Electronic Messenger
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St. Luke's and Metropolitan Memorial Merge!
On May 26, at simultaneous Church Conferences called by District Superintendent, Rev. Dr. David Argo, St. Luke’s and Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Churches voted to become a single church. This merger was the exciting culmination to a whirlwind “courtship” that began in November of 2008, when the two congregations were made into a cooperative parish by the Bishop and Cabinet of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference.

A cooperative parish is two or more churches that maintain their own corporate identity and charge responsibilities while coming together under shared pastoral leadership and a joint parish council. The Cabinet made a significant number of these cooperative parish arrangements this year in an attempt to develop different models for staffing churches that may be struggling in one way or another. Read more.

Summer Comes Alive!
At Metropolitan Memorial & St. Luke's Campus
Summer is a fun time in the hearts of most Washingtonians (Virginians and Marylanders, too!) The beaches and mountains beckon, the heat and humidity stifle and the 9 to 5 grind including school and sports slows down a bit … what about church? It’s easy to sleep in on a Sunday morning, read the papers, ease into the day, and sometimes that’s just what you need. But more often what we really need is the spiritual nourishment and connectedness that only a church community can provide. Read more.

A Letter of Thank You
Let me begin with a heartfelt thank you to all the special persons who volunteered to work with me and teach our children this past year in Sunday School. Truly, without these incredible individuals our Children’s Ministry program would not be a thriving and growing program. On Children’s Celebration Sunday (May 17) I asked that our church members offer prayers of Thanksgiving in each of these persons names and I would like to again ask for those prayers. These individuals give of their time, their energy, their spirit and their faith and I hope you will join in me in thanking God for each and every one of them. Read more.

Extravagant Grace: Report from Annual Conference
Extravagant Grace was the theme of the 225th Session of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, which was held in Baltimore on June 4-6. More than 1,320 lay and clergy members attended, representing 679 churches in Maryland, Washington, DC, the panhandle of West Virginia and Bermuda. Metropolitan Memorial and St. Luke’s were represented by Anne Brown and Helen Simon as lay members and Rev. Dr. Charles Parker and Rev. Sandy Rector as clergy members.

Scattered throughout the three days of conference were session highlighting the theme of “extravagant grace.” These included very powerful speeches by Paul Monteiro, President Obama’s Religious Liaison; Jessica Duckworth from Wesley Theological Seminary; and Erin Hawkins, General Secretary for Religion and Race. Among the more daunting tasks were votes on 32 Amendments to the United Methodist Constitution that were passed by our General Conference last year. The annual conference also voted to adopt the recommendations from the Task Force on Appointment Policies, Compensation Expectations, and Practices outlining new policies and requirements for pastoral appointments (expectations of both churches and pastors). Read more.

United Methodist Women
Click on the titles below to learn more about activities sponsored by the UMW

UMW Craft Day

Jewelry Donations

UMW Recognition Luncheon

Life at Metropolitan
Click on the titles below to view what's going on at Metropolitan!
Our New Care Card Ministry

Summer Sunday's at St. Luke's

Nothing But Nets Dinner Presentation

Art Exhibition: Out of the Land

Calling All Artist

Jazz Enthusiasts and Others!

New Member Sunday

Reconciling Ministries Network Update
Metropolitan Celebrates Reconciling Sunday
On Sunday, June 7, Metropolitan celebrated its one-year anniversary as a reconciled congregation!

Each year, reconciled congregations set aside one Sunday to celebrate their commitment as a reconciled church. This allows the conversation and hospitality to be refreshed each year. It also is helpful to new members of a congregation to have the opportunity to hear the story, understand the priority, and share the hope. Reconciled congregations seek justice, full inclusion and participation for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) people in the Church. Read more.

Shower Stoles Project Art Exhibition

Declaration of Religious Support for Marriage Equality

Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference

Service & Advocacy at Metropolitan
Advocacy Team Initiates a Focus on Diversity
In America, the church is still the most segregated major institution in America. At 11:00 on Sunday morning, when we stand and sing that Christ has no east or west, we stand at the most segregated hour in this nation. - Martin Luther King, Jr., 1964

Unfortunately, the observation that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made forty five years ago, that 11:00 on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America, is still true today despite advances in diversity in many other sectors of American society. In light of Metropolitan’s new vision of radical hospitality and our reconciling statement’s emphasis on openness to all, the Advocacy Team is launching a congregational conversation around the subject of diversity. The short-term goals are to talk candidly, to learn from the literature of diversity and from sister congregations in our area, and to identify issues of congregational life that are relevant to the diversity question. The longer-term goals are to seed a larger conversation and to formulate a set of recommendations for the congregation. Read more.

Study Opportunities at Metropolitan
Let There Be Light! Tuesdays Evenings in July
Must we reject belief in God to accept the findings of science? How might religion and science coexist and even complement one another in the 21st Century? Join us on Tuesday evenings this July as we use the Wesley Seminary Ministry Network DVD Series on Religion and Science, facilitated by Dr. E. Maynard Moore, to explore these questions and more. Classes meet from 7-9:00 p.m. and registration is required (limited to the first 15 registrants – call Rev. Sandy Rector, 202.363.4900, ext. 19) so that pre-session reading material may be distributed. Read more.

Sermon on the Mount
Led by Rabbi Joshua Siegel- Sunday Afternoons in July
Explore the culture, context, and rabbinical thinking and meaning behind one of Jesus’ most well-known discourses. Read more.

Children's, Youth and Campus Ministries
Click the titles below for our children, youth and campus ministry opportunities

AU Campus Ministry

Youth Connection

Children's Ministries