Good Easter morning, dear church!
I send you special blessings on this Feast of Easter! May you all be able to enjoy and celebrate in your own ways, in your own homes. I know from my conversations that many of you, longing for human contact, have become creative, meeting in vehicles in parking lots, talking to each other and waving at each other, practicing joint walks at safe distances and things like that. If you crave to see folks from your church on this Christian holy day, please join us for the Facebook Live service at 10:00 a.m. or join our Easter Café via Zoom video conference after the service, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Entry to the Easter Zoom Café.
This Easter celebration would not be possible without the hard work and generous help of Brian and the Brenfleck family. Not only did Brian walk us through the technology aspect of this “brave new world,” but he also put together the picture show that will start us off at the 10:00 a.m. service with Easter and Spring images that you sent to us, mixed with some pictures from last year’s Easter. Brian enlisted the help of his wife Sharon and his daughter Jessica (home from college). We are grateful! This Easter celebration would also not be possible without the various recordings that Kirsten did in days past with Roy and Mia, Bob and Carol, and the recordings sent to us from the homes of the Berger, Clark, Flanagan, Shaffer and Graham/Rittenhouse homes. I hope I didn’t miss anyone (apologies, just in case!). Finally, I am also grateful for the diligent work and creativity of our Director of Family Faith Formation who has given her utmost to provide our families with activities that may inspire especially the younger members of our congregation. And the brave Administrative Assistant, Lisa Miller, who holds it all together. We are grateful.
There is one aspect of particular and joy and satisfaction for me on this Easter morning. Four years ago, I was able to go on a Sabbatical for a few months to study alternative creeds and review/organize liturgical material that I have written over the years. During that time I wrote this Easter Creed, which we will say today. I know from my website that it is being used today in South Africa, the UK and various places in the US. It was always my hope that it would enable people to proclaim the Easter miracle in new ways. I am grateful that it is being used.
Easter is a time when people tend to be more generous in support of their church. I want to remind you, as I do every Sunday, that your faithful support of your church means a lot to us and enables us to do the work we do. You can use those old-fashioned envelopes and send your offering to the church in the form of a check, or you can use the new-fangled online-giving button on our website and utilize your credit card. More people have also taken advantage of the Simply Giving program, a way of automatic church giving. While we were down a few thousand dollars for the month of March, we think that your response and support during this crisis has been overall strong. We are very grateful for that.
Today is the birthday Mary Beth P. Happy birthday!
Also: I was able to speak to the daughter of Lois G.
who contracted Covid 19 in her Nursing Home. She continues to be well! (I’m grateful for that too.)
And: I have ten volunteers so far for our St. Peter’s Devotional Book project. I’m looking for a few more. (Please!)
Have a blessed Easter! I hope to see you today.
Pastor Andreas Wagner
Easter Creed
I believe in the God of Easter morning
Who awakes us from our darkest dreams
And leads us into the light of a new day,
Who meets our pessimism
With stunning hope
Of angelic proclamation.
I believe in the God of Easter Day
Who beats us to the obstacles in our lives
And empties the dark tomb for us;
Who appears in surprising ways
When we least expect it;
Walking with us
On our detours.
I believe in the God of Easter evening
Who breaks into our closets and prisons,
Bringing peace and crushing our fear.
I believe in the risen Lord who meets us
with wounds on his hands and feet;
Who grants us his spirit,
Sending us out
To bring Shalom into the world. Amen.