VIENNA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH | MAY 2022
THE MONTHLY MESSENGER
FROM HOPE'S HEART... How did this happen? I’m pretty sure I was just bringing my newborn home from the hospital a few weeks ago and now we’re counting by days until my daughter’s high school graduation. I’ve got to be honest “senioritis” came early and we’ve been slogging through these last few months like a turtle running through molasses. Blessedly, these days are also dotted with multitudes of celebrations and lots to be grateful for along the way.
We’ve all been waiting to see what is coming and even though we’ve had times of celebration (Lego Sunday, Baby Shark, Easter), there still might be a feeling of slogging through a bit more. Just remember – Pentecost is coming and when it does, everything begins to move quickly. We’re close, but we’re not quite there…yet!
Here at the church, Easter was nothing short of a SPECTACULAR celebration! At the Resurrection, we see a return to life and that is exactly what happened at VPC! The sanctuary was alive with joy, music and God’s people gathered around the Word. The Town Green was alive with fellowship, laughter, and thousands of eggs. It was a moment that we had waited for, prepared for, and got to celebrate together!
That doesn’t mean that ministry should be put on hold while we wait on milestone events to move faithfully forward. VPC will not be slowing down in the weeks to come. We’ll kick off the month with Youth Sunday, which gives us a glimpse into the ways that our church is building a new generation of believers. The Cathedral Brass returns for a spring concert. A new class for parents is being led by our NextGen Director. We have the 6K Walk for Water and the Children’s Musical in the same weekend! Plus, I’ll be kicking off our summer sermon series “We Believe: A Series on the Apostles’ Creed” on May 15th. And even then, there’s so much more that you’ll find inside this edition.
Now what? What will happen the day after my daughter graduates? What is the church supposed to do until Christmas Eve? In Scripture there was a brief period of waiting upon the arrival of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) after Jesus ascended into heaven. When that Spirit arrived to push the church out into the world it was time to GO! That’s what May and the early part of June might feel like around the church. The Transformation Teams are starting to wrap up their work and moving towards their final recommendations to the Session.
My daughter is already in the “what’s next?!” phase of her senior year. I get it. I get the joy, the questions, the anticipation, even a little bit of the anxiety. But, I don’t want her to be so focused on that stuff that she misses the good stuff happening right here and now because the day is quickly approaching when it will be “Go Time” and she’ll be so busy and so excited that she won’t have the time to go back and just rest in the joy that God has given her in this present moment. May it be the same for us as a church – ready to go, but taking a moment to just be here now– present before the Lord, together! In the Grip of Grace, Pastor Hope hope.lee@viennapres.org