Choir & special guest

Choir rehearsal has been moved to Wednesdays at 7pm beginning May 4. We need more voices!

FLASH.......This Sunday we have a special guest, David Dumais from St.John,

St.Matthew, Emanuel Lutheran Church, [They call it JME], will sing the song I

referred to in last year's Doubting Thomas Sunday sermon, "I don't believe it.",

and Beverly sang it last year. Dave Dumais along with Richard Miller, retired

pastor of St.JME wrote the song. He will be at Christ our Emmanuel this Sunday

to sing it for us. It is a very dramatic rendition of the faith struggle of

Thomas, and by implication,of many of us, to believe. He will be accompanied by

Robert Giddings on guitar. He happens to be my son-in-law. Call your friends and

neighbors to join us this Sunday. The song moves me. -- Pr.Bob I

Synod Assembly Registration Now Open

We should be represented at the assembly with 1 male & 1 female voting members + pastor.

Anyone interested in this experience.?

Empowered to Serve

June 5 - 7, 2011

This year's assembly will again be held at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. The assembly will run from Sunday, June 5th to Tuesday, June 7th. We are offering online registration through the synod website. Paper registrations are available on the website here or by calling the Syracuse office at 315-446-2502.

Registrations postmarked or completed online by April 30th will receive a ten dollar early registration discount on the registration only (not meals). Time is almost up. Please see registration materials for how to handle this on the paper version. The online version will reflect this discount automatically. Your registration is not complete until payment has been received. Preregistration ends on Friday, May 27, 2011. After that registrations will only be taken at the assembly registration desk.

Once again we will be using the Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside for hotel accommodations. The room rate remains the same as last year at $98.00 per night. Deadline to book at hotel is May 1st. You must call to book the reservation and ask for the Synod Assembly rate. HOTEL RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE DIRECTLY THROUGH THE HOTEL AND ARE NOT INCLUDED WITH REGISTRATION.

Hotel Information:

Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside
120 East Main Street
Rochester, NY 14604
(585) 546-6400

Posted for Pastor Bob

Maundy Thursday 2011

Helen at the harp. Beautiful!

Maundy Thursday

Service at 7! Hope you can make it.

Silent volunteer of the week:

Carol Bergen - Thanks for all you do each week. The church wouldn't run as smoothly as it does without you.

Sunny Sunday - April 2011

• Liz handed out Pampered Chef catalogs. Order something or get others to buy from you. That's the idea. This is a fundraiser for the church.
• Ann! Oy! Those cranberry-almond scones - to beat the band (but not the newly formed choir - we need voices - join!) and a mound of fruit that made me wish I had my camera with me. Now last year's bathing suit will NEVER fit. (Am I allowed to say "bathing suit" here?)
• Richard's got Fair Trade coffee for sale. Decaf on the way. D E L I C I O U S . . .
• Money for Easter flowers - remember
• Patty, Thanks so much for the Treasurer work you have done. When I did it years ago, the church was less active and it was much easier. Remember Folks, I have only taken over Patty's term for 2011 - in 2012 we'll need new blood. Don't be shy! If you can balance your own checkbook, you can do it.
• Marcia, Thanks for taming Johann for all those months. How nice you can sit and enjoy the service a bit now. Where would we be without Helen? Wonderful!!! Thank you, H and a big thanks to Barb R for suggesting an organist be added to the budget. I can't think of a better way to spend our moolah.
• Do you think I forgot to thank someone again this week? Well, go make your own darn blog . . .
• When the directory gets together, I could put it on a password-protected blog if we want. Just a thought.
• Next Lenten service: 6pm food/7pm worship: St Peter's in Spencertown - April 6
• Now here's my take on Pastor Bob's sermon for what it's worth (referring to my interpretation not his sermon): "I Once was Blind, but Now I See"
• The gospel today is about regime change in the Middle East THEN. King Saul was out and was to be replaced by Jesse's shepherd son from Bethlehem. (Imagine the uprising. Even before CNN and texting.)
• It was a time of change - from darkness to light.
• One day, Jesus and his disciples came upon a blind man; the disciples showed littlecompassion for him. They were more concerned with whose fault it was that the gentleman could not see. Did his parents sin? Did he?
• JC: "You guys are missing the point. He was born blind so a lesson could be revealed. At least a blind man acknowledges his limitation and gladly accepts guidance from others, even a dog. The worst blindness belongs to those who think they see the better than others."
• Samuel Butler said this too a century ago.
• And a hundred years before that, John Newton chimed in when he wrote:
• Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound - that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.
• God's people are not necessarily wise and all-knowing (nor are they the greatest singers necessarily-I speak of myself here) but they acknowledge God's intervention in moments of defeat, failure and sorrow.
• Thank you, Pastor Bob for a wonderful sermon and for all you and Bev have done - and continue to do.
• I wonder why I have so much energy this Sunday afternoon. Could it be the Lutheran coffee?