In the last year or so, it would be difficult to have listened to the news, watched a talk show, or read an article about life or living without hearing the words Mindful and Mindfulness. At least one of the definitions for these words speaks to being present in the moment. It may have been the pandemic that started us down this path since many people spent more time in their homes and with their families than they may have ever experienced before. For years, we had added activities to our lives, worked more hours at our jobs, filled up every moment with something to do or somewhere to be. Now this idea is in front of us, that what might need to be added to our lives, is that moment where we stop. And after we make this stop, we purposefully become aware of what and who is around us. You might have walked through your front door for the last 365 days but did you look around, think about how grateful you were for having this home to come to, this place where you are surrounded by the people you love, with food in your pantry, hot water available with the turn of a spigot and clean clothes in your dresser? Maybe your couch is a little worn and, at first glance, you aren't exactly filled with joy when you look at it, but when you stop to think of the times your children or grandchildren sat on it and listened while you read a story to them or maybe they were little acrobats and used it for their latest daring feat, instead of looking at the spots, you remember the hours of love and fun that happened in that room on that couch.

Our church life can have those same pitfalls. If you're running in each Sunday morning, with your mental list of who you need to see about the activity you're helping with and checking to see if the people who signed up to be with the kids during the church hour did show up and were the flowers changed at the front of the sanctuary, your mind is scattered in a million places. You probably haven't had time to focus on how many people are there for the service or maybe you haven't been mindful that your interim pastor has now been with your congregation for an entire year. Have you taken a minute to enjoy that building you race into, feel the joy of time spent with brothers and sisters in Christ and being mindful of all that God has given your congregation?

Filling out the Cooperating Church Annual Report can help in having that mindful moment when you take stock of where you are, what has been going on and all that your congregation has accomplished. How many people attend worship, have there been any baptisms this past year, who are your leaders, do you have a full-time or bi-vocational pastor? We can share our mindful experiences with others around the region with this information. The churches in ABCOPAD have been blessed with so much. Help us gather the information and let us all be mindful of all God's many gifts to us.

Please fill out your annual report for 2022 and return it to ABCOPAD; 159 N. Bellefield Avenue; Pittsburgh, PA 15213. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Denise Veselicky (888) 687-0883 dveselicky@abcopad.com or me (800) 932-9442 ccasey@abcopad.com

1. The website of annualreport.abcis.org reacts best if accessed by internet explorer.
2. The person filling out the form online MUST have a copy of the church's annual report form to access the website.  They are asked for the church's pin number but more importantly they must use the church leadership pin to access the login.  This means that if a church has any leadership listed, they must use that leadership pin.
3. If a church does not have any leadership listed, they are able to use ABCOPAD's (the Region's Pin).  This number will NOT work for them if they have a leadership pin available.  Contact Caryl Casey, Denise Veselicky, or Mark Mahserjian-Smith to assist with leadership pin number.