Hello Easter! Long time no see!

Well, this is what I get for taking so long to post again. Probably my whole fan base has fallen out from under me and now I'm just a Greek Cynic like Diogenes, but with access to the internet. Put that in your apple and smoke it, Diogenes! Now, there is much more important information I could be putting out than my imaginary discussions with old, dead men. But, if we want to speak about who's not dead this month, it's Jesus! Who'd have guessed. I'll tell you though, if you were there for the Easter services at St. Paul's then you definitely knew. There was no way to avoid knowing that this is one of (if not the) most important celebrations in the church calendar. And if you were in the 20s/30s group at St. Paul's, then you had an extra reminder that Jesus was risen every time you felt the sting of that whip on your back delivered by Miss Kate Little herself (don't worry Kate, that joke is probably far from over). I guess we all have our cross to bear, and this season mine consisted mostly of food organized beautifully on festive plates.

So what am I talking about? The Easter Vigil. Did you know that there is this secret service that we have at St. Paul's every year where we have this beautiful service before a glorious champagne party with various sweets and snacks? We even try to keep it secret for as long as we can by beginning the service with all the lights out. That being said, I think we make a pretty loud announcement that the party had started when everyone whipped out bells brought from home and shook those babies for so long that I wouldn't be surprised that someone had suffered a psychotic episode (in church we call that a "vision"). Speaking of babies, John and Hannah's youngest was catching Z's for the entire bell-ringing, so maybe we'll have to be a little louder next year.

Let me talk a little about the 20s/30s part in the Easter Vigil. It's not just that we do it the best or that no one else will do it. We really enjoy it. We all must be servants before we can serve. We gather Friday morning the day before for a 7am oatmeal breakfast and fasting until after the Good Friday service. If your name was, let's say, Peter, you may have had a turkey sandwich for lunch, but I think "it's the thought that counts" is either in the Bible or a Hallmark card, and either is infallible. Throughout the day on Friday we pop in and out of the church as our schedule's allow to prep food (with Kate at the helm), decorate the Walker Room (Jason), or set up champagne glasses (Jim). Saturday is much of the same. After the Holy Saturday service in the morning we are back to work, and pretty much we don't stop until the Easter Vigil service has started. And even then there is much running up and down the stairs during the service to make sure everything is just right for the rush of people coming down after the service. If I had to point out some useful suggestions for anyone who is involved in this in future years, just to name a few, I would say: 1) if you are going to set out all the champagne glasses make sure the tablecloths are laid out just right first or suffer the wrath of Jason, and 2) if you find yourself in the vicinity of the kitchen and your name isn't Ali then you had better have a good reason to be there or keep your mouth shut and keep walking or suffer the wrath of Kate (can I get an "Amen" Joe?).

You may be thinking that this does not sound like fun, but we must remember that it wouldn't be called service if we always enjoyed and loved doing it. And one of my favorite parts that makes it a "win-win" situation? You know that at the end of the tunnel is a great party with great food, more champagne then you need, and much praise and thanks. I will name a few of the foods we had, but I apologize if I missed something: shrimp skewers, cheese plates with crackers, baked brie, cream cheese wrapped in salami, fruit plates, sushi, carrot cake, almond cookies, brownies. Oh my gosh it was so good! Consider joining us next year.

Well, I'm going to take a break now that I see how long this has gotten, but in the next couple days I'll tell you about what the 20s/30s group did last weekend. A little hint, it starts with "re" and ends with "treat," and what a treat it was! Wow, way to end on a cheesy line, Peter.

A. Peter Snodgrass

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