W. F. Terry Reister became pastor of Hyattstown Christian Church July 1, 1984. He is a native of Baltimore, Maryland. He is a graduate of the Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Memphis Theological Seminary, and of Candler School of Theology at Emory University, where he earned his doctorate in 1980.
Dr. Reister has been very involved in our public schools and public service organizations. He is currently the chairman of the Montgomery County Public Schools SAFE and DRUG FREE SCHOOLS Advisory Council. In August of 1997, he became a Maryland certified prevention specialist for Drug Free Schools. He has been appointed to serve on the Montgomery County Alcohol and Other Drug Advisory Council. He is also a member of the Commission on Ministry for the Christian Church ( Disciples of Christ ) in the Capital Area. He is Chaplain of the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Rescue Association.
Dr. Reister has written numerous articles for the DISCIPLE, the journal of the Christian Church, and has been published in Midstream, a theological journal of the Disciples.
As well as being very involved in the church and schools, Terry is also an accomplished magician and comedian (this helps his sermons!). In 1994 he won the award for the best comedy act at the Magicians Alliance of the Eastern States.
On a personal note, Dr. Reister is married to Janet Jones Reister, and they have one child, Joseph Clay, who is a graduate of Shepherd College in West Virginia.
You can e-mail the pastor directly. Just contact: wftreister@earthlink.net
The Rev. Lorenzo Cooper York became associated with Hyattstown Christian Church on July 29th.,2001.
Lorenzo Cooper York is married
to the former Phyllis Roscoe and they are the proud parents of two lovely children, Lenore
and Phillip. Lenore majored in Business
Management and minored in Music at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Phillip is attending High School. Both love music.
Lenore sings and plays the piano and Phillip plays the piano and
enjoys soccer and baseball as well. Mrs. York
is a special education teacher (learning disabilities) in the Montgomery County, Maryland,
Public Schools. Chaplain and Mrs. York reside in Frederick, Maryland.
Chaplain York is an endorsed
Christian Church (Disciple of Christ) Chaplain serving over 22 years in the military. His vision for ministry is in spiritual formation
and pastoral counseling. He sees his ministry
as a dynamic challenge in encouraging the faithful and challenging the faithless to
“Come and see a Man who can tell you all about yourself and make you whole”. Having studied political science at Tulane
University in New Orleans, LA and pursued graduate studies in Law and Public Policy at
Indiana University (Bloomington), Lorenzo York accepted affirmation of his calling to
the Christian ministry in 1979 and studied Pastoral Counseling at the Interdenominational
Theological Center in Atlanta, GA. After
pastoring a year, he felt led by God to enter Navy
chaplaincy.
He has served as Chaplain of
Marines, Sailors, Airmen, Soldiers and Coast Guardsmen as well as Civil Servants. He has served in most sections of our nation
and overseas in the Western Pacific (The Philippines, South Korea, Okinawa, Hong Kong) and
the Caribbean Basin. He considers his
spiritual gift to be counseling and that gift has been greatly developed in Navy
chaplaincy. He has conducted over 500
retreats ranging from personal growth retreats, marriage enrichment weekends, spiritual
growth retreats, teen growth retreats, team build retreats, and workshops with similar
headings. He has conducted several spiritual
formation workshops for civilian parishes.
The Rev. Jim Cole became associated with Hyattstown Christian Church in November, 2003. He is new to the pulpit but an expert in Bible history. We asked Jim Cole to share a little about himself and how he came to our faith.
"I was not born into Christianity. Although my father seemed to have Episcopalian tendencies, he only attended services every once in a while, and did not commit himself on any regular basis to his faith. My mother, on the other hand, clung to her identity as a secular Jew. As a probable compromise, I was sent to Unitarian Sunday school. When I was old enough to voice my own preference I voted for 'none of the above'.
During the first part of my life, I noted that wherever I went people were trying to make me choose one heritage or the other. I was not especially inclined to do so. In 1971 I married my wife, Amelia, and became a nominal Roman Catholic as I had no particular religious preference. Later in life, I bought into the secular myth of the 'American Dream' as many people did then and still do. By the early 1990's everything was beginning to be - not enough for me - and I concluded that there must be something more to life than earning money and coveting the things that it could buy. At that time, I came across the book of Ecclesiastes and discovered that the author actually knew something about the human race and I reasoned, at the time, that there must be something else worthwhile in the bible. I was not wrong. I then read the bible cover to cover and started going to see the UCC minister in Greenbelt, Maryland, where I practiced law. The visits became longer and longer and I started attending church. As I wanted to learn more I started seminary at night. It took me ten years to get my degree as trial law is a very demanding profession. In the eight years of Divinity School I was introduced to the Disciples. I developed a preference for the Disciples as my experience has demonstrated that the Disciples are more diverse than many other groups. On August 4, 2001 I was ordained at Heritage Christian Church. My wife is from El Salvador, Central America, and continues to be Roman Catholic, which is fine with me. I believe that there are many ways to understand God but the Christian way is the best."
Mr. Day has recently been named the music director for Hyattstown Christian Church. This position involves directing the choir and other musicians in the church. He is shown above with Mrs. Janet Reister.
Mr. Knott is responsible for the Church, the cemetery, and the Church and parsonage lawns and grounds. He has served as caterer for a number of church events.
Mrs. Ryder is a retired counselor from Montgomery County Public Schools, and is a recognized expert in resilience training.
Revised: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 04:54 PM