Junior Teen Video – “The Empty Tomb” – was a Highlight
Retelling of the story of Jesus’ life is part of our church’s purpose. This Easter at Copper Hill UMC, our junior teens worked hard to do exactly that in a twenty-first century way. They collaborated together under the direction and encouragement of JoAnne Jones to produce a short video dramatizing the story of the arrival of the women at the empty tomb on Easter morning. Most of the work was done by the teens, except for the making of costumes (Judy Holcomb with help from Karen Ahijevych and Carolyn D’Annolfo) and some consultation on photography (Christian Robison). Anna Griffin wrote the dialogue; Morgan Gabbidon composed and recorded the music track.. Malia Gabbidon filmed and edited the video, knitting together all the various prerecorded video sections, narration and dialogue clips and the music track. Madison Schantz was the main narrator assisted by Morgan Gabbidon. Ian Griffin played the part of the angel at the tomb. Morgan Gabbidon, Ella Robison, and Camryn Schantz portrayed the three women who visited the tomb of Jesus on Easter morning carrying spices to anoint his body.
Easter Choir, Easter eggs, and other things
Easter choir helped us to celebrate the resurrection this year with an inspiring anthem, “The Love of Christ.” Choir members were Lisa Griffin, Carolyn D’Annolfo, Judy Holcomb, Nancy Collins, Robert Loomis, Harrison Griffin and Kelvin Jones. JoAnne Jones directs the choir and accompanied them on the piano.
Pastor Kelvin completed his message series on the “I am” sayings of Jesus by focusing on Jesus’ words to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). He helped us to see that Jesus has the power to give life, not just in the way he did for Lazarus, but also in the way he raises us from spiritual death to new life in him (Eph. 2:4-6). As the Lord of Life, he also has power to resurrect our bodies in the future so that we can live forever with him (John 14:3; 2 Cor. 5:1). HIs resurrection from the empty tomb on Easter morning is the demonstration of this great power for all to believe.
We are thankful to Gillian Flynn for all the action shots of our Easter events.
The online ministry team was excited to see about sixteen participants on Zoom. This reminds us that those watching online are a very significant part of our congregation these days and we are happy to see those faces from week to week. In addition, others will be watching on Facebook Live and other venues.
After morning worship, there was a traditional Easter egg hunt arranged by Carol Griffin to help the children celebrate Easter. One is never sure who has more fun, the littlest ones, Jake and Luke Oliver, finding eggs or the adults and older teens watching. Adults enjoyed Coffee Hour for the second time in two weeks, a great way to bring back a time for conversation and getting acquainted that had been interrupted for over two years.