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As clergy, family, friends and district officials gathered in the sanctuary of Woodside UMC to install the Rev. Vivian McCarthy as the Washington West District superintendent, they were greeted with the energetic music of Bethesda UMC's Common Ground, the Strings of Damascus UMC, and the enthusiastic stepping of the young Lady Christian Steppers from Good Hope Union UMC.

McCarthy entered in street clothes and was robed at the altar by the co-lay leaders of the district, as the Revs. Walt Edmonds and Debbie Scott read 'I am the Pastor's Robe,' by Crystal R. Sygeel, a poem that expressed many of the opportunities and challenges a district superintendent and a female pastor face.

The theme of the celebration, held Sept. 16, was 'Signs,' and the many signs of the district superintendency were presented one by one to McCarthy.
 
The first was the bishop's staff, a sign of the shepherding a bishop does, which Bishop John R. Schol handed to her '...temporarily, you have to give it back,' he teased.
As he presented McCarthy to the audience, Bishop Schol recounted her past accomplishments and character traits.

She has served in many different capacities: musician, worship leader, Christian educator, pastor, Adventure Gbwc_superusere in the Western Region, and now district superin-tendent, he said.
'Vivian is a person who can laugh,' he commented, causing the audience to chuckle as most were aware of her ready laughter. 'We know when she's on vacation,' he said, 'and when she gets back.'

He also mentioned she is a person of integrity, in whom the word of God was planted clearly and directly; she's a hard worker, who accomplishes her tasks on time and with integrity; she's passionate about children, music and liturgy; she's grace-full and holds people accountable; and that 'she loves pastors, to serve and walk with them.'
'When I see (Vivian) I see the face of Christ alive and well,' he concluded to a loud and long standing ovation.

McCarthy based her meditation, 'Signs,' on Matthew 16:1-4, inspired, she said, by the fuzzy dandelion head that floated by her kitchen window. 'It was like God spoke directly to me,' she said, asking her, 'Do you recognize my presence when I'm there?'

She recounted some of the signs of God she recognizes in churches throughout the district, concluding with a story of a small rambunctious boy attending a baptism with his Sunday school class. As the teacher held the baby, the boy inched forward until he reached the infant. The baby took his finger and held tightly.

'That was a moment of grace,' McCarthy said, that 'wrapped him in the wonder of who God is.'

'Eugene Peterson says God got there before we did and our job is to open up the signs of God for a world hurting,' McCarthy said. The first-century church of the Scripture
passage was putting up signs of exclusion.

'But another way,' McCarthy said, 'is to take our cue from a twitchy little boy, who recognized grace when he saw it.'

She invited the audience to move forward to the font filled with water to receive signs of grace as each picked up a shell nestled in a bowl of water.

McCarthy invited the audience to sing the conclusion to her meditation, 'We are Called.'