I’ve been on the job here at Emmanuel for nearly two weeks now, and this Sunday I’ll step into the pulpit for the second time. I appreciated the chance to meet many of you last Sunday and look forward to meeting more this week. Thank you for wearing your name tags! It’s a great help, not only to me, but I suspect to some others as well.

In my brief time here, I’ve already had the chance to meet with the Session and with the Preschool Board, both important bodies guiding the mission and ministry of this congregation. I want to thank everyone for making me feel welcome. I look forward to partnering in ministry with both of these groups, as well as with all of you, during this transitional time.

With so much focus on transition, including my own inaugural sermon, it seems there’s been little emphasis on Lent, except for the Ash Wednesday service led by Adrienne Schlosser-Hall. This Sunday, I’ll share a message based on the lectionary passage for the fifth Sunday in this holy season. Then we’re already on to Palm Sunday and Holy Week, which will include a Maundy Thursday service at 7:00 p.m. on March 28th. Then, of course, we’ll celebrate the Resurrection on Sunday, the 31st.

I invite you to make these waning days of Lent a time of reflection and prayer, pondering the magnitude of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ, and considering your faithful response. If you haven’t done so in a while, this might be a good time to read through the Passion narrative in one of the Gospels, those stories leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion. Don’t hurry through just to get it done. Don’t even feel like you have to get all the way through, just to say you’ve done it. Take your time. Meditate on the words. See what speaks to you of God’s love, what reveals to you God’s grace. So may you be truly ready to celebrate the amazing news of Easter.

Pastor Janet

March 15, 2024