| Young organist plays at cathedral  WASHINGTON, D.C. Early in January, award-winning organist, Christian Lane, 22, the son of the Rev. Bert Lane III, presented a recital at the Washington National Cathedral. It was the first time hed played on the regions largest pipe organ.
Lane will graduate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., in May, and recently became organist of St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Rochester. While still in high school in Walkersville, he was organist at Brook Hill UMC for two years. Were very grateful for the scholarship support he received from the conference, his father said. A lot of soup for hungry people ODENTON Instead of collecting money, as many church youth groups do for the Souper Bowl, the youth at Nichols-Bethel UMC and five other area churches, asked for donations of canned soup. At the 2004 Souper Bowl, the six churches collected 2,608 cans of soup, which were donated to the Christian Assistance Program, Inc. Souper Bowl of Caring is an annual national event, held on the Sunday of the Super Bowl game, usually observed by worshipers dropping $1 in a bowl as they leave. All funds are donated to organizations that fight hunger, often in a churchs immediate locale. Souper Bowl, Inc. reported that more than $4 million was raised this year, from 11,912 organizations and churches. The Nichols-Bethel UMC donated a whopping 1,014 cans, said Ken Dunshee, the chairman of Christian Outreach and Community, and president of the board of Christian Assistance Program. In addition to collecting at the Sunday church services, the youth went door to door collecting food, including soup, for the CAP. Cemetery at black church desecrated ANNAPOLIS The cemetery at Asbury Broadneck UMC has been a peaceful place for more than 150 years, according to Celestine Henderson, chairwoman of the board of trustees. But that peace was broken sometime in early January when church members discovered that vandals had smashed and toppled more than 30 headstones. The crime, which caused $16,000 in damage, is still under investigation by Anne Arundel County police, according to the Baltimore Sun. It has shaken not only church members, but the community. We felt devastated, said the Rev. Barbara Sands. The first thing I wondered was who would do such a thing, and why. Outraged by the crime, 12 members of RESPECT, a consortium of 23 African-American organizations, sent a statement expressing their collective condemnation of the desecration of the property. The county has been a victim of a series of hate crimes in the past, but investigators are not calling this a hate crime. Rather they suspect area teenagers. The church is planning to install lighting in its parking lot and cemetery, Sands said. And police are now regularly patrolling the grounds. Church burns mortgage early ARNOLD The congregation of Mt. Calvary UMC held a banquet to celebrate the burning of the $22,935 mortgage they had taken out in 1993 for church renovations. About 130 people attended the evening event. To raise the funds to burn the mortgage early, the church held many activities including choir concerts, dinners, and mens and womens days, said the Rev. Jerome Howard Sr.
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