Our community extends far beyond the walls of our sanctuary and Sunday morning service. While worship is at the heart of our life together, we find that we can also glorify God in knitting groups, in casserole preparation, playing Capture the Flag with our youth, and in theological conversation at the local bar.
We find life in partnership that transcend the barriers of neighborhood, race and class in Baltimore City and beyond. You’ll find us at BUILD (Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development) assemblies advocating for affordable housing, or at block parties organized by the No Boundaries Coalition eating hamburgers with our neighbors in Sandtown. We Zoom with old friends in San Salvador and partner with Native American churches in the Dakota Presbytery.
It is in the fullness of life together that we become the Body of Christ.
Read more information about our programs and our Sunday schedule for children, for youth, and for adults, and about our work in the city and in the world.
We strive to include children in all aspects of faith and worship at Brown Memorial. While we take our responsibility to nurture children seriously, we also see them as models of discipleship in their authenticity, curiosity and spirited search to understand God.
Sunday School for children ages preschool through elementary is offered during worship. All children’s classes are team-taught by volunteers in a classroom setting. Our classes focus on foundational understandings of Bible stories and our Christian traditions. Sunday School classes do not meet Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Children and their families are invited to participate in fellowship activities throughout the year, including potlucks, the annual all church retreat and summer camps.
Contact Rachel Cunningham, Congregational Life Minister for more information.
Youth programming at Brown strives to be a place for faith development, community-building, and joyful connection. We hope to be a resource to families while fostering a culture of radical hospitality, kindness, and acceptance.
Opportunities for our high school youth (8th-12th graders) to connect for monthly fellowship begin in the fall with organized community hangouts at various locations around Baltimore. High school youth can also participate in leadership through volunteering to serve as youth elders on Session or helping lead games and activities for our Middlers group (3rd-7th graders). Some examples of high school leadership for our Middlers include organizing and judging a Thanksgiving cake-decorating competition, leading a church-wide scavenger hunt, and putting together an exciting game of “Capture the Flag.”
Additionally, our high school youth are encouraged in confirmation, where they complete confirmation classes and craft statements of faith. Confirmands attend a retreat at Massanetta Springs Conference Center. We also have a high school group lead worship once a year on Youth Sunday, which includes sharing reflections for the sermon and leading liturgy.
Our Middlers group has a chance to get involved in Middlers Game Night on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month. This fun night includes dinner together, sharing from inter-generational guest speakers, service projects, and games. Examples of service projects we’ve enjoyed together are, creating hygiene kits for persons experiencing homelessness to be distributed at the Health Care for the Homeless Clinic downtown or cooking up tasty casseroles for persons experiencing food insecurity with Our Daily Bread.
Our Middlers also attend the Massanetta Middle School Conference in the summers and have a blast connecting with over one hundred other youth from all over the region.
Family and church wide events such as Summer River Tubing, Winter Ski Weekend, and the Retreat at Skycroft in the spring also foster inter-generational connections and continuing education
We encourage all members and friends to find at least one place to nurture your spiritual life. Maybe it’s an adult education class, maybe it’s a spirituality group, or maybe it’s a place of service that feeds you. But find at least one place where you are fed and take in the grace that God gives freely so that you may also exhale the grace of God.
We welcome anyone who wishes to officially join the church four separate times during the year. This process involves meeting with members of Session, sharing some of your faith journey, and what brought you to Brown. Typically, that meeting takes place before worship on the day we have designated to welcome new members. Our Senior Pastor, Andrew Connors, or our Congregational Life Minister, Rachel Cunningham, are also always happy to meet one-on-one with anyone about membership.
Coming together over a shared meal is a core practice of our tradition, mostly notably seen in the act of communion. Each week we share a meal together following worship. We encourage everyone to stay for this complimentary lunch and time of community building.
