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Chesapeake Currents - June 2009

Educational Ministry Update

Congratulations are extended to the following:

~ Amy and Dan Martin, proud parents of Alexander Daniel Martin, born Sabbath morning, May 9. Amy Martin has been teaching high school math at Spencerville Adventist Academy since 2005, and has plans to stay at home with Alexander when school resumes in the fall.

~ Jessica and Earl Nichols, on the May 28 birth of their daughter Allison Corrine Nichols. Baby Allison is welcomed by her parents and her brother, Brandon Enriquez. Jessica Nichols is a history and English teacher in the high school of Spencerville Adventist Academy.

~ Ophelia Barizo, science teacher at Highland View Academy (HVA), recipient of the Columbia Union Outstanding Educator Award. The award, presented at the HVA graduation, included recognition and a $1,000 gift. Barizo was one of three teachers selected from 9 nominees in the Columbia Union. Another Chesapeake Conference educator, Mount Aetna Adventist Elementary School principal, Kandace Zollman, was among the nominees. Ophelia Barizo has secured more than $300,000 in grants during her tenure at HVA, and was recently awarded a $10,000 Toyota Tapestry Grant (one of 50 selected from 450 applicants nationwide) to be used for an environmental science project.

~ Carrie Hess, high school English teacher at Spencerville Adventist Academy (SAA), was one of 12 Adventist educators to receive the Alumni Awards Foundation 2009 Excellence in Teaching Award. The award, presented at the SAA graduation, included national recognition and a $1,000 gift. The Alumni Awards Foundation is a nonprofit organization that exists to benefit and reward excellent Adventist education. Prior to coming to SAA in 2003, Carrie Hess taught at Broadview Academy, and in 2001 was named Illinois Conference Teacher of the Year.

 Highland View Academy graduated 29 seniors and Spencerville Adventist Academy graduated 46 seniors at the close of the school year.

Mount Aetna Adventist Elementary School in Hagerstown, Maryland was one of two Washington County schools to receive grants recently from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to construct schoolyard rain gardens. The rain gardens are intended to help provide proper drainage and filtration of water by purging chemicals and other contaminants before they enter area waterways and eventually the Chesapeake Bay.

Columbia Union College (CUC) will soon adopt a new name to reflect its new university status. The Takoma Park, Maryland institutions of the former Washington Missionary College and Columbia Union College are now Washington Adventist University (WAU—pronounced WOW!). WAU offers graduate degrees, and the Board of Directors believes that the status of university will be a drawing card for students from other countries as well as to offer increased credential to its Adult Evening Program students seeking degrees. The school can begin operating as Washington Adventist University as soon as this name is approved by the appropriate legal entities, including the Adventist Accrediting Association, the state of Maryland, and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

 We are sad to report the death, April 17, of Norrisville church treasurer and Adventist Community Services leader, Nadine Owens, 72, after an extended illness. She was an active church member and held a variety of church offices over the years. She and her husband, Bill, were charter members of the Towson church (now Pikesville) and transferred to the Norrisville church in 1974. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and the Norrisville congregation.

 380 Adventurers and their families filled Mount Aetna Camp in Hagerstown, Maryland, to the point of overflowing for the annual Adventurer Family Weekend held May 29-31. Sunny skies and an accommodating cafeteria staff added to the success of the weekend.  Youth ministries assistant, Ann Reynolds, reports that guest speaker Steven Hernandez had the children on the edge of their seats and listening intently to his animated stories of “Sneaky and Red” (Jacob and Esau).

 Chesapeake Adventist Single Adult Ministries (ASAM) now offers a free electronic newsletter. To subscribe, go to www.ccosda.org, and click on the Ministries tab, select Singles Ministries, and scroll down to the subscribe link near the bottom of the page. For more information on all ASAM events, contact Fred Thomas at (410) 992-9731, or email fmthomas1950@yahoo.com. Note these upcoming Singles events:

~ June 20, Potluck for Singles and ASAM alumni (formerly single members) following the church service at the Potomac Camp Meeting held on the campus of Shenandoah Valley Academy in New Market, Virginia. Bring food to share, and meet at the front entrance of the academy chapel.

~ July 2-4, Go Deeper—NAD ASAM Convention in Newport Beach, California. For details, contact Tatiana Gurubatham at (301) 680-6462.

~ July 12, 3:00 p.m., Picnic at the Chesapeake Conference Office, 6600 Martin Road, Columbia, Maryland. Please bring food to share.

~ October 9-11, Mark your calendar for the annual Fall Retreat at Mount Aetna Retreat Center in Hagerstown, Maryland. Willie and Elaine Oliver are the featured speakers. Elder Oliver directs Family Ministries for the North American Division, and his wife, Elaine, is vice-president for Enrollment Management at Washington Adventist University. The couple are known for their engaging ‘keeping it real’ presentation style.

 The conference prayer ministries team is planning a prayer conference to be held Sabbath, September 12, at the Park church in Salisbury, Maryland. Save the date, and watch future issues of the Currents for more details.

 The Chesapeake Conference is engaged in helping victims of the flooding, mudslides, and landslides caused by severe storms in West Virginia. At least 10 counties in the state are affected. Kitty Juneau, conference disaster response coordinator, is on-site with a team who has mobilized to help set up a warehouse to house relief items. Adventist Community Services director, Evelyn Gates, reports that churches throughout the conference have been quick to respond with donations of money, gift cards, bedding, and personal care items. Thank you! Donations of money and gift cards from Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, and the Home Depot are still urgently needed. If you want to help, please send your donation(s) to Chesapeake Conference Disaster Response, c/o Evelyn Gates, 6600 Martin Road, Columbia, Maryland 21044.


 

 The Executive Committee at its May meeting took the following actions:

~ Voted, to request of the General Counsel for the General Conference, Karnik Doukmetzian, Esq., a legal opinion on the advisability of local churches purchasing property and liability insurance outside of the system (Adventist Risk Management). The action came on the heels of a discussion with the General Counsel regarding the policy and legal issues that flow out of such a scenario. The action also included a mandate to follow up with churches that are concerned with this issue.

~ Voted, to call Elder Roger Mace to serve as an associate pastor of the Frederick church subject to final interview with the Frederick church board. Elder Mace, a pastor in the Potomac conference, is also a licensed counselor. (The interview has been completed and Elder Mace has accepted the call to Frederick and will be joining the staff as of July 1)

~ Voted, an enabling action for the Conference Personnel Committee to fill such vacancies that might occur over the summer months (other conferences are trying to entice several of our pastors) and that every effort be made to fill any such vacancies from within the conference in an effort to give our pastors the opportunity for professional growth and/or a new challenge.

~ Voted, to affirm the action of the Chesapeake Conference Association Board of Trustees on the following church property issues:

1.                    That the Dundalk church be authorized to purchase the Verizon Building on Holabird Road at a price of $700,000. The church’s loan with CURF would be for $300,000, and is subject to meeting the requirements of Baltimore County and passing the Phase I Environmental Review.

2.                    That the Baltimore Spanish church be allowed to enter into an agreement to purchase the Dundalk church for $400,000 on behalf of its church plant, the Highlandtown Spanish company. The church’s loan with CURF would be $300,000, with an additional $100,000 coming from a trust fund established for this church planting project.

3.                    That the Highland View church be authorized to proceed with securing bids for the repair of the exterior siding/sheeting, and that the church is authorized to borrow up to $150,000 from CURF to cover their portion of the project. The action also states that the Association/Conference will assist with the project with proceeds from the sale of a parsonage in Hagerstown. The major repairs needing to be done are the result of improper materials/procedures used during the original construction. The building was constructed on the Highland View Academy campus, but was managed and largely paid for by the conference. The construction company responsible for the improper work went out of business years ago. The church board has done exhaustive study into the matter, but the results of that study have revealed the solution is to replace the siding/sheeting with new materials and have it installed correctly.

4.                    That the Pikesville church be authorized to borrow $480,000 from CURF for Phase III of their longtime purchase and improvement project. The final phase will address upgrading the entrance to the church, redoing the parking lot, fencing, exterior lighting, and signage.


 

~ Voted to grant company status to the church planting project in Northeast Baltimore being led by Elder Sedley Johnson. The group started with about 30 individuals in June 2008. They met on Sabbath afternoons to pray and work their territory. By the first of the year they were in a rented facility and currently the group has an average weekly attendance of 60. They are glad to be worshiping this Sabbath in a more spacious sanctuary, recently rented from the Lutheran Reformation church located at 6200 Loch Raven Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland.

~ Voted, to solicit the earnest prayer support of the conference constituency on behalf of the Baltimore Korean church building project. The church and the Chesapeake Conference Association are pursing all necessary legal means to get the bonding company to perform on its bonds. The general contractor has not performed, and is in default and further, because of his fraudulent behavior, has left the project stalled with huge mechanic liens being placed against it. We are asking fellow believers throughout Chesapeake to storm the gates of heaven on behalf of this dilemma, and ask God to do something so dramatic that there is no question but that direct divine intervention brought this situation to a successful resolution.

If you have a set of used communion supplies (basins, trays, etc. to serve about 50) that you’re willing to donate to Mount Aetna Retreat Center, please contact Diana Fishell at (301) 824-6045, or email mtaetnacamp@myactv.net.

 

June Sunset Calendar and Offering Schedule:

Date         Sunset     Offering

June 6     8:29         Local Church Budget

June 13   8:33         Multilingual Ministry/Chaplaincy Ministries

June 20   8:35         Local Church Budget

June 27   8:37         Chesapeake Advance

 Note: Sunset times published above are for Baltimore, Maryland. For Delaware and the Eastern Shore, subtract two minutes. For West Virginia and Western Maryland, add three minutes.