Thank You!

Holy Week was truly spectacular at First Christian Church Scottsdale and with so many services and so many things going on there are so many folks to thank!

A big word of thanks to the youth from our church and the CCF-er's from all over the Arizona Region (they had an overnight event here) who helped usher in Holy Week with the Palm Procession on Palm/Passion Sunday. Thanks to Jeannie Thompson for helping to organize it and make it happen! A special word of thanks to Daryl Marinkovich who did more than double duty as our liturgist that morning in helping me to read through the Passion Story from scripture.

I need to say a special word of thanks to our Worship Committee who worked unbelievably hard behind the scenes to make sure that everything came together. They rearranged and redecorated the sanctuary four times in eight days during Holy Week! Thank you to Dorothy and Carrie for leading the Worship Team and for Wanda, Jean, Charlie, Sandi, Daryl, and everyone else who pitched in!

Thank you to everyone who was involved in the Maundy Thursday worship service where we premiered Doug Durant's Holy Week Cantata "The Triumph of Sacrific". It was a remarkable evening and such a moving way to hear the stories of our faith through music and scripture and personal reflection. Our deepest thanks go out to the members of the Chancel Choir: Charlie, Al, Bob, Shirley, Sandi, me, Harriet, Lloyd, Don, Kay, Michelle, Liz, Cathy, Beth, Christy, and Nancy. Thanks to the wonderful chamber orchestra: Tavit Tashjian, Flora Mogerman, Karen Wevursky, Andrew Bukowinski, and Jerome Salazar. Thanks to our worship leaders who shared words of scripture and their own personal reflections, you all were amazingly moving: Doug, Daryl, Michelle, Al, and Sandi. Thank you to Judy Stall for leading us through communion and Bob Stall for running the sound board and visual presentation. Thank you to all 150 folks in attendance that night. And of course, thank you to Doug Durant for creating such a wonderful, original work and allowing us at First Christian Church to be a part of bringing your words and music to life.

Thank you to Sandi DeFeo for organizing the Prayer and Meditation time in the Sanctuary on Good Friday and for setting the scene so beautifully with your piano playing.

Thank to the huge work day crew that showed up on Saturday to help clean up the grounds and make all things beautiful for our Easter Sunday celebration.

Thank you to the ladies of DWM for putting on a delicious Easter Sunday Breakfast. It was such a terrific way to start Easter morning -- seeing so many of our brothers and sisters in the church sitting down in fellowship together for a scrumptious breakfast! Thanks to Jeannie and all of her helpers for leading the Easter Egg Hunt. Thank you to Jessie and Ariel for being with the kids in the Nursery, for Carolyanne for leading Worship and Wonder, and for Judy for leading the Children's Sermon. And of course, thank you to all 180 folks in attendance n Easter Sunday as we celebrated the gift of new life that we know through the Resurrected Christ!

I know there are more people to thank and I have surely (accidentally) left folks off of this list. Please know that I am grateful for all that you do and that the significance and power of Holy Week and the fullness of the celebration of Easter would not have been possible without you all. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!