October 17, 2024

Throughout this week of music-making, the words of Pastor Valarie’s sermon have been ringing in my ears: “If you want to know Methodist theology, study the hymns of Charles Wesley.” This Sunday we hear several of his incredible texts, and other profound texts that weren’t penned by Wesley yet help to emphasize their timeless message. The Holy Spirit has always used great hymn texts to trengthen and guide me throughout my life and singing them with God’s people has often been my
most powerful and restorative prayer.

On this Laity Sunday, Cassie Evans from our Chancel Choir will present a Sermon on the Wesleyan Quadrilateral: Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience which form the foundation for our beliefs and practice. Cassie has prayerfully selected almost every text we will be singing, each of them speaking to her experience and the four pillars of the quadrilateral.

The Choir’s music at Communion is the 5 th setting of Amazing Grace in our library – Mack Wilberg’s setting of the familiar “New Britain” text written for The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Wilberg invokes the sound of bagpipes in his introduction, and I have grouped together sounds on our organ at Grace that sound very convincingly like bagpipes!

This Laity Sunday will be filled with many powerful and poignant moments in prayer, praising, and preaching – all of it spirit-led through members of our Family of Faith. I look forward to sharing it all with you as we near the climax of our Sustaining Grace Campaign.

With a Thankful Heart,
Kenton