valley vine
Valley Presbyterian Church May 2018 Volume sixty-three, Number four
Dear friends, There is a different view from the pew. My normal worship perspective is a privileged one – I get to see your faces as you sing and pray and bless one another. But on April 22 at 9AM, I was in the second pew from the front right side. Surrounded by small children and veteran saints, I had a different perspective and a different experience of our worship. Dick Fawley, on his birthday, gave his sweet tenor voice to express the great truths of Psalm 23. Beside him his granddaughter-in-law Lauren joined her soprano notes to his. For three generations, Dick has come to practices and services and created special moments through solos and choir anthems. Fifty years of faithful service and at 90 years of age, his faith once more resounded. I began to weep, as did most of the congregation, with the beauty and power of the moment.
A New Heart for the Valley is about creating more moments like these, where lives are touched and transformed, and where blessing spreads across the span of ages and stages. There is a good and great emotion that reinforces our faith, that cleanses and lifts up, bringing us closer to our Heavenly Father. Leading worship is a great privilege, but I need to spend more time in the pew! A New Heart for the Valley Campaign is about raising resources to create a single, physical heart for our campus. But it is also about raising our sights and seeing the great things God is leading us toward. Thank you for your presence here at VPC. Thank you for your service and generosity. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for supporting our wonderful staff. Thank you for believing that the best is yet to come. Your friend and pastor,
New part-time staff member and former Elder Susie Huseth gave one of the best children’s messages I have ever heard, capturing the promise and possibility of witness to awaken faith, using a baseball and a box. As she prayed and invited the children to church school, one younger shouted—“Yay! Yay! Sunday School!” Chris Woodard, in the week of his ordination exams, preached with passion and joy, expressing his gratitude to all of you for affirming and reinforcing his call. In just a few minutes, all of us felt the miracle of generations joining in praise and thanksgiving, in friendship and generosity. I’ve occasionally wept in a sermon, sometimes in a musical moment, never before in children’s sermon, and certainly not three times in one worship service!
6947 E. McDonald Drive, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253-5342 Phone: 480-991-6424 Fax: 480-991-6427 Email: church@vpc.church Website: vpc.church