The Voice of Joy! March 22

Gordon Cosby's ministry inspired Jan and Joy to start Spirit of Joy. For 60 years, Gordon lived and worked and preached as part of the community he and his wife Mary founded in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the nation's capitol.

Following Gordon's death Wednesday, Jan Linn has written on his blog of the lessons Gordon taught him personally. I've entered into conversation with Gordon's last sermon on mine. Jim Wallis of Sojourners wrote of being at Gordon's bedside the night before he died. And Church of the Saviour's inward/outward daily blog will continue to posts entries relevant to Gordon's life.A growing list of blogs all over the web is paying tribute to this remarkable pastor, teacher, and leader.

I hope you'll search out some of these meaningful tributes and keep in mind the impact Gordon has had here in Minnesota through you because you're part of Spirit of Joy.

Blessings and Peace,
David Cobb

Pastoral Care

We've been keeping Darlene in our prayers as she's gone through a battery of tests at Mayo. She's pleased to announce that it's not nearly as complicated or dangerous as she and her doctors feared, and although the hiatal hernia they discovered requires surgery, the procedure is relatively simple. She writes, "Thanks for all the prayers and concern and support. Know that all of you are very important to me and that knowing you are there means a lot."

Dear SOJ Community,

The death of my Mom, Lenora Hemmen, came as a great shock. We are only now beginning to get our heads around the fact that she is really gone. And yet she will always be with us. Thank you so very much for the tremendous care and support expressed to us over the past week. Your cards, words and presence brought us great comfort and hope. We will never forget your kindness and care.

Verlyn and Kay

Holy Week Begins Sunday

Come to worship on Palm Sunday and you'll sing Hosanna and wave palm branches. Come to study hour beforehand and you'll learn how to make a palm cross. We'll also have Bible study on Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and the events leading up to his arrest and execution.

There will be no Wednesday dinner or studies this week, because we'll have them on Thursday instead.

Maundy Thursday traditionally marks the night of Jesus' last supper with his disciples. We'll have a simple meal at 6:00 followed by a service of worship with scripture readiings and music to mark the final events of Jesus' life at 7:00.

The events of Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday are the context in which Easter morning occurs. We'll celebrate beginning with Breakfast on Easter Sunday morning at 9:30, followed by worship at 10:30.

I hope you'll be here for each of these special services as we celebrate the most important holy days of the year.

Easter Lilies

To order Easter lilies, sign up Sunday in the narthex. They will be $7 each.

Church Fire and Hymnals

First Christian Church in Owensboro, Kentucky, suffered a devastating fire following an early morning lightning strike this week. They lost virtually everything except their sign.

Owensboro FCC fire

Churches around the country have been giving to Week of Compassion (our emergency and relief ministry) to help financially, but on a more tangible note, churches are also being asked to send one or more Chalice Hymnals, so they will have access to their familiar songs and hymns by Easter. They are setting up a temporary worship space in a nearby Baptist church, but they would like the comfort (and the theology, I daresay) of our own Disciples prayer and songbook.

Even though we don't have copies of it here and it's now out of print, we're sending them one from Spirit of Joy.

Speaking of Hymnals...

On a related note, if you would like Spirit of Joy to acquire some hymnals so we can expand our music more easily (without going through so much copy paper and skirting copyright laws when we project lyrics), let me (David) know and we will get an order together.

The Chalice Hymnal is a culturally diverse, theologically sensitive, rich collection of traditional and new hymns. One of its distinctive features is that it has more communion songs than any other published hymnal.

Corrine recently told me that as a child she learned to read music just by watching the notes go up and down on the page while she sang in church. I find it indispensable to my devotional life and prayer.

Even though it's not going to be reprinted and the publisher is out of stock, there are copies still available through Cokesbury. If we're ever going to get them, we should act soon. I'll pass on more details if it looks like there's interest.

Church Cleaning

A special thank you to Colleen for volunteering to clean the upstairs of the church each week while Charlotte is home in South Africa. Missy just finished up downstairs today, and it looks great! There are still sign-ups available for downstairs. Check the list Sunday to see if one of them should have your name on it.

Muffins and Mimosas

All women of the church are invited to Colleen's home at 9:30 Saturday morning for Muffins and Mimosas. The address is 18824 Excalibur Trail, Farmington. Call 612-616-7948 if you have questions.

Cards Requested

As you know from being in worship, Elly Osland is only with us every other week. We're her first experience of a church community. Let her know you're glad she's with us when she can be. You can send her cards at 44345 165th Ave, Kilkenney MN 56052.

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