From Palm Sunday through Holy Week and Easter the church was alive with your devotion and presence. Thank you to all of you for giving generously of yourselves during these important Christian calendar days.

Here are just some of the ways that members of our church were involved and present. I write your names as a pastoral exercise for myself, as my own way of giving thanks for you.

First, and foremost, many of you attended. Presence at worship means everything. The word doesn’t reach your ears and your heart unless you drive your car into the parking lot and come in at the appointed time. Your presence supports others. We are social animals (most of the time) and we often need just to be with other members of our pack, outside our immediate family.

Kathryn Welter directed the choir and led our singing from the organ and piano benches. It was our turn to host our friends from Church of the Holy Spirit, so Kathryn had an extra task with that on Maundy Thursday. The members of the choir offered their special music-Sharon Jones, Nancy Meshon, Milly Engberg, Barbara Olsen, Larry Gogolin, Bob Holmgren, Dan Olsen, Ron Riggert, Nate Johnson and Frank Maxant. The brass group-Ron Riggert, Nate Johnson, Dan Olsen and Bob Holmgren-rehearsed on Saturday then added their joyful sound to our service.

Mary Ann Borkowski and Mazie Stitt arranged for the flowers here at church and at Colonial Gardens in Concord. Many of you signed up to give flowers. Mary Ann and Barbara decorated the church on Saturday. Worship coordinator Milly Engberg watched over the preparations and saw that everything ran smoothly during the services.

Volunteers came forward to take leadership roles on Maunday Thursday and Good Friday:  Milly Engberg, Kirsten Johnson and Dan Olsen.

Marisa Lutz worked with the high school and middle school youth to prepare for the Easter egg hunt. Leah Scheidemantel. Leah Jonczyk, Gabrielle Ho, Nate Johnson and Pat Canning helped out.

Kim Canning, our Sunday school coordinator, worked with our children, allowing them to take part in the services. She spoke the word of God to them and helped them bring the Alleluia back into our worship.

Children take central roles in our community life. On the Sunday of the Passion, Nicole Canning, Carly Scheidemantel, Leah Jonzcyk, Carter Vogt, Sophia Midgley and Leah Scheidemantel presented the central story of our faith to us. They did a fine job.

On Palm Sunday and again, in an even higher key, on Easter Sunday, our faith community joined Christians around the world in a celebration of the wonderful mystery of life, for which we give thanks to God in Jesus Christ our Lord. The weather supported us and so many of you brought good cheer and friendly faces to our worship and post-worship activities. Send me your pictures and I’ll post some of them on our website and on our blog. You took part in the potluck brunch and stayed around to clean-up. Alan and Deb Vogt stayed until the last dish was washed and the last crumb vacuumed. Thanks to both of them.

The wrap-up meetings from our two Family Promise weeks are happening in these days. The crates have been packed up and stored in the Midgley’s basement. Remember to find a way to volunteer during our next Family Promise week in the fall.

A special thank you to Loren Korte and Dick Stitt for working through a review of the church financial records in these past weeks. They did a thorough job and made a well-organized written report to the council. Loren and Dick are now retired. In their working lives they were chief executives in the fields of publishing and insurance, respectively. As I watched them work on our books I knew that we had some capable volunteers at the task.

Deb Vogt and Milly Engberg will meet this week to continue planning for our 50th anniversary year 2014.

Work day Saturday, April 6. We plan to burn the brush that has been piled up through the last few years around the parking lot. Come if you would like to help.