May 31, 2007 by Al Hammer.

Today we learned several new things from Spirit of Faith concerning the renovations taking place in the Sanctuary. Several other tasks are moving forward on schedule with the renovations.

1) Today they were able to hook up the Organ to the new sound system and are confident that it will provide the sound that we need.

2) They began the demolition of the speaker cabinet above the “Amen Corner” holding the 5 main speakers for the organ on that side.

3) They hung the first of the video projectors from the ceiling that will project on a screen that will eventually be mounted on the wall where the Organ Speaker cabinet was. Kind of behind where our current screen is located but a little higher on the wall. Our screen will then go away and be used in a new location.

4) Painting of the walls in the Sanctuary continues. The first of two coats has for the most part been completed.

5) The new carpet in the Chancel area has been put down. The color is a dark rich “plum purple” that goes very nicely with the new wall colors. Here are a couple of shots that show a little different shading. One with a flash and the other with natural light from the west sun.

6) As you can see the pulpit has been removed and will not go back up leaving more room for versatility in the chancel area. A smaller portable/movable podium will be used. This was in the plans from the beginning. However, the original plans did have Spirit of Faith renovating the Chancel area by making the lower stage area smaller. That will not happen at this time. The stage area will stay the same size as you can see from the recarpeted pictures above.

7) The Chancel Railing has been removed and Glen Mar’s Worship Team will be helping to guide how those Railings will be reconstructed, perhaps into mobile kneeling benches that can be deployed as needed for our worship experiences.

The new sound system is pretty much ready to go. Spirit of Faith’s technical crew will be joining with our sound and video folks tomorrow evening to begin training that we will need in order to use this system. We anticipate that it will be fully functional this Sunday.

9) Last but not least for today,… we have just been told that Spirit of Faith will be installing the same new carpet in the main floor area of the Sanctuary (the Nave) next week AND they will be reinstalling the pews. They will NOT be changing the pews to Chairs at this time and perhaps not for the foreseeable future.

P.S.) This week when you come to church, expect a little dust and some things might be out of place. We have been assured by Spirit of Faith that they will clean as best they can before Sunday. But there has been a lot of dust and debris flying so help us by being patient and understanding. I have been told that since they will be keeping the pews, they will be having them professionally cleaned once the main renovations are complete. I honestly believe once it is all finished Glen Mar will be very pleased with the new accommodations.

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May 31, 2007 by Andy Lunt.

Our Transition Team has been doing a great job helping us through this time of multiple transitions. While I’ve been in ministry now for 40 years (28 of them at Glen Mar!), I have never before been so aware of the ways God provides for God’s people.

Our transition experience feels similar in many ways to the time the Hebrew people spent wandering in the wilderness between their escape from slavery in Egypt and their move into the promised land. But like theirs, our experience is characterized most by examples of God providing and the people learning to trust God–day by day–to provide for their needs.

I am so grateful for the way God is calling the right people to be in the right places at the right time to lead us through our time of transition. I’ve been grateful for members of the Strategic Planning Team–especially their chairperson Jeffrey Wetstone (who had no idea he was called to be a leader in the church until God raised him up through the encouragement of other members of the team.) I’ve been grateful for members of the transition team and their leaders Don Lee and Cel Beck, and for the Staff Parish Relations Team under the leadership of Patrick Wagner. None of these individuals were in these positions before January; but now God has raised them up at exactly the right time. God is good.

And God continues to call individuals into leadership at Glen Mar. Those who were in worship this past Sunday heard me announce that two persons will be joining our staff soon (another sign of God providing!). After a lengthy search, we are very grateful to welcome Ron Brown as our organist beginning August 1. Ron is well known in Howard County as the choral director at Atholton High School, where he has led award-winning singers for many years. Most recently, Ron has been organist and choir director at Simpson-Hamline United Methodist Church in Washington, DC. He brings many versatile gifts to our staff, and I am very grateful he will be joining us in August.

The second person who will join our staff in September is not a new face for many. I’m extremely pleased to announce that Ruth Bell will be rejoining our staff as Pastor for Caring Ministry. Ruth served Glen Mar previously in a similar role. She brings a background in nursing, having acquired a doctorate in nursing and taught nursing, and a warmth and sensitivity to the needs of all persons. Ruth, like Pastors Al and Mary, is an ordained Deacon in the United Methodist Church.

As you know, Pastor Mary Dennis will be leaving our staff on June 30 in order to join the staff of the Baltimore Washington Conference, where she will help pastors and laity in churches in Western Maryland and West Virginia to grow disciples. Mary’s last Sunday with us will be June 24. On that day we will recognize her ministry in worship and honor her with a special reception in fellowship hall between services.

During Mary’s tenure with Glen Mar, her responsibilities grew extensively to the point where she was providing leadership to the areas of Caring, Mission, and Evangelism. In seeking to replace her, we felt it would be unwise to ask one individual to relate to so many different ministries. Instead, we will be adding part-time staff to focus on each. The addition of Ruth Bell is just the first step in this transition. I hope to be announcing other staff additions this summer.

Those who were in worship this past Sunday also noticed a new sidewalk leading to the upper entrance and new paint in the lobby and narthex areas. By Sunday, June 3, painting of the sanctuary should be completed. These are among the renovations and improvements undertaken by our “landlords” and owners of the building, Spirit of Faith Christian Community, as they prepare for their first worship service at this location on Saturday, June 16. Spirit of Faith will continue to worship on Saturday evenings, while Glen Mar will worship as usual on Sundays.

While this arrangement will likely bring a few “rough spots,” what a great opportunity to use a building to praise God in so many different ways at different times!

We can’t possibly foresee all we will encounter during this time of transition. But we can be assured that God will continue to provide. And, like the Hebrew people, we can learn through this time of transition to increasingly place our trust in the God who never fails to provide. God is good, all the time!

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May 30, 2007 by Al Hammer.

Today I had the pleasure of giving Pete and Shirley Adams the tour of the construction site. Shirley’s family are long time/charter members of Glen Mar Church. They now live in Florida and were up for a visit.

Today on the site they put up some of the interior door frames getting ready for the mason to come next week when he will begin working on interior masonry walls.

They were also working on the Montgomery Road entryway. This picture shows the additional dirt they are taking from the road work and putting in the stockpile which will eventually be used to backfill the lower level of the below grade walls. The Montgomery Road work should be done and cleared within a couple of weeks from today. Then they will move on back to work on the upper part of the road which will intersect with the current New Cut Road.

Work continues at the current site with finishing the painting of the Lobby. Painting of the Sanctuary began and will probably be ongoing through the end of next week. The sanctuary walls will be the same “Blond” as the lobby with “Navajo White” trim. Although painting in the Sanctuary will not be finished this week, everything will be back in place enough for us to have our regular worship services this Sunday.

As I understand things at the moment, Spirit of Faith will NOT be doing any major renovations to the Chancel area (as we were originally told) other than new carpet and we will be working with them to make the chancel railing more portable. Spirit of Faith will not be using the chancel railing and want the space opened up. Much of the time that works fine with us, as well. But there will be those times when we will need the chancel railing and will want to make it available when needed.

With in the next 2 weeks Spirit of Faith will be laying new carpet in the Sanctuary, removing all the pews and putting in chairs. They will also be installing new video screens and projectors above the Choir area and the Amen corner.

Thanks to everyone for their patience and flexibility last week during the installation of new sidewalks and the painting of the Lobby areas which made for some interesting and challenging traffic flow issues.

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May 23, 2007 by Al Hammer.

Today, Harry Rowell called me to get permission to visit the work site. I met him at the site where he took some video footage to put up on the screen for the next couple of Sundays. While we were there, I grabbed a couple of pictures and got the latest on what is happening.

Today they were pouring the bases for the light poles in the parking lots.

The pad has completely been poured for the lower level. In the foreground front and center of the picture you can see where the exterior doors will be entering in to a small little indoor amphitheater where there will be steps and you can see the ramp goes up to the main level of the lower “Narthex”.

The picture below is one where I am standing in the entryway that I refer to above and I am looking up the 2 or 3 steps that will eventually take you up the ledge in the foreground. The opening in the background is the exterior doors that will open up on to the exterior Amphitheater that comes down to the lower “Narthex” from the front of the building.

This next picture is of the same Amphitheater looking from the front of the building down into the lower “Narthex”.

The really big news is that BG&E has finally finished their work down on Montgomery Road. We will begin construction of the excel and accel lanes on Montgomery Road and finish up the road all the way to our entrance starting next Tuesday May 29th. The site work subcontractor is also doing the final review work of the approve plans for the upper part of the realigned New Cut Road as we speak. They will also begin on Tuesday to put up sediment control structures for the building of the upper road. Once these controls are approved by the County with a site inspection, and they finish the review of the design of the road they will start construction on the upper road. Estimated build time will be approximately 6 to 8 weeks with no snags.

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May 23, 2007 by Al Hammer.

Today there was a second coat of paint put on the Lobby areas and the Narthex area of the Sanctuary got a first coat.

The sidewalk work continued today with the removal of a few more slabs of sidewalk on the Route 104 side of the building where a new handicap ramp will be installed and where a couple of slabs were cracked. Some of the form work was completed today. We anticipate they will finish up the form work tomorrow and the concrete will be poured tomorrow.

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