Current Happenings

We will not gather for worship services now through at least Sun., Apr 26. Click here to view the premier of Glen Mar's Palm Sunday worship at 10 a.m. Sun., Apr. 5.

Click here to view previous sermons.

Glen Mar's Mission Board wants the community to know the local needs generated by the COVID-19 Crisis. Visit this webpage.

Even though we are not meeting in person, be assured that your pastors, staff and church family are with you in prayer, in spirit, and if you need us. If you need pastoral care, or want to talk, email our pastors, mandysayers@glenmarumc.org, jen.eschliman@glenmarumc.org or anna.schwartz@glenmarumc.org.

If you need groceries, medications or other necessities delivered to you, contact caring@glenmarumc.org or call the pager at 410-748-1320.

Growth groups leaders and folks with meetings scheduled are encouraged to use technology to meet remotely. Groups are using all kinds of online resources to meet remotely, to study and to share and to pray for one another. If you need help doing this or getting hooked up via Zoom with a group, Pastor Anna can help you. Email her at anna.schwartz@glenmarumc.org.

If you have a prayer concern for our prayer team, pleased send it to marti.windram@glenmarumc.org or to any pastor who will forward it to our prayer team. Or, submit it online here.

As needs arise in our community related to the effects of COVID-19, Glen Mar's Mission Board would like to mobilize mission-minded people as quickly as possible, all while adhering to the recommended CDC guidelines and state requirements. While we await the opportunity to be physically present to the needs of our neighbors, you can do your part by completing the following forms ahead of time:

All participants: Mission Trip Permission Form 2020
Youth Participants (under 18): Code of Conduct, Power Tool Agreement

Completed forms can be submitted via email to: sean.danaher@glenmarumc.org

Or submit by mail to:

Glen Mar UMC
Attn: Sean Danaher
4701 New Cut Rd.
Ellicott City, MD 21043

Whether or not you were able to pick up palms from the church on Mon., Mar. 30, 4 - 6 p.m. (the pick-up time was changed to comply with Gov. Larry's Hogan's executive stay-in-place order), you can still make a video for the church to use at its online Palm Sunday Service on Apr. 5. Please share by noon on Sat., Apr. 4.

Use the palm you picked up or find a leafy branch or make a palm using a template. For a template or for instructions on making your video and where to send it visit http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1111413697907&ca=cbe97990-fe14-4f75-ab81-742083e88f53/.

Make friendly calls just to say "We love you. How are you? How can we serve you?" Glen Mar is setting up a phone tree system to reach out to every Glen Martian we know. Contact Marti Windram, marti.windram@glenmarumc.org.

Glen Mar was planning more rounds of collecting lunches to go to Manna House in Baltimore for the needy. With Gov. Larry Hogan's executive stay-at-home order, we are no longer able to do that so the lunch drive is discontinued for the time being. If you would like to support our friends at Manna House, consider making a donation through this website: www.mannahouseinc.org/donate-now/

Choose an hour from 2 p.m. Friday, Apr. 10 through 5 a.m. Easter Sunday. Glen Mar's building will not be open. Choose a place that is safe and comfortable. Sign up here for Glen Mar's Good Friday Prayer Vigil 2020.

Are you or someone you know looking for a job? We ave a few openings. To apply, visit our website page.

All of the Help End Homelessness Howard County families would be grateful for donations of food and household supplies. When you live on a low income, you do not have the money to stockpile for emergencies, and that is the situation our families currently are in. If you are interested in donating food, household supplies, or grocery gift cards to these families, our intrepid volunteer, Adrienne Zendt Taylor, is willing to deliver them to the families we serve. Limited pick-up is available, or you may order online and have the items delivered to Adrienne's house. Please email Adrienne to make arrangements.

Glen Mar was planning more rounds of collecting lunches to go to Manna House in Baltimore for the needy. With Gov. Larry Hogan's executive stay-at-home order, we are no longer able to do that so the lunch drive has been discontinued for the time being. If you would like to support our friends at Manna House, consider making a donation through this website: www.mannahouseinc.org/donate-now/

Many already give through online giving or electronic funds transfer. In this unusual season, if you would normally put your offering in the plate in person, please consider using our online giving option. It's safe and easy. Your continued giving will play a crucial role in helping keep our financial commitments to mission and ministry during this unusual time. You can set up online giving here.

This event scheduled for Sat., Apr. 18 after 5 p.m. Worship has been postponed until fall. Service, Supper, Support is the first event in a series to address the challenges people face as their loved one's age. Worship at 5 p.m. will be followed by a dinner prepared by Chef George Dohner and a presentation by Emily Leclercq, the resource specialist from the Howard County Office on Aging. Emily will address the topics of communication, setting good boundaries, community resources and compassionate ways of planning.

This event is for caregivers and those who want to share information about their own aging concerns. Come ready to share your experience and ask questions of an expert in the field of care of aging family members and friends. Get some ideas on how to make your own values and wishes known to your family.

Reservations for dinner can be made by contacting Marti Windram at 410.465.4995, ext. 218 or emailing marti.windram@glenmarumc.org.

Follow the Glen Mar Early Learning Center on Facebook. If you are interested in information about current openings or wish to enroll your child in Summer Camp, email elc@glenmarumc.org.

The first mission trip training session has been delayed. Check back here for more information when it becomes available.

With the closures currently affecting Glen Mar, individuals are encouraged to secure their spot on a mission trip with a $50 deposit in the form of a check, which can be mailed to Glen Mar UMC, Attn: Sean Danaher, 4701 New Cut Road, Ellicott City, MD 21043. Be sure to include all mission attendees' names and trips on the memo line. Ex: "John Smith: Hurley 1, Baltimore."

Glen Mar planned to meet at Glen Mar and travel to Manna House in Baltimore on Sat., Apr. 11 to help clean out spaces to expand its ministry. This clean-up project has been canceled.

Check back for a new date and time.

A choir and an orchestra were scheduled to perform David T. Clydesdale's cantata "How Great Thou Art" on Sun., Apr. 19 but this performance has been postponed. Check this website page for a new performance date.

Check back for a new date and time. Click here for the latest.

Glen Mar's Spring Vacation Bible School scheduled for Apr. 6, 7 and 8 for children in grades 1 - 7 has been canceled.

Check back for another date and time.

Glen Mar is one of 50 churches that provides lunch for this Grassroots outreach. Glen Mar contributes to the potluck menu and helps serve on site the 4th Saturday of every month, but will not be able to help at our regularly scheduled time. For more information, visit our Day Resource Center page.

The Safe Sanctuaries Training scheduled for Sun, Apr. 19, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. has been postponed. Check here for another date and time..

The Mission Board will meet 7 to 8:30 p.m. every Monday, Mar. 23 - May 25 using the live streaming web application called Zoom. The board met Mar. 16 via Zoom and felt the need to be more flexible/agile to adjust to the rapidly changing health situation, new governmental guidance, and evolving community needs. If you would like to join the meeting, email missions@glenmarumc.org or missionboard@glenmarumc.org.

Everyone is welcome to Glen Mar’s Mission Board meetings, but only members can vote.

Check back for time and to find out how to connect to the premiere service of this service.

Glen Mar's Good Friday Service will premier on Fri, Apr. 10 at 7 p.m. Check here later to find out how to connect to the premier of this service.

View Glen Mar's Easter Service here on Sun., Apr. 12 at 10 a.m..

People Acting Together in Howard County (PATH) will hold virtual spring training sessions on Tue., Apr. 21, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. and Thu., May 14, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Information on how to access these virtual events will be posted later.

Each session will be different, so you can attend one or both as you are available and willing. The sessions will describe PATH's approach to grassroots organizing and its history of working with religious communities for social action and public engagement. Contact path@glenmarumc.org.

Summer Vacation Bible School will be held July 13 - 17, 9 a.m. - noon, with an Extended Day option, noon -4 p.m. for students in Summer Vacation Bible School. Vacation Bible School is for students in 1st through 8th grades in fall 2020. Click here for more information and to register. Spring Break Vacation Bible School (Apr. 6, 7 and 8) is full. Email margaret.lang@glenmarumc.org to be on the wait list.

Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake named Glen Mar Church Faith Partner of the Year for its outstanding commitment to building homes, communities and hope in Central Maryland. Representatives of the church are scheduled to receive the award at a special reception at Brown Advisory in Baltimore on June 25.

There are over 100 people on Glen Mar’s crew, but each work session is limited to 10 volunteers to assure proper safety, coordination and supervision. Don Wecker and Adrienne Taylor co-chair the crew, and both are at almost every monthly work session. Some members of the crew attend Glen Mar and some do not.

The group will do whatever it is asked and has a positive attitude, according to Adrienne. If there is a tough or complicated task, Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake knows it “can count on us to do it, do it right and do it safely,” commented Adrienne. Many workers are highly skilled while others are eager to learn. The crew has worked on several homes in Baltimore, including starting projects from practically rubble. Several crew members serve as Red Hats (skilled leaders who volunteer at times that are not regularly scheduled work days).

Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit housing organization that works in local communities across all 50 states and in more than 70 countries. According to its website, “Habitat for Humanity extends the dream of homeownership to low- and moderate-income families.” Habitat homeowners are selected on their ability to pay, need for better housing and willingness to volunteer and complete homebuyer education.

Supporters for Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake have built more than 770 homes over the last 37 years.

Glen Mar Church is using its creativity and passion for serving others during the health crisis by making over 400 lunches that were given to Manna House. Manna House is an inter-city Baltimore non-profit that serves some of our most vulnerable neighbors. It recently had to close its in-person soup kitchen ministry. It is now making bag lunches and handing them out to our brothers and sisters in need.

An inter-generational ministry team mobilized several folks that made lunches and delivered them to the church in a non-contact safe manner. A volunteer from Manna House took them to Manna House for distribution. This is just one creative way that Glen Mar is able to continue to be a blessing to our community.

Glen Mar is blessed to have a wonderful building, staff, and dozens of caring, committed volunteers who enabled us to host the county’s Cold Weather Shelter Mar. 2 – 9 for Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center, the county’s only homeless shelter. We extended a warm welcome to 12 to 14 guests each night by providing dinners, evening and overnight accommodations, breakfast and bag lunches, transportation, and laundry services. We even had volunteers who generously provided haircuts and massages.

Glen Mar won the 2019-2020 Living the Dream Award for its Day of Service on Jan. 20, 2020. This award, sponsored by the Howard County Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission, recognizes individuals and organizations that promote the teachings and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through community involvement. More than 1,800 volunteers participated in Glen Mar's Day of Service.

To read news stories about our Day of Service visit www. patch.com/maryland/ellicottcity/glen-mar-church-receives-martin-luther-king-jr-award-service and
www. dc.citybizlist.com/article/596455/glen-mar-church-receives-living-the-dream-award-for-annual-day-of-service.

Part of Glen Mar’s Habitat For Humanity crew that helps families build and improve places to call home performed an extracurricular activity in January and February for the Family Survivor Network, a non-profit organization that supports the mental, emotional and physical health of surviving individuals, families, victims and communities impacted by violence in Baltimore.

FSN is located in the Fulton Avenue Family House (also called Mt. Pisgah Annex) in the Sandtown area of Baltimore. Its building needed multiple improvements. Glen Mar’s crew installed lights in the basement, framed a safety wall, made the basement stairs safer, improved the fire exit from the basement, replaced a broken window and entry step, secured a banister on the ground floor, made the rear fire escape usable, covered many outlet boxes and corrected some safety hazards.