This past weekend in worship we were surrounded by water! We had 6 fountains throughout the church, in the lobby, narthex and sanctuary with the sound of running water. How cool was that!?! Many thanks to all who brought in their fountains! (You can come by anytime this week, or next time you’re at church and pick them up.) Along with those reminders of our Baptism, we have the Baptismal Font (in it's new prominent place in the narthex, reminding us that it is through Baptism that we enter the church), the "Fountain/Water Glass" in our new main entrance door windows and water symbols in at least two of our faceted glass windows (the Baptism window up front and the northern facing window up top). And on top of that we got to celebrate a Baptism at the 11am service, and our organist Ray Adams played a beautiful impromptu, improvisation of “Wade in the Water” during Communion at all of our services. Awesome.
What great reminders of our Baptism, where God calls and claims us as His people, His children! That's what Dr. Paul Hill reminded us of in his sermon; how at creation God said, "This is my cosmos!", at Jesus’ Baptism God said, "This is my Son!", as the early church sprouted up, God said, "This is my people!", and in our Baptism, God says, "You are my child!"
There's a Word we can take with us into the week, a Word that helps us see our place in the cosmos, and a Word that can both see us through life's challenges and shape who we are and what we do.
Speaking of taking us into the week...and beyond. This week we are hosting a Youth Ministry Certification School. 11 people from Wisconsin, South Dakota, Minnesota, South Carolina and Florida will be here for the week: working, playing, learning about how better to do Youth Ministry in their congregations. Along with that they bring a great spirit to Our Savior. It’s good to have them here. Many thanks to our host families who are providing a place for these folks to sleep and too all who are making them feel welcome.
On Wednesday you can meet some of these folks at our Wednesday night supper. Supper is at 6pm. Menu includes pork, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, something else and dessert.
On Thursday evening this week, our Eagle Scout candidate, Michael Reed, begins his Eagle Scout project, which will be putting pavers in the walkway in our Memorial Garden. If you’d like to volunteer to help with the project or donate toward it, call Michael at 516-312-8734.
Looking ahead, our annual congregational meeting will be held Sunday January 29 at 9:45am in the main sanctuary. Please plan on joining us as we give an update on our new building, our financing of it, what lies ahead this summer re: the building project, and also a report from our "Search Team" on our new director of music who will begin around June 1!
With our 50th Anniversary behind us and our building project complete, we stand at the beginning of another new chapter in the life and ministry of Our Savior. With all of the good music and talent surfacing, even before our new director of music arrives later this year, and with the continued growth of our educational ministry, with such quality adult classes such as "Duty and Delight" and “Treasures: Discovering God’s Riches” having just begun, we have so much to be thankful for and much to look forward to as we begin our next 50 years!
For more details and up to date information on the life and ministry of Our Savior, see our website at: www.oursaviorelca.com.
See you in church! Pastor A. C. "Jack" Diehl III +
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