My heart is with you as our community enters Holy Week. I am mindful that being in-person for these sacred observances after being closed for so many months brings even more meaning to our walk with Jesus and each other. Thank you for your prayers, faith, love, joy, and generosity. Many people share in the work to create a meaningful Holy Week and Easter. Gratitude is what I want to share in this letter.
Our staff, newly working together is collaborating with grace, patience, and competence, coming up a steep learning curve to perform the many necessary administrative and liturgical functions. Every single week at staff meeting, I can’t help but burst out my thanks to them for beautiful and inspiring worship on Sundays. They work hard to send notices, prepare booklets, set up the worship area and ensure that our church software is updated. This work is multiplied for Holy Week. I’m grateful to them:  Randy Day (who also has brought the choir together as our musician and serves as parish administrator), Carolyn Farr and Karen Tucker. We are deeply grateful for our parish office volunteers, Karen Rienert, Carol Martin, Carol Anderson and Caroline Savage.
A joyful thank you goes to my clergy colleagues, the Rev. Katie Holicky and the Rev. Mary Lee Wile. They have helped plan the Holy Week and Easter liturgies (adapting them as we emerge a bit from pandemic precautions). In Holy Week, they will be helping with preaching and liturgical functions for all ages. I love to work with our clergy and hear them preach!                       
Thank you to the Lay Worship Leaders and clergy who have and will lead Morning Prayer and Compline on Facebook Live at 7:30am and pm Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday and Holy Thursday. (There will be a Maundy Thursday in-person service and on Facebook Live at 7:00 pm so no Compline that evening). This faithful group of worship leaders has served God with prayer and their online presence. Thank you to Myrna Koonce, Cliff Ruprecht, your rector, Mary Lee and Rick Wile, Meg Williams, Hugh and Caroline Savage. Thank you, Macauley Lord and Andree Appel for filling in.
Gratitude goes to Bonny Labonte and the Altar Guild for reverently polishing our holy things for worship, making sure the candles are refilled and seeing to the modified way we prepare for Eucharist. Their work is multiplied many-fold in Holy Week. Thank you.
Thank you to Abigail Manny Patterson, Nancy Whitehouse, Ann Carroll and the Flower Committee who have planned for beautiful Easter flowers and for the Maundy Thursday “flowers in the garden” in the vestibule where we place the consecrated elements for the Good Friday liturgy the next day.
Thank you to choir members who have been rehearsing, leading us in song so beautifully. You inspire me! Thank you Deborah Goodwin who has recruited and scheduled the Greeters and Ushers. You all offer your smiling faces to those who enter St. Paul’s for worship. Thank you to our lectors and those who have volunteered to read the Passion of St. Luke on Palm Sunday and the Passion of St. John on Good Friday: Jan DeBlieu, Peter McCracken, David and Denise Hoyle; Leslie Brancart, Larry Kalajainen, Fred Hollmann, Carol Kalajainen.
And gratitude goes to YOU. You have a role to play in worship. That role is your presence. Your presence is a gift and offers holiness and wholeness to the St. Paul’s body of Christ. Thank you for this gift.
I will see you Sunday when we begin our Holy Week observances by the blessing of the palms.
With much gratitude,
Carolyn +