www.thegardenbaltimore.com

Baltimore is a city of neighborhoods in which each neighborhood maintains a culture distinctly their own.  The Garden celebrates community and as we develop it is our heart to launch small groups, which we call House Communities, in the city around us.  We envision these communities to be be block based and create sense of spiritual community as well as enhance the actual physical community as those living in close proximity of one another begin to grow together (and know who to call when they need a cup of sugar).

Baltimore is an independant city which celebrates many different cultures and ethnicities.  One of the reasons why we love this city is that you might run into someone from nearly any part of the world; every ethnicity and race.  As a core value of The Garden, diversity is something we not only appreciate but work towards. As we grow we are finding our community more and more diverse which, we believe, reflects the Kingdom of God.

Baltimore is also a city which knows how to celebrate.  The Garden Community gathers each Sunday for a time of celebration.  At these gatherings The Garden prays, sings, and studies the ancient words of Scripture together in unique and fresh ways.

We believe Baltimore and The Garden are not only a good fit but that The Garden is being birthed out of our love for and involvment in the city. We believe in churches which radically confront injustice, involve themselves in the community around them and become places of grace, healing  and reconciliation where all people discover the life of Jesus.

We love Baltimore; the culture, the people, the diversity, the history, and Joe Squared Pizza.  But at the same time, Baltimore is hurting in many ways and we come together to pray for our city.

The Garden has placed a “prayer wall” at 1411.  This is a space to write and hang prayers for the city.  We ask you to take a moment and stop by, write a prayer, and lift up Baltimore.

Current Prayers:

• Children at the PAL and of the city as a whole.
• The two women who sleep at the bus stop at Cathedral St. outside the library.
• May the church return to being the church and begin to restore the people of the city to a right relationship with our God.
• Free us from drug addiction.
• That the Garden Community will show the love of Jesus Christ to the hurting people of the city.
• I pray for the people with sex addictions to be free in Jesus’ name.
• Prayer for programs whose mission is to support children and families and their communities…
• May You inspire us to help the needy in our community.
• The school system needs You, Lord.
• I pray for less sicknesses in the city.
• God I pray for the poverty in the city.
• Reconciliation during gentrification.
• I pray for the fatherless children of Baltimore…
• I pray for love…bring Jesus here….

We have watched how our space has transitioned from an office that has been vacant for years collecting garbage, left over building supplies, and falling victim to water leaks and general disrepair.

On January 3rd we began to clean out the space.  We removed broken down desks, moldy carpet, and some things we would prefer not to talk about.  With two trucks running back and forth to the dump, we made serious headway in clearing out the years of debris. At the end of the day the space was mostly cleared out, we had a new bathroom sink, and some of us were discovering muscles in places we did not know existed.

The next week found us patching ceilings, removing the subfloor, and breaking a crow bar as we attempted to remove nails from the concrete floor.  When we finally had the space ready to paint Metanoia, one of our partner churches, blessed us by sending a work team out to put fresh paint on our walls.  The team worked hard and at the end of the day the majority of our painting was done.  Garden people spent the rest of the week painting, and getting ready lay down the new flooring.

This past Saturday found to more teams working with us to lay our new flooring down.  We’re excited that after a month’s worth of work we will be moving into our new space this week and will open the space Sunday morning at 10:30 with our Garden worship gathering.  If you are in the area, we would love to have you join us for a celebration of God’s goodness to us.

The people of Metanoia, a young church in Ellicott City, stand out in the way they love and give.  Fueled by Zella’s Pizza they continued to work until their portion of the work was finished. 

Much thanks to Metanoia and everyone who has helped renovate 1411 so far. 

Merry Christmas!

To see a few pics from the party, check out our Myspace pictures here.

On Sunday, December 15, The Garden wrapped things up a bit early and traded the comfort of the living room for picking up trash around the neighborhood.  It’s a small act but I think it sums up what we’re about: making the city better for everyone. 

The previous weeks prior to the show The Garden had been hosting a time of art expression with the children at the Crispus Attucks PAL Center.  Children were challenged to think of ways in which love can change their community.  After a series of conversations their thoughts were turned into art as they created pieces which represent love.  Saturday, the 25th saw a diverse group of people from all over our neighborhood celebrate art and love alongside the young artists.

Select pieces from the show will be on display at On the Hill Cafe at 1431 John St. from October 28-November 2.

To see pictures from the show, click here.

“My painting represents love through…

"...planting a garden together and no matter what color of skin you are, it doesn't matter, we can work together"

"...keeping the earth clean"