On Monday, Avenue Church NYC welcomed the Rev. Robert Gamble, who does ministry in Ukraine validated by the Presbytery of Western North Carolina, for an extended visit throughout Holy Week.
At 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday the Office of Vital Congregations will continue its weekly Zoom calls on the Seven Marks of Vital Congregations with a discussion on “Spirit-inspired worship.”
Imagine the week before Easter, if you will, through the eyes of a 6-year-old. The sanctuary on Palm Sunday looks different, to say the least. Big green branches are being waved, shouts of “Hosanna!” are called out from the usually orderly people in the pews, and the pastor talks of a parade with a king entering the city, surrounded by adoring citizens.
“First-call pastors by definition are encountering firsts all the time,” says the Rev. Gregory Goodwiller, executive presbyter and stated clerk of the Presbytery of St. Andrew, one of the four original presbytery partners in the inaugural year of the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Small Church Residency Program. “The first time you have to preach after being up all night with a family, the first time you teach the book of Acts—all of those firsts are difficult the first time.”
In order to observe Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, Presbyterian News Service will not post stories on those two days, April 17 and 18.