RUMC 2009 Woman Of The Year

The RUMC Woman of the Year is awarded each year to a woman who has shown leadership in the church and community. To honor her, a donation has been made to the District Committee on Missions. She will receive a special membership certificate and pin to signify this donation. In addition, her name will be recorded in the District records containing all previous honorees.

This year's nominee was born and raised in Maryland and is the oldest of four children.

She met her husband in college while doing a play together – The Man Who Came to Dinner. They dated for about a year and married on May 27, 1967. Their family grew to four with the births of their daughters who were both confirmed at RUMC. The family grew again with the marriage of both daughters.

From the 1970s to today, our Woman of the Year has been involved in many activities at RUMC and for the community:

Vice President of UMW and the JOY Circle Member of the Worship and Music Committees Member of the Chancel Choir Member of Staff Parrish and Memorial Committees and Church Council Worked to serve meals for Mission of Mercy and helped with the Bloomin' Arts and Reisterstown Festivals.

But it is her passion for children and youth that sets this woman apart:

She has been a Sunday School teacher, codirector of Cherub Choir, chaperone for ROCK Retreats, chaperone for Camp Hope, taught Vacation Bible School, has helped with the summer Children's Worship program, coteaches Confirmation Class and is in charge of our acolytes.

After the voting this year, I wondered how she was going to be able to find out what she needed to know about this woman? Her daughters are out of town and she was not sure how to get hold of them. With the power of the Internet and e-mail, I was able to reach one daughter and hoped she would be able to send a personal note to our awardee. Here's what that daughter said:

"My mom loves and collects angels. I personally think my mom is an everyday angel she puts everyone else first. I actually affectionately nicked named her last Christmas GA - God's assistant.

She is the most "giving of thyself" person that I know. I am sure that just about everyone attending the banquet has received a thoughtful gift, a card or note with an uplifting message, or words of praise or encouragement from my Mom.

Often when I am home visiting and my mom and I are in a store, someone (usually a previous student) comes running up to my mom to say hello. It is amazing to witness and just reaffirms how many lives she has touched and impacted.

One Sunday on the back of my church's bulletin were the words of John Wesley

Do all the good you can
By all the means you can
In all the ways you can
In all the places you can
At all the time you can
To all the people you can
As long as ever you can

And after I read this I realized that is the perfect description of my mom, her services, her passion, her beliefs and how she tries to lead her life."

With that I am proud to announce Bev Lipp is our 2009 Woman of the Year!