Singing a Sermon

It is rare that I yield the pulpit when not on vacation, but I am doing just that for the next two weeks.

Mark Miller will be with us this Sunday morning, in addition to a concert on Sunday evening. As creative and outstanding a songwriter as Mark is, he is an even better person—a Christian with something meaningful to say. For these reasons, Mark is in high demand across our United Methodist connection. He has been the featured artist and speaker at dozens of Annual Conferences over the years, including our own, and he performed at General Conference last year. Most UMC choirs have sung his music. Because of our modern worship leader Griffin Shoemaker’s friendship with Mark, we are blessed to have him as our special guest.

Six area UMC choirs have eagerly joined in the opportunity to sing with Mark in our Sanctuary on Sunday night—140 voices in all. When asked if he would also like to preach on March 23, Mark said, “Yes.” He will expound on his song I Dream of a Church. In this Lenten season of prayerful reflection and reformation, I believe this is an excellent topic for all of us. I hope you will make an extra effort to attend in person; you will be blessed.

A Special Note: Because we will have so many people with us, especially on Sunday night, I ask that we all park on the grass in the rows marked with flags so our guests can find spaces closer to the doors. Thank you for this hospitality—it will go well with the warm welcome at the doors and the pie and ice cream after the concert!

Afterward, if you can stay a few extra minutes, your help will be greatly appreciated in moving chairs and furniture so the installation crew can begin work on the new flooring first thing Monday morning. It takes a village … or, in this case, a church family!

Grace and peace,