Rockawalkin Church Library is Now Open!
Thank you to all those who donated either funds or time and energy to help get this project underway!
Hopefully you will find a moment to stop in, browse a bit, and perhaps even check out a book! The library will be operated on a self-serve basis, with just a few “procedures” to keep things functioning.

1. You can visit/use the library any time you are in the church!
2. There are no due dates; simply return your borrowed item within a ‘reasonable time’.
3. To borrow a book, simply fill out the card found in the pocket in the back of the book with your name and the day’s date (in the column marked date due). Leave the card in the designated place
4. Parents/children are welcome to borrow a book or books to occupy children during the service without filling out a book card: simply replace it after the service.
5. When returning a book, simply leave it in the ‘crate’ marked “returned books here”.
6. We still welcome book/media donations; please leave them in the designated place. (Monetary donations should be placed in the ‘offering plate’ and be clearly marked that they are for the library.)
7. We welcome suggestions for future book/media acquisition!
8. The library will always be a “work in progress”. If you are interested in helping to maintain the library, please contact Kaaren Kundell at 410 749 8059
9. Thank you all, and it is my sincere hope that we will all benefit from our library.
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Library News
Some books that may be of interest to you:
In the non-fiction area we have:
What’s in the Bible (pub 2000) by  RC Sproul & Rob Walgemuth
The Stones Cry Out (pub 97) by Randall Price
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World  (located on the Bible Study shelf)
Growing Compassionate Kids (on the Parenting shelf)

For those interested in Creation/Evolution we have
In Six Days, edited by John Ashton, PhD

On the fiction shelves we have :
Several books by Beverly Lewis, Karen Kingsbury, Jan Karon, Erlene Fowler and Erma Bombeck. Some of the new acquisitions in the library include two books by Julie Carobin. Julie is an award-winning author whose stories often spotlight her family, the sea, and God’s timely work in the lives of those around her. In Truffles by the Sea, “Gaby Flores has a penchant for drama and an unfortunate knack for dating Mr. So Wrong. After breaking off yet another relationship, watching her apartment building burn to the ground, and discovering that her dippy delivery driver has just run off with most of her business, Gaby decides it’s time to turn things around.” ‘Can a young woman prone to disaster in both work and love finally find ‘happily ever after’?”
Carobini’s, Chocolate Beach, is her first novel, and is about the gal “who has it all; the man of her dreams and their surf-ridin’ teenage son, a chocolate-loving best pal, an adorable beach bungalow, and a kicky job as a Southern California tour bus host.”

In another of our new books, written by multiple Grammy and Dove award-winner Sandi Patty, “Life in the Blender”, we read about the lessons learned in Sandi’s ten plus years of experience as a mom, stepparent, and adoptive mother. She says her story is “not how we did everything right”. We did lots of things wrong (just ask our kids!) It’s about the process we went through to blend two families into one and how we eventually got to the right “place” for our children and ourselves.

On the children’s shelves, you will find some new books about “Animal Friends” by Janette Oke. These books feature a precocious animal who uncovers important instruction on growing up. These fun stories help children learn the value of family, the reasons to obey, the importance of being yourself and much, much more. They are also an invaluable tool for teaching young ones to read.
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“Exploring General Conference” Teaches Basics
“Exploring General Conference” is a five session online course offered by United Methodist Communications. The course is free and gives anyone interested a basic working knowledge of The United Methodist Church’s legislative process in advance of the 2008 General Conference. It is available Feb 2 – April 12, April 9 – May 21 and May 28 – July 9. Participants can begin the course anytime during a session and move through the lessons at their own pace. To register, visit training.umcom.org. For more information, call (888-278-4862) or e-mail training@umcom.org.
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General Conference Goes HIGH TECH
General Conference will be available through live video and audio streaming at GC2008.umc.org and also through the Church’s Web site at umc.org.
The United Methodist Reporter also will have a live blog coverage at www.umportal.org.  Infoserv, the church’s free information service, will staff the meetings and respond to questions by e-mail at infoserv@umcom.org .
Special events include:
April 23: Opening Worship with Holy Communion
April 24: Episcopal, Laity and young People’s Address
April 25 – May 2 Morning Worship
April 27: Area Night Celebration and Bishop Reception
April 29: Address by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia
May 2: Closing Worship
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How the Legislative Process Works at GC
(Portions of this article taken from the UM Reporter)
Every four years, General Conference delegates elected by their annual conferences gather to review the Book of Discipline, which regulates the manner in which local churches, annual conferences and general agencies of the UMC are organized.  The book also sets policies regarding membership, ordination, administration, property and judicial procedures. Delegates also revise the Book of Resolutions, a volume declaring the church’s stance on a wide variety of social justice issues. The book contains more than 300 resolutions that are considered instructive and persuasive, but are not binding on members. Any UM individual or organization may petition General Conference. Each petition addresses one paragraph of either book. More than a quarter of the 1,564 petitions to the 2008 GC are related to the general Board of Church and Society, the church’s social action agency. Other topics for 2008 include the size of the GC, age of delegates, rights and privileges of clergy, the number and term of Bishops, global warming, the war in Iraq, the death penalty, reproductive and sexuality issues and racism.

Petitions are assigned to one of 13 legislative committees that may vote to adopt, reject, or refer them. Petitions approved by committee are sent for consideration by the full GC. Petitions turned down by the majority of delegates are discarded; petitions approved are added to the Book of Discipline or the Book of Resolutions. A computer tracking system enables delegates and visitors to determine the status of any petition or calendar item.
Let’s pray that the delegates discern the new thing that is happening through the Holy Spirit at the General Conference.
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Dos and Don’t in an Election Season
According to the IRS Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations – qualify for exemption from federal income tax, and are generally eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions however they must not “participate in, or intervene in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.” Churches can: discuss issues, distribute voter education materials, host a candidate if all other candidates are invited, serve as a polling place, invite a candidate in an non-official capacity, provided the person is not introduced as a candidate, no mention is made to candidacy and event is not promoted as a appearance by a candidate, lobby for certain issues, rent out their property to candidates or political parties provided the space is not provided for free or discount.

Churches cannot: openly take sides in an issue, specifically espousing or denouncing the views of any particular candidate, distribute materials biased toward or against a particular candidate or political party, raise money for a candidate or political party.
Clergy members may take sides for or against a candidate or issue provided they are doing so in an individual capacity, not as a church representative. They may not use the pulpit, church publications or any form related to the church to declare their individual preferences.
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Rockawalkin MYF Invades Ocean City
By Robin Hoffman
The Rockawalkin MYF (SURGE) made their annual trip to the ocean in January to participate in the Peninsula-Delaware Conference Youth Rally.
5000 Youth & Adult Leaders came together for a power-packed weekend in Ocean City, MD at the Roland Powell Convention Center to hear national Christian bands & Message communicate a relevant, transforming message for their generation. Youth & Adult Leaders engaged in fellowship, prayer, worship, singing, eating, hanging out at the hotels, hearing God's word, & having FUN with a purpose! Some of the entertainers for this year’s conference included: Kathleen Baskin-Ball, a senior pastor at Suncreek United Methodist Church near Dallas, Texas. She has led churches in three distinctly different settings: a bilingual church in a multi-ethnic inner-city neighborhood, an aging church in an eclectic community, and a young suburban church. Taylor Mason was also at the conference. He is a popular comedian-ventriloquist-musician-actor from Philadelphia. He is a former Star Search winner and he won an Emmy Award for his TV pilot "Bananas." He has headlined comedy clubs all over the country and hosts a children's television comedy show called "Taylor's Attic." Music performances were provided by Starfield, LA Symphony, Hawk Nelson and Flatfoot 56.
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Vandalism Gets Rockawalkin MYF to Take Action
Recently, the Rockawalkin Outdoor Chapel experienced severe vandalism in the form of destruction of our benches, cross and worship area. This unfortunate event hit many of our youth really hard; they wanted to take action, so we did. The MYF hit the ground running. We rebuilt the
benches that were destroyed. We re-positioned our cross and we did some landscaping work around the area. There is still much to be done. As we wait for the weather to warm-up and cooperate with us, we’re sorting out ideas to help re-establish our outdoor chapel area. Plans are to put up a decorative fence near the cross, planting grass seed and flowers along the path. If you have any ideas you would like to share, or if you feel moved to help out, please let Robin Hoffman know so that we can coordinate dates and times.

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Awakening Service Celebrates 1 Year!
It’s hard to believe, but the Awakening Contemporary Service will celebrate 1 year of serving the Lord on March 16th. The Awakening Service began with around a dozen worshippers and has grown to nearly 40 people attending on a weekly basis. At the launch of the service we had live music from Stephen Kenney and Todd Hurley on a bi-weekly basis. They worked with our church until October 2007, at that time they felt as though they needed to devote more of their time to their home church. It was that same day that Melinda Glover and Denise Nelson brought the idea to me to start a Rockawalkin Praise Team. They have been with the service ever since, now joined by Ellen Doxtater and Nancy Blythe. Awakening is growing, people are excited and God is working in the hearts and souls of everyone who participates to spread the Good News. Now, the exciting news regarding our one year celebration. We have special plans to commemorate this day. You are invited to join us on March 16th at 9am for live praise and worship music from the Rockawalkin Praise Team. Stephen Kenney and Todd Hurley will return to bring us a wonderful musical praise selection and our special guest speaker, Patricia Maroon from Crisfield will be bringing us our one year anniversary and Palm Sunday message. Following the service there will be a cake cutting ceremony with our Worship Team.
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Office Bytes
We thought a section would be a great way to communicate with you and share a few things from the office with you.

Mailboxes: There are mailboxes in the office for Administrative Council Members. Please be sure to stop by periodically to check for you’re your mail.

If you miss Sunday Services – extra bulletin copies can be found on the Office counter.

The Prayer Line is accessible by e-mail or by using an identifier code on our Web page. Please see the Church Secretary or Robin Hoffman for additional information.
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Volunteers
Special thanks to our office volunteers:
Norris Ward, Jerry Briele, and Bob Baldwin
Their efforts are gratefully appreciated.

If you are interested in volunteering in the Church Office, putting together announcements for the outdoor billboard, decorating bulletin boards, preparing bulletins on Friday, folding newsletters, reading Scripture during the Worship Service, or greeting newcomers please pray for the Lord’s direction and then contact Grathel at 410-742-6975.
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The National Day of Prayer
The National Day of Prayer is on Thursday May 1. 12 noon at the County/City Office bldg steps in downtown Salisbury. There will be prayer and music as
we join with the Nation in corporate prayer. Also this year the day before, April 30th, Wed, starting at 12 noon there will be a 24 hour public reading of Scripture with people from various area church's coming forward and reading for 30 minute increments - rain or shine! This year we are covering our City in prayer. Contact Grathel at 410-742-6975 to sign up for your spot. II Chronicles 7:14 ".. if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
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