October Surprises



October 19th was a memorable day at PCMK.  As someone commented after worship, "Boy, there were a lot of moving parts in that service today."  There certainly were.  Some were planned and some were a complete surprise!
The planned highlights were two excellent anthems from our choir.  The first was a choral version of "The Lord's Prayer" by Durufle.  The beauty of the music made the French lyrics seem more prayerful than when we say it in English.  The anthem following the sermon built on the theme of "A Glimpse of the Divine."  The music was a dramatic selection from Mendelssohn's Elijah--the story where Elijah has his 'glimpse of God' in the still small voice.
Another planned highlight was the introduction of our new logo and branding of PCMK.  The tri-loop logo has so many elements of meaning that it will be interesting and yet instantly recognizable.  Ron Pence, Herb Reinke, Steve Griffe, Vicki Fuqua, Lisa Flanagan and I worked on this project for many months.  We even worked with a local graphic artist and after many drafts took some proposals to session for input.  These are exciting days at PCMK and this logo will be part of our identity as we journey into the future God has for us.
At the end of the service we introduced two couples as new members of our church.  One couple has an infant and the other is expecting their first.  More baptism coming up!
Then there were the surprises.  The first surprise was seeing friends from my church in Erie, PA sitting in the sanctuary!  John and Diane were always a joy to see in church in Erie, so I had to stop and take a second look when I caught them out of the corner of my eye.  We went for lunch after worship and we caught up on things.  They even treated for lunch as a birthday gift!
And that is the final surprise--the kind words, the cake and the singing of "Happy Birthday" for Terry Flanagan and myself.  Our birthdays are a few days apart in October and it has been fun to celebrate each year together.  We make a great team and we appreciate the love and support of our PCMK family.  We even spent Sunday afternoon together picking pumpkins and going for a Hayride with little Terence.
Later this week I am off to Canada and California for my dad's 85th birthday and a friend's daughter's wedding.  I have made some plans for the trip, but there will probably be some surprises along the way.  And that's the way it should be.
See you in church,
Pastor Dale