by permission and updated by United Methodist Communications.
The Rev. Elgar Clyde Soper, 102, died Dec. 20, 2016, at Homewood Continuing Care at Crumland Farms in Frederick, the oldest surviving pastor in the conference. A memorial service was held Jan. 14, in the chapel at Homewood at Crumland Farms. Elgar Clyde Soper was born Nov. 3, 1914, in Olney. He...
Francis “Jay” Fisk, 80, who served as a Local Pastor, died Jan. 25, 2017, in New Oxford, Pa. No information was received about his funeral service. He was born Dec. 25, 1936, and served Boring UMC from 2004-2008. His address prior to New Oxford, was listed in Ellicott...
Life has already been in the fast lane for many of us and we haven’t even gotten out of January. Let’s recap what has happened for the past few weeks or so, starting with Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, and moving forward.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, . . .” These words, written by poet Emma Lazarus and posted on pedestal of the Statue of Liberty have, for decades, welcomed the foreigner to the shores of our land. They are words that have described the...
On January 16, 2017, we celebrated the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His message of justice, liberation, and inclusion reverberated from coast to coast as we remembered our national hero. Whether it was during a breakfast, dinner, or church service in his honor, his...
President Donald Trump’s order banning refugees from seven Muslim countries was countered by the voices of faith leaders who reminded followers that “a Middle Eastern refugee savior taught us to love the foreigner like we love ourselves.” The Rev. Omar Hamid Al-Rikabi, pastor of First United...
