107 Concord Road, Wayland Massachusetts 01778

 Trinity icon by Andre Rublev, Moscow 15th Century

The Sunday after Pentecost is Trinity Sunday. The faith we share repeats patterns of three, in series like these, all of which help us describe and internalize our faith:

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier.

Old Testament, New Testament and Church.

Source, Presence and Essence.

The wisdom of the biblical faith is held in the logic of trinitarian shapes and formulations. We enter into a local community of the Christian Church by confessing a trinitarian creed.

It is so appropriate that on the Sunday of the Trinity we plan to do three special, celebratory things!

1. Witness the baptism of Sidney Richard Burke.

2. Welcome Joanne, Kensing, Amy, Inga, Jack and Marigold into the membership of the congregation.

3. Recognize and honor members and friends who trace their family origins to  Asia and the Pacific Islands. Members of our community have roots in China, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines. We will hear a word from each of them during the service and taste some of their families’ traditional foods during the coffee hour. A forum discussion on the lives of Asian and Pacific Island Americans will follow the coffee hour.

Thank you to Ailish and Marisa for bringing a presentation on Ascentria Care Alliance Unaccompanied Refugee Minor program to Peace. Marisa sent this link to a video that features Pastor Ross Goodman, from St. Paul Lutheran Church in Arlington, and his family. The Goodmans have been a foster family for many years.

…I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one…  John 17:23

The Gospel reading for Sunday is from the high priestly prayer of Jesus, recorded in John 17.

It’s Mother’s Day. We’ll pray for our Peace moms that they may be blessed and encouraged in their many life tasks. Moms are the backbone of our congregation.

The choir rehearses at 8:45 am

You will see quilts displayed at the front of the church. Milly Engberg and women from Lutheran Church of Framingham and Christ Lutheran in Natick get together every week to make quilts for Lutheran World Relief. Here’s a link that explains the program http://lwr.org/quilts  If you wish to contribute to the cost of shipping the quilts, Milly will collect money for that on Sunday.

Baby supplies and clothing for the mom-extra small-will be collected the next couple of Sundays. Marisa will set up a collection box in the narthex.

As we move out of the season of Lent and into the season of Pentecost we will focus on the work of the church in the world. The spirit of Easter draws us out of ourselves and into engagement with the world.

Sunday, May 15 Pentecost  Ailish Donovan, director of Ascentria’s program for unaccompanied refugee minors will be our guest. She will tell us about the work of her office and the need for foster homes. I hope you will all plan to attend. Maybe there will be a way for some of us to be involved as families, or for all of us together to support this work as a congregation. Thank you to Marisa, faith relations coordinator for Ascentria, for arranging this presentation.

Sunday, May 22 Trinity Sunday New members will be received into our congregation. Amy and Inga and their children Jack and Marigold; Kensing; and Joanne will be welcomed in a ceremony. In addition to this we will recognize our members who have Asian or Pacific Island roots. Thank you to Mary Ann for noting that May is Asian and Pacific Islander month. A forum discussion will take place during the education hour. The prayer group meets on this day.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  John 14:27

We continue our discussions of Sunday morning worship with a review of our local customs. We’ll talk about the roles of the assistants, the choir, the coffee servers, nursery attendants, etc. I’ll make some comments about scheduling. If you have ideas for improving our Sunday morning activities, let me or a member of the council know.

The time we spend together on Sunday morning will not make you rich, powerful, influential, cool, good-looking, young, fulfilled, popular or famous. Worship–our duty and our delight as Christians–is of no help to you in your quests to become rich, powerful, etc., etc. The activities of your church life work on your inward self, your true self, the free, forgiven, forever young self that belongs to God.

The peace that Jesus said he was leaving to his disciples is available to us through his word and, remarkably, in his body and blood. If you’re too cool for church, too busy, too important, or something else, never mind. The peace of Jesus is given to those who receive it over the course of their lives. The invitation to accept the wisdom of the word and the healing power of the sacrament stands, no matter what other missions we set for ourselves, and to which we give our selves and our time.

…the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to

springs of the water of life,

and God will wipe away every tear

from their eyes.  Revelation 7:17

Every week before we receive the bread and wine of communion we sing Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world. The Agnus Dei is a devotional song. Unlike the other songs in our worship which are our proclamations or testimonies (we stand up when we sing them) the Lamb of God is a bit of deep reflection, so we sit when we sing it.

When we sing the Lamb of God we are about to receive Jesus Christ not as teacher or healer but as self-sacrificial love. We don’t stand and cheer, or tell what we believe. We sit and ponder that love, and sing a quiet song of thanksgiving.

Thank you to everyone who filled up our basket for the Wayland Food Pantry. It was overflowing yesterday when I brought it to Parmenter. We’ll continue to collect canned soups in April.

Tomorrow Saturday, April 16, will be a property and grounds day. If burning is allowed we’ll burn brush from around the edges of the property. Other jobs are listed on a sheet in the narthex, or you can do whatever you think needs to be done.

Some of you have told me that you enjoyed the daily devotionals for Lent. I intend to order copies of similar devotional booklets for use throughout the year. Each day there is a bible passage, a reflection and a prayer. It’s an easy, simple way to keep your lives grounded in the word and in prayer. If you would like one, let me know.

 members of the Welsh national rugby team singing before the start of a game.

Sunday we continue our discussion of Sunday morning worship. We’ve been asking why we do it, who it’s for, what the parts of it are, and the logic of it. Sunday I want to spend time thinking about music in the context of worship.

We sing from start to finish. Music fills our ears even when we are not singing. Music carries our worship. We certainly could be Christians in the word and sacrament tradition without music, but that would require a big, big adjustment in the way we do things.

As we talk about music it’s another moment to thank our sacristan, Milly, Kathryn our music director, Bob, Ron, the members of the choir and the brass, our adult instrumentalists, and so many of our children who play their instruments and sing for us. Some memorable moments at Peace have been musical presentations by our kids.

By the way, if your child would like to play a prelude or postlude piece, speak to Kathryn. The piece your child plays should show the best they can do. Worship is not practice time. The piece you choose for your child to play need not be church music, but it should be appropriate for our worship. Use your adult judgment on this point. If you need help deciding, I’ll help you.

The choir rehearses at 8:45 am.

Faith formation for the children at 11 am.

Prayer group at 11 am. This is an open group. You are all invited. Carol Green does a great job of leading discussion of prayer, and of leading those who attend in prayer.

There will be a brief meeting of the council and those who will join the membership of the church during the 11 am faith formation hour.

April meeting of the council Monday at 7:30 pm

Bring in canned goods or any non-perishable food item for the Wayland Food Pantry.

On Easter Sunday we are at our best. In our hearts of faith we can imagine a world without strife. The fact that we know that things are not as they should be, in our hearts, in our families, in our communities, in our nation, in the world, in creation, means that we have the spirit of God breathing through us, defying death and darkness, guiding us to brighter days.

A word to thanks for all of you who attended the Good Friday services. The afternoon and evening services had elements that we can build on. I appreciated your attendance and willing participation. Thank you to Kirsten for her music.

The brass practices at 8:30 am tomorrow morning. The choir will rehearse after that. Thank you to Bob and Ron for leading our Easter music. We will all be thinking about Kathryn as she spends Easter with her parents and siblings in South Dakota.

Following the service stay for the brunch and the Easter egg hunt. Children should bring a basket for the hunt, and maybe shoes that don’t mind mud.

If you paid for an Easter flower you may take it home tomorrow. Thank you for giving the flowers, and thank you to Mary Ann, Carol and Barbara for arranging them and for decorating the church in other ways.