Alaina Harrison comes to us (remotely) from Columbus, Georgia. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising/Marketing Communications and Communications from Wesleyan College in Macon, GA and a Masters of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She is currently working on a Masters of Counseling in School Counseling from the University of Louisiana-Monroe with the goal of becoming a high school counselor. In addition, she is an ordained Deacon in the UMC and has a heart for all things social justice.

Alaina has been married to her husband, Greg, for ten years and they have three human kids - Owen (6.5), Addison (5), and Sawyer (3) - and one furry kid - Lucy (10), the lab/weimaraner mix - who they have had since Lucy was 7 weeks old! Alaina's favorite kinds of shows to watch are pretty much any procedural medical/crime/court dramas and her favorite books are murder mysteries (notice a trend here?). Her family loves going to parks and playgrounds, and they are Six Flags annual pass holders so you can catch them on rollercoasters every chance they get! Alaina has an Asbury email address.

Asbury Spring Clean-up Day is this Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. We have tasks appropriate to almost any age group and supply all the necessary equipment – you provide the labor. We’d love to know how many to plan snacks for, so please contact the office or e-mail facilitiesmgr@asburylive.org to sign up to help (but you can always just show up).

As most of you know, Terri Gamble our Office Administrator will be on leave as she receives chemo and radiation treatment for lung cancer. Terri will be gone at least 3 months. Ruth Hawley, our Facilities Manager, will provide the main coverage on Monday-Wednesdays. Karen Bauman and Margot Platt will help with coverage with Ruth is on vacation. We may miss a few things so if we do, just let Ruth or Pastor Kathy know. We also ask that you keep Terri and Dave in prayer as they go through this challenging time. Thank you.

For Easter we would like to fill the sanctuary with joyful color—and we need your help! We will be making an abstract mosaic with whatever we get from YOU...so we are looking for art that is purple, yellow, or green; without words; and anywhere from about 8.5x11 to 11x17 inches. Swirls? Splatters? Sure! Or it could be pastels, or tissue paper collage, or crayon. Use whatever medium you want. Each sheet should be all one color family. Feel free to make lots. We will be cutting them in half, or into triangles (we will figure that out once we have all the sheets) to make our design. It is just all about color. Have fun! Please return your completed wordless, monochromatic yellow, purple, or green art to the box outside the church office by Sunday, April 10.

Our District Superintendent, Samuel Hong, will preach, and there will be palm branches for everyone as we celebrate the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

Our online worship will offer us the opportunity to participate in foot washing and take holy communion. Supplies needed: basin filled with water for foot washing, a cloth, a towel and a bread item and beverage for communion.

Join us as we remember the last days of Jesus' earthly ministry through dramatic reading of the scripture and music.

Join us for our informal worship around the campfire as Easter morning dawns.

Our Easter Worship will be filled with joy as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with the Youth and Faith Choirs, special music, scripture readings, the Easter sermon "Run, Mary, Run," an interactive children's story and Easter hymns. Nursery care provided.

Immediately after worship, children will have the opportunity to make their easter egg bags, while the youth hide the eggs and then the hunt begins. Additional crafts and games will be available, and everyone is invited to an Easter lunch in Fellowship Hall. All are welcome at this time of fellowship.

All are invited to a day of spiritual renewal right at Asbury. Our theme is “Celtic Spirituality.” Rev. Heather Hammer is leading us in exploring this theme through music, prayer, and fun activities. The cost for the day will be $20.00, including breakfast snacks, lunch, and program. Scholarships are available and childcare is free for all. Please fill out the registration form and return it to the church office by April 10. Contact the church office with any questions.

The Church Council meeting will begin with a Charge Conference on Sunday, April 24 for the purposes of electing Lay Members to Annual conferences, members to the Board of Trustees and a member to Staff Parish Relations Committee. The Charge Conference will be on Zoom and will be the same link at the Church Council meeting. Church Council members comprise the Charge Conference.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens"--so begins Ecclesiastes 3. Asbury has been through a great many changes lately in our IT and communication systems. Many of these changes started in response to the pandemic. We know there have been some glitches and oops while we are in in the process of adapting to new procedures. We have also experienced some key changes in volunteer leadership due to families moving away from Livermore.

I have highlighted a few things that we will do in communications:

On the IT front, the things we will tackle Include:

All this change takes time and so we ask for your patience and good humor as we learn and adapt. Some of the improvements will happen soon, others will take a year or a year and half. We welcome feedback and ask you to understand that quick fixes are rare. We must think through and examine how each change impacts other components of the system. We will keep you apprised of our progress. I ask that you hold this group in prayer and be patient. And I extend my deep appreciation to all who are working on these projects. If you have further questions about what we are doing, please talk with Brad or me. As always, we are happy to discuss these or other matters.

Blessings,

Pastor Kathy