August this year will be a time of “hellos” and “good-byes” at Pohick. Let’s start first with the “good-byes."

As I wrote two months ago, our Minister of Music, Victoria Shields Harding, will be resigning her position on August 31, with her last Sunday being August 28. On that day we will host a special reception in her honor following the 10:00 am service. I hope many of you will be able to be there to give Vicky (and Matt) your good wishes.

In the meantime, the Search Committee will be hard at work seeking Vicky’s successor. Already we have had a robust response to our position announcement, with the number of applications approaching a dozen as of this writing. Throughout August, the committee will be culling through these and selecting the best qualified applicants for interviews, all with the goal of a seamless transition. That failing, we will be prepared to hire an Interim organist for a brief period until a successful search has concluded. Until then, please continue to keep that committee and their work in your prayers.

A second good-bye we will be making this month is to our Youth Minister, Mari Lynn Bland, who is leaving her position to further pursue her career in fashion design in New York City. This past year Mari Lynn has brought a great deal of enthusiasm and creativity to her ministry with the young people, and it has been wonderful to watch them grow in their faith under her care. I want to thank Mari Lynn for her devotion to our young people and for all her hard work throughout the year, especially in connection with last month’s Mission Trip.

As some of you know, Mari Lynn holds a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do - and in fact last fall she welcomed my son Peter into the Dojang in which she trains. And so this past year not only have I overseen Mari Lynn in the service of this congregation, but I have also witnessed her instruct Peter in the martial arts, as well as spend countless hours at night training hard to prepare for the rank of third degree, the culmination of seventeen years of hard work. She will be tested for this on August 14 at a grueling, day-long examination. While I am confident that she will emerge successful from this challenge, I ask that you keep her especially in your prayers on that day.

The following Sunday, August 21, we will host a special reception for Mari Lynn following the 10:00 am service. Again, I hope many of the congregation, especially those involved with our youth program, can be present to thank Mari Lynn for her ministry, and to wish her Godspeed, as she plans to leave for NYC later that week.

Now, on to the “hellos.”

Fortunately, we do not need to conduct a search for Mari Lynn’s successor, for we will be welcoming back into the position Jennifer Crump-Strawderman, who was Youth Minister at Pohick up until two years ago. At that time, Jennifer was serving in that capacity while working as a high school Guidance Counselor. She has since resigned that full-time position so that she could devote more of her time to raising her newborn daughter, Rose. This has also freed her to take on the part-time Youth Minister position, knowing that she would be receiving lots of help at home from her husband Rod, as well as from her extended family.

And so, we look forward this month to having Jennifer back on the staff, continuing to build upon the program that she first helped reinvigorate four years ago.

The last set of “hellos” we’ll be offering this month are to the many newcomer families who have joined Pohick over the past calendar year. We will formally welcome and recognize them at our semi-annual Newcomer’s reception on Sunday, August 14 after the second service. Please come and give them a hearty Pohick welcome!

So as you can see, there’s plenty going on in what’s usually a quiet month in Northern Virginia. Between your vacation travels, come and be a part of as much as you can!