Westmoreland News and Notes

It’s our annual “Jazz Sunday” at Westmoreland, the one we had to postpone due to February’s “Snowpacolypse!” The Rick Whitehead Trio will be joined by Sanelma Sutton, offering music by Carlos Santana, Duke Ellington, Bill Carter, Vince Guaraldi, and Deanna Witkowski. You might want to come a little early, as the music will start at 9:55! The service will also include a Mission Moment by our 6th-8th grade class, the sacrament of holy communion, and my sermon, based on Peter’s vision reported in Acts 11:1-18, “It’s All Good.”
The monthly Fellowship Breakfast, featuring pancakes, gets under way at 8:30 in the Mabry Room.
And after worship, we are holding an “Inquirers’ Class” at 11:30 in the Parlor, for those who are new to Westmoreland or who are interested in the possibility of church membership. We’ll have two joining dates this month – the 16th and 30th.
It should be a wonderful, warm spring weekend.
See you in Church!
Rich

There have been a few things going on in my life as of late, and so I decided to take a detour from my previously announced sermon topic and take a further look at St. Paul. We got started last week with his conversion experience, and I thought it would be interesting to do some follow-up and see where it took him. So this Sunday my sermon is titled, “Letters From Grandmother” and involves a closer examination of his First Letter to the Corinthians. The text – not from the lectionary – is 1 Corinthians 1:20-31. You might also read chapter 7, which we will explore in a creative and somewhat humorous fashion. Elsewhere in the service, Lena Seikaly will sing an introit, her own arrangement of a work based on a poem by Emily Dickinson; the choir will sing Michael Tippett’s arrangement of “Go Down, Moses,” and trombonist David Perkel of the United States Navy Band will join Alejandro to play for the Prelude, Offertory, and Postlude.

Friday night and Saturday the Confirmation Class will be holding a retreat at the Carpenter House, to consider their faith statements and look to the Confirmation Service itself, just four weeks away on Pentecost Sunday. Before the service at 9, as usual, Bob will lead Bible Study in the Parlor. And afterwards, there is a gathering of the new Young Parents Group in the Mabry Room.

And….to mark the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, there will be a huge Climate Rally on the National Mall, from 11 to 7, near the Smithsonian Metro Station. See www.earthday.org/climaterally for more information.

See you in Church!
Rich

We start early this Sunday – 7 a.m. with an Easter Sunrise Service, with music by GospelGrass, a brief sermon by Bob Maddox (“The Poetry of Easter,” based on Luke 24:13-35), and a simple communion service. It looks like the weather will permit us to hold the service in the Memorial Garden for the first time in several years. It’s especially beautiful right now. After the service, we’ll have a light breakfast in the Mabry Room. (Note that there will be no Fellowship Breakfast this month.)

Our Festival Service at 10 a.m. will be just that – festive! The tulips, hydrangeas, and lilies have arrived and await the expert arranging of our dedicated Flower Committee. Timpani are already placed in the chancel, and will be joined by trumpet and organ and choir, bursting forth with the strains of Bach, Benjamin Britten (“Rejoice in the Lamb”) and, of course, the “Hallelujah Chorus,” which the entire congregation will join in at the conclusion of the service. I’ll be preaching on Luke 24:1-12 (“Turning Toward the Morning”); Jessica, just back from the Youth Mission Trip, will lead the Children’s Time, and with Bob (who is holding Bible Study at 9 a.m.), we will celebrate Communion. The service concludes with a rousing “Te Deum” by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, adapted by Alejandro.

We’re expecting lots of visitors, so be sure and greet anyone you don’t know. It promises to be a magnificent morning, and the only thing that will make it better will be your presence!

See you in Church!

Rich