Saturday, April 11

I will keep it brief this morning. Thank you for following us on Facebook Live for our Good Friday Service last night. I look forward to hearing from you tomorrow morning at our festive Easter Services with plenty of music and many participants from across our congregation. Join us at 10 a.m. on Facebook Live.

Despite the social distancing rules, as a church, we are very much connected during this time, via phone, video, text, live chat. Nothing can quite replace personal human contact, but we manage. Over the last three weeks, I have probably made around 300 phone calls and reached 150 households or so. If you are one of the few people I haven’t been able to reach and would like to talk to me, please feel free to call me. Please contact the church for my cell number.

Yes, the Coronavirus has changed the way I do ministry, and I take it as an opportunity to get to know people better. I have learned about trivial things in your lives (some people desperately looking for puzzles!!!) and about serious illnesses wasn’t aware of. I reconnected with people I hadn’t talked to or seen in quite some time. I have a better sense of some of our newer church members, and I have heard about changing plans in almost every house. Some of us may have to re-invent the art of stay-cation this summer or live from the great memories of past trips. I talked to one of our former au-pairs yesterday, Saskia. She was with us ten years ago when the kids were still very young. We had plans to see Saskia and her wonderful family this summer by way of also spending time with my extended family in Germany. This is unlikely to happen now under the circumstances. Ten years later our kids are pretty big and grown-up and now Saskia is expecting herself. She sent us this wonderful picture from 2010 in Sedona (attached). A precious memory!  – I am sure you have some very precious memories of your own. Maybe during this time, you can appreciate them some more. In some respects, it’s not so bad that life is slowing down.

For tomorrow, enjoy our Easter service, the picture show and the music, and come to our Easter Zoom Café right afterward at 11! Music includes: Bob and Carol Mc Gilloway; Cindy Le Blanc and Jimmy Holton…

Family Musicians, Group 1:

  1. Alan Berger, trumpet:  “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” “Thine is the Glory” 
  2. Lily Shaffer, solo:  “I’ve Got Peace Like a River”
  3. Noah Shaffer, trumpet:  “Ode to Joy”
  4. Clark Family Band:  “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” featuring Abby on flute, Emily on trumpet, Karin on trombone, and Ben on baritone horn.

Family Musicians, Group 2:

  1. Megan Flanagan, solo:  “Alleluia, Give Thanks to the Risen Lord”
  2. Kenny Graham and Emily Rittenhouse:  “The Canopy” by Dear Hunter
  3. Karin Clark, bell tree:  “Hallelujah” from Messiah by Handel

Many blessings to you all!

Pastor Andreas Wagner