Mission at Ark and Dove

We will be collecting a special offering for Haiti throughout January.  Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is already moving to help the earthquake ravaged country and its people.  We can help out more by making up any of four different kits for hygiene, babies, and school.  The lists of kit supplies can be found at the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance website.

The mission committee at Ark and Dove church believes in taking action to help our fellow human beings in the local community. Our church supports:

Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake -- as a covenant church of Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake, we provide donations of money, lunches and labor for work crews. Click here to see some of our mission committee members and friends in action.

Sarah's House -- Sarah's House is a local homeless shelter run by Associated Catholic Charities Inc. and located in renovated barracks at Ft. Meade. We support Sarah's House with donations of money, cleaning supplies and personal care items. Every 3rd Wednesday of the month, Ark and Dove provides a family dinner for people staying at Sarah's House.

Christian Assistance Program (CAP) -- CAP is run by a group of local Christian churches and provides short term emergency assistance for families in crisis. CAP supports the Odenton Food Pantry, Odenton Clothes Closet and the Holiday Dinners Program.

Presbytery of Baltimore Peace and Justice Committee -- Ark & Dove supports the promotion of Social Justice in the world. For more information, visit committee's page at the Baltimore Presbytery web site.

"Souper Bowl" Sunday
Super Bowl Game Day, also called the Souper Bowl of Caring is an effort to glorify God and care for "the least of these our brothers" by encouraging people to give one dollar each as they leave worship on Super Bowl Sunday.

Where does the money go? Each congregation selects and sends the contribution directly to the charity of choice. Ark and Dove's is usually a local charity. Ark and Dove also asks the congregation to bring in cans of soup for a local homeless shelter or our local food pantry. Organizers do not touch the funds, only asking that congregations around the United States report their results on game day so that national totals can be determined.

Who collects the donations? Youth from each congregation use large soup pots to collect the donations as parishioners leave worship the morning of the game. When and where did the "Souper Bowl" start? The effort began with the Senior High Youth Fellowship of Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C. in 1990. The partnership grew from 22 churches the first year to over 10,000 congregations representing every U.S. state and Canada.

 Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Native American Youth

The Presbytery of Baltimore has formed a partnership with native Americans in South Dakota and Montana belonging to the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. Members of our congregations have traveled to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and Fort Peck, Montana to participate in vacation Bible school, tutoring the native American Children and mission conferences. This past summer two of our youth participated in a mission trip in which they tutored at Pine Ridge. We expect to send more of our youth and leaders to Pine Ridge Reservation next summer for tutoring.