Simon’s Says
My, what a glorious morning! Lots of outdoor activity already, and it is only 8:00. Welcome to meteorological summer!
This is different kind of week, as it is bookended by weddings. As I shared with you Sunday, I needed to hightail it out of Chester at the end of worship for an 11:30 wedding in Old Lyme. It was a delightful union of a later-in-life couple, and to top it off, it was officiated by Jeff Birch, a seminary student who has led worship at our church and coincidentally has his Ecclesiastical Council Monday evening in Essex. (The Ecclesiastical Council is a ministerial candidate’s “final exam” of sorts, leading to ordination approval.). Then tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon I have a good old-fashioned church wedding at our UCC. The most recent weddings I’ve performed have been at a winery, a wedding ‘venue,’ the family back porch and a restaurant, so it will be interesting to see if I still have the chops for a ‘traditional’ church wedding.
Sunday is Pentecost, the day when we celebrate the ‘birth’ of the church on the day the Holy Spirit descended among a crowd of pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish Holy Days. We will celebrate the Spirit’s blessing with the reception of five folks into church membership Sunday, representing the church’s rich history as well as its current vitality. It being Pentecost, be sure to wear red!
Links to Sunday’s bulletin and service are here: