June 8 was a celebration of Pentecost in worship and we celebrated with lots of joy! Lots of “Pentecost” hats and shirts in the congregation today!
Lynne Hoffman was our greeter. Declan Hartnett served as an acolyte and our liturgist. Congratulations to Declan on his Scripture reading-he had a lot of hard words to pronounce in his reading, and he did a great job-thank you Declan. Bela opened worship with his prelude “Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove.”
Our choir was terrific! Their anthem, “Pentecost” was with organ and percussion instruments along with Patty Fish on the organ and Ed Schwebel on drums. Several choir members also participated with the playing of finger cymbals and tambourines. It was a great experience. Thank you, Bela, and choir.
We also recognized our 2025 high school graduates-Aurora Beidle and Mackenzie Markham. We are very proud of these girls and wish them the very best in their future endeavors.
Carla Branyan sang a beautiful solo “In Times Like These” accompanied by Bela on the piano for our offertory-thank you Carla.
Pastor Dave, in his message “Do You Have Joy Down in Your Heart?” said “we live in a region where we can see verification of God’s creation…we have beautiful birds and the ocean…How often do you think about God?…God’s love should be a central focus for us.” Pastor Dave gave out streamers and little planes as we celebrated the end of our Pentecost worship service. We ended our service singing an old favorite “We Have Heard the Joyful Sound.”
About Pentecost
Pentecost signifies the coming of the Holy Spirit to the early followers of Jesus Christ and also recognizes the day that the church was established. Pentecost always occurs seven weeks after Easter Sunday, 50 days after Easter. In other words, it falls on the eighth Sunday counting Easter Day as the first.
The English word “Pentecost” is a translation of the Greek word pentekostos, which means “fifty.” Pentecost is an opportunity for us to honor the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives and celebrate the birth of the church.