Dear Beloveds ... 

Thank you all for your kindness and generosity shown to me for my birthday last week! The balloons, the delicious cake and the card were all such a surprise and so appreciated. And to celebrate with you all was the extra icing on the cake!!! Thank you for loving and celebrating me! 

Mid-week Lenten Services ~ thank you folks for all of your help getting me through our first year of ’the 40 days’ together. You all are a ‘well oiled machine’ when it came to hosting our sibling churches. Thank you Merv & Reg for usher duties, and Linda who played for some of the other churches’ week. Thank you Sue for allowing all the speakers to be heard via sound, and Tracey for bulletin prep, and all other enquiries and duties … and to our Worship and Music Team who spearheaded all of this happening. And thank you to all who attended these offerings of spiritual renewal for the 40 day journey. Well done, good and faithful servants!!!

Our Lenten Stones ~ Thank you for joining me on this ’40 day’ journey. How did it go? Did you lose your stone? (I lost two, then found one! Still have it tho!) There were many times I found myself reaching for it with purpose, and other times when it appeared at just the right time. Those moments were when I needed to ‘smarten up’ and pay attention.

I invite you to bring your stone back on Good Friday. There will be a time for you to offer back that stone during our service. If you’d rather keep it and extend your journey - by all means, please do so.

How did your stone impact your ‘wilderness journey’? What did you learn in your walk with Jesus? Please - I’d be interested in knowing your experience, hit reply and share your story!!!!

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Pastor’s Post …

            Let’s talk about … Holy Week

Palm Sunday is the day we are led into the Holy Week. As Jesus rides triumphantly into Jerusalem with the waving of palms to the shouts of Hosanna’s, we already have an eye toward the Triduum - the three holy days from Maundy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday.

For the past couple of decades, we have schmooshed the Passion (the Good Friday reading) into the Palm Sunday liturgy. This might be helpful if you only hit the Sunday services. But for the faithful followers of Jesus, we walk the week with him and relive the last days of his life.

Maundy Thursday - we gather at 7pm to participate in the story of Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. It was during this time, that Jesus demonstrated servanthood through the washing of feet and commanding us to ‘love one another’. This service ends with the powerful stripping of the altar.

Good Friday - we gather at 10am to walk the last steps with Jesus to the cross. This day, we receive God’s ultimate love for us as we witness Jesus’ cruel torture and death. We gather around the cross in solemn devotion, but hope-filled in the promise that this is not the end.

Easter Sunday ` we gather at 10am to celebrate the risen Christ who defied death’s grip and rose again to new life!!! We will celebrate this glorious day and welcome our special musical guest, Jason Rody on trumpet. Our children will resurrect the “A” word!!! Christ is risen …                            

in peace … in Christ

Pastor Lori+