From the Desk of Pr. Dan Forsgren
April 2016
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
Wow! What a week that was! Sitting at my desk and
reflecting on Holy Week, thinking about the worship, the
people, how busy everything was, but above all how good
it was. How good it was to have a crowd gather in the
atrium listening to the processional gospel before the congregation processed into the
church to hear the story of Christ’s Passion. How good it was to gather with the family of
Bert Seward, nephew of Jack Riggs, and honor Bert’s life, though his life was cut too
short. There is healing within a community, and I witnessed healing and support of one
another with Bert’s family and friends, it was an honor to be a part of the service.
It was good to gather with those members of the congregation who came to our Maundy
Thursday worship. Although our numbers were small, we heard the story of the night of
our Lord’s betrayal, we partook of Christ’s body and blood given and shed for YOU! We
even had about 9 brave souls (soles) who went to one of 2 stations to have their feet
washed, one person even asked to wash the feet of her foot washer! It was good to see
service of that kind, to witness the hands and feet of Christ, to live into the idea of God’s
Work, Our Hands. It was good to witness the altar being stripped, to see the starkness of
the empty worship space, which is something that moves me each year.
It was good to come back into that bare space the next day, to celebrate Good Friday. A
service of word and prayer, interspersed with music expertly done to reflect the tone of
the day. To watch those candles being extinguished after each sentence and prayer, to
eventually have only the soft glow of the aisle lights and the glow of the cross up front to
see that cross draped in black, to sit in darkness and silence, to leave with nary a word, to
reflect on Christ’s death. Yes it was certainly a good experience.
It was good the next morning to come in and help get the church ready for Easter
Morning. To watch people working together to decorate the church, to see people come
together and set things up to be a part of that energy was, well, it was good!
And it was so good to walk into the sanctuary on Easter Morning, the cross draped
beautifully as it was, as it is with a linked cloth, I look at that and I see eternity,
forgiveness, new life…I see God’s grace as we were able to share the joy (if I can take
part of the theme for the capital campaign) with so many people on Easter Morning. It
was just so good! And the youth serving the Easter breakfast? It was so good to see how
they all worked together! Amazing!
As I sit here reflecting on this last week, I know it’s not done. I feel that energy, that
feeling of “it is good” as I look towards Midge Thysell’s memorial service which we will
have here today in about 2 hours. I find myself thinking about the service, thinking about
Easter, thinking about the promise God has made us through Christ Jesus, and I can truly
say that it is good! It is good to celebrate life amidst death, to celebrate and remember
that death does not have the last word; that last word belongs to God and Jesus’ victory
over death! It is good!
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed Alleluia!
In Christ,
Pastor Dan