| Church serves nations capital for 150 years  WASHINGTON, D.C. On May 10, 150 years ago, Metropolitan Memorial UMC opened its doors for the first time. This year on May 10, the church begins a year-long celebration of that anniversary by holding a program of Methodist hymnody at the church at 7:30 p.m. The churchs combined choirs will perform. The evening will also feature the opening of an exhibition on the history of the church. The exhibition will cover six areas in the life of the church, said Caroline Hickman , the chair of the 150th anniversary committee.
We hope our fellow Methodists in the Baltimore-Washington Conference will join with us to celebrate Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Churchs serving God in the nations capital for 150 years, Hickman said. Gift to Zimbabwe assists school children FALLSTON A contribution of $100 can go a long way in Zimbabwe, Howard Gil Gilman told Gordon and LaVerne Thompson, members of Ebenezer UMC. They had made a gift to Gilman, who is a Volunteer in Mission at Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Gilman said he gave a school teacher a ride to her elementary school in Chitakitera, about 45 minutes away. He was shocked at its poverty. The teacher has 38 students but some of them have to sit on the floor because there are not enough benches. The school has no electricity. What I found most appalling of all was the state of the text books. She had one English reader and five or six copies of the Shona reader. There were three tattered arithmetic books, a few other books and all had pages missing and torn. When he told the teacher that he could help with textbooks, the tears of joy began to flow, Gilman said. Church celebrates early mortgage burning FORT WASHINGTON Members of Grace UMC recently paid off the church mortgage 10 years early. At worship on March 10, members, family and friends, celebrated with honored guests including Bishop Felton Edwin May and Phyllis May, Washington East District superintendent, the Rev. Mary Jane Colman and several former pastors. The first church was built in 1902 and had liqbwc_superuserated its past mortgages by 1984, said Shirley Stroman, editor of The Beacon, the church newsletter. In 1991, they completed building the present sanctuary and 10 years later, Grace paid its new mortgage in full, Stroman said. Following the Bishops message and altar call, church leaders gathered at the altar for the mortgage burning. The congregation joined hands, stretching from one wall of the sanctuary to the other, Stroman said. Retired pastor wins editorial award  WASHINGTON, D.C. The Rev. Harry Kiely, a retired pastor in the Baltimore-Conference, was recently honored for his work as a guest editor of the General Board of Church and Societys magazine, Christian Social Action. Kiely edited the November-December 2000 issue, which addressed the issue of homosexuality within the United Methodist Church.
 The magazine came in second place in the theme-issue category at the April 9 Associated Church Press awards ceremony in Birmingham, Ala. The joint articles, Growing up gay in the UMC and Our life with our gay son, were also awarded a second place award of merit and a feature article in the magazine won a third place rating.
A judge remarked that it was an amazingly powering approach to the subject matter. | 
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