My first encounter was with Lisa Grapes who attends the Herndon United Methodist Church, "A Place to Belong, Believe, and Become." The service was the Children's Program or Celebration of Children's Sabbath where "Providing What God Requires and Children Need: Justice, Kindness, and Faith" is very important to them. I was touched that the congregation allowed children to provide the message for the service. The theme for the day was All God's Children. 

That Sunday, Lisa and her family were door greeters. I stood with her family and handed out programs to the people as they walked into the church. This was a great opportunity for me to see the members of the congregation and to say hello to them all. I met both of the Pastors and they were very friendly. Pastor Phillips, Senior Pastor, explained to me how the service would be different since the children would be in charge of giving the message. They believe in allowing the children to prepare a program and share that message to the congregation once a year. I thought it was a great idea, it allows the children to feel important and to show their parents that they are learning the gospel of God. 

As the service began in unison we said the "Call to Worship." At first I was not sure where to follow in the program. But with the help of Lisa's daughter she pointed out where to follow and as I scanned over the rest of the program I found that the program is nicely outlined and has many of the set prayers typed out for you. I found that to be good thing since I did not know the prayers by heart as some of the members did. We stood for the opening song and I found the music to be very easy to follow. The music was played by an organ and was very similar to what I was used to hearing. There were a few readings from the Bible in which some members of the congregation came up to the podium and read aloud to everybody. I was also able to witness a baptism of a baby. The parents of the child and his grandparents stood in front of the Pastor as he offered a prayer to the child. This prayer was found in a book that was placed in your pew. The baptism was a blessing to the child that they might love God, live his word, and be a good person. As the parents spoke in the child's request the pastor then took the baby and baptized him by placing water on the top of the child's head. The Pastor, while holding the child, walked around the church to show the child to the congregation while we sang a song. 

The children then started their program in which they used puppets to give the message. It was very cute how they presented it in such a simple way that all could understand and relate too. After the children’s message there was a guest speaker, Rev. Dr. W. James Athearn. His message was “In the Face of a Child” and he told stories of kids from his congregation and a few from the Herndon Methodist Church were missionaries in Russia. He told of how they taught people in Russia of God and how their lives were touched by their service. 

The service ended with the Lord’s Prayer and a closing hymn. The benediction was in unison of the “Choices for Children.” The congregation said a prayer that all children belong to God and to let the children teach them about God’s love. I liked how they were so loving and accepting of children. And to allow them to let the children teach them things of God and not always the Adults teaching the children. 

The first service started at 9:00 am and went for an hour and 30 minutes. There was not Sunday school since it was the children’s program. The Sunday school would have been before the church service. There was another service that started around noon that was of the same set up and message. After the service there was a munch and mingle period (in between the two services). I left with a very warm friendly feeling. They sang hymns, said set prayers, had a wonderful message that touched all adults and children, and were a friendly group of people. My experience was very positive because the people at the Methodist were so welcoming about having a guest there.

-Lydia Johns
Encounter completed on October 12, 2003

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