Debi Qualls

Debi first experienced Cedar Ridge Community Church in 1999 invited by a best friend and church member who failed to show up that Sunday, but said to make sure to introduce myself to the pastor, Brian McLaren.  She followed her directions. Growing up in the strict rules of Pentecostal church, Debi found the teaching sermons at CRCC to be eye opening, thought provoking, and have enabled her to better understand the bible.  CRCC helped her understand that God welcomes everyone – no exclusions. Debi has served on the Greeters team, with Children’s Ministry, Care Circle, Popcorn Makers, and other areas needing a volunteer.  She is the mother of an adult daughter, Ebony.  Debi enjoys an active social life, which includes dining out, reading, movies and aspires to someday play the drums.

 

Tinica Mather

Tinica has been coming to Cedar Ridge since 1995. She and her husband, Steve, have two children Will and Ve. She currently works as an acute care nurse on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park. Tinica didn’t grow up going to church but in young adulthood felt a pull to engage with something bigger than herself. She has found Cedar Ridge to be a safe space to learn, love, serve and grow. As a member of Cedar Ridge, she has served as a leader in youth ministry, as a small group leader, as a coordinator for our farm plot’s produce distribution, and on various community outreach and social justice teams. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, friends, backyard chickens, honeybees, and pond fish.

 

 

 

Rachel Anderson

I first arrived at Cedar Ridge Community Church in 2010 soon after moving to this region. CRCC quickly became a church home – a place where members of my immediate and extended family with our different experiences of church and religion could find a place to be. Since then, I feel as if the Spirit has been present so many times during worship and on the grounds. As a new mother, I recall sitting through church with a month-old son, suddenly recognizing in a new way the vulnerability and trauma of Jesus’ birth. Around the communion tables, I’m awed by the way that God meets us in these simple human acts of eating and drinking. My spouse Gene and kids Jacob (now a high schooler) and Edith (a middle schooler who participate in both Cedar Ridge Kids and youth group in the barn). I’m grateful for the ways church programs and leaders have made space for them, reached out with encouragement, and invited them to serve. I grew up primarily in the Midwest and in the Lutheran tradition. In my twenties, I felt called to service and justice work after participating in the Lutheran Volunteer Corps. Since that time, I’ve been involved in community organizing, advocacy and policy reform work often in partnership with people of faith in various Christian denominations and traditions. I run, read, and (sometimes) practice gymnastics in my free time. At Cedar Ridge, I’ve helped with the Racial Justice Team, with preschool classes, and occasionally the farm. There’s so much to love at Cedar Ridge from the practice of contemplation, the inclusion of children in worship, building partnerships locally and in Guatemala, and growing a farm. I’m curious and hopeful about what God may call this community to create next.