Each year our Annual Parish meeting comes right on the heels of Thanksgiving Day, a time when most of us have the opportunity to gather with our families and give thanks to God for the many blessings of the past year. My family has an interesting tradition along these lines - one that Chris and I introduced many years ago so that our children would understand that there is more to this holiday than turkey, football, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

Before dinner is served, everyone at the table receives three popcorn seeds on their plate. We then go around the table, one by one, sharing three blessings of the past year for which we are thankful - one for each corn. I won’t repeat here all of the various responses made this year, except to say that when it came my turn, one of the blessings for which I gave thanks was the wonderfully caring support we’ve received from our Pohick family during what has been a trying time both within our immediate family and in the larger church.

I suspect that, were we to pass out three corns to each person at our Annual Meeting, many (even all) of us could find in our reflections a blessing we have received through the ministries of our Pohick Church family. For while we are all ministers of the church to the larger world (see BCP, p. 855), we also minister to one another. Through the ups and downs of our individual Christian pilgrimages, Christ becomes present with us as we journey together, supporting each other, praying for each other, and simply being there for each other. And so, I thank God for each and every one of you.

In the future, when we look back at 2007, I think we will see it as a pivotal point for our congregation, a year when we concluded our advanced planning and turned towards making our vision into a reality. As I have done earlier this year, I’d like to thank the members of our Building Committee (Roberta Fede, chair; Bill Poad, Paul Peterson, Oscar Wells, and Pete Kind, members) for their diligence in guiding us to this stage.

While Roberta and Building Committee members will continue to interface with our architects and other outside contractors, I am pleased to announce the appointment of two additional leadership positions as we now begin to move forward: Jeff Parker as Chair of our Renovations Committee, which will address the enhancements of our facilities envisioned in Phase 1B; and Wayne McHargue as Chair of our Capital Campaign Committee, which will work to raise the money to pay for it all. Jeff has been working on the Property Committee for the last few years, overseeing smaller projects of a similar nature, while Wayne has led multimillion dollar campaigns both in his former ministry as an officer of the Salvation Army and in his present business as a fundraising consultant. As the two of them begin to populate their committees, I pray that they will have the support of the entire congregation: the time has arrived for all of us to take hold of the rope and begin to pull!

Through all of the work this endeavor will entail, it’s important to remember that the expansion of our facilities is merely the means to a greater end: to more effectively minister to a community undergoing explosive growth, growth whose pace will only increase as the BRAC recommendations are implemented over the next several years. With Pohick’s superb location, its expansive property, and its historic significance, we are in the perfect position to welcome these new residents into our church family. But it will be hard to do so if they do not have a place to park, or we cannot accommodate their children in our Vacation Bible School because our classrooms are full. And so the building project we are about to undertake is a means towards fulfilling the Great Commission: to baptize and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18-20).

In this regard, I’m grateful for all the hard work of our clergy, staff and volunteers throughout 2007. I am just staggered when I replay in my mind all of the worship services, classes, pastoral visits, and outreach events of this past year - or any recent year, for that matter. Despite the difficulties with our facilities that I mentioned above, new families visit with us each week, with many of them staying, being baptized, confirmed, or received, and soon immersed in active ministry within the parish.

This is especially remarkable with all of the bad press our denomination has received in recent years (some of it deserved). As our Sr. Warden has written in his reports, ongoing disputes within the various levels of our denomination continue to be a concern for many of us. But our Vestry was heartened by our visit this past June with our new bishop coadjutor, the Rt. Rev. Shannon Johnston, who expressed to us his strong commitment to the recommendations of the Windsor Report. In that the Archbishop of Canterbury recently affirmed the importance of diocesan compliance with these recommendations (as contrasted to national pronouncements), it is crucial to recognize that the Diocese of Virginia continues to meet these expectations of Anglican Communion members, even if national resolutions (and their clarifications) are ultimately judged as inadequate.

That said, the lawsuits between the diocese and eleven departing congregations remain a source of pain. I have friends and colleagues on both sides of this dispute, as do a few within our congregation. As Dean of Region VI, I have been especially called to minister to those members of St. Margaret’s who did not wish to leave the Episcopal Church. It has been a very difficult time for them, as I imagine it has also been for those at St. Margaret’s Anglican. While I wish matters had proceeded differently, the legal process must now follow its course. Still, I am hopeful that a more amicable arrangement will eventually be negotiated outside the courtroom. As Dean, I stand ready to help facilitate those discussions whenever the parties involved feel these would be productive. In the meantime, Pohick’s ongoing commitment to Christ’s Great Commission remains our greatest witness, particularly in the midst of the turmoil surrounding us.

While most of my energies this past year have been directed towards the building up of our congregation, I’ve been happy for two opportunities to be of greater service to the larger church. First, I was pleased to have been assigned oversight of the consecration of our bishop coadjutor back in May - my swan song as liturgical officer for the diocese, a position I held for four years. I was especially happy to have such a large number of our choir take part in this joyous event (the second-largest contingent in the diocese). Second, I was glad to join with two other scholars in co-authoring a reference book that included a great deal of research I did on the ancient synagogue a decade ago. It will be published this month by the Brill publishing house of the Netherlands.

Back on the home-front, this past July we welcomed onto our clergy staff the Rev. Donna Foughty, who has brought her wealth of experience into her ministry within the parish, especially with our young people. In this, she has carried forward the superb work of Jennifer Crump-Strawderman, who resigned from the Youth Minister position this past year, but continues as a volunteer Youth Advisor. This past summer we also recognized the five years of dedicated service to this congregation by the Rev. Jane Piver, who was called to serve as Vicar of Grace Church, Stannardsville. We are progressing through the search process for a part-time Priest Associate for Pastoral Care, and hope for a successful conclusion by the end of this year.