Dear Friends,
There is a long history of joy and laughter in Christianity: laughter is one of the truest and best ways to celebrate the madness, the surprise and shock, the joy of an empty tomb! In medieval Bavarian churches it was expected that on Easter the preacher would tell jokes to get the congregation laughing—how else should we respond to resurrection!?!
And I think we get that at All Saints, don’t we?
We had a sober and introspective Lent, a moving Holy Week, and, then, JOY exploded on Easter!
Our church bloomed with all the Easter colors, filled with flowers and greenery; music soared as trumpets and trombone flared; holy water was flung; “Alleluias” were shouted and sung as bells rang, folks were baptized in a pool of water then applauded as they re-entered the sanctuary at the Easter Vigil. After all the services, we sparkled with champagne and fizzy water, cookies and conversation. In other words, Resurrection was proclaimed and celebrated!
I am so, so grateful to get to celebrate the Resurrection with you with so much laughter and joy, disco balls and goofiness. How lucky are we?
There are so many who made sure we had a glorious Holy Week and Easter, whether you told a story, welcomed folks at the door, made or brought some treats, sang in the choir, washed feet, served on the altar guild, or, or, or . . . . You get the idea. It takes a huge number of folks to pull off such an amazing week and a huge number of YOU to worship and pray and participate. So, well, WOW.
And don’t worry: Easter lasts 50 days, so there’s lots more time for Alleluia’s and holy water and Alleluias and joy!
See you in church!
Faithfully, Suzanne+