BIRTHDAYS

3/30 James Entner
4/3 Elisa Marchand
4/4 Michele Becker


SUNDAY READINGS

Acts 2:14a,22-32
Psalm 111
1 Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31

March 27, 2008

From the Rector's Desk

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The Lord is Risen indeed. Alleluia!

After a long lent and a steep climb during Holy Week, it was joy, celebration and not a little relief to be able to proclaim that truth on Easter Sunday morning. One of our young people told me during coffee hour, “We sure did say that a lot today.” I agreed. Thanks be to God.

One of the great joys that I have as pastor is to hear the many rich perspectives on our life together that come through community. God has blessed our church with many gifts and resources—people called to be salt and light, through Church of the Redeemer, into so many places here and around the world. I would actually like to turn my reflections this week over to one of those people who has recently connected with Redeemer. If you haven’t yet met Michelle and Bill Van Loon I hope you will find them during coffee hour in the near future and start to get to know them. Bill works in the corporate world, as well as serving with the Mundelein Police Department as a Chaplain. Michelle spends time in words, as well as other things, encouraging, challenging and provoking. She has written a book on the parables and maintains a blog, theparablelife. On Monday she posted an entry to her blog site that offered perspectives on Easter worship, as she knew it once, and as she is coming to know it now.


Last week, our household received a postcard from our local megachurch, advertising its Easter service schedule. There were multiple services, designed to invite people to consider the empty tomb. It occurred to me that the numerous identical services strung at regular intervals across Saturday night and Sunday AM were not too different from Catholic mass schedules around here, especially on big C & E (Christmas and Easter) weekends. Though non-denominational services are different from Catholic services in lots of dramatic ways, it is true that both kinds of churches offer lots of identical worship times in order to accommodate the crowds filling the chairs.

I recently read something recently about the number of times a seat is "turned" in bigger churches on "many-service" weekends like this. Who would ever imagine someone would analyze something like this?

The sheer volume of the services at this church gives me sympathy for everyone involved in producing these services, staffing nursery, commandeering volunteers to park cars, handing out programs, running the sound board and cleaning the toilets.

In the past, I'd been involved in programming services for a non-denominational church, and we put a lot of extra elbow grease into C & E services. We understood these services were meant to be attractive, invitational events, designed to woo people both to Jesus and back to our church in the weeks after Easter. The Monday after these C or E marathons ended, I always woke up with a great big emotional hangover. These events (yup, that's the right word) were exhausting and exhiliarating, all at once. The emotional arc that best describes the mounting of these Excellent Extravaganas was a lot like the life cycle of staging a theatrical production. It was a rush trying to find a way to creatively communicate the most creative event in all of history - the resurrection of God's only begotten Son. And it was a rush seeing people connect (a few, for the first time) with Him. Pulling a team together, dreaming, brainstorming, planning - nothing beats it.

So first, a prayer for any of you who are a bit dazed and exhausted today as a result of the C & E express. May you follow God to a place of quiet rest today. And tomorrow.

And an observation, from our current journey into Christian community in a smaller, liturgical church (Church of the Redeemer): There is something organic and lovely about being able to participate in, rather than spectate (or produce) corporate worship.

I awakened this morning without a hangover.

--Michelle
www.theparablelife.blogspot.com


May we all enter into the worship and hope of the Easter season, as we celebrate the reality of the Risen Lord. I look forward to seeing you Friday night at the Rwandan coffee outreach, and worshiping with you on Sunday.

Blessings. He is Risen!
Jay+


The Rev. Jay L. Greener, Rector
Church of the Redeemer
frjay@redeemernorthshore.org


Midweek Worship

One way to stay connected in the middle of the week is to join in one of the worship services on Wednesday, both of them conducted at the Evangelical Church in Highland Park.

The 12 noon service is a simple and beautiful communion (Eucharist) service. It usually lasts about 30 minutes and is followed by healing prayer, for those who are able to remain.

The 7 p.m. prayer service is also informal, with a time of worship/music followed by an open and spontaneous time of prayer as the Lord leads. Lately we have been concluding with the service of Compline, a simple yet rich liturgy for the close of the day drawn from the monastic tradition.

Liz Hupp, a regular participant in both services, shares the following:

I have been very thankful for the Wednesday Eucharist, especially over this season of Lent. This quote caught my attention because it resonates with our fellowship and prayer around the Table:

"The relationships in which we are truly seen and heard are holy relationships. They remind us of our value as human beings. They give us the strength to go on. Eventually they may even help us to transform our pain into wisdom."

Thank you to all who have shared the Eucharist there. We have helped, and continue to help, transform each other's pain into wisdom, and we join to celebrate each other's joys. To those who have never come to a Wednesday noon service--come if you can, and experience this wonderful sense of community.


A Taste of Rwanda - This Friday!

Friday, March 28 will be a unique opportunity to reach out to the community with a taste of Rwanda through coffee. The Church of the Redeemer is sponsoring free coffee from Rwanda to be available at Newport Coffee Shop in Bannockburn, from 7-9 p.m. (Waukegan and Half Day Road). Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Company’s Robert Crowe will be on hand to offer expert 'tastings' and to tell the story of reconciliation through Rwandan coffee. There will also be live music and other coffee related treats available. Invite some friends and drop in. "Drink a cup and do good."


Rwanda Benefit

Invitation for the 10th annual banquet to benefit Sonrise School in Rwanda will be arriving in mailboxes soon! Plan now to join this special celebration on April 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel in Northbrook. Again this year Bishop John Rucyahana will be our special guest. If you would like invitations in order to invite friends, please contact the church office at (847) 681-2872.


Redeemer Kids

Redeemer Kids Volunteers
Volunteer sign up sheets for April, May, and June will be available this Sunday at the children's ministry table for all volunteers that serve children 3 years old- 5th grade.


Redeemer Youth Ministries

We have a Parents Meeting this Sunday 10 minutes after coffee hour. Look forward to seeing you there!

April 18th - 20th - Jr. High retreat!!!
The detail are in and you should be getting that information in the mail very soon!
Purpose of the weekend: Spiritual Rejuvenation, growth, and a ton of fun.
Where: Chula Vista Resorts in the Wisconsin Dells.
What to bring:
- Friends
- Bible, journal, Pen,
- Pillow and sleeping bag.
- Normal clothes for 2 days
- Towel, Personal hygiene items
- Water Sports Equipment
- $15 for meals while traveling
- Swimsuit (One-piece only, please)
Cost: $125 - Turn in the Registration that you'll be receiving in the mail.
Return: Sunday by 5:00 pm.

Partial Scholarships Available!


Prayer Notes. . .

  • for the Mission and Vision and Outreach of Church of the Redeemer
  • for our Rector, Fr. Jay, and his family
  • for our staff and their families
  • for those God is calling us to reach
  • for Easter joy and for us to know the truth of the Resurrection
  • for the Taste of Rwanda coffee outreach
  • for those in need in body, mind and spirit