April 6

You may be wondering why Rev. Lynn Drake and I are holding a long King Snake. It's a real snake, by the way. The picture is from the 1990s and the three of us are in the sanctuary. Yes, Mr. Snake came to church. And no, Lynn and I are not preachers who do snake handling! 

I'll tell you the rest of the story on Sunday when Lynn is with us to help lead us in worship. She will not be bringing "Elvis" (the snake). And we are happy to announce that "Elvis has left the building!" 

Sunday is going to be extra special because after our service, we are having a Pot Luck Lunch at our Wesley Oak Campus to honor Lynn and to celebrate her ministry. Lynn served as the associate minister at Asbury in the 90's and then served as the senior minister at Wesley Oak for over 20 years. She retired this past December. We will not have BIG Coffee Hour at Asbury....we'll be having it at Wesley Oak. So bring your goodies to Wesley Oak after we have our service at Asbury. The festivities will begin at 1:00, so we'll have some time to greet one another after church, and then make our way over to Wesley Oak. Please come and join us. It will also give you a chance to be more familiar with the Wesley Oak campus. 

We will not have Holy Communion this Sunday since we had it on Maundy Thursday, and since we need to travel over to Wesley Oak for festivities at 1:00. We, however, will celebrate Communion next Sunday, April 14th.

The four musicals that we are using for the four Sundays in October for our God On Broadway Services have been selected. Two of the musicals we used many years ago for GOB, and two will be musicals we've never used before (So two revivals and two new ones). This Sunday, we will announce what one of the shows will be. We will continue announcing a show every Sunday in April. It's a great line-up. Ray and Billé are already excited about the God On Broadway Services! 

Please plan on attending the Nehemiah Action Event sponsored by J.U.S.T. (Justice Unites Savannah Together). This event is an important gathering with community leaders and officials about affordable housing and literacy. The more people we have there showing support the better. Plus, we want to be sure to have more of our members there than Congregation Mickve Israel...Not that I am competing against Rabbi Hass for the most members there (wink, wink). The event will be on Monday, April 15th at St. Paul CME Church, 1601 Barnard Street, at 7:00 pm. Please allow time for parking. If you have any questions, you can contact me or Rev. Claire Marich. 

We were blessed to have longtime Asburian, Beth Ballance, with us for a month. On Easter, I announced that it was her last Sunday before she traveled to her home in Washington state. It was so good to have Beth us during Lent, Holy Week, and Easter!

I did not realize that Sunday was also the last Sunday for Erin Ganter before she went back to her northern home in New York. Erin is a snow bird who sings in our choir and blesses us with her presence every year. I'm sorry that I did not mention it was her last Sunday before she went back home.

Last, but not least, I am sorry that I didn't realize Sunday was the last Sunday that longtime church member, Barry Parker, will be with us before moving to North Georgia. Barry grew up at Asbury - his grandparents and parents were members of the church. Barry was baptized at Asbury as a child in January of 1948 when he was 3 months old. Barry has helped many Asburians over the years and has also cleaned the church sanctuary for many years. We wish him well, and since he won't be too far away from us, we hope that he comes to visit us often. 

The April Newsletter is packed with great information about Asbury Memorial and Wesley Oak. We appreciate Chris Kincade and all of the work he puts into the newsletter. Please, please, please take the time to read it so you don't miss out on things that are happening or important church news!

The Sunday after Easter is often called, Low Sunday. We know the attendance won't be what is was on Easter...and there won't be beautiful Lilies everywhere. But for some reason, it always ends up being one of my favorite Sundays of the year. I'm not sure why. Maybe one reason is because it feels good to be with the people who stay after the party to help clean-up. It's especially going to be good to have Lynn with us. I'm really looking forward to the service.

My sermon title for this Sunday is, When Life Isn't Fair. If you know someone who might be helped by a message on this topic, invite them to church or encourage them to watch the service Online. 

Love and Blessings to all!
Billy