Midweek Musings

Caldwell family:

Item # 1: If you dropped by the church campus about now, you might well get a whiff of something odd and sulfury-smelling. We just burned the Palm fronds from last year’s Palm Sunday service to create the ashes for tomorrow’s Ash Wednesday service. Fred Powers, who happened to be here, stood around a soup pot in the courtyard with Veronica, Leslie and me as we watched the symbols of Easter’s victory be reduced to the reminder of our human frailty. I hope many of you can come to be a part of the service and sit at table with our Elizabeth neighbors for lunch. We’re indebted to the team of lay volunteers who have pulled off the multi-faceted project of preparing to host the Elizabeth Communities of Faith for the series here at Caldwell – Lawrence David Sander, Ruth Curtis, Ellizabeth Hyland and Linda Horton, along with Ann Alford, Jimmy Todd, Chris Elslager and others who have spruced up our buildings and grounds.

Item # 2: Our denomination’s Moderator (top national officer) was the featured guest Monday at the Charlotte Presbytery meeting. Bruce Reyes-Chow, who pastors a church of about 200 in San Francisco, is known for his acuity with all things tech. He blogs, Tweets, Facebooks and more and, in the doing, he has brought a new level of accessibility and transparency to all things Presbyterian. He is a “young 40” and brings a distinct “lens” (which is how he describes his role) to our denomonation as we look ahead to our future. It may not show, but I even learned a few things about blogging. %-)

Item #3: On Sunday, I failed to report that Jackie Abernathy went home from the hospital last weekend. It’s great to know that she has bounced back to her former self in relatively short order.

Peace be with you, John