An Overture On Reconciliation

City Church is part of a greater denomination called the Presbyterian Church in America. Every summer, pastors, elders, and leaders from the whole denomination gather together for an event called General Assembly. This year's General Assembly saw the culmination of a several year process in which we wrestled, individually and as a denomination, with repentance in matters of race. The overture below was the conclusion of this process.  

““Therefore be it resolved, that the 44th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America does recognize, confess, condemn and repent of corporate and historical sins, including those committed during the Civil Rights era, and continuing racial sins of ourselves and our fathers such as the segregation of worshipers by race; the exclusion of persons from Church membership on the basis of race; the exclusion of churches, or elders, from membership in the Presbyteries on the basis of race; the teaching that the Bible sanctions racial segregation and discourages inter-racial marriage; the participation in and defense of white supremacist organizations; and the failure to live out the gospel imperative that “love does no wrong to a neighbor” (Romans 13:10); and

Be it further resolved, that this General Assembly does recognize, confess, condemn and repent of past failures to love brothers and sisters from minority cultures in accordance with what the Gospel requires, as well as failures to lovingly confront our brothers and sisters concerning racial sins and personal bigotry, and failing to “learn to do good, seek justice and correct oppression (Isaiah 1:17);” and

Be it further resolved, that this General Assembly praises and recommits itself to the gospel task of racial reconciliation, diligently seeking effective courses of action to further that goal, with humility, sincerity and zeal, for the glory of God and the furtherance of the Gospel...””

— The 44th PCA General Assembly

Prayers of Lament

For centuries, the Christian liturgy has included Prayers of Lament. "A lament is an implicit act of faith in which the community of faith turns to God as its only source of hope and comfort." These are genuine and "raw" prayers that process the pain and the brokenness of this world. 

In light of recent in events in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, Dallas, and the ongoing violence on the streets of Baltimore, we pray this Prayer of Lament:

“Why, Lord, must evil seem to get its way?
We confess that our sin is deeply shameful;
but the wicked are openly scornful -
they mock your name and laugh at our dismay.
We know your providential love holds true:
nothing can curse us endlessly with sorrow.
Transform, dear Lord, this damage into good;
show us your glory, hidden by this evil.”

— The Worship Sourcebook

Serve the City Baltimore

ABOUT SERVE THE CITY BALTIMORE

We are all aware of Baltimore City's many areas of needs. Fortunately, there are a lot of organizations seeking to meet these needs, but hands are required to help their missions come to fruition. So why not help out the existing organizations instead of starting one more?

That's the mission of Serve the City Baltimore. Serve the City Baltimore connects volunteers to the organizations that strive to better our city through service events and projects. Some of the organizations Serve the City Baltimore has connected with volunteers include Second Chance, The Well, Believe in Tomorrow, Safe House of Hope, and Somebody Cares Baltimore.

Serve the City Baltimore has aided the poverty-stricken, homeless, and trafficked population in our beloved Baltimore, but instead of knowing this community by their needs, Serve the City Baltimore aims to know them by their names. Their mentality with serving is that we are all broken and just as broken as those whose needs we are serving. The organization also strives to cross the physical and non-physical boundaries in order to serve.

HOPE FOR SERVE THE CITY BALTIMORE

Right now, Serve the City Baltimore mostly plans service events and distributes volunteers to the connected organizations depending on how many show up on the day. Typically, they host one event in the fall and one in the spring, but the organization would love to one day serve our neighbors through ongoing service projects year round.

GET INVOLVED

Interested in serving our city? Here are a few upcoming events to get involved in:

• Spring Service Day - Saturday, April 2. Click HERE for more information from Serve the City Baltimore's website. 
• Dewees Park Service Project - Saturday, April 2. This is a special service project that the City Church community has the opportunity to take part in. Click HERE for more information on how to get involved.

For inquiries regarding volunteer opportunities with Serve the City Baltimore, contact Erin Preshoot at erin@servethecitybaltimore.org or visit Serve the City Baltimore for more information and fill out a Volunteer Opportunities Form.

Adopt a College Student

The college years are some of the most pivotal years in a young person’s life. This fall, our church family will have the opportunity to be a home away from home for college students in Baltimore through the “Adopt a College Student” Program.

Through this ministry, willing church attendees, members, couples and families will be matched with college students in an adoptive/ mentor relationship for the duration of one school year. The commitment involves intentionally spending time with your “adopted” student at least once a month (inviting over for dinner, offer to drive to Target, laundry & lunch day, attending one of their concerts/performances, etc.) and being a source of encouragement for them as they navigate life away from home.

Let us know if you are interested! Email Ellie Roper at esroper3@gmail.com.

Help prevent & address human trafficking with Araminta

ABOUT ARAMINTA FREEDOM INITIATIVE

Araminta Freedom Initiative seeks to awaken, equip and mobilize the Church and our community to end Human Trafficking in the Baltimore area. They engage in the prevention of the sexual exploitation of minors, the systemic economic deterrence of the business of human trafficking, intervention and rescue of those held against their will and provision of aftercare initiatives that provide healing and wholeness to victims.

GET INVOLVED

Volunteer Training – Awaken, Equip, Mobilize (begins September 17): Araminta Freedom Initiative prepares people to be Araminta volunteers by covering the following topics: scope of the issue and current responses; understanding victims, traffickers and buyers; cultural awareness context and the influence of the commercial sex trade on DMST; current legislation, law enforcement’s response and legislative gaps; and, Araminta engagement opportunity descriptions and sign-ups. After completing this training, participants are qualified to volunteer in one of the following areas: aftercare, prevention education and awareness, training facilitation and research, economic deterrence and/or church engagement.

Connect: Receive the general Araminta email for future opportunities and news: contact Stephanie Green (greens@aramintafreedom.org) to be added to this list.

MORE OPPORTUNITIES

Be alerted when needs arise: Receive emails where you can help meet very real and tangible needs of trafficking survivors in the Baltimore region

Provide lunch to survivors: Sign up to drop off lunch to survivors at their drop in center on Monday and Wednesday afternoons

Be a part of the prayer team: Araminta has an active prayer team that meets together in addition to receiving emails of ongoing prayer needs related to Araminta and survivor services in the region.

To be included on any of these communications, or if you have any questions, please contact Araminta's Director of Volunteer Programs Sarah Batley at batleys@aramintafreedom.org.

Be a part of a growing ministry to teen moms in Baltimore City

ABOUT

YoungLives Baltimore is a community outreach that comes alongside teen parents and their children in order to help meet their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. YoungLives offers authentic one on one relationships to each teen mom in order to provide individualized support, encouragement and knowledge of the love of God. Their aim is to offer every teen mom a unique friendship in a fun filled, safe and loving environment.

GET INVOLVED

Provide Transportation 1x/month: Baltimore Young Lives is in need of drivers for their club meetings during the school year. Club is one Saturday morning a month. Drivers are assigned one or multiple girls to pick up and drop off at club, stay and hang out during club and then provide transportation home.

Lead: Become a mentor to a teen mom as she navigates life and learn about God's love for them.

If anyone is interested in serving YoungLives, please email Courtney Sobus at courtneysobus@gmail.com.

Summertime Family-Fun in Baltimore

Hi City Kids Parents! There are lots of things to do in Baltimore over the summer, but my experience has been that living so close to the city, I never explore what options are available to me. Recently I spent some time looking up different activities and events in the city for young families. Here are just a few fun and inexpensive ideas that I found:

1. Port Discovery's Family Fun Nights -  On the 3rd Friday of every month Port Discovery has a Family Fun Night with tickets at $2 a person after 4PM. The museum is open until 8PM on these nights and families are free to explore any of the exhibits. In addition to the regular exhibits, there are special activities available at different times during the evening, including crafts and safety demonstrations. The next Family Fun Night is this Friday, July 17. For more information visit: http://www.portdiscovery.org/generalinfo/tickets  

2. Baltimore Museum of Art's Free Family Sundays - Every Sunday at the BMA, the museum provides families with the opportunity to create a piece of artwork modeled after a famous artist. This Sunday families have the opportunity to create a collage portrait like those of Van Gogh and other Impressionist painters. The event is free and takes place every Sunday from 2-5 PM. For more information visit: https://artbma.org/events/family.html

3. Carrie Murray Nature Center - The Carrie Murray Nature Center is located inside Gwynn Falls/Leakin Park and houses reptiles, amphibians and injured or orphaned wildlife. The Center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30AM - 4:30PM and costs $2 per person. During the year, the Nature Center also hosts a series of programs and activities for families. The next two events are not until late August. The first is an “Owl Prowl” from 7PM-9PM on Friday, August 21 ($7 per person) and the second is a frog study on Saturday, August 29 from 12PM-2PM ($5 per person). For more information about both these events visit: http://www.carriemurraynaturecenter.org/events/

4. Maryland Science Center's Fridays After 5 - Every Friday after 5PM, the Science Center is open to families at a reduced rate of $9 per person. On these nights the permanent exhibit halls, the planetarium, and the IMAX theatre are open to visitors. Planetarium presentations take place at 6:00PM and IMAX shows are at 7:00PM (both are included in the $9 entrance fee).  For more information visit: http://www.mdsci.org/event/friday-after-5/2015-06-26/

5. Fort McHenry - Fort McHenry is a great place to explore with older children. Begin by stopping in at the Visitor’s Center for a brief orientation film and then explore the fort on your own. The park is free for children, but costs $7 for adults 16 years and older. If you go with your children, you may want to have them try out the Junior Ranger Program. The children are provided with an Activity Booklet at the Visitor Center that you can help them complete during your visit. Once the booklet is finished, the child can receive a Junior Ranger certificate and badge. The park is open everyday from 9AM - 5PM. For more information visit: http://www.nps.gov/fomc/planyourvisit/justforkids.htm

Restoring Baltimore's Harbor

Photo: Blue Water Baltimore

Guest post by Elise Bruner of Blue Water Baltimore

You may have noticed that the water in Baltimore, including the Inner Harbor, is not quite as clean as we would like. The Harbor and its surrounding watersheds recently earned an F for its overall health. However, a lot of work is being done to address that grade and we are already seeing some improvements.

Baltimore City is made up of four watersheds. Think of a watershed like a bathtub—everything in the tub will eventually be washed down the drain. In the same way, when it rains, everything in a watershed will be washed into the nearest storm drain, and into the closest body of water. In Baltimore, our storm drains drain directly to the nearest stream, without being filtered or treated. That means the same dog waste, trash, and pesticides you see on the street end up in the nearest stream, river, and the Harbor and Chesapeake Bay.

Because we live in an urban environment, hard surfaces (roofs, roads, sidewalks) do not allow rain water to filter through as it would through grass and trees. This increases the amount of stormwater flowing down the sidewalks, through storm drains, and often into our basements!

Baltimore’s pipe infrastructure is aging, and is not equipped to handle the increasing amount of water.  They result in collapse and cross-contamination with sewage pipes, meaning sewage often leaks into the streams, rivers, and harbor.

Blue Water Baltimore works to educate the public on the problem of stormwater pollution (the only form of water pollution that is still increasing!), monitor water quality, advocate for clean water, and work with communities to clean and green their neighborhoods. We plant trees, help coordinate community clean ups, and hold rain barrel workshops, among many other activities. We also rip out impervious pavement and install green roofs, blue alleys (pictured here) that help filter pollutants out of the water, slowing it down, and acting as a natural buffer. Greening neighborhoods also helps to reduce crime, improve air quality and other public health indicators, as well as increase property values.

Please keep us in prayer as we work to connect with different communities throughout the city and parts of the county, for the ability to listen well, and the energy to persevere with the great amount of work there is to do!

We rely on volunteers to help up complete our work, in many other ways besides what I’ve listed here! Check out or website, events calendar, or contact me at ebruner@bluewaterbaltimore.org for more information or to get involved.

This summer, join us by taking care of our trees at Mulch Madness on July 11, spend some time on the water through Canoe & Scoop in Middle Branch Park August 8, or join us for an O’s game July 30.

What We Learned about this Week

This summer in the City Kid’s program, we have been working our way through What’s in the Bible’s Wonder Blimp curriculum. Each week the kids learn about a major truth as Clive and Ian (two of the puppets from the WITB videos) search for the answer to a big question. This Sunday we studied the question, “what should I do when I am afraid?” In this week’s video, Clive and Ian discovered that God is more powerful than any of our fears and that he wants us to talk about our fears with him. After the video, we discussed some of our fears and talked about what we can do when we’re feeling afraid. The kids asked some challenging and valuable questions and offered helpful responses. We concluded the lesson with a scavenger hunt and each clue had a story about someone in the Bible who was protected by God in a scary situation.

At the end of every lesson, each child receives a Take Home Card with discussion questions for review and a verse to reflect on.  When I have the opportunity to teach in our City Kids program, I am amazed (and challenged) by the depth of your children’s questions and answers. The Take Home Card provides you as a parent with the opportunity to reflect on the truth for that day with your child(ren), hear about their learning, and perhaps learn something yourself! I know how easy it is for these little papers to get lost in route from Church to home, so I am attaching the Take Home Card below and I hope that you will enjoy listening to their responses as much as I do!

TAKE HOME CARD 7-5-15

Come alongside a ministry to teens in Baltimore City

ABOUT

Baltimore City Young Life follows the mission of “introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith.” Teens in Baltimore face unique challenges, complicated by the fact that an overwhelming majority of them are growing up without fathers in their homes. Young Life in Baltimore City approaches ministry with a unique strategy to effectively minister to these young people.

During the fall, Baltimore City Young Life hosts a couple of events per week with students. They want to provide snacks at both events so that kids can always leave with a full stomach. If you're interested in serving this ministry in this simple way and empowering the leaders to continue reaching kids with the Gospel, or even becoming a leader yourself, please contact Josh Goodman at joshwgoodman@gmail.com.

Tutor once a week with Pen Lucy Action Network

ABOUT

The Pen Lucy Action Network’s mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ by providing educational, social and economic development opportunities to youth and families in Pen Lucy and Baltimore. PLAN is the community development ministry of Faith Christian Fellowship.

PLAN is looking for tutors to be assigned to a student and to meet with him/her once a week. Meetings occur at a local church and involve games, devotionals and then one on one homework assistance. Tutors also work through an online tutoring program with their assigned student. No teaching or subject area expertise needed as curriculum is self explanatory and provided. The sooner volunteers notify PLAN of their availability, the more students they can accept into the program. PLAN functions on a semester schedule with fall and spring sessions every year.

Let us know if you are interested and we will put you in touch with the people at PLAN!

Assist with Reading Club for kids 6-11 once a week

ABOUT

The 29th Street Community Center is looking for volunteers for its Reading Club for kids age 6-11.

DATES/TIMES

This club meets Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. every week.

Let us know if you're interested and we'll put you in touch with the folks at the 29th Street Community Center! 

Assist with jump rope program, Jump 4 Joy

ABOUT

The 29th Street Community Center is looking for volunteers to assist with their jumprope program, Jump 4 Joy, which involves kids 6-15. 

DATES & TIMES

Saturdays from 10:45 a.m to 12 p.m.

Let us know if you're interested and we'll put you in touch with the folks at the 29th Street Community Center!

Serve as a distribution volunteer at North East Food Pantry

ABOUT

GEDCO’s North East Food Pantry serves individuals in crisis by connecting customers with emergency food relief that will enable movement towards self-sufficiency. North East Food Pantry is in need of some volunteers for daytime distribution.

DATES & TIMES

North East is open from 10:30am-1:30pm Monday-Friday, and he is looking for 2-3 volunteers to help during those times.

If you're interested in volunteering, please email Nate Fitzgerald of GEDCO at nfitzgerald@gedco.org.

Summer 2015: Provide guidance to youth workers at the 29th Street Community Center

ABOUT

The 29th Street Community Center has hired a group of youth workers to volunteer over the summer. For many of them, this is their first job. They are in need of guidance. Particularly, a group of students are working to put together a Youth Edition of the Harwood Voice Newsletter. There are a couple of volunteers that help out occasionally, but more coverage is needed. They need someone to sit with them, make sure they’re on task and assist them with the process of writing an article (i.e. research, editing, design, layout).

DATES & TIMES

7/6 - 9-2:30 (Need adults to walk with students as they advertise and register people for Fish Fry event and complete surveys about perceptions of the center)

7/7 – 9-2:30 Fish Fry/Center Surveys

7/8 – 12:30-1:30 Fish Fry/Center Surveys, 1:30-4:30 UMD College Tour (Could use 2 drivers!!!)

7/9 – 9-2:30 Fish Fry/Center Surveys

7/10 – 9-2:30 (Need adult to assist volunteer who is coming in to teach computer skills/website design for the Harwood Community Association – does not require computer skills, they have someone teaching that!)

7/13 – 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work

7/14 - 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work

7/15 - 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work

7/16 - 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work

7/17 – 1-2:30 (Need adult to assist volunteer who is coming in to teach computer skills/website design for the Harwood Community Association – does not require computer skills, someone will be teaching that!)

7/20 - 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work

7/21 - 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work

7/22 - 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work

7/23 - 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work

7/24 – 1-2:30 (Need adult to assist volunteer who is coming in to teach computer skills/website design for the Harwood Community Association – does not require computer skills, we already have someone teaching that!!!)

7/27 - 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work (Potentially going on college tour at Goucher, so this day is tentative – could eventually use drivers)

7/28 - 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work

7/29 - 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work

7/30 - 1-2:30 Harwood Newsletter work

Let us know if you are interested or available for one or several of those time slots and we will put you in touch with the people at the 29th Street Community Center!

Help lead an early childhood program once a week

ABOUT

The 29th Street Community Center is looking for interested volunteers to be trained to assist with and lead an early childhood program called Mother Goose on the Loose. The program involves interactive story time with reading, songs & nursery rhymes. The 29th Street Community Center staff would provide the scheduling and organizational side of things, but they are looking for volunteers who are interested in stepping into a higher responsibility volunteer position on a weekly basis. 

DATES & TIMES

Volunteers would need to be trained prior to the end of September 2015 and be able to take over the program at that point. The program meets Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the 29th Street Community Center.

Let us know if you are interested and we will connect you with the folks at the 29th Street Community Center!

Alissa Wilcox reflects on City Kids Evening Camp

Guest blogger here, Alissa!

This past week my evenings were filled with games, singing, crafts and learning about the Bible! We had City Kids Evening Camp and it was a blast! Our nights went something like this:

1. Kids entered and caught each other up on their first days of summer.

2. We did a minute-to-win-it game normally involving two volunteers and a crazy game of bouncing, throwing, sticking or catching an item within a minute!

3. We sat down and watched "Phil and friends" from What’s in the Bible.

4. We danced and learned a worship song.

5. We went outside, or stayed in depending on weather, and played games.

6. We came back all sweaty and tired for a snack.

7. We did an awesome craft.

8. We played a review game to answer questions about what we learned.

9. We said our “See ya laters” and went home.

Phew, that may not seem like too crazy of a week. It might even sound like some of your day-to-day schedules with children. But when you take 12 kids and three or four leaders and put them in a room all together, it can get a little wild. Keeping up with all of these kids was not easy, but at the end of the night we all looked at each other and said, “Great job, team. See you again tomorrow!” We knew that the role we played in the lives of these kids was way more than just teaching some silly songs, leading a crazy game and showing them a new craft; we were pouring into their lives with the words we used, the love we showed and the Bible lessons we taught each night.

The videos from What’s in the Bible taught the kids and the leaders a lot about the Bible itself. We learned about the Old Testament and New Testament. We learned about how sin entered the world and messed everything up, but how God made a rescue plan and sent his son Jesus so that we could be free from sin. We also learned how we can be forgiven because of Jesus and that we need to go tell others they are forgiven too. Each day the kids learned more as they enjoyed the puppets and the songs from the video. At the end of the week the kids were given a journal to complete with their families throughout the summer. This helped make what they learned last even longer, as they can now have conversations together with their families.

We also had a service project on the last day of camp. There is an organization we are partnering with this summer called the Christian Community Center. On the last day of camp we made backpacks for the kids that go to the center. Our kids loved picking what notebook and folder they thought the child would want to receive. They also decorated bookmarks with pictures and notes to put in the backpacks. The love that they showed for kids they didn’t even know amazed me! They may never meet the children who will receive the backpacks, but that didn’t matter to them; they just wanted to serve.

My favorite memory was from Wednesday. The kids started to become just a little too comfortable with each other, and were a little crazier than we’d seen earlier that week. Nonetheless, I had a job to do and they had songs they needed to learn. The one we learned the previous day was “One Way Jesus” by Hillsong Kids. We went over it again on Wednesday and I was taken aback as I watched them sing and dance. I was in awe as all of these kids were jumping up and down shouting/singing, “One way, Jesus! You’re the only one that I could live for.” They may be a crazy bunch, but in that moment they were crazy for Jesus.

What more can we ask as we pray for this generation, but that they would see God as the only way, and the only one they want to live for! At the end of the week, no matter how tired we were, we knew that God was with us there at camp. He was with every child and every volunteer that week, and that’s all we need. Thank you for your prayers for us and for the children! I hope the kids had just as much fun, and probably more, as I did last week!

What a great start to summer!

-Alissa Wilcox

Share the Gospel in Baltimore's independent schools

About FOCUS

FOCUS has been in Baltimore for over 35 years, providing independent school students a way to address important questions about life with mentors and peers. FOCUS sponsors activities and events for independent school students in the area with the intention of sharing the Gospel in a way that is relevant and exciting. Staff and volunteers also meet regularly with students on their campuses.

Get Involved

With over 20 independent schools in Baltimore, the need for relational ministries like FOCUS is huge, especially within City Church’s surrounding neighborhoods. If anyone is interested in getting involved, they can contact Tim Foster at tfoster@infocus.org.

Serve with FCA Lacrosse in Baltimore

About FCA Lacrosse

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a sports ministry with the vision of "seeing the world impacted for Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.” The FCA Lacrosse ministry focuses specifically on those in the lacrosse community through teams, camps, clinics and discipleship. Through these mediums, FCA Lacrosse seeks to build relationships with coaches, athletes and families while leading them in to a relationship with Jesus Christ.

In Baltimore, FCA runs a club lacrosse program that impacts over 250 families in the community. This club currently hosts 12 teams that compete year round. Throughout the season, FCA players are engaged in regular Bible study, service opportunities and even a winter retreat. FCA coaches are engaged in regular Bible study and training that equips them to lead in a godly manner. Parents are also engaged in devotionals so that they may soberly lead their child through the craziness of youth sports.

Get Involved

Contact Matt Emerson if you are interested in getting involved with FCA Lacrosse in Baltimore by emailing mattemerson828@gmail.com

Get to know Life Counseling Center!

We are so excited that Life Counseling Center is opening a satellite office in Roland Park to serve the neighborhoods of North Baltimore. The center will provide Biblical Counseling at City Church’s new office space and become an integral part of our ministry to our congregation and the surrounding community.

Life Counseling Center offers biblical counseling that is grounded in the foundational truth that because of the Gospel, lasting change is possible. Life Counseling Center holds to the principle that hope is never lost, no matter how difficult the situations in which we find ourselves may be. Many people travel long distances to meet with counselors at Life Counseling Center, and this new partnership will make it easier for Baltimore residents to benefit from their solid Biblical counseling.

Get to know the counselors!

Rich Starsoneck

Director of Counseling

Rich is Director of Life Counseling Center. As a counselor, his areas of interest are marriage and family counseling, grief, loss and men’s issues. He enjoys understanding people and seeing their lives and hearts change. He sees the importance of entering into a person’s world and helping individuals or couples think biblically about their situation instead of having their thinking controlled by experience, emotion and cultural norms. Rich has studied at both Chesapeake and Westminster Seminary, is certified in Marriage and Family Counseling through CCEF and is a mediator with the MCRC with an emphasis in restorative dialogue. Rich was married in 1985 to his wife Kathy, has a grown daughter Laura, and two whippets. He enjoys playing and listening to music, reading and road cycling.

Diana Bauer

Counselor

Diana received her BA in History from UBC and earned her teaching certificate in history grades K-12. After homeschooling two of her four children, Diana ran one of the busiest crisis pregnancy centers in Baltimore City for five years. She has completed three levels of certificate training from the Christian Counseling Educational Foundation (CCEF). Diana has been counseling for 10 years. Her primary area of interest is in identifying how our hearts interact with life’s issues and how believing God provides true healing. This process applies to all people of any age, gender or heart issue. She is married and has four grown children and four grandchildren. Interests include traveling, cooking and running Square Halo Books publishing company.

Jason Robbins

Counselor

Jason holds a M.A. in Biblical Counseling from Luther Rice University in Atlanta, GA and a B.A. in Christian Education from Maryland Bible College in Baltimore, MD. Along with his wife, he is also a Prepare-Enrich certified Pre-Marriage and Marriage Counselor. He is currently serving on staff at Long Green Baptist Church, as well as teaching English as a Second Language for Community College of Baltimore County. He and his wife, Olga, are raising three beautiful children – Nina, Evelyn and Alek – in Baltimore, MD. He enjoys reading, walking through the woods and spending as much time with his family as possible. Even though he has lived more than half of his life in Maryland, his New England roots go deep, so he is proud to still be a Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots.

Esther Smith

Counselor

Esther has her M.A. in Professional Counseling through Liberty University and has begun taking classes through the Christian Counseling Educational Foundation. Since she can remember, Esther has been drawn to the stories of people around her. Her counseling has been shaped by a desire to walk alongside individuals as they discern how their stories can be redeemed and changed through the truth of the Gospel. Esther lives in Baltimore with her husband, Ian, and enjoys good books and movies, creating new recipes in the kitchen and sharing them with family and friends. Areas of interest and experience include teens and young adults, women’s issues and working with individuals touched by anxiety, trauma, chronic illness and suffering.

Alison Spiegel

Intern Counselor

After twenty-five years as a wife, mother and software engineer, Alison asked the Lord to give her a vision for life after homeschooling. He answered her by introducing her to the world of biblical counseling. She enrolled in the Christian Counseling Education Foundation’s (CCEF) biblical counseling certificate program and anticipates full completion of the program this year. Her passion is to help people know God more personally, engage with Him more intimately and find help and hope in His living word. Alison is very involved in her local church where she has led Bible studies, counseled and discipled women and participated in jail ministry. She is married to Pete and they have four young-adult children. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading, watching British crime dramas and making jewelry. Areas of interest and experience in counseling include marriage, family and women’s issues.

Janet Crow

Counselor

Janet Crow has completed certificate training from the Christian Counseling Educational Foundation (CCEF) affiliated with Westminster Theological Seminary. She has served on the counseling team at her church for over a decade. Much of her spare time is spent practicing piano, hiking or gardening with her husband. She also enjoys doing needlework projects as gifts. Areas of interest / experience are women’s issues and marriage counseling.