As in previous years, we are publishing below my annual “Rector's Report” in order to give it a wider circulation among the congregation. For those not able to attend the December Parish Meeting, I would encourage you to drop by the office and pick up a copy of the complete Annual Report, which I reference in some of my remarks below.

To those comments I'd like to add my heartfelt thanks to the outgoing Vestry members for all their hard work over the past several years: Randy Brooks (Sr. Warden), Diana Bland (Stewardship), D'Andrea Wooten (Christian Ed), Nicole Fluet (Christian Ed), Bob Armstrong (Communication), Bruce Baird (Pastoral Care), Blaise Burry (Property) and Rebecca Gray (Outreach).

On the other end of the pipeline, please join me in extending our congratulations to those nominees elected to the new Vestry at the Parish Meeting: Sarah Booth, Mike Wooten, Connie Eppley, Doug Smith, Greg Wise, Ken Evans, Tony Harriman and Robin Teale. Likewise to those recently elected as Officers of the Vestry: Pete Kind (Sr. Warden), Ken Wrona (Jr. Warden), Ken Evans (Treasurer), and Robin Teale (Register). I look forward to working together with them as well as with the other continuing members of the Vestry in the coming year.

Finally, I want to highlight the special events and forums we will be offering this month during the Sunday School hour ( 10:15-11:05 am ):

• January 9, Newcomers' Reception
• January 16, Building Committee Presentation
• January 23, Pre-Diocesan Council Forum
• January 30, Adult Inquirers' Orientation Meeting

I hope that many of you will be able to participate in these sessions as we move into the New Year, with all the blessings and challenges that 2005 is sure to bring.

Rector's Report

As begun last year, vestry commission chairs (or the staff or committee chairs under them) will again submit individual reports for our annual meeting. This will allow the congregation to review a more detailed presentation of the work that these ten commissions have been engaged in over the past twelve months. It will also allow my remarks to concentrate upon the bigger picture—current trends at Pohick.

Regarding these, I would best characterize 2004 as the year of “Busy Comings and Goings.”

On the “goings” side, these past twelve months have seen the acceleration of a trend that began a few years ago. Long-time parishioners are “cashing out” of the area: taking the windfall from their home sales and relocating to more affordable, less-congested environs far from Northern Virginia . While this makes perfect sense from an economic and quality-of-life perspective, it has still been heart-rending to say good-bye to so many Pohick stalwarts. Thankfully, many of them continue to stay in touch and come back for visits when they are in the area.

Offsetting these departures has been a sudden infusion of new families. Of course, we welcome new families into our congregation every year. However, since the end of summer, the increase of newcomers has been dramatic. The most recent report from our Newcomer's Committee lists 28 new families in just the past three months!

While not all have yet decided to become members, many already have. More than that, many are already giving generously of their time, talent and treasure to the ministries of Pohick. Three weeks after Stewardship Sunday, for example, new pledges accounted for 11% of the total! Although this percentage will drop as long-time parishioners remember to send in the pledge card still sitting on their kitchen counter, the figure is nevertheless striking.

While the Holy Spirit is clearly on the move, we are not yet quite sure what temporal conditions have contributed to this recent explosion. Undoubtedly the construction work on US 1 has increased our visibility. So have the targeted mailings we made over the summer, and our increased participation in local events (e.g., the Lorton Fourth of July parade, the museum groundbreaking at Mt. Vernon ). Neighborhood word-of-mouth has also been a factor.

Whatever the case, newcomer families have routinely remarked about the warm welcome they have received from the congregation. Many have also expressed their pleasure with our Sunday school program and Youth ministries. Others have commented that they are impressed with our choirs and with the dignified yet spiritually uplifting manner in which we conduct our worship services. Uniformly, they have been attracted to the sense of “family” we have at Pohick.

And indeed, we are very glad to welcome them into our family. We look forward to deepening our fellowship with one another in the weeks and months ahead.

Those are the “comings and goings” of the past twelve months. The remaining term in my catchphrase for 2004 is the word “busy.” I have already written about this trend in several Pohick Post articles this past year—so I don't want to belabor the point. Nevertheless, it is clear that various outside pressures—particularly homeland security concerns and the ongoing war in Iraq —have drastically increased the workload on many parishioners.

These partially account for the recent high turnover rate on the vestry. They also help explain why our nominating committee was only able to produce a slate of ten candidates for eight seats, despite asking scores of potential nominees. Many just have too much on their plate right now to potentially take on such an important role in our church.

Through this all, my overarching concern has been more pastoral than administrative. The last thing I want to do is to become another “boss” seeking an extra pound of flesh. In fact, I stand in awe of the large number of parishioners who put in ten hours at the office, fight a traffic jam so they can eat dinner with their families, and then immediately turn back around to attend a parish committee meeting or tutor a needy child. I dare say that Pohick has some of the best volunteers in the country, and I salute each and every one of you for your incredible service within this congregation.

And so, while seeking to advance the various volunteer ministries of this congregation, I also see the role of the clergy and staff as supporting you, the volunteers.

For starters, this comes by not forcing too quickly the pace of ministry growth, while at the same time seeking to rotate in fresh volunteers, many of whom are new to the church and eager to serve.

We all have high hopes for Pohick's future, and our Strategic Plan envisions great things. Yet given the present climate, we have to readjust our sights slightly and realize we won't reach these goals overnight—or even necessarily in a year or two. But we will get there. We will have the patience and the perseverance to carry all these plans through.

Beyond this, please know that both the clergy and staff, but particularly the former, are here to minister to you. We are here to do this individually, through one-on-one prayers and interactions, and corporately, through our various worship services, adult studies, and retreats offered throughout the year. Please take advantage of us, particularly during those times when life may seem to be crashing in all around you.

Following this patient and pastoral approach, we hope to pull through these stressful times, all the while making progress towards Pohick's “Promised Land.”

Remarkably, we've made great strides over the past year despite these outside pressures. Record numbers of children have registered in our Sunday School, Sunday services are teaming with worshipers, and our Youth Group and Choirs are burgeoning with new members. Scores of Gunston Elementary students continue to be tutored on Tuesday evenings, and needy families are still supported through our many outreach drives and events. Our organ has just undergone a major renovation and expansion, County water has been connected, a new phone system has been installed, the vestry house refurbished, and our parking lots and roadways are being upgraded and repaired.

These are testimonials to the incredible drive and devotion of the congregation, as well as the dedication of the remarkable group of clergy, seminarians and staff with whom I have been blessed to serve as Rector.

I hope that as you read through the various reports in this document, you will catch a sense of the breadth and depth of the many wonderful ministries going on within our congregation. Please keep up the good work! And may the Holy Spirit who has begun a good work in you, continue to direct and uphold you in the service of Christ and his Kingdom.

Faithfully,

Donald D. Binder+

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