Saint Andrew’s Net | April 2005 | Vol. XX No. 3 | Page 1

I greet you this Easter Season with much joy and hope. I have to tell you that this past Holy Week was an incredible experience for me. Palm Sunday was so powerful with the two choirs from Minnesota, and I was especially proud that there were more of us than them. The solemn tone of the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services enabled us to go where we needed to be, both spiritually and emotionally. From there we went to the joy that is embedded in the liturgies of the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday.

While the liturgies guide us through this journey, it is the community through which we experience it. I want to thank all those who made it such a wonderful experience. First of all, I would like to thank Paul and the choir. What a tremendously gifted and dedicated group we have at Saint Andrew’s! I think I can speak for the whole congregation in saying that we feel blessed to have you as our choir. Many thanks to our Altar Guild who busily work behind the scenes, making sure that we are prepared for each service. Of course we could not have any of these services without Sandy and our acolytes, not to mention the ushers, LEMs, and lectors.

One of the great things about Holy Week is that we are able to experience it as a family. In much the same way that the disciples experienced the death and resurrection of Christ, we as a family gather together as we make our journey to the empty tomb. It is in that action that we experience the presence of God and where we place our hopes.

I want to highlight a couple of services we have coming up: Mass on the Grass, where we celebrate the glories of God’s creation outdoors, at 10 o’clock on April 24th; and Pentecost, when we commemorate the Holy Spirit alighting on the apostles, at both services on May 15th. These are important events in the life of the church, so I hope to see you all there.

In closing, let me say that I hope each and every one of you has a blessed Easter Season. God bless.