| Across the Conference in 2003:Churches give and grow through mission, ministry, music By Melissa LauberUMConnection Staff Many of the 696 churches of the Baltimore-Washington Conference burst forth with mission and expansion in 2003. During the year, the UMConnection reported on local churches being alive in ministry in more than 220 different stories in the Across the Conference section of the newspaper. As we move forward into the new year, we pause to look back at some churches that were inspired and inspiring, and take this opportunity to encourage each local church to share its ongoing stories with us in the pages of the conference newspaper and Web site, www.bwcumc.org. In the mission arena, several churches reached out to the poor, hungry and homeless in their communities in exceptional ways. The Rev. Dan Stone of Delmont UMC in Severn found two men last winter shivering in the night with only the heat of recently parked car radiators and one blanket between them. He brought them to the House of Hope, a rotating shelter operated by, among others, Delmont, John Wesley, and Calvary UMCs. At Paw-Paw UMC in West Virginia, the congregation honored the memory of the late Rev. Nancy Ward by renovating its parsonage into a mission house to serve the needy in the community with clothing, emergency medical payments, furniture, fuel assistance and funeral services. Good Shepherd UMC in Silver Spring dedicated a nearby home for housing for a needy family. The church bought the house to tear it down and expand its parking lot, but decided instead to use the property for ministry and donated it to the Silver Spring Interfaith Housing Coalition. In other unusual mission projects, Alberta Gary UMC in Ellicott City opened an adult day care center in the basement of its church, members of Loch Raven UMC sent 75-pounds of personal care items to U.S. Marines in Iraq, and women from First UMC in Brunswick made 350 hug-me dolls for children in crisis in the community and in Russia. Several churches went abroad on mission trips, including 60 people from six different churches near Damascus. They spent two weeks last winter in Costa Rica building a dormitory for a youth camp and installing a church ceiling. More than 20 youth participated, and the group received a thank you note calling them angels in our land. Expanded ministry efforts also made it necessary for churches to extend their meeting and program space. Perhaps the most significant restoration in the conference took place at Lovely Lane UMC in Baltimore, which restored its sanctuary to its former glory as the Mother Church of Methodism.  A few other of the many expansion projects included: Bethany UMC in Ellicott City, which completed its new $3.5 million building, that includes a large contemporary stained glass window; Solomons UMC finished two-and-a half years of construction when the congregation moved into its restored sanctuary; and Ashton UMC broke ground for an addition to its church school and renovations on the church.
Strawbridge UMC in New Windsor experienced a fire in its church kitchen and worshiped with the congregation of St. Paul UMC while the church was renovated; and, after a three-year absence caused by a devastating fire, the congregation of Centenary UMC in Shady Side moved into its new $1.8 million church. In other local church news in 2003, Capitol Hill UMC  welcomed more than 600 unexpected visitors who stopped in to use their restrooms during a Jan. 18 peace march; the Revs. Kim Capps and Malcolm Frazier were honored by the denomination for their work in campus ministry; CrossWalk, a new faith community in Frederick, disbanded; and the union of Providence and Fort Washington UMCs was officially recognized at the annual conference session in June. The youth in area United Methodist churches also had a busy year in 2003. Among their many activities, 60 teens from four Washington East District churches went on a 30-hour fast to raise funds for starving children; the confirmation class at Calvary UMC in Waldorf presented 500 Bibles to the Charles County sheriff for use in the county detention facility; and youth from Ebenezer UMC in Winfield, joined in an UMCOR team doing mission work in Bosnia.  Jacob Logan, 12, is another youth who made a name for himself last year. A member of McKendree-Simms-Brookland UMC in Washington, he won $26,000 on the televised quiz show Jeopardy.
Music played an integral role in the life of local churches last year. In Hampstead, Shiloh UMC had a Rockhouse Hay Wagon concert last year featuring rap music from artists throughout the northeast United States. Neighbors a half-mile from the church reported enjoying the music from their front porch. In quieter concerts last summer, the choir at Glen Mar UMC in Ellicott City sang at Wesleys Chapel in London, celebrating the 300th birthday of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism; and Christ UMC for the Deaf performed at the New York Annual Conference session in June. Marlene Young, of Bethel UMC in Chewsville, and Living Springs Christian Fellowship in Bowie released compact discs last year, with the proceeds going to mission projects. The songs played throughout the Baltimore-Washington Conference varied from church to church. But in 2003, each was touched by the grace of God as people reached out to each other and the world in a United Methodist connection. | 
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