Advent!

The season of Advent is here. What?! I though it was Christmas! Nope, in the church calendar Christmas is a short season that starts on December 25th and goes until Epiphany or Three Kings' Day on January 6th. That's where the 12 days of Christmas comes from! And this season of the four Sundays before Christmas - this year December 1st-24th - is a slow, quiet, contemplative time to prepare for the coming, or Advent, of God into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. So light a candle, take a deep breath, and come listen to a sermon on Sunday at 8 or 10 am!

It is also the beginning of the new church year, and our time for asking for your pledge to support our work during 2020. Whether you give of your time or your money, you are helping to support the food pantry, the community meals, the neighborhood workshops, and everything else that goes on here in the heart of Remington. Specific pledges from you help us to plan our budget as we know how much money we can rely on! They are confidential and tax-deductible. Pledge forms can be found at the back of the church or you can fill out a form at https://forms.gle/tbpAJBJRmbUFy3ej7.

Happy New Year!

Giving Tuesday

At this year's Thanksgiving day community meal

If you're participating in Giving Tuesday today, please consider making a contribution to the work here at Guardian Angel. We are a Christian community, dedicated to justice, stewardship and peace, and grounded in scripture, prayer and worship in the Episcopal tradition. We are a welcoming, respectful and safe place for everyone, and we are committed, active neighbors in Remington.

Our biggest outreach ministry is the Food Pantry, which provides 2-3 full bags of groceries to around 70 people per week. It also provides a hot breakfast before the distribution on Wednesday mornings. We also have community meals, host festivals, do a yearly backpack giveaway and a Christmas toy distribution, and host or run many other programs.

The vestry, clergy, and volunteers at the Church of the Guardian Angel would like to express our thanks to Nancy Reed & Barb Fisher for the generous donation they arranged to support the ongoing expenses at the Food Pantry. Their gift will pay for nearly four months of food purchases. We are also grateful for the generous donation given in memory of Annie Gardner, who helped found the Food Pantry, by Long & Foster's Timonium group.

At this point, along with some anonymous donors, we have received around $6,000 toward the 2020 food purchases for the Food Pantry. We'd like to raise at least $6,000 more, which would cover the costs for the entire year.

About $6 pays for one person's Food Pantry bags for a week. $30 could buy a big supply of warm socks to distribute to the homeless this winter. $150 could buy a new, energy efficient window for the Parish house to replace the beaten-up, leaky aluminum ones; another $150 would pay for a professional installation (22 are ready for replacement). $1,200 pays for an entire month of Food Pantry food purchases. $3,100 could replace the courtyard door to the Thrift Shop. $8,000 could pay for the installation of efficient and modern heating and air conditioning in the Thrift Shop. $10,000 could pay for efficient air conditioning and supplemental heating in the Sanctuary. You may have other ideas; we'd love to hear them.

We have special funds for the food pantry ongoing costs (https://paypal.me/pools/c/804oHo0BPI) and for recovery/restoration from our recent sewage flood (https://paypal.me/pools/c/8jXr3OeJRx). You can also make a donation to the general fund here (paypal.me/CGABaltimore), feel free to specify what project or effort you'd like the funds to go toward.

If you'd like to help by volunteering, please contact us or come by on a Tuesday morning between 9am and noon to speak with the leaders there. Tuesday is when we do setup for the Wednesday morning distribution.

We aspire to Be a place where God is found; Be people transformed by God; Be God’s people transforming the world. We'd love to see you at Sunday services, 8am and 10am. Shoot, we're pleased to see you just about any time.

Annual Thanksgiving day meal today at noon!

Community is important, community means something

Come join us for our annual Thanksgiving lunch! Doors open at 11am, food served at noon. We're in Kromer Hall, 335 W. 27th street (the little ramp). Free to all and all are welcome. Come for a just a nibble or stack your plate high, it's all about community.

 Big thanks to our partner churches and other volunteers.

Interim Vicar Announcement

The Church of the Guardian Angel is very pleased to announce that we have an interim vicar who will be with us from October until July 2020. Please welcome the Reverend Benita Keene-Johnson to Remington!  She has ministered in the AME Church for many years, and was be ordained as an Episcopal priest on Saturday, September 28th at the Cathedral of the Incarnation, 4 E University Pkwy.  While this is a difficult time for our community, we are eager to continue God's work with Pastor Benita's guidance.  Her first Sunday was be September 29th - please come to worship at 8 and 10 am to greet Pastor Benita!

Pastor Alice has died

It is with the deepest sadness that we announce that Pastor Alice Bassett-Jellema died on Saturday November 2nd at 2:20am. May she Rest in Peace. She left this life as she lived it, strong in faith and love. Our love and prayers for her wife, Chris, and for all her family, friends, and the community of Remington which she served with joy for 22 years. The Church will be open for prayer today (Saturday) from 3:00-5:00pm. All are welcome at our Sunday morning services at 8 and 10am.

"I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

Sept 22 - Celebration of the Ministry of Pastor Alice Bassett-Jellema

Celebration of the Ministry of Pastor Alice Bassett-Jellema

Dear Friends,

Please join us to give thanks to God, and to celebrate the ministry of Pastor Alice Bassett-Jellema. Pastor Alice has lived her love for the Remington community for 22 years—becoming a part of us all, and changing the world for the better.

Church of the Guardian Angel
2629 Huntingdon Ave. in Remington
Sunday, September 22 at 2:00 pm

All are welcome!

Here’s how you can prepare:

Pray: Please continue to pray for Alice, for Chris, and for the Church of the Guardian Angel in Remington.

A Gift for Alice: At the service we will take a collection for a “purse” for Alice (perhaps for their upcoming dream trip). If you are not able to attend but would like to donate, you can make checks payable to Church of the Guardian Angel, 2629 Huntingdon Ave, Baltimore 21211 (indicate “Alice” in the memo line). Or, donate via Paypal guardianangelremington@gmail.com.

Photographs: If you have pictures of Alice which you can share for a slideshow, please upload them directly to Alice's Pics or send to vaughn.vigil@gmail.com no later than September 18.

Help us spread the word: If you know of someone who might like to come, please share this invitation with them.

Resignation of Alice Basset-Jellema

This past week, the Vestry of Church of the Guardian Angel accepted, with sadness, the resignation of its Vicar, the Rev. Alice Bassett-Jellema after 22 years of devoted care and service.

Alice is resigning for medical reasons; she has an advanced glioblastoma, which is to say a brain tumor. That condition and the treatment of it has made it impossible for her to continue in the roles she has lovingly filled for Guardian Angel and Remington. Alice, her wife Chris, and their children are coping admirably with the situation. Alice's spirits are high, though this ordeal takes a lot of her energy.

There are no words that can express what Alice has meant to the entire community. And we are also mindful of the leadership and service she's given to the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, our parent organization. Backpack day, Reading Camp, the Food Pantry, and Soup-er Bowl Saturday are just some of the public programs Alice led at Guardian Angel. In the broader area, she was involved with Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD), DreamBuilders, the Diocese's Exploring Baptismal Ministry program, and other efforts to empower individuals and small groups to exercise their values by making concrete contributions to the issues facing our society.  

She also spent countless hours one-on-one with people in the community, providing incomparable pastoral care.


Alice was an amazing fit for the unusual nature of our congregation and mission, and no one could step in to do all the things she did in the way she did them. The vestry is working with the Diocese on plans for continuing the work of the church in Remington at Guardian Angel. Alice is a hard act to follow; God's work must continue and, with God's blessing, it will continue at Guardian Angel.

Regular Sunday services continue at 8 and 10 am with a breakfast at 9 am. Homework Club is starting up soon on Tuesday evenings and the Food Pantry continues each Wednesday at 9 am. We are working on a new plan for community dinners. This is a time when we could really use your involvement and presence. If you're interested in getting involved in any of these programs, please let us know, or just show up!

We are working on a way for the community to express our gratitude to Alice for all she has been and done amongst us, and will let you know when we have more detail.