So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you
John 16: 22
Dear Friends in Christ,
Eastertide—which lasts until Pentecost—is the season to remember and repeat resurrection messages. The quote from Jesus in John 16 is one of them. It’s not bad for the softening of coronavirus, too. It asserts, “I will see you again…”
But wait—coronavirus is not gone yet. It has been costly and it will continue. Though it is softening. And our lay leaders meet regularly to imagine when we can be safe in the sanctuary and when we can re-claim something that seems normal.
Here are some celebratory notes: We’ll have two more organ offerings in the sanctuary on May 9 and May 23 at 11:15 a.m. These are also broadcast.
We plan to have Confirmation in-person*, most likely on June 13.
We hope to experiment with worship on-site, perhaps in August, and it may well be that September allows us a real return.
In addition to Confirmation and organ offerings in the time ahead, we’ll celebrate women who co-created Christianity as we know it (May 9), the gifts of the Holy Spirit (May 23), our stewardship effort to re-charge the church from July on (several times), our Annual Meeting (June 6), and a Circle of Blessings (June 20). We have another Christian anti-racism gathering planned (May 16), and some of us will go to City Hall to see about gun control in Newton (May 10). We have a special staff announcement in worship (May 2). In a perfect world we’ll hear soon about our Senior Housing mission, the Hulsing/Newhall House on Forest Street.
As Jesus says, we have had plenty of sorrow. It won’t pass in a moment. But the assertion of Easter is that God will bring us to rejoicing, renewal, restoration, and resurrection again, and that all this brings a joy that has no end. Or, all that we do reveals the reason that we’re a church together these months and always.
God’s peace to you,
Ken
- From now on, whenever we mention something in-person or on-site, it will include broadcast, too. We just won’t say it every single time.