Christ is Risen!

Christ is risen, indeed! Dr. Roger Gench completed his adult education series on atonement theologies with Resurrection as Atonement this Easter Day. The children’s church school class sang Easter songs and enjoyed activities with Lincoln Logs (thank you for the donations!) exploring the scripture of Nehemiah working with friends to rebuild the city as an Easter message of God’s living love and making connections to our church mission to Habitat for Humanities offered by Ms. Deepthi Nalla. During worship, the choir, led by Jeff Riehl and accompanied by Kathy Toole, offered much beauty to the glory of God including closing with the Hallelujah Chorus! The children flowered the cross with Rev. Paul and Ms. Hannah during the children’s message, and Rev. Fred Holbrook sang from the pulpit to close the sermon. Beautiful offerings all around even as we continue to be reminded of the injustices persisting in society to this day.

The outdoor cross has stood from Martin Luther King, Jr. Day until Easter with the names of those Richmond lives lost to gun violence in 2023. Through the liturgical seasons of Lent, Holy Week, and the resurrection day, this visual representation of real and present gun violence in our city of Richmond has taken on new meaning with each theological remembrance, particularly during Holy Week as Jesus himself journeyed to the cross. With this installation and a reading of the names, we remember the lives of the precious children of God murdered by people with guns in 2023. We are reminded each week as our bell tolls on Monday mornings of the lives lost already in 2024. Resurrection of each precious life comes in the stories told of their joy of living, the work they did, the lives they touched. Through this installation we witness to these resurrection stories and the ways in which we as disciples continue to advocate for policy changes to reduce the probability of lives taken by guns in Richmond and around the world. As our mission states: “We seek to know Christ and to make Christ known in downtown Richmond and throughout the world.”

Inside the sanctuary, our Easter banners represent the hope of the resurrection. In the banners messages and symbols reiterate this hope: Christ is risen, indeed; there are songs of hope; roosters crow, butterflies fly, and the musical staff dances with notes! May the hope of God’s resurrected love find you on the journey. Happy Easter!