As we enter 2005, the United Christian Parish of Reston, Virginia ("UCP"), remains a "bold and unique ministry." We are continuing to develop internally as we unify the ideas and practices that existed in three separate congregations and blend them into one. Simultaneously, we are looking for ways to expand externally into a community that is constantly becoming more diverse in every aspect. We are ever vigilant of our need to remain true to the practices that formed our foundation while attempting to be flexible and appreciate the faiths and beliefs of people unfamiliar to us.

We know that growth and change can be painful and that the road is not always smooth. We believe that with prayer and God’s guidance we will create a stronger servant. We must encourage and support each other during this exciting, adventurous time. Perhaps, underneath the UCP sign on North Shore Drive, we should emblaze the words, "Please be patient with me, God is not through with me yet."

As God continues to nurture our growth, we have placed more and more faith in the wisdom of the "Transition to Building" ad hoc committee ("TBC"). Their work has developed from organizing all of the different requests and wishes of the church’s ministries, through communicating the plans to the congregation, to observing other churches and reviewing architectural proposals. With the determined guidance of Joel Egertson as its chair, the TBC has embraced the responsibility of creating a church building that will serve our community for decades to come.

In order to place our financial affairs in order before undertaking the monumental task of funding a structure of this magnitude, the Board recently adopted an Accounting Policies and Procedures. These policies and procedures were painstakingly drafted by the Financial Action ad hoc committee, chaired by Cheryl Valdebenito. That committee is now in the process of training the individuals regularly involved in the accounting functions of the Parish. Once trained, with the policies fully implemented, we expect to fully benefit from an audit of the Parish’s financial records by an independent accountant.

In order to accommodate our expected membership growth, the Board commissioned a search committee to prayerfully find an additional member to add to our ministerial team. With the departure of Dr. M. Alan Baughcum as a part-time intern, work enough for four members has been dutifully covered by our current ministerial team of the Rev. Dr. Bruce Irwin and Billie Sutter. As the search committee begins to receive resumes from our governing bodies, we remain desirous to add an individual who can reach younger adults coming from a variety of backgrounds and who seek a church home with a "bold and unique ministry."

Please receive these words as our prayer to do God’s calling in our local community and throughout the world. We realize that we cannot do it alone, but only with the support of God, the United Methodist Church, and our many other friends and supporters. Below are listed goals for the coming year and important highlights in the life of UCP this past year.

Darrell D. Jackson, UCP Moderator - February 6, 2005

Parish Ministries Council (PMC) (Judy Blake, Chair)
The Parish Ministries Council is an administrative body, chaired by the Lay Leader, and comprises the chairs of all UCP Ministries, the Ministerial Team, and representatives of the Trustees, HARC, and Ecumenical Councils. Its primary function is to facilitate communication between and amongst its member representatives and their ministries/councils, through calendaring, brief reports, and informal discussion of program topics and events that arise in the various ministries and councils and impact the others. In order to accomplish this function, the PMC meets on a bi-monthly basis. As a "roundtable" meeting, it provides a forum for its members to raise questions, sound out ideas, ask for help, and work together to accomplish the tasks of UCP such as scheduling, planning, doing, and publicizing, and, in so doing, coordinating overall program development. We benefit by discovering gaps, overlaps, and opportunities to reinforce each other’s program goals, while gaining a broader understanding that helps each of us advance the work of UCP’s ministries and councils.

Ecumenical Council (EC)
The purpose of the Ecumenical Council is to maintain and enhance the relationship between UCP and our affiliated judicatories. One member represents each of the denominational relationships. This year, we each have attended judicatory meetings such as the Virginia Annual Conference of UMC, the Central Atlantic Conference of the UCC, Presbytery meetings for the National Capital

Presbytery and meetings of the Christian Church Disciples of Christ. We have also provided information to UCP members about opportunities provided by the denominations, such as the recent Leadership Training day for the Arlington and Alexandria Districts of the UMC. During the month of February 2004, each representative assisted in a worship service built around each of the denominations, providing information especially about the mission program of each group.

Human and Administrative Resources Council (HARC) (John Moore, Chair)
Accomplishments in 2004:

1. Reviewed UCP’s need for a third member of the Ministerial Team. Conducted interviews and questionnaires with lay leadership and other congregational members. Recommended to the UCP Board that a search committee be established to call an additional full time Co-Pastor to UCP. Also recommended a salary range for the new position. Helped launch and advise the independent UCP Search Committee.
2. Hired new UCP Preschool Director, two part time Preschool administrative assistants, and one part time office staff administrative assistant.
3. Restructured the HARC to more effectively involve its members in addressing a variety of tasks under HARC purview. Four HARC teams and one committee were set up: Personnel Evaluation Team, Office Operations Team, Records Management Team, Personnel Management and Budget Team, and the Ministerial Team Care Committee.
4. Established HARC member reference binders for each HARC member.
5. Established the practice of holding a monthly Ministerial Team Care Committee meeting with each Ministerial Team member.
6. Wrote new annual employee contracts, including job descriptions, for all members of UCP lay staff.
7. Provided 2004 evaluations for each member of the lay staff member of UCP and provided an opportunity for each to complete a self-evaluation.
8. Started redesigning new performance review process for Ministerial Team member performance.
9. Reviewed all UCP staffing salary, benefits, and administrative budget components for 2004 and prepared the HARC budget for 2005.
10. Researched alternative church management software programs and recommended a program for review by UCP staff and lay finance leadership. Once chosen, this would be UCP’s first church management software.
11. The UCP Personnel Manual was reviewed and updated. During 2005 the manual will also be expanded to be integrated with the personnel polices of the Preschool.
12. Identified mold problem affecting UCP staff and worked with Trustees to recommend Board action to purchase equipment to resolve problem.
13. Updated strategic plan for HARC.

Trustees Council (Robert Packard) (Chair)
The Trustees Council is responsible for the maintenance of buildings and grounds for the Redeemer site, the former parsonage now called BOBB (Building Our Beliefs Building), and the Hunters Woods Facility. Much of this work involves vendors. As these facilities age, increasing expense is required to maintain facilities adequately.

Continuing maintenance includes issues of roofing, parking lots and roads, painting, flooring and carpet upkeep, replacement of carpet, ceiling tile, and interior painting; issues of site drainage, repairs and improvements to heating and air conditioning systems, and now currently addressing air quality issues. Plumbing requires replacement of fixtures. The issue of building security included the installation of improved site lighting, and replacing locks both interior and exterior. Our UCP Preschool serves the church and community with specialized needs for maintenance and furnishings. Fire and health inspections result in corrective work as required.

In addition to contracted vendors, we have successful volunteer workdays in spring and fall. Special committees include maintenance of memorial garden, and cleaning the kitchens. Contracts include lawn care, snow removal, pest control, cleaning services, as well as utilities such as fuel oil, electricity and phone service. These are subject to inflationary increases.

Highlights of the past year include re-roofing of portions of the Hunters Woods building, installing gutters, downspouts and replacing exterior classroom doors. All doors were repainted, and condensate drains added to air supply ducts. A comprehensive plan has been developed to control air movement and humidity control, which was a problem in 2004. At the Redeemer site, sidewalks were replaced, exterior entrance lighting improved, additional cabinets installed in the kitchen, and exterior entrance door replaced. Classrooms were painted, new carpet installed, and corridor floor paved. The BOBB (former parsonage) was remodeled to meet Fairfax County handicapped requirements, and fire extinguishers added. Since large storage requirements were included in the renovation, re-keying has been done. Current conversation on building plans suggest that that building may be replaced with a new education wing in the future.

In 2005, while future building plans are sufficiently completed, the Trustees will continue maintaining existing facilities.

The Christian Education Ministry at United Christian Parish is very active in the life of the Parish and encompasses many programs. These include Sunday School for all ages, Disciple Bible Study, youth ministry, confirmation, Vacation Bible School, teacher and leader training, church officer training and development, workshops in our child and adult protection policies, Godly Play, Wonders of Worship (a church-developed worship education program for 2^nd and 3^rd graders), and BSA Troop #1970 and Cub Pack #340. UCP has received recognition from the Bishop for becoming "A Church for All God’s Children." The United Christian Parish Preschool serves 2-5 year-old children and offers scholarships to children at risk and those with special needs.

We began the program year in September with a "kick-off" program to introduce members and visitors to all of the programs of the UCP. It was held in a local park and was well attended. Sunday school begins formally for 2 year olds, but the Nursery program is considered to be part of the Sunday school experience. The first few weeks of January found the Sunday School children putting together about 120 Health Kits for the Tsunami relief effort. There is Sunday school for Junior Highs and also for Senior Highs.

Currently there are 3 classes of Adult Sunday school. One is a new class based on the book by Paul Stroble, What Do Other Faiths Believe. Although targeted to young adults, it is attended by a small but excited group of various ages. The other classes are Adult Bible Study (using the UMC Uniform Series curriculum) and Adult Issues. Everyone who works with children or youth, and Board members, are trained in child protection, and health and safety procedures. This year Disciple I and Jesus in the Gospel are being offered in the evening.

The Christian Education Ministry led other ministries in providing the Parish with a special Advent evening experience. A potluck dinner preceded the program led by Christian Educator and musician Bev Bailey. Bev directed an evening of varied experiences, including crafts, music, dance, and worship. The CE Ministry created and provided each Parish family with an Advent Devotional Booklet, and is currently collating a daily Lenten Devotional Booklet written by members of the Parish.

The Youth group is very active with a well planned program which meets the needs of the various ages and interests of the Junior/Senior High group. There is a balance of fun, education, worship, and mission. The youth group supports the post-secondary education of a young man in Rwanda. The mission trip in the summer of 2004 took them to NC where they helped rebuild a church destroyed by Hurricane Louise. Once a month they make sandwiches for the homeless in our community, participate in "Souper Bowl Sunday," and serve as leaders for younger children during VBS/VBA, and provided planning and leadership for Children’s Sabbath worship services in October. The Youth lead the annual Easter Sunrise service. Two members of the youth group were on the Mission Team which went to Rwanda in June of 2004. There are 5 young women in the Confirmation Class who will be confirmed in May of 2005.

Over 100 children, including many from the community, ranging in age from pre-school to grade 6, participated in Vacation Bible School and Vacation Bible Adventure (an extended time for upper elementary children to do hands-on local mission activities.). The adult and youth staff was equally large and enthusiastic. Our materials were shared with two other churches last summer and will provide the basis for a smaller church’s VBS this summer.

The United Christian Parish Preschool reaches out to many in the community, providing an important community service. It is fully accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). In September, the Parish welcomed its new Preschool Director Jane Plum and began programming in new ways for 2-year-olds through 5-year-olds. Both worship education/experience programs, Godly Play (K through grade 1) and WOW (grades 2 and 3), occur during part of each worship service and prepare the children to be knowledgeable participants in worship.

The Congregational Life Ministry currently encompasses Congregational Fellowship, Congregational Care (crisis assistance coordination and funeral reception assistance), men's fellowship group holding monthly Saturday breakfast programs (occasionally linked to campus cleanups and other special events), Women in the Spirit (WITS-- women's fellowship group),

prayer fellowship group which meets twice a month at noontime, and coordination for coffee hour receptions following the two services.

During 2004 the Congregational Life Ministry set a goal of one fellowship event each month-- chili cook-off, Wolf Trap group, Tables of 7+ dining in homes, etc., and also worked with other ministries (decorating tables for the Advent program, helping with the 4th of July picnic, etc.). WITS sold pecans to help finance its activities, and held a day retreat in the spring (with speaker) and a weekend retreat in the fall at Bethany Beach, as well as sponsoring a Mother/Daughter tea in the spring.

This ministry is the "arms around" ministry-- to nurture the spirit of the UCP family-- growing the feeling of community and strengthening bonds of friendship and kinship on our life journeys.

This has been an exciting and challenging year for the Missions Committee. We set out defining how our 2004 money would be distributed. After much reflection, we decided that 40% would go to Rwanda (global), 40% would go local and 20% would go to fixed costs such as scholarships. Our youth group played an important part of missions raising college tuition for our Rwanda medical student and through their Souper Bowl participation, raising money for our local food bank. Our generous congregation supported many needed charities and organizations in our community such as Reston Interfaith, Fairfax Women’s Shelter, Kids R First, Herndon Free Clinic, So Others Might Eat (SOME), scholarships for our preschool as well as KAIROS, Hurricane Relief, United College Fund, UCC Potomac Association and the Tsunami Relief. The Rwanda Team at United Christian Parish continues to provide an active mission to the people of the Methodist Church of Rwanda, led by Pastor Kaberuka Jupa. Through the Missions Ministry United Christian Parish has contributed to the building of a school/orphanage/clinic/church complex in Kigali, provided supplements to teachers’ salaries, provided a post-secondary scholarship for a young man who will provide medical care for the people of Rwanda and provided 71 primary and secondary school scholarships for orphans. The Team also sent eleven individuals to Rwanda for two weeks in June of 2004. Some members of the Team provided medical screenings, crafts, songs, and stories for 400 orphans. The Team also left gifts of sports equipment and individual photographs for the children. At the same time other members of the Team taught English to about 30 pastors. In addition the Team participated in many moving worship services and visited secondary schools. Each member of the Team has been deeply touched by this experience and has returned with a deep commitment to continuing this relationship.

Stewardship Update
The most recent Stewardship Ministry meeting was scheduled for January 10, 2005. Mr. Hal Male has been very generous with his time and talent including regularly updating the listing of pledgers.  Church envelopes and children’s envelopes remain available in the Narthex. Updates to 2005 pledges will continue to be included in 2005 UCP operating budget updates.

Finance Update
The Finance Ministry continues to refine the UCP Board-approved 2005 annual operating budget (approved at the December 27, 2004 UCP Board meeting) with updated information coming in from pledge updates, and other information.

The Missions Ministry Chair proposed a resolution for balancing 2004 Mission expenditures with 2004 budget allocations. The UCP Treasurer is verifying the payment of 2004 Mission Ministry expenditures and will notify the Mission Ministry Chair and Pastor Irwin of any changes.

The Finance/Stewardship Ministry appreciates the UCP Board's continued acknowledgement of the financial procedure for not carrying over general fund money from one calendar year to the next calendar year without prior UCP Board approval. The Finance/Stewardship Ministry told the UCP Board that a recent $9,000 donation to UCP will be used for 2005 TBC expenditures.

The Finance/Stewardship Ministry seeks Board approval/acknowledgement of the following financial procedure at the January 24, 2005 UCP Board meeting: outreach money (i.e., mission + benevolences) target is designated as 10% (or other percentage) of the budget, but is not a mandatory requirement since there are several other financial donations given to charity via designated giving. Additionally, the Finance/Stewardship Ministry encourages the UCP Board to begin ranking priorities and making recommendations as to how 2005 expenditures should be limited to match 2005 projected income.

"Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers." Romans 12:13 as quoted in the UCP Vision Statement

The Witness Ministry of the United Christian Parish (UCP) has been engaged in many activities over the year of 2004. The focus of the ministry has been to expand the outreach of the UCP to the Word of God and the Love of our Lord, Jesus, to the community that the United Christian Parish serves and to communicate the Good News to members and all we touch through our Outreach and Missions. These initiatives include:

• Web Page Development ( http://www.unitedchristianparish.org )

The church’s new website was launched in early 2004 and refinements were made throughout the year. Monthly visits have increased steadily throughout the year, with 2,742 visits in December and averaging 1,972 from July through December. Special efforts were made to research and register UCP with several church registries. Titling our website, "The United Christian Parish – An Ecumenical Church," substantially increased the number of visits coming from browser searches.

• Advertising

Advertisements are placed in local newspapers (Reston Times, Herndon Observer and Loudoun Connection ) for major holidays and special events, and about three press releases are issued each month. The press releases have resulted in several "mentions" of UCP in the local newspapers. Targeted mailings are also being done at Christmas and Easter using property transfer lists to introduce new area residents to UCP. We have also produced information cards (using 3"x 8" card stock) and refrigerator magnets as promotional items for distribution. Finally, two roadside signs will be made and posted on nearby, high-traffic roads.

• Community Outreach

UCP is a member of the Reston Chamber of Commerce and The Rotary Club to increase awareness among local leaders who have not heard of UCP. The Witness Ministry represented UCP at the "Reston Connection," a community event held in October at the Reston Town Center Pavilion. For many years, UCP has hosted a twice weekly cable television program, aired on Channel 28 (Reston Community TV) on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, beginning at 9:30 pm.

• Visitor Program

The Ministry coordinates scheduling volunteers to act as greeters to welcome visitors to our Sunday services. Information recorded in pew tablets is recorded by the office staff and follow-up letters are sent out by the pastor welcoming visitors to the church. Witness also sends out handwritten notes to add a personal touch to the welcoming experience.

• Inquirers Class for Prospective Members

The Witness Ministry has developed a new format for holding the once-a-quarter Inquirers Class. The class is designed to provide prospective new members with information about UCP’s ecumenical mission and how the church is organized. The class is divided into four sessions held on consecutive Sundays: Orientation, Sharing of Faith Journeys, the History of the Four Denominations in UCP, Background and Current Activities at UCP.

• New Member Support

Beginning with the fall Inquirers Class, the Ministry recruited mentors for the four couples and two singles who joined UCP. Mentors are selected based on "fit" with the new members, according to age, family profile or other such affiliative characteristics. Mentors are tasked with helping new members get involved in church activities. Also, beginning in 2005, we are re-instituting an annual dinner for new members, to be held in May 2005. In addition to new members meeting each other, the dinner will be attended by mentors, members of the Witness Ministry and church leadership. The dinner will be used as an opportunity to further inform new members on how they might become involved in the church organization.

• Interfaith Program

In 2003, the Witness Ministry initiated discussions with leaders of local Muslim and Jewish communities to determine if there is a way to enhance and continue the sharing and exchange among the three communities. One possible idea that continues to be of interest is to design a "Learning Center’ into UCP’s new church building. These discussions also resulted in offering an Interfaith Service on Thanksgiving Eve.

The Witness Ministry has had a successful year and is reevaluating its programs to better bring the message of our Lord to our community and thus increasing our membership.

The Worship Ministry is made up of UCP staff, including Ministerial Team, music directors, pianists/organists and lay members, and our purpose is to plan the worship services for our congregation. We work diligently with our liturgists, elders, ushers, communion stewards and the worship environment team to assure that our worship space is welcoming and our service is meaningful for all. In addition to regular Sunday worship, it is our responsibility to plan for significant Sundays in the liturgical year. We call on our adult and children’s choirs, our adult, youth and children’s bell choirs, instrumentalists, and our "Praise" dance group to lend their talents to our worship service. Worship Ministry members have attended workshops and leadership training opportunities to keep abreast of new trends in congregational worship.

Highlights of our year included:

• February 2004 focusing on our four denominational affiliations; on United Methodist Sunday, welcoming Dr. Steven Jones, District Superintendent, as guest speaker.
• Lent and Holy Week -- Ash Wednesday service held. A Lenten Series comprised of three components: the Sunday sermon, the weekly discussion group, and a panel-type discussion on UCP’s TV program with our Pastor Irwin and community clergy. Palm Sunday was observed, highlighted by the children processing into the sanctuary with palms. During Holy Week, parishioners attended a Seder Service on Maundy Thursday and a Tenebrae service on Good Friday. On Easter Sunday, there were four glorious services held to accommodate members and friends from the community.
• Youth-led worship service in May. The youth used creative ideas, PowerPoint technology, and our "Praise" dancers for a wonderful, well received service.
• Pentecost was a joyous celebratory service—made more joyous because we also confirmed youth and ordained and installed new officers of the Parish.
• At a worship service in June, we commissioned our Rwanda team and prayed for their mission and their safety as they were leaving for Africa. We also commissioned our youth mission team for their upcoming trip to build a house in North Carolina.
• Interfaith Thanksgiving Eve Worship Service -- Rev. Irwin initiated and planned this service. Participants included ministers from Reston area churches (Baptist, Lutheran, Unitarian-Universalist and the Iman from the All Dulles Area Muslim Society), and local elected officials. The service included readings from the Koran and the Old and New Testaments, a Thanksgiving reading, and music.
• We closed the 2004 year with services focused on Advent and Christmas. The theme for Advent: "Prepare, Hope, Joy, Birth" was carried out with music and The Word. Our joy was carried outside our walls to a senior citizen home in Reston where we sang Christmas Carols and fellowshipped with the residents. Four Christmas Eve services were held, attracting approximately 750 people.

This past year, 2004, has been an extremely productive year in literally countless ways! Every Ministry, Council and Organization has expanded its mission and accomplished great things throughout the past 12 months. Most importantly, we have been the Church of Jesus Christ following Christ’s way by preaching the Word, sharing the sacraments, teaching the message of God to children and adults, visiting the sick-lonely-imprisoned-grieving and living out our faithfulness as best as we can every day within the context of our world.

The Transition to Building Committee has made great progress this year. We have received and analyzed the input from the congregation, ministries and others about ideas for our future church building. A Congregational Information Meeting was held and was well received. We are about to begin the process of interviewing architects and eventually selecting one. Several subcommittees have formed, or are in the process of forming, including one to lead the Capital Funds program. The ownership issue is well on its way and looks like a resolution will be possible early in 2005. TBC has shifted into high gear and has accomplished many steps in 2004.

The Search Committee was begun in 2004 and is well on its way. They have prepared the materials necessary and have been contacting the denominations re candidates.

Many New Members have joined in 2004. This is perhaps the area of growth for which we can give most thanks. The Word of God is as powerful as it ever was! We have been blessed with many families and individuals, most of whom are in their 20’s, 30’s, and early 40’s! Even as we have aggressively cleaned our rolls, we are adding excellent new members every season.

Finances have once again done well this year! In spite of our need to pay for a $50,000.00 unexpected expense directly out of the budget income, we had a positive carry over into 2005. In 2004 all of the budgeted mission money has been paid thanks to the new processes of our Mission Committee. Although I expect that we will be OK in 2005, as I have mentioned many times previously, I am concerned for 2006 as the full additional expenses of an additional clergy person is felt in the current budget and as the Capital Fund group initiates its efforts to attain the pledges necessary for a multimillion dollar building project.

Our Ecumenical and Inter-Faith activities continue to be a center piece of what we do! In 2004 we initiated January as our month of emphasizing our 4 denominations. We are the leader of ecumenical work in our community including this year beginning a Thanksgiving Eve Ecumenical Inter-Faith Community Service. The night of 9/11/2004, some of our women joined an ecumenical sit in to protect ADAMS and I had the Inter-Faith service in the morning.

"Go Tell Everyone," UCP’s television show, has had many interesting topics in 2004 including Christian Zionism, Wilson Gunn from National Capital Presbytery, Milton Matthews, the new Reston Association Executive, a Disciple of Christ historian, UCC executives discussing the "God is still speaking" controversy, and many other interesting programs that witness to the community about who we are as a people of God.

As UCP continues into 2005, we do so with confidence and enthusiasm! We have turned the corner and are moving toward our bright future. In addition to providing solid traditional ministries, we are speaking clearly the Word of Christ to our community, our nation and even to the world. Relying on God’s grace and power, we pray that we will be God’s instruments in 2005!

Transition continues to be part of the culture of the Parish. Two major transitions in the area of Christian Education Ministry (CEM) have had a profound effect on the life of the Parish: finalization of the move of the Parents Day Out (PDO) and Child Development Center (CDC) into one program, The United Christian Parish Preschool, under one Preschool Director; and completion of the Parsonage renovation for Youth Ministry and adult classroom space.

The Parish honored CDC Director Sue Robertson as she retired in June, after 13 years of service to the Parish, the children of the community and their parents. Sue assisted in the programmatic merging of the two programs into one, and also helped develop the position description for the new Preschool Director. After a search of several months, the UCP Board offered the position of the first United Christian Parish Preschool Director to Jane Plum. As Jane came to the position in July, a new name also came into being: The Children’s Community Program Committee (CCPC) became the Preschool Advisory Committee (PAC), remaining still a sub-committee of the Christian Education Ministry (CEM). New administrative positions for the Preschool were created, and filled with talented people to assist Jane in her work. CDC’s accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) goes forward until that organization can come to review the new Preschool. The children of the community and the Parish continue to find UCP’s part-day preschool program a nurturing place to grow.

With much excitement, the Youth Ministry Team (YMT) opened the BOBB (Building Our Beliefs Building) - the former Parsonage - with a cookout and outdoor water games. A Lock-In allowed the Youth to fully explore the space and claim it as their own. Eric Hochstrasser and Dave Dieter provided hours of volunteer time to the renovation effort, overseen by retiring Trustees Chair Joan Braxton. Incoming Trustees Chair Bob Packard worked with CEM Chair Susan Fellows to furnish and equip the BOBB for use by youth and adults. This very welcomed space has given the Parish needed elbowroom and the opportunity to offer an additional adult Sunday School class and provide space to the quarterly Inquirers’ Class.

"Healthy Self-Esteem for Children and Youth" Seminars, led by Trudy McCrea, provided parents and grandparents the opportunity to explore ways in which they can assist the children in their lives. A unique Lenten series, for which I wrote the five-week discussion and worship guide, was entitled "Hunger and Thirst for…affirmation, understanding, strength, reconciliation, respect." Each week the local clergy met with Bruce to discuss lectionary passages on UCP’s cablecast television show Go Tell Everyone. Small groups met at both church sites and in homes to see the program and reflect on what had been shared there and through leader’s use of the discussion guide. Disciple Bible Study groups continue to be popular, with Jesus in the Gospels being taught by trained leaders for the first time at UCP. Three adult Sunday School classes, Advent and Lenten booklets provided spiritual nurture and fellowship to the adults of UCP.

Nurturing leaders, CEM provided scholarships to the UMC Bi-district Leader Training Day, while Leadership Development classes for first year Board members met monthly. I continue to provide teacher/leader team building opportunities and workshops for CEM volunteers. Each of UCP’s adult volunteers and paid staff who work with children or youth are trained in the Parish’s Commitment to Children Policy by Jane Plum, Dr, Kathy Kelley, and me. The UCP Board approved the newly re-written Adult Protection Policy in December of this year. Meg Moore was the primary coordinator of this material, with input from various local denominational leaders and resources. An intergenerational experience at Advent, led by Certified Educator and musician Bev Bailey provided the Parish a creative opportunity to explore Advent music, dance, crafts, and worship.

Over the year, the Youth led the congregation in worship three times (Easter Sunrise, mid-May, and Children’s Sabbath in October) and for themselves on their annual Ski Retreat. They continue to work toward an annual goal of raising more than $3000 in support of Niyo Ethienne, a Rwandan university student completing his medical studies. Ethienne plans to practice in his home village in the Great Lakes region near the Congo border. Two of the Youth were part of the Parish’s Rwanda Mission Team this summer, while other youth and adults traveled to Kinston, NC, to Grove Park Christian Church (a Disciples of Christ congregation) where they met with youth groups from across the nation to construct new worship, administrative and education space for the congregation. Among other youth experiences were: sending ‘college care packages’ to former youth group members, participating in the SouperBowl of Caring, assisting with Vacation Bible School/Vacation Bible Adventure, and participating in Reston’s Works Sunday community-wide mission day, Sunday School classes, Confirmation classes, BSA Troop # 1970, and Cub Pack #340.

This year the Parish received the Bishop’s award as a "Church for All God’s Children," after four years of work by many people in the Parish. Children continue to be important to UCP as exhibited by many nurturing and educational experiences such as: Sunday School; childcare; worship packets; WOW; Godly Play; VBS/VBA; Children’s Christmas Shop; birthday card ministry; OGHS and Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF collection boxes; weekly offering envelopes; and many others. In December, we said farewell to a caring 2-and 3-year-old childcare provider, Ghazala Sajid. The children and their parents welcomed Shamima Ahmed to the vacant position the end of the year, and she is fast becoming a welcoming presence on Sunday mornings.

The UCP Office Staff welcomed Carolyn Morris to the Administrative Assistant position. Carolyn is occasionally able to support me with a few hours of administrative assistance. One of the greatest gifts in the office this year was the new faster computer connection and our new ISP! With the assistance of CEM Chairs Kathy Kelley and Susan Fellows, we instituted a new financial tracking system for CEM money through the creation of line item numbers for each category of spending in both general budget and designated funds. I continue to work toward certification as a Presbyterian Educator, taking two required courses this year: Biblical Interpretation, and Worship and the Sacraments.

This year has also brought some profound events into my personal life. My mother-in-law fell and shattered her elbow and later her wrist on the same arm. Following painful and uncomfortable surgery and hospitalizations, her physical and emotional health continues to be in my family’s thoughts and prayers. This was especially so when Hurricane Charlie moved over the Sutter home in Punta Gorda, FL – destroying much of that historic town. Ed and I created our own ‘mission trip’ to their home and those of their neighbors, most of them elderly and physically unable to clean up the debris and destruction left by the category 4 storm. It was a wonderful experience to see how God brought so many different groups of people to assist in that area. In spite of all these events, Ed and I celebrated 35 years of marriage this year. Thanks be to God for all the support and love shared with us this year.

† † † †