Simon is eager to resume the baseball season, but not to get the mandatory tetanus-shot, but also a master at scaring needle-phobic Matt who has to accompany him and could fake it. Jimmy Moon needs some tutoring, so Lucy gets Mary to do it, but son regrets it, fearing big sister is falling for her boy-friend. Eric wants the parish to hire fraud-convicted Ron Kramer, an organist to the choirmaster's taste. Lou Dalton's vestry considers that as imprudent as having no security system in church and recruits Annie to be treasurer and draft a budget before the matter is settled, even threatening to fire Eric.

Simon get sort of addicted to golf, which causes trouble for him, Ruthie and various glass within their hitting reach. Matt and Lucy are fed up with Mary's adoration for coach Koper, whom they mistrust and dislike because of his condescending attitude towards English pupil Matt, who nevertheless does well on a James Joyce book-report. Mary sides with him when the siblings cry wolf over a hug but when she suddenly changes her tune after a shoulder massage, even the principal turns on Koper without any proof or actual incident. Eric hounds Lou, who insists the expenses for the nearly unattended Wednesday service can no longer be justified, to see the books. Annie finds $2,500 are missing but by the time the full truth gets known, both must side with 'thief' Lou and his secretly hard-tested family.

Hoping to make the school baseball team but fearing nepotism from the coach, Simon asks sports star Mary to put in a good word--and gets stuck being equipment manager; Jimmy Moon's parents consult Eric when he gets involved in drug dealing, and Lucy's unwanted meddling gets her arrested; Ruthie deliberately doesn't pass on phone messages just for sibling attention; Eric suspects a church conspiracy.

Simon lets school friends convince him he should kindly handle a crazy girl who signed his first name all over a notebook but keeps sending mixed or rather contradictory signals. When his roommate gets a cool job, Matt is fed up with his menial one in the cafeteria. Kid patient Adam's attempts to help seem to backfire. The Camdens really need a new car, but when Eric is seen test-driving a sports-car and Lou sees furnishings arrive for the extra bathroom Annie helps the girls install for their 'attick suite', the board votes against his annually scheduled raise.

Rev. Camden is called to serve as a juror on a murder trial. Once the deliberations start, he's surprised to discover that even though the defendant is obviously guilty, all the other jurors are voting "not guilty" -- some because of past racial discrimination they or their family members have suffered in the judicial system. One by one Rev. Camden works to convince them to rise above their bitterness and distrust of the system so they can do the right thing in this case. (It flips "Twelve Angry Men" on its head and was inspired by the Los Angeles Rampart police scandal when jurors were in fact acquitting defendants because they didn't trust the police after the scandal.)

Matt suddenly gets bombarded with phone calls and pages at the hospital during his orderly duty, which might even get him fired. Simon wants him to drive him on his date with college girl Lulu, who falls for Matt. Eric can't find anyone to join him on a 'guys' pool night, but he ends up having a blast with parish bachelorettes; meanwhile, Annie meets with her child-psychology professor (who doesn't like kids!). Lucy and her charming lab partner "babysit" an egg; Mary reluctantly joins in the Friday 'private hour' of her pizzeria colleagues, teen parents Frankie and Johnny.

Eric threatens Robbie with eviction because he thinks he's keeping secrets about Mary. The house is abuzz with secrets and preparations for an elaborate surprise party for Eric's birthday. Johnny drops Mercy on the Camdens' doorstep after Frankie abandons them. Mike trusts Lucy enough to look after his mother for a day, during which the woman surprises her, both by speaking and by what she says.

Robbie panics when Mary announces she's returning for the summer months, so he tells her to follow parental instructions not to date her all that time. Mike inspires Lucy how to stay with Jeremy now he's accepted to Juliard: marriage, so they get engaged. Matt is dumped by Cheryl for not telling the family about them, but that gives him the courage and more reward then he bargained for. Wilson was dumped but traveled all the way home, just when Mary's claim of sexual intimacy with Jeremy make Robbie deck Lucy's equally startled fiancé. Simon and Tim discover Deena dated each of them behind the other's back. Serena abuses her lonely birthday to make a move on therapist Eric, while hardware shopkeeper James Carver courts long-oblivious Annie.

Simon's big day, the start of his driving lessons, finally arrived, but Eric just forgot about it. Grandpa Jackson seduces the knave into driving him around without a license, which leads through more bad grandfatherly advice to a televised police car chase. Jealous of Joy, Matt behaves childishly toward Robbie whose gentleman's attitude ultimately gives in. Lucy hoped Jeremy called to make up, but he just wants his engagement ring back. The local fire chief isn't fooled by Mary's eagerness to transfer.

Simon starts a dating service. Mary and Jack are planning to move to Florida. Annie and Eric have their hands full with family events.

Eric has double bypass surgery and most of the family waits for results at the hospital. Ruthie stays home to watch the twins. Lucy tells her parents she is ready to accept a wedding proposal, but Kevin is no longer ready to propose.

The Colonel sends a nutty old lady to help the Camdens.

Chandler learns that his father is dying of lung cancer and rejects Eric's efforts to help them; Lucy accepts a date with Chandler's chain-smoking tattooed brother Sid (guest-star Jason London) in order to make Kevin jealous enough to propose to her; Annie is shocked to find a pack of cigarettes in Simon's bedroom; Peter begs Ruthie to lie to his mother about his smoking.

The church needs a new roof, and Chandler talks Eric into helping him ask a stubborn parishioner. She agrees because she needs some help as well. Annie finds out the twins are stealing money. Lucy and Roxanne go out for a girls' night.

Chandler's father is dying. Eric tries to get Chandler and his father to talk before he dies. Simon asks Cecilia to the prom. Ruthie has problems but does not want to talk about it. Mary has news for her father. Sarah thinks she is pregnant.

Peter tells Ruthie she should talk to her parents about her problem. Simon asks someone else to the prom since Cecilia does not want to go. Annie talks to Sarah's mother.

Simon hopes for an early graduation from school and asks Eric plead his case; Simon's advisor is also the son of a preacher; a bully bothers Ruthie; Kevin must babysit his boss's grandchild; Chandler is caught kissing another woman.

Lucy and Kevin look for their first home as does Chandler; turns out they are looking at the same place. Eric and Annie decide to buy their house from the church; Ruthie plans to move into the garage apartment when Lucy and Kevin move out.

Lucy, Kevin, and Savannah move back to her parents' home where there is one mother too many. Annie tries to impart her mothering skills on Lucy, who has different ideas. Ruthie sees an opportunity to get a favor from Martin.

Eric tries to avoid telling his parents about Mary's divorce. Simon's fiancee wants him to move up the wedding date. Lucy learns the difficulties of being an associate pastor.

After a scary arrest which could have gone fatally wrong, Kevin decides to leave the police before someone gets hurts as he can no longer concentrate on anything but his young family. Ruthie brings over Meredith and her presumed boyfriend Jack, who proves a natural with babies and a nice senior - too old, so - and is on to her plan; Meredith actually is more interested in the other good boy, Tyler, who agrees with a demure kiss to date. The colonel arrives, winking to Martin about his Iraq veteran dad's gardening job and to Eric's surprise already knows about Charlie - even got and believes Mary's version that Carlos cheated on her, but Carlos explains she just 'caught' him dining with Cecily, the nanny he had to hire because Mary was never home. Simon first scolds, then consoles his ex Sandy for having seduced and made a baby with Martin. Eric spoils the twins fun playing cowboys with granddad because he bans all gun toys and is told to bother about real problems. Lou Dalton tells Eric most parishioners want Lucy fired as his associate pastor.

Ruthie's run-in with airport security delays the family's return home. Angered that her one-way ticket triggered a search during a layover in New York, Ruthie sarcastically remarks, "I'm a terrorist," which causes Officer Keaton of the Port Authority police force to detain Ruthie, Eric and Annie for questioning. At home, Lucy finds the Camden kitchen overrun with casseroles and flowers from parishioners concerned over Eric's health. Fortunately, Lucy's calm confidence and positive attitude about Eric's heart condition lessens the anxieties of church members. While Margaret and the twins plan a musical "welcome home" for Eric, T-Bone and Jane brainstorm a special gift for him. In New York, Officer Keaton confides in Eric that his fiancée of five years, who's flying to London that night, refuses to marry him because she's afraid she might lose him in the line of fire. Later, Lucy inspires the family's neighbor, Mrs. Beeker, with her faith and strength, while Eric gives a speech at the airport, emphasizing the need to live without fear, despite the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001. In addition, he tracks down Officer Keaton's fiancée and performs a gate-side wedding ceremony. To her surprise, Sandy discovers Mac's "friendly" visit is actually a "spy" mission on behalf of Martin, who wants to know if Sandy is dating Simon, which she isn't. That evening, the Camdens arrive home to a rousing chorus of "This Land is Your Land," performed by Margaret and the twins. Up in their bedroom, Annie and Eric are surprised to find T-Bone and Jane's gift: an adjustable bed, donated by a parishioner.

Kevin feels that Lucy is too lazy to grocery-shop as she keeps promising to do; she hates that he buys wholesale and throws out everything officially past its expiration date, and he is pragmatic about his New Year's resolution to save money before they have a second baby. The twins spend $50 of their savings to help Darfur through Nicodemus, a Sudanese refugee who once helped Ruthie get home from a school field trip. The reverends oppose several old deacon votes Lou informs them of on matters from office furniture for Lucy (the selfish priority openly disgusts Kevin) to whether Darfur is too political a cause to get the parish's financial support. Ruthie arrogantly pretends her Scottish political talks make her an expert on all world problems compared to T-Bone, who never traveled overseas and doesn't even own a computer, but he soon finds that Margaret has doubts about the material Jane gave Ruthie, and in mere hours he learns more than she knows. Kevin tries to educate the girls, who react emotively and show generosity.

T-Bone needs a drivers license to have some privacy with Ruthie, so he asks Kevin to give him practice lessons, but gets a torture version. Annie doesn't believe Lou's announcement the deacons want youth-friendlier church services because of a $16,000 budget deviation, and even a publicity swap with a car dealership; ultimately the twins solve the accounts discrepancy. Mac needs a job to pay his part of a place with Margareth and Jane, so T-Bone gets him hired as ticket colleague.