Dear Friends,

What a glorious Easter it was (and is) at Grace Church. Among the highlights this year was the Saturday evening Easter Vigil, a liturgy designed to take us from the darkness of sin and death, to the light of life and resurrection. At the service, we celebrated thirteen baptisms – twelve of them adults. Yes, in this day and age twelve people decided for themselves that it was time to accept and move forward with life in Christ.

Another highlight was attendance at the 11 am service. It was the largest congregation I have seen in 21 years of looking out over the pews. In the north and south aisles it was standing room only, and the wonderful thing is, the people there stood and stayed. True, the forty or so seats along the south wall are still out of commission, but the ushers tell me that these only would have made a dent in the overflow.

Throughout the day the music soared, and the flowers were especially beautiful thanks to Ellen McElduff, the flower guild, and those of you who have made memorial and thanksgiving donations to decorate the church. This coming Sunday is when everyone is welcome to take a plant home to enjoy or to share with someone whose spirits might need brightening. Read below for instructions on this year’s great Easter plant giveaway.

The Spirit of the Lord is definitely blowing through Grace Church these days. I see it in too many places and people to list here today. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t fully understand it, but I’m working on a few theories. In Sunday’s The New York Times the columnist David French wrote an interesting Opinion piece entitled, “Were You Raised in a Church That Fears the World or Loves Its Neighbors?” What a succinct way to describe the spiritual offerings available today. True, the world is a frightening place, and the temptation is always to cluster in fearful groups that look suspiciously on a society that is out to undo us. But the way of Jesus is not to fear the world, but to trust in God and love our neighbors. On Easter Day, Jesus triumphed over the powers of sin and death, freeing us to risk living in a new way.

Did you know that in the church, Easter is not just one day? Easter is a fifty-day season that will take us all the way to the Day of Pentecost on June 8. What is more, every Sunday throughout the year is a “little Easter,” even those in the heat of summer and shadows of Lent. “The Lord is risen, indeed,” is what we say. So come to church and say it. Then go forth in to the world and dare to live it. Let’s strive to be a “love your neighbor” church.

One final thing: come to the choir concert tonight at 7 pm, and help celebrate Patrick Allen’s 25 years of service as Organist & Choirmaster of Grace Church.

See you in Church

Don