Easter Sunday is now behind us and what a day it was! We were able to worship with 320 different devices at our online worship service and 160 people came to worship together in the parking lot for a second service. It was so beautiful to see you all gathered together in different ways! It was a glimpse of how our worshipping community will work to meet the varied spiritual and worship needs of those that call this place their home church.

When I was a little girl, my Uncle Dan taught me a little tune that had finger movements to go with it. He showed me how to entwine my fingers in just the right way. He would place his very large hands with long bony fingers over my little hands and we would sing together “Here is the Church, and here’s the steeple, Open the door and see all the people.”

Let me begin by thanking you for your support and participation in this worshipping community – especially over the last eight months. Your generosity, your kindness, and your support for one another during these complicated times has been inspiring. Early on in the pandemic, Pastor Kelli gave a sermon reminding us how difficult it was to find solid ground when fear and worry for tomorrow swirl around us. Thank you for helping each other find that solid ground in Christ together. We will weather these storms together.

In the past two weeks, I am assuming you have received the same number of emails from a variety of areas of your life. Each of these emails wants to inform us that – as organizations, businesses, clubs, etc – the senders are doing everything they can to prepare for the arrival of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Mount Calvary Lutheran Church’s staff – in communication with the church council – is also making its own plan for helping navigate our life together.

We all are confronted with the dilemma of how to respond in these challenging times. we take so much comfort in knowing that while we are physically apart, we are in the midst of this challenge together. God promises to hold us together and to be in our midst. We will continue to pray for one another, to worship simultaneously from our own homes, and to encourage each other as best we know how. We are aware of the fact that there are people in our community that have not received adequate communication with regards to our life as a congregation. We are working on ways to provide more opportunities to connect within our congregation and ask for your grace for any shortcomings.