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GAITHERSBURG ? Grace UMC, whose sanctuary celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, hosted the annual meeting of the Baltimore-Washington Conference Historical Society April 30.

The Rev. Tom Connar, president, chaired the event with 65 people in attendance.

Paul Nichols, Grace Church historian, spoke of the church's conflicts over slavery and pointed out that one of the magnificent windows in the sanctuary, of Jesus and the children, was donated by Nathan Walker, a slaveholder.

Following lunch, Dick Rohrer, a member of Grace UMC, told of his work in designing and building the encasements for the 'Charters of Freedom,' originals of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Also, The Rev. Louis Piel led a panel discussion on the tensions that exist between the Christian Church and contemporary culture with church members, Lew Barger, a medical historian, Kaz Kawata, a retired missionary, and Akiiki Kabagarama, a Ugandan, poet and seminarian. 'When a church accommodates to culture, it is out of tune with Jesus Christ,' she said.

The Historical Society encourages someone from every church to join their ranks. See www.bwconf2.org/archivehistory or e-mail .