At Brown Memorial, we believe cross-cultural partnerships enrich our understanding of God. Over the years we have lived into several deep partnerships that remind us of the privileges and responsibilities of our place in the global community. We believe in the principles of accompaniment, authentic relationships and walking alongside our partners with mutual respect.
Our partnerships around the globe are cultivated and connected through Brown Memorial volunteers. Explore our current global mission commitments below.
Since 2003, Brown Memorial members have partnered with the Presbytery of Baltimore and the Dakota Presbytery in South Dakota and Minnesota. Every summer, delegations of adults, youth, and children travel from Baltimore to help run Summer Learning Camps at various sites across the Dakota Presbytery. In addition to helping run the camps, our delegates learn a great deal about Native culture and the unique challenges of life on the reservation.
Our most recent partnership is with the Pejuhutazizi Presbyterian Church in the Upper Sioux Community in Granite Falls, MN, for the Pejuhutazizi Family Learning Camp (PFLC), which started in 2013. PFLC is open to members and friends of Brown Memorial, and families can bring their children (kindergarten and older) to experience this partnership together. Adults and teens who do not apply with their families can also be staff members at PFLC. For more information about PFLC, visit the Baltimore Dakota Learning Camps website. To volunteer with the Baltimore Dakota Partnership at Brown Memorial, contact Chrystie Adams.
In early 2019, Brown Memorial formed a partnership with the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Camajuaní, Cuba. Primarily a mission of fellowship, under the partnership agreement between our church communities, we have committed to pray for, learn from, support, and visit one another. Brown Memorial’s church-to-church partnership exists within a broader partnership between the Presbytery of Baltimore and the El Centro Presbytery of Cuba – a relationship that dates to 2004. Brown Memorial sends a delegation of members to Cuba at least once annually, occasionally in coordination with visits organized by the presbytery-level partnership. For more information about the Cuba partnership, please contact Morgana Kinlan.
Brown Memorial has partnered with Maria Madre De Los Pobres, a Catholic parish on the outskirts of San Salvador, since 1986. Brown became an “Accompanying Congregation” during the Salvadoran Civil War, sending delegates to San Salvador to support, witness, and literally accompany congregation members as they faced the dangers of the war. Since then, we have sent more than ten delegations to visit our friends at Madre.
Today, we continue to accompany the congregation by financially supporting the local ministries of their parish and by sending delegations to immerse themselves in the life of La Chacra, carrying on the deep, authentic relationships begun over 35 years ago. Eighteen families at Brown are “Godparents” to children in the neighborhood of La Chacra, supporting their education and basic needs through an annual contribution of $350 per child. If you want to become a Godparent or want more information about the program, contact Karen Stokes. For more information about the El Salvador partnership, contact Barbara Cook.
Check out this video made during our delegation in June 2024.
