THE MESSENGER
Vienna Presbyterian Church | March 2026
HolyWeekand EasteratVPC
We invite you, your family, and your friends to worship with us as we celebrate the promise of new life and the enduring love of God.
FromHope’sHeart
Dear Church,
I’m writing this as what, I believe, hope, and pray, is the very last gasp of winter. It felt exceptionally long this year thanks to the almost 4 full weeks of “snowcrete.” I’m reminded of Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, saying, “It is winter in Narnia and has been, for ever so long.” In Narnia, the characters are in the grip of the White Witch who holds them in the winter of despair that can only be broken by Aslan, the lion -- who alone holds the power to usher in spring. C.S. Lewis wrote the Narnia series to share the hope of Gospel with generations of young readers.
Thus, spring always reminds us of Easter and Easter holds all the hope of the Resurrection. What felt like eternal winter and despair, in the days following the crucifixion of Jesus, is transformed into life abundant through his resurrection from the dead.
If this winter has felt just a little too long, both literally and figuratively, now is a great time to reengage your faith and to examine what might be pushing up out of the darkness into new life for you. Our NextGen team has partnered with our Adult Discipleship team to provide a really special interactive take home activity for Holy Week. We will gather together for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. And, of course, we’ll all come together for Easter Sunday.
This year our Easter Sunday worship schedule is expanded because our church has been continuously growing and we have an even greater need for more opportunities for worship. Check out the schedule here, online, and on Sunday mornings leading up to Easter. Now is the time to be thinking about who you might invite to Easter services, because if the winter was long for you, it probably also was for your neighbor, your co-worker, your friend. Come and experience joy as we usher in a new season of hope together!
In the Grip of Grace,
Lead Pastor
HolyWeekandEasteratVPC
Holy Week is the last week of Lent, and the week leading up to Easter, when we observe various historically significant events that occurred during the last week of Jesus’ life and ministry. Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter, and includes Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Here at VPC we have opportunities for you to engage with Holy Week as we prepare for Easter. This is also a great time to invite someone new to church. We can’t wait to see you!
Holy Week Devotional – Available beginning March 22
Our upcoming Holy Week devotional, Who Do You Say I Am?, invites you to reflect on who Jesus is in your life today. Copies will be available for pickup at VPC or for download online beginning March 22. The devotional is designed for use during Holy Week, March 29–April 5.
Holy Week Boxes – Available beginning March 22
Beginning March 22, families are invited to pick up a Holy Week Box in the church lobby. Each box is designed to help families journey together through Holy Week at home. Inside, you’ll find cards with a short scripture passage to read as a family and simple instructions for interacting with the box. Each side of the box reveals a different scene from Holy Week, helping bring the story to life as you move from Palm Sunday to Easter morning. We hope this hands-on experience creates meaningful moments of reflection, conversation, and wonder for the whole family.
Palm Sunday Spring Choir Concert – Sunday, March 29, 4:00 pm, Sanctuary
Join us for an inspiring afternoon as the talented VPC Sanctuary Choir brings Mendelssohn’s powerful oratorio Elijah to life. This dramatic and moving work offers a memorable experience for music lovers of all ages.
Maundy Thursday Service – Thursday, April 2, 7:00 pm, Fellowship Hall
Maundy Thursday Communion will be a special service of music, prayer, communion, and Scripture around Jesus’ final “love command.” We will reflect on the events of Jesus’ last night before crucifixion.
Good Friday Service – Friday, April 3, 7:00 pm, Sanctuary
The Good Friday service will include Scripture, prayer, music, silence, and artwork reflecting on Jesus’ final hours during the Crucifixion.
Easter Sunday Services – April 5, 8:00 am, 9:30 am and 11:00 am, Sanctuary
We will have celebratory worship at 8:00 am (contemporary), 9:30 am (VPC Kids Easter), and 11:00 am (traditional) in the Sanctuary. Childcare will be available at all three services. Adult Sunday morning programming is cancelled. Everyone is welcome to all services.
Easter in Vienna: A Photo Scavenger Hunt for All Ages
This Easter, we’re taking the celebration beyond the Sanctuary! Following worship on April 5, all ages are invited to participate in a community-wide Easter Photo Scavenger Hunt! Gather your family, friends, neighbors, or small group and explore meaningful and fun photo prompts around town as we celebrate the risen Christ right here in Vienna. Submit your photos by 9am, Tuesday, April 7 and be entered to receive a prize! Details and prompts coming soon – but make plans now to celebrate Easter out in our community
Across a weekend centered on trust, students chose honesty, vulnerability, and a deeper faith in God.
This winter, our youth stepped away for retreat which was centered on one word: Trust. Students heard from peers and a leader who spoke honestly about trusting God in both steady seasons and times of uncertainty.
YouthSunday:TreasurethatLasts
Our youth planned and led Youth Sunday around Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Through months of prayer and preparation, they reflected on what it means to treasure Christ and shape their lives around Him.
The service was worshipful and thoughtful throughout. Scripture was read with confidence, announcements were creative, and student sermonettes were personal, honest, and rooted in Scripture. Through their stories, students invited the congregation to see what it looks like to place our hearts in God’s hands.
Youth Sunday is always a powerful reminder that youth are not just helping, but leading. They prayed, planned, and chose each element of the service with intention. We are grateful for the leaders who supported them and for a church family that worshiped alongside them as Christ was lifted up.
Using a discussion-based curriculum from Fuller Youth Institute, students explored what trust is, how it can be broken, and how it can be restored.
Conversations were thoughtful, real, and marked by courage and maturity.
A meaningful highlight was a collaborative art project completed across the weekend. In small groups, students created string-art letters spelling TRUST. The finished piece will hang in the youth worship space as a reminder of a weekend shaped by honesty, connection, and growing trust in God. We are grateful for your prayers and support that make weekends like this possible.
MidweekConnection:OneTable,AllGenerations
The church is strongest when generations gather at one table to grow together.
In January, twelve intergenerational tables gathered for a shared meal, Scripture, laughter, and prayer – bringing together ages from 10 months to 83 years. Warm hospitality and meaningful conversation filled the evening, planting seeds of connection and hope.
Midweek Connections continues on the third Wednesday of each month through May and reminds us that the church is strongest when generations grow together. Thank you to Pastor Adrian for leading our devotional time and to Sue Hamblen and her kitchen team for their faithful hospitality.
1000MEALS 100VOLUNTEERS
Thank you, VPC, for your incredible support of our Hypothermia Program! In our 13 year, your dedication to welcoming, feeding, clothing, playing games with, and offering Christ's love through your actions has not waned! Serving with a student and her mom at 5:00 am one morning, a guest remarked that the Scripture Proverbs 22:6 and 9 entered his mind before he was fully awake that morning.
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor."
Imagine his surprise when he was greeted in the food line by a 9th grader. Imagine the pride her mom felt when this unhoused stranger complimented her on having a beautiful daughter with a beautiful smile at that hour of the morning, and observed that mom was obviously doing a great job training up her daughter!
Many of our guests have a deep faith in the Gospel and significant Biblical literacy. Many of our guests are in the throes of mental illness, depression, physical disabilities and immense sorrow and anger. Overwhelmingly, however, a sense of gratitude from all is palpable as we learn their names, look into their eyes, and offer them food, clothing, or simply a smile and a Good Morning or Good Evening. We are grateful to the VPC community who continues to serve our unhoused brothers and sisters.
JoyinGroupRhythms
Another New Year brought another season of new discipleship groups and teaching series. There’s joy in this steady, familiar rhythm of small groups and classes—relationships deepening, God’s Word explored, and lives quietly transformed as members seek Christ together. Their example reminds us that faith flourishes in everyday spiritual practices and the shared life of community.
VPCSessionDayofRetreat
Our session – the congregation-elected elders and called pastors –gathered on February 28 to consider the wonderful opportunities ahead for our church. Inspired by Scripture and in prayer for wisdom and discernment, we set our hearts on God’s work and how all of us at VPC, together, might join Him in that work both here and outside the walls of our beautiful church.
We started with a field trip to Town Hall to hear a guest speaker –the Mayor of the Town of Vienna, Linda Colbert (VPC member). Linda shared remarkable insights not only about the town but also the larger surrounding region. We were heartened to hear the Mayor’s observations about VPC’s place and impact in our community -- yet also challenged to pray and think even more broadly about our work outside the church as we continue to live into our mission.
Our visit with the Mayor launched the day’s agenda back at VPC. Scripture (Revelation 2:1-7) focused us on “What is our first love at VPC?” Our answer, above all, is “Jesus.” This means – beyond good sermons and successful events – that more and more people would experience through our ministries an excitement for Jesus and see clearly how Jesus fills the realities of their lives.
We then considered whether our first love is in fact appropriately placed in our priorities. Do we honor our first love in all that we do? How do we assess our progress, and what are the future possibilities in aligning ministry with the VPC Mission Statement and associated values? Combining commitment to our “first love” with our current Mission Statement pointed to some areas of promising emphasis in the coming year or two – for example, Service & Volunteer Development; Missions and Outreach; and, in continuing to emphasize being welcoming, that we ensure we keep Christ at all entry points.
Our time that day closed with all of us praying – for our church, for our congregation, for each other, for our future, and for our neighborhoods, our communities, and our world.
45 years
Carol Leggett
Bert and Gerri Webb
Judy Rhodes
Melanie Cornelius
Kate Fisher
40 years
Dave and Sharon George
John and Donna Hall
Doug and Donna Reichert
Jane Sibley
Peter and Julia Smith
35 years
Karin Richardson
Herb Rinehart
30 years
Michelle Rahal
Marilyn Hill
25 years
Cindy Alls
John and Beverly Barr
Dana Burnette
Romey McPherson
Anne Stuntz
Carol Waters
Elaine Wright Congratulations! These Members Are Celebrating Milestone Anniversaries
