Melissa's
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Church
I attend Oakton Church of the Brethren. It is one of the three largest peace churches. When asked what makes Brethren different than other churches, my answer is always that they are a peace church, they have no other doctrine than the New Testiment, and they believe in living simply.
I was baptized on Palm Sunday of 2005. This was a big step in my faith journey but it was by no means the end of my spiritual walk. I have only begun to learn. I guess that is another key part of the Brethren church we baptize people when they are old enough to understand what is going on.
I am very involved in the church is seems like there are more and more activities all the time. I am leading up a new group called the People in Evangelism (PIE) group. We are basically the welcome wagon for the church. Brethren in general are not evangelical so it takes conserted effort to widen the welcome of our church.
Handbells
Another one of my church activities is handbells. I play in the handbell chior at church. We try to play in church once a month from September to June. We meet for practice weekly on Thursdays. Being in handbells had made me want to expand my musical knowledge. Maybe after I finish school. This is a link to a YouTube video if another group playing Carol of the Bells.
The best ringers I have ever heard are the Raliegh Ringers from North Carolina. The biggest association of ringers in the US is the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers.
Don't we look serious?!?
I love being involved. I am the Co-Chair of the Community Service Committee for my firm's, Booz Allen Hamilton, Women's Forum.
The commitee's strategic objective is to identify and champion community service activities, coordinating with Booz Allen community relations.
Some of my responsibilities are to:o Facilitate community outreach in areas of interest to The Women's Forum members
o
Support selected community programs through
quarterly activities (e.g., Loudoun Abused Women's Shelter (LAWS);
o Provide an opportunity to support the community
I volunteer with the Everybody Wins! "Power Lunch" program. I spend my Friday lunch period reading to a second grader. This program is not designed to drill students in phonics or whole word reading methods or to otherwise systematically and directly teach reading techniques. Those are teacher responsibilities. Rather, Everybody Wins! is intended to impart a love of books and learning, to instill positive attitudes toward reading, which research has long indicated to have important effects on student literacy. A studyhas shown that, especially with its academic gains for the poorest readers, indicates that the program is making important strides on these fronts, that participants are reading more and thus learning more.