ABCUSA March 2024 NEWS UPDATE 

Love. – A Lenten Reflection Written by Rev. Dr. Cheryl F. Dudley

Love.

Beloved,

“9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”  (Genesis 4:9)

God left the question that Cain spit out unanswered. Afterall, he had been caught – red-handed.

When we do harm to another, sometimes we are caught red-handed. Other times, that which we are trying to hide goes unobserved… except by God.

God’s answer is an unsaid affirmative to Cain’s spiteful, defensive retort. Yes, we are our siblings keepers: sisters and brothers that share blood from the same parents’ blood, and sisters and brothers with whom we share the blood of our common humanity.

The call to all of us is to LOVE. To love is to remember we are all related – all of us have sprung from the heart of God. All of us are beloved by God, and beloved by others, even when we ourselves don’t feel the love.

Questions for reflection:

How do you find the strength to love when you feel outraged or envious?

How do you tap down unexpected or unleashed rag when it surfaces?

Sometimes our enemies are not over there, but as close as our next breath.

Breathe on me breath of God. Fill me with life anew.
That I may love what Thou dost love and do what Thou wouldst do.”
(From the hymn “Breathe on Me, Breath of God” by Edwin Hatch.)

Breathe. Release. Breathe.

Rev. Dr. Cheryl F. Dudley
Regional Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York

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ABHMS Announces 2024 Merit Awards, Will Celebrate Recipients at Space for Grace & Spiritual Caregivers Conference 2024 Luncheon

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA (ABNS 3/1/24)—The Reverend Dr. Patricia Murphy, BCC, ecclesiastical endorser of American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) / American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA), is pleased to announce the American Baptist leaders in chaplaincy and specialized ministries who are receiving ABHMS’ four national ministry merit awards for 2024. They are:

CH (CAPT) Richard Blanchette, U.S. Air Force, who is receiving the Lorraine K. Potter Military Chaplaincy Merit Award for his faithful and effective pastoral and spiritual care in the United States military. Drawing upon more than 20 years of experience as an ABCUSA-ordained clergy and chaplain, Blanchette serves in the USAF Chaplain Brigade. He was also an instructor in the ABHMS chaplaincy skills for community ministry cohorts.

The Reverend Carol Ramsey-Lucas, BCC, who is receiving the Paul Strickland Institutional Chaplaincy Merit Award for her outstanding pastoral and spiritual care in an institutional setting. Ramsey-Lucas is chief of chaplain service at the Washington, DC VA Medical Center, where she leads a diverse team of chaplains in meeting the spiritual needs of veterans and their families. She has been an American Baptist Churches-endorsed chaplain for more than 20 years.

The Reverend Dr. John Simon, BCC, who is receiving the American Baptist National Network of Chaplains, Pastoral Counselors, and Specialized Ministers Merit Award for his commitment to faithful and effective ministry service in a leadership capacity. Simon is the vice president of spiritual health services at Westchester Medical Center Health Network and a former president of the Association of Professional Chaplains. His career as an American Baptist chaplain spans more than three decades.

The Reverend Dr. Kristina R. Gutierrez, who will receive the Carolyn M. Piper Pastoral Counseling Merit Award for her dedication to faithful and effective pastoral counseling. Gutierrez is renowned nationally and internationally for her work over decades as an educator, team builder, counselor and chaplain. She is ordained American Baptist clergy.

The awardees will be celebrated at the Chaplaincy Awards Luncheon on April 10, during ABHMS’ three-day Space for Grace & Spiritual Caregivers Conference in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The luncheon will be attended by in-person conferees and streamed live.

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“We are looking forward to honoring the amazing leadership of this year’s award recipients in person,” says Murphy. “They embody the ministry of presence in their daily individual practices.”

Notes of congratulations can be sent to endorsement@abhms.org.