Post-Easter installation

We have based our Lent-Easter worship loosely on resources from Sanctified Art, "cultivating and letting go." After letting go during Lent, we are now cultivating! This installation is simply brown butcher paper taped and hung in our narthex. There is a Bible verse from Galatians (5.22-23), and a simple question: what will you cultivate this season? One week in and there are few leaves popping out.

Easter garden 2015

One of the highlights for us this Easter was an indoor garden. I'm sure plenty of folks have done it before. I got the idea nearly 25 years ago when I had the pleasure of working with a really avid gardener in Richmond. We did away with Easter lilies one year and use seasonal flowers and a fake stone to make a garden in our chancel area. We did a similar thing this year, but incorporated our flowered cross. We also re-used a fabricated tomb stone and added fabric to replicate (somewhat) an empty tomb. We placed a simple placard with a verse from Matthew 28. I got a new pair of smaller-scale stones made. Where we have had 45-50 lilies in recent years, we had nearly 120 flowers and green plants. The queue for taking pictures was a sight to behold! With a few tweaks, we'll be doing this again. This pic is from Saturday's installation, before individuals had added flowers to the cross on Easter day.

Easter Reflections

We enjoyed a tremendous Lenten and Easter observance this year. One of the new additions was a flowering cross for Easter Day. Gene Schimpf built the cross from verbal design plans from Mike Barker. We covered the cross with chicken wire. On Holy Saturday Leila Cox and Mike Barker laid a base of Palm Sunday fronds on the mesh. Folks from our worshiping congregation brought flowers from home on Easter and added them to the cross. This was the final product. Amazing.
This is a view of the overflow crowd a the second service. Between the two services we estimate about 600 folks worshiped with us. About 100 more than last year. Every once in a while we have to add some chairs outside the sanctuary doors. On this day we added nearly 75 extending straight back, but then had to add another 30 or so turned 90 degrees! We're already strategizing how to handle the crowd more effectively next year.

Music for worship 040410

FirstLight

Opening

That's why we praise him

Forever

Halle, halle, halleluja

Offertory

Mighty to save

Communion Liturgy

Responses by Leon Roberts

Distribution: Our God is here

Closing

Jesus Christ is risen today

11AM

Jesus Christ is risen today (EASTER HYMN)

Thine is the glory (JUDAS MACCABEUS)

Halle, halle, halleluja

Introit

Palestrina, The strife is o'ver

Benediction (choir, organ and brass)

Handel, Hallelujah (from Messiah)

Anthem (choir, organ & brass)

Russ Nagy, Now, O Death, where is thy sting

Communion

Responses by Elise Eslinger

Distribution, Hillert, This is the feast

Prelude

Improvisation on LAUDES DOMINI

Offertory

Doug Wagner, Rondo jubilate (bells & brass)

Postlude

Guilmant, Paraphrase (Fanfare and Fugue) on JUDAS MACCABEUS