Pastor's E-Letter

Pastor's E-Letter

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The Beauty of Holy Week

Growing up, Holy Week was not a big focus for my family. The faith tradition that I grew up in did not offer the typical Lenten services like Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, or Good Friday. We did not talk about the season of Lent or even use the term “Holy Week”. As far as I knew, Lent was something that only my Catholic friends talked about, and the only thing I knew about Good Friday is sometimes they canceled school because of it.

The first time I ever experienced one of the services was years later after I joined a United Methodist Church. I remember going to my first Good Friday service and being in awe of the raw emotion that I felt after seeing the altar stripped, the last words of Jesus spoken, and the words of the hymn “Were You There” ringing in the sanctuary. I also remember the service ending in darkness, with no “hope” to be offered. 

Was it pleasant? Not really. But it was necessary. More importantly, I remember experiencing Easter Sunday in a way I never had. What a celebration! What started as darkness and silence on Friday was now joy and light on Sunday morning. This is the beauty of Holy Week.  Experiencing the journey of Jesus’ last days on earth. Celebrating the sacrament of holy communion on Maundy Thursday, experiencing the darkness of Good Friday, and the joy and triumph that comes with Easter Sunday. I find that my own Easter experience isn’t complete without Holy Week!

Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday, which is this Sunday. This week in worship we are continuing our sermon series Hope: Ashes to Life as we journey into Jerusalem and encounter Jesus’ triumphal entry. I encourage all of you to consider making Holy Week a part of your own Easter experience.

See you on Sunday!
Mke Mayes

Posted by Mike Mayes with

Pastors E-Letter 1/22/21

Twelve days! In twelve days, my wife’s and my second daughter will be born. In twelve days, we will cease to be a family of three and instead become a family of four. In twelve days, my oldest daughter will go from being an only child and the only grandchild in our family to being “big sister” (how our two-year-old handles this transition…that will be a different story!). In twelve days, our sleep patterns will become drastically different, or possibly non-existent, as we welcome this little girl into our lives. But, luckily, we have been preparing for all of these changes!


Over the past few weeks my wife and I have been pulling down all of the bottles, diapers, clothes, bibs, etc. that we had stored away once our oldest had outgrown them. While this has been a monumental task trying to find and organize everything, it has also been a joy. Sarah and I have actually enjoyed going through all of the stuff that had been packed away. The clothes especially brought back some great memories. “Wow! Remember when she could fit into this?” or “Aw, this is so cute! Remember when she wore this at her first Christmas?”. As we went through the boxes and boxes of stuff, we were reminiscent of all the good times that we had as a little family. But this also comes with a twinge of sadness, knowing that our oldest will never be that small again and that she is growing up (and quickly!). We also were sad because we know that some of the things that we were able to do with our oldest won’t happen because of COVID-19. While we will still be able to make memories as a family of four, it will be a little different. But we still have those memories, the memories of both the good times and the challenging times.

This week in worship we are continuing our series “The Healing Practice of Celebration” as we talk about healing through memories. Our memories are a powerful thing and can be a tool for us to heal. Not just by remembering the beautiful or painful events in our lives, but also remembering that God loves us, and God is still present with us. We use memory as a healing tool to look back in our lives and realize that God is, and has always been, with us even in the difficult moments of our lives. So, join us this week in worship as we look back and we celebrate. Celebrate the good, honor the challenges, and look forward to how God will continue to be present in our lives.

Grace and peace,
Mike Mayes

PS – Twelve more days!

Posted by Mike Mayes with

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