Our Pastor's Weekly Update

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

If you missed Dr. Dick Hardel last weekend in worship, you missed a powerful message - in fact, you missed three! Dr. Hardel is the Executive Director of the Youth and Family Ministries Institute, located in Bloomington, Minnesota, and he was in town to lead a workshop sponsored by the Parish Resource Center. As a Lutheran pastor, he was looking for a place to preach, and we were able to land him. What a treat! In worship, he focused on the importance of family members sharing their faith stories and Bible stories with their children and youth, because dropping them off at the church steps to let the "professionals" teach them is not enough.

And what about that Sonshine Choir at 10:30 a.m. worship last Sunday?! It is truly a joy for me to have them sit up in the chancel during worship, instead of going back to their families. Those children may not know all the words to the liturgy, but they sure can belt out the "Alleluias," and they know the Lord's Prayer by heart! Special thanks to parents for sharing your children with us in worship, and a BIG thanks to Liz Beal (choir director) for her patient work with our children. If you want to share your appreciation, check out www.sonshinechoir.blogspot.com and type in your comments.

This weekend, we celebrate the Festival of the Protestant Reformation. The color for the weekend is RED, and I encourage everyone to wear red in worship (chancel choir members, you’re set!), as it is the color of the blood of the martyrs. Martyr comes from the same greek word which is the root for WITNESS; and "witness" is the basis of our baptismal identity as the People of God. So, let's have a sea of red in the pews this weekend. The chancel choir is preparing special music for us at the 10:30 AM Sunday service, and we are receiving new member disciples in worship this weekend as well.

And, this Saturday, October 27, the Sonshine Choir will share special music with us in worship as we begin to use musical portions of Setting 5 (blue hymnal) with accompaniment from a variety of congregational musicians.

And . . . REMEMBER TO SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK ONE HOUR SATURDAY NIGHT! Let's meet in worship this weekend!

In Christ,

Gary