SPIRIT

• like to sing but the Wednesday Senior Choir rehearsal time does not work
• like to sing and you have kids at Spirit anyway and want to sing with them
• like to sing but cannot make the year-round commitment of the Senior Choir
• DON’T like to sing but enjoy working with/teaching young people about their faith in worship
• are looking for volunteer opportunities with flexible scheduling

A new twist on an existing program involves adult volunteers helping young choristers on their choir training program, helping them learn basic musical skills (in small groups of 2-3 kids). This needs some music background. But a significant part of their training means learning about the church, the creeds, the worship book, and for younger kids the basics of learning words for hymns, motets, psalms, etc., which would not require any musical background from the guiding adult. This is a good way to get to know our children in a productive and rewarding way.

New at Spirit this year is the offering of a mixed ages choir. At approximately three-week intervals, adult singers will join with the Boys and Girls Choir to sing music for mixed voices, that is, trebles (soprano kids) with altos, tenors, and basses. From 7:00 - 7:30 pm, adult altos, tenors and basses will rehearse music to be joined with Boys and Girls, and sometimes Alleluia Choirs. The goal is to sing together in worship about once every three or four weeks.

"Here in the Spirit”

In his 1^st Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul speaks of the variety of gifts given by the Spirit, the variety of gifts offered for the common good. The common good that is the ministry of God's people to the world. We do not have to look very far to see the work of God's Spirit right here at Incarnate Word. We are surrounded by it, permeated by it, as we live together as members of the Body of Christ, in this congregation, in this time and place.

We gather for worship, celebrate with music, hear the Word and celebrate the Sacraments. There we bring our own unique gifts in the choirs and the  playing of instruments, in serving as assisting ministers, in providing banners and decoration, in baking bread and preparing the elements.  We gain deeper understanding through study in Sunday school, vacation bible school, confirmation, first communion and new member classes, forum, bible study, and most recently in the Lenten home studies and retreat. We reach out and serve in many and various ways.  We care for our members who cannot be with us on a regular basis, we work with other congregations to provide homes through Habitat for Humanity.  We work to break the cycle of poverty by housing people in the Interfaith Hospitality Network. We help support work in the Dominican Republic. We host an after school program, and help the Sudanese. 

This lists just a few of the many and various things that are done.  And its purpose is not to draw attention to theses specific ministries, but to offer you a brief glimpse of the wonderful ways that God's Holy Spirit is at work among us.  Space simply prevents us from listing more. 

For that, give thanks to God.  God's Spirit calls each and every one of you to be a part of the various ministries here at Incarnate Word. God's Spirit also calls you to find other ways to serve. Together we are the Body of Christ in this time and place. Together we are called to minister to one another and to the world around us in the name of our Lord. As we enter into this Easter season, I encourage each and every one of you to find ways to become involved in the many and various ministries that we celebrate, to answer the call of the Spirit, and feel it flowing through your life.