Dear friends in Christ,

It is an absolute delight to be writing to you as your settled minister following the Installation service on March 30. Thank you to everyone who contributed and worked so hard to plan, set up, lead, and plan the reception that day. It was beautiful and fun and special and I’m so grateful to everyone in this church for creating an event and a day that exceeded my wildest expectations. My family is still talking about how wonderful you all are, and you are still talking about how much dirt they dished on me, so I can say with certainty that a good time was had by all.

I’d like to send out a big thank you to Rev. Howard Fauntroy for stepping in to preach so that Bruce and I could step back for a week to catch our breath before the Easter season.

Easter week is upon us, and we have three main worship services. This Sunday, April 13 we will celebrate Palm Sunday, Jesus’ triumphant (or, actually, less-than-triumphant) procession into Jerusalem. It was less-than-triumphant because his entry was much less regal than any previous invader, conqueror, or liberator. And that was a deliberate choice on his part. Partly, this was to fulfill scripture, but there were other important reasons that continue to ring true in today’s world. We will begin worship outside with a Parade of Palms.

After worship we will be assembling Sack Lunches and we need everyone’s help! If you can stay after worship for a bit, please jump in and help us reach our goal of 1000 Sack Lunches this year.

Thursday, April 17 we will be celebrating Maundy Thursday, when we recall Jesus’ Mandate at the last Supper. We will begin with a potluck soup supper at 6 PM and then move to the sanctuary for a Tenebrae Service – the traditionally somber Service of Shadows. Please bring your soup hot if possible, or drop it off early if it needs time to heat. We will also have a stovetop with pans for quick heat-ups as necessary in the church kitchen.

Easter Sunday is April 20 and we will be celebrating Easter with a special choir, a children’s choir, and an Easter Bonnet Parade. Please wear your fanciest Easter Bonnets and plan on joining us in the parade during worship.

We will look forward to seeing you there!

Many blessings,

Pastor Tracy