Dear people of Ascension,
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Although we were not physically together, our worship this Holy Week and Easter was deeply meaningful and full of love and spirit. I am grateful to everyone whose creativity, hard work and skill made our services happen, and happen beautifully. Thank you to my dear clergy colleagues for powerful, soulful preaching and leadership; to Dr. Keene and the choir who spent countless hours recording beautiful music for us; to our readers; to our homilists for the first days of Holy Week (Elizabeth Adams, Rusty Moore and Kate Rutherford) for their thoughtful, authentic words; to Derek Baker and Vin Knight, our “spiritual bouncers” (Vin also edits and uploads our weekly Facebook meditation); to Andrew Jones who designed our virtual bulletins and PowerPoint presentations and labored tirelessly to put it all together; and to John Thompson, our tech wizard and Zoom moderator, who makes the service happen in real time.
Thank you, too, to everyone who showed up- with food for the Agape meal, a cross to contemplate on Good Friday, and faithful joy for the Easter Vigil and Easter Day. Thank you for your prayers, and your open-hearted presence. Thanks for bringing friends and family members. Thank you for being willing to embrace a new way of being church, and see where the Spirit leads us in this unprecedented, difficult and yet grace-filled time.
As we move into the next phase of our journey through the COVID pandemic, we do not know how long the road is, nor what will happen along the way. But we travel together, and the risen Christ walks with us. That is enough, and a great blessing.
In love and gratitude,
Liz
P.S. What spiritual practices are helping you during this time? Over the next few weeks, the clergy will offer some of our own responses to this question and lead a community discussion at a forum series following our virtual coffee hour on Sunday mornings. Come to learn and share your wisdom- we are all beginners in the life of prayer!
