Well for the Journey Names New Executive Director
The Rev. Greg A. Cochran has been named executive director of Well for the Journey, a nonprofit spiritual center based in Towson.. Cochran will serve as part of a leadership team, with Grace Smith, chair of the Board of Directors, and Mabeth Hudson, co-founder. Cochran has been an active leader and participant at The Well. He brings a breadth of experience in spiritual development and administrative leadership in a faith-based setting.
As Cochran wrote in Quench, The Well's quarterly newsletter: "The Well is hearing something new as we follow the Spirit. We are an organic lot, formed from the fertile ground of those who, many years ago, sought a deeper intimacy with God. The Well, then created from this fertile soil, grew into and now functions as a unique ecosystem in our world. We have a Leadership Circle (the board circle chair, the co-founder and the executive director) instead of the traditional top-down model ... always with the Spirit's guidance. There are many circles within this system: program, communication, Women at the Well, financial and fundraising."
Founded in 2002, Well for the Journey offers spiritual nourishment for daily living to people of various faith traditions through innovative programs and resources. For more information, visit wellforjourney.org or contact The Well Center at 410-296-9355.
-Submitted by Sutton Dischinger, Well for the Journey
St. John's Welcomes Mpho Tutu
By Kendle Priestly
The Rev. Mpho Tutu presided at the Eucharist during the Second Annual One Worship service held at St. John's, Ellicott City, Sept. 19. The five worshipping congregations of St. John's are invited to attend the "One Worship" service and all of the other services are cancelled so that the entire congregation can worship together.
Parishioners joined together on the church's front lawn for worship and were encouraged to bring folding chairs, picnic blankets and sunglasses. This special guest recently co-authored Made for Goodness with her father, longtime Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The church and Parish Day School are together reading Made for Goodness as a way to come together as Christians in the 21st century.
The younger Tutu is an Episcopal priest and the founder and executive director of the Tutu Institute for Prayer & Pilgrimage. She has run ministries for children in downtown Worcester, Mass; for rape survivors in Grahamstown, South Africa, and for refugees from South Africa and Namibia at the Phelps Stokes Fund in New York City. She is the chairperson emeritus of the board of the Global AIDS Alliance, chairperson of the board of advisors of the 911 Unity Walk and a trustee of Angola University. Tutu is an experienced preacher, teacher and retreat facilitator, who earned her master's of divinity from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., and began her ordained ministry at historic Christ Church in Alexandria, Va. She lives in Virginia with her husband, Joseph Burris, and their two daughters, Nyaniso and Onalenna.
Kendle Priestly is the communications and stewardship coordinator for St. John's Church, Ellicott City, stjohnsec.org.
St. Mark's Breaks Ground for Fellowship Center
The congregation of St. Mark's Church, Lappans, held a ground breaking for the new St. Mark's Fellowship Center Dec. 5. Special guests for the service included the Rev. Angela Shepherd, canon for outreach and mission, and representatives from the construction company and architectural firm, which have worked with church members for eight years to bring this project to fruition.
The new Fellowship Center will be a two-story structure behind the parish hall and will include a large multi-use hall on the upper floor and smaller rooms for children, youth, and adult activities on the lower floor. Construction will begin this month with completion expected sometime in the late summer or early fall of 2011.
The Rev. Anne O. Weatherholt, rector of St. Mark's, said, "This is the fulfillment of a promise to our children and grandchildren: that St. Mark's will continue in service and outreach, in Christian formation and pastoral care, just as we have since 1849. The Lord inspired others in the past to build for us; now we are inspired to build for others yet to come."
-Submitted by St. Mark's Church, Lappans
Val Hymes named Fellow of the Vergers' Guild of the Episcopal Church
After completing a special course of study, Val Hymes, verger at St. James' Parish, Lothian, was named a fellow of the Vergers' Guild of the Episcopal Church at the Guild's Oct. 7-9 conference at Washington National Cathedral. The guild members, 120 in all, also included vergers from St. Paul's Church, Prince Frederick; Epiphany Church, Timonium; and Emmanuel Church, Baltimore. They took part in the cathedral's Acolyte Festival Oct. 9 and the Eucharist Oct. 10.
Clergy Spouses and Partners Meet During Clergy Conference
Families of Clergy United in Support' (F.O.C.U.S.) met at the October Clergy Conference to hear an informative presentation by Sharon Rabb on her and Bishop John L. Rabb's trip to the Diocese of North India last May. The group also discussed future programs for F.O.C.U.S.
The third annual gathering of F.O.C.U.S. will be at the Bishop Claggett Center March 18-19, with the possibility of extending the retreat into Sunday. Plans include spending time together in fellowship with discussion on being the "behind the collar group." More details will be available soon. Visit the group's webpage, www.ang-md.org/focus/index.php.
Also during the meeting at the Rocky Gap Lodge near Cumberland, Bishop Rabb announced that the Rev. Allen Spicer is the chaplain for F.O.C.U.S. This supports the pastoral ministry of the bishops to clergy and clergy families.
-Submitted by Gwen Spicer
Green Jobs for Jerico
By Sara Deitrick
In many streets throughout Baltimore, as far as the eye can see, all that remains of a once-thriving neighborhood are boarded-up homes. Driving by, you do not even give these run-down buildings a second glance. While many are just left vacant, some of these homes are being torn down, leaving only an empty lot behind. The materials from these homes are never used again and are taken to landfills. What if there were a way to not only deconstruct these homes, but also reuse the materials, thus creating a "green job?"
Episcopal Community Services of Maryland's (ECSM) Jericho reentry program is a prisoner reentry and workforce development program, which has helped many men recently released from prison. Serving more than 400 men each year, Jericho provides educational assistance, case management, housing, meals and a mentoring program. Due to the growing number of "green jobs," Jericho's participants have been taking a new approach to the working world.
In their efforts to "go green," this past year Jericho was awarded a Green Capacity Building Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. Through this grant, participants receive the training they require to be placed in green jobs. Earlier this summer, nine Jericho participants, along with other partners, took part in the Barclay Deconstruction Pilot Program. The Barclay project featured the deconstruction of several houses on the 2100 block of North Calvert Street in Baltimore City; 95 percent of the materials recovered from the houses were reused or recycled. The Jericho men received recognition from Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake for their accomplishments.
Another entity working with Jericho in this endeavor is the partnership between Jump Start, a program of Job Opportunities Task Force, and Associated Builders and Contractors. JumpStart's mission is to train low-income city residents for jobs in the building trades. This organization targets employees from lower income areas of Baltimore and also gives preference to those recently released from prison. JumpStart is a program that enhances participants' skills, placing them in job opportunities that lead to apprenticeship and ultimately licensing in their field.
The Jericho program is looking at future employment opportunities by training men for green jobs. This process meshes with ECSM's organizational green goals and provides men with the tools to successfully reenter their communities and improve their lives.
Sara Deitrick is a development assistant for Episcopal Community Services of Maryland, 1014 West 36th Street, Baltimore, 410-467-1264, sdeitrick@ecsm.org.
St. John's Choir sings Choral Evensong at Cathedral of St. John the Divine
The choir of St. John's Parish, Hagerstown, presented Choral Evensong at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, New York City, on June 27, 2010, as part of the cathedral's Distinguished Visiting Choir Series. They were accompanied at the organ by Bruce Neswick, director of music at Saint John the Divine. Choral repertoire included works of Charles Wood, Adrian Batten, Thomas Attwood, Harrison Oxley, and Eleanor Daley.
-Submitted by Mark King, minister of music, St. John's Parish, Hagerstown
According to the Rev. P. Kingsley Smith, historiographer for the Diocese of Maryland, most churches built before 1865 were built by persons whose wealth was dependent on slavery. 
