Christ is Risen! Alleluia!
Easter is a time of celebration and indeed it should be. But it is also a reminder that the world’s problems did not all end in that garden in Jerusalem two-thousand years ago when Christ was raised from the dead.
Throughout Lent we have been journeying together through various wilderness experiences and exploring how we encounter God in the midst of the wilderness. And here on Easter, even as we start to cross the River Jordan into the Promised Land, we acknowledge that we are still very much surrounded by wilderness; in the words of the hymn: “still your children wander homeless; still the hungry cry for bread; still the captives long for freedom; still in grief we mourn our dead.”
But even though we cross the river, wilderness all around, we nevertheless have been given a real glimpse of the far shore. The Resurrection is the sign that the promises we have longed for will be fulfilled, even if they are not here in their fullness. But in the meantime, we will live into the Promised Land in spite of the wildernesses that still surround us.
In spite of the brokenness of the world, in spite of the fact that it’s not all “clear sailing” from here on out, we will live lives that testify to powerful presence of the Kingdom already present but not-yet come. In the midst of a world very often suffering the sufferings of Good Friday, we can loudly proclaim the Easter message: Christ is Risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Rev. Mark Schaefer, Pastor
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Special Thanks
Holy Week is enough of a slog without a global pandemic to work around and bringing it all together would not have been possible without a good deal of help.
First, thanks must also go to all of you, for being willing to try something new and out of our comfort zones to help us to continue in worship together during this challenging time. I have been gratified to see the numbers of people joining us in worship and have been pleased to see the community that has been maintained as a result.
Personal thanks go first to Chiara Griffith for her excellent work recording the music for each worship service. It’s one thing to have to record all of the music for Sunday services ahead of time; it’s another to have to record the music for three worship services—often containing extra music—ahead of time and then send them to us with enough time to put it into the worship materials for the day. Thank you, Chiara, for your beautiful playing and for persevering with the technology to record and send.
Thanks also go to Crystal Reed, who helped test every Zoom meeting connection, helped coordinate how the flow of the services would work, and who during worship takes responsibility for admitting guests into the Zoom meeting, monitoring the sound, and pinning the various video streams. Crystal has also been really helpful in promoting our online events via Facebook and in enlisting her daughter Samantha to help monitor the comments during the Facebook live-streaming. Thank you, Crystal, for all you do to help make our online worship work.
Finally, thanks go to my dear wife, Cara Schaefer, for everything that she does behind the scenes to make our worship happen. We are far beyond the time when pastors’ wives have nothing else to do but help their husbands with church stuff, and certainly beyond the time where such volunteer labor is expected rather than acknowledged and appreciated. Cara has help set up our living room with two laptops and an iPad so that we might simultaneously broadcast our services on Zoom and Facebook. We record the livestream on one device and she monitors the comments and shares the event on another, all while helping to place the placards with the prayers, hymns, and scripture lessons in front of the livestream camera so that those joining us without any worship materials can still participate fully. In addition, she's the one who edits the hymn videos, putting together Chiara’s music with the text of the hymns. She helped with the Tenebrae, extinguishing the candles throughout the reading. She spends a great deal of time helping to test the video framing of worship so that things will look just right and reminds me (far more than should be necessary) to stand on my mark, taped on the carpet. She makes the “altar” decorations on our mantlepiece look appropriate for worship and finds flowers in the backyard to adorn the cross. And she walked the dog before Good Friday and Easter services so that he might not whimper all the way through them the way he did during Maundy Thursday. Cara, I literally could not do this without you and am so grateful for all your help and time.
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Ecclesiastica
SUNDAY’S WORSHIP SERVICES
Thanks to everyone who participated in worship services Sunday. Thanks to Crystal Reed and Cara Schaefer for running the Zoom and Facebook livestreams during worship, and to Chiara Griffith for taking the time to record and provide our music. And also to our dog Beny for not misbehaving—especially after having sung a lament on Maundy Thursday.
Sermon: “The Promised Land,” Rev. Mark Schaefer
Sunday’s attendance: c. 75
Collection: $ TBD
NEXT SUNDAY SERVICES, APRIL 19, 2020, 10:00 a.m.—ONLINE
Second Sunday in Easter
Sermon: “Faith Questions: Am I Lost If I Have Doubt?” Rev. Mark Schaefer
Scripture Lessons: Acts 2:14a, 22–32; John 20:19–31
To Join Online:
- Watch the livestream on Facebook
- Using Zoom on a smartphone, computer, or other device
- Calling in on your telephone
- Dial +1 (301) 715-8592
- Enter meeting ID: 418 392 652#
- Enter password: 001873
- To give an offering or tithe
- For all information and resources, including bulletins
Want to help out in worship? Use our online sign-up to be a greeter, usher, liturgist, lector, or communion server.
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HOW TO MAKE A DONATION ONLINE
If you’re looking to make your contribution of tithes and offerings online, you can do so easily at the following links:
bit.ly/CUMCVanco
www.cheltenham.com/give
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Community Events & Information
POST-EASTER SERMON SERIES: QUESTIONS OF FAITH
April 19–May 24, 2020
Join us for an exploration of some of the more frequently encountered questions of faith that people have. Throughout the Easter season we'll explore questions like: Am I lost if I have doubt? Is the resurrection real? Why does God allow evil? Do non-Christians go to heaven? How is Jesus both human and divine? and Does forgiveness require me to be a victim?
MAKE MASKS FOR JOHNS HOPKINS
At Grace UMC in Baltimore, in addition to online worship experiences, the church is involved in mission during the pandemic, continuing to collect donations of food for their partners in the Govans Ecumenical Development Corp. They're also involved with sewing masks.
They share: "Johns Hopkins has a goal of making 50,000 masks. This online document has detailed steps for an approved design. More tips from Johns Hopkins on making the masks include: use 100% pre-washed woven cotton and non-shiny ribbon/fabric head ties; they MUST be made with patterned fabric; no blue/white prints. The wire for the nose strip will be added once Hopkins receives the masks. See a video on mask-making. This very user-friendly site also has information on obtaining materials, donating money to support this effort, and more. For this week, the drop off time at Grace UMC is Friday morning from 10 a.m. to noon. Please call 410-433-6650, Ext. 102, before arriving."
PASTOR’S OFFICE HOURS
As with all our other programming, Rev. Schaefer’s regular office hours are online. If you cannot make office hours but would like to talk with Rev. Schaefer, you can book a time to do so through a handy online tool called You Can Book Me. You can use this to book time to talk online via chat or by phone. You can also reach him by phone at (202) 486-6061. One final option is to use Google Chat: From your online gmail, initiate a hangout chat and invite him (cumcpastormark@gmail.com) to chat. Once you're connected, you can talk online through chat.
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