The Washington area was on the brink of widespread residential and commercial development in 1962. The $44,000 paid by the Presbytery for our site certainly constituted a significant step in development of just one of the many new churches required to meet the region's burgeoning needs. Ours began as a "mission" church and organizational and developmental plans were assisted by six of our neighboring churches. What at first might seem strange is that the Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church, nearby on Sherwood Hall Lane, was not among the six. Recall, however, that the Civil War generated a schism between the Northern and Southern Presbyterian churches prevailed then. Once that became a thing of the past in 1972, "United" disappeared from our name, and we entered into a close, continuing working relationship with Mount Vernon.

Our organizing minister, Dr. Caroll A. Wood, came in April, 1961, from his position as minister of the Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He previously served in the national missions field in Alaska and the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona. An ex-football player at the University of Tennessee and a tireless worker, he related strongly to the young people of the church and provided the initial emphasis in their roles in church life that flourish to this day. He guided us tirelessly and well in the multitude of tasks by which our church progressed from concept to reality. Furthermore, his wife, Ann, played a key role in our development, particularly in the music realm.

Through the good offices of its most gracious and accommodating staff the Waynewood Elementary School cafeteria was made available for our worship services, the very first of which occurred on June 4, 1961. Thus we began a life that, while spiritually gratifying, was not physically easy in the new "sanctuary", nor in our own later on. For some 12 years we endured the discomfort of hard metal folding chairs until we were provided mercifully with new pews in 1973. And, we suffered awful heat in low-ceilinged space in the school with no air conditioning. In vogue for the ladies in those days was the use of leg makeup to simulate hose, eyebrow pencil being used to draw the seams. Needless to say, it was a pure environmental disaster on seemingly endless 100-degree, when high humidity days with copious perspiration took its toil on the "nylons."

But, we persevered and , in December 1961, we were further blessed when the Presbytery purchased a nearby house, 1301 Waynewood Boulevard. Purchased for $26,000, this house adjoining the school's parking lot was quickly put to use as our "Parish" house, a multi-purpose building providing cover for programs, including Christian education, choirs, scouts, and for a variety of other general activities for the church as a whole. Many fond memories remain of the role this house played in early church life. It served us well in so many respects until it was sold following our move into the new church building. As one might expect, the level of activity in this house evoked complaints by the neighbors, but diplomacy triumphed and we survived that hurdle. Interim to the sale, there were many footprints of our own in the parking lot asphalt as we trooped back and forth between the school's cafeteria and the Parish house.

Some ten months into Dr. Wood's leadership as the organizing minister, the Presbytery acted to convert our mission church to that of a fully constituted church within the Presbytery. Again, this milestone was reached on April 8, 1962. Fifty-six people from the mission congregation who became Charter members of the new entity, Heritage United Presbyterian Church. As earlier noted, John and Margaret Hayes and Kit Stearns were among those Charter members. Seven people, none with us today, had been earlier elected as a Board of Elders for the mission church, and they served until the changeover in church status. The first annual meeting of the new church was held on January 20, 1963, and a new Board of Elders was elected. Among that group were Carleton Gray, Krieger Henderson, Robert Hill, and John McLellan. The budget adopted for 1963 totaled $12,264 and authorization was given to the Session to retain an architect for development of a Master Plan for building. It is interesting to note that the cost of homes in that period ranged from $26,000 to $35,000 and that the average family annual income was $11,500. A look back at the statistics of the period makes for fascinating reading, and more will be covered later.

Much activity preceded the June, 1963, formal establishment of the building committee. Having just headed a similar committee for a Maryland church, it wasn't long after arriving here that I found myself one Sunday morning in the cafeteria accepting the commission of heading yet another building enterprise. Six additional people were selected to serve on this committee: Henry Green, III, Robert Hill, John McLellan, Paul Potts, John Ritchey, and Agnes Shanks. Subcommittees were established to address the church's operational areas and define needs and goals. The building committee work ultimately culminated in "The Program for Christian Witness" that was given to the architect for guidance in final design of the first unit. Details of the "Program" will be covered in the next article.