CELEBRATING THE DAY OF PENTECOST!

Luke's account of the day of Pentecost is nothing less than spectacular.  According to the Day of Pentecost story in Acts 2:1-13, God gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower witnesses to the resurrection.  A power--the unseen power of God--moved among the disciples and gripped them.  This amazing story of God equipping the church is an important day in the life of the church and needs to be celebrated as such.

On May 27 we will celebrate this event in the life of the Church.  In an attempt to enter into the spirit of the day, we will be doing two special things to bring the Pentecost event to life within our worship.

First, I want to encourage everyone to wear red!  The liturgical color for Pentecost is red, which symbolizes the fire of the Holy Spirit.  Whether it is a dress, jacket, scarf, tie or something else red, I want to encourage you to wear it to church that day.  If you simply do not have anything red, maybe a red ribbon could be worn.  Our goal is to fill the sanctuary with a visible image of the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Second, we will celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit through celebrating the reception of the Confirmation Class into our membership.  During the season of Easter, over a dozen young people have been meeting on Sunday afternoons in order to study various topics related to what it means to be a Christian.  It is truly an exciting time in the life of the church to see these young men and women coming forward to make their public profession of faith and, for some of them, to be baptized. 

This should be an exciting service in the life of our church.  I hope you plan on attending, and I want to encourage you to invite your friends and neighbors as we celebrate the fulfillment of Jesus' promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

                                                  Joseph Washburn, Pastor