A touchstone is something used as a guide. Touchstones are actual things – finely grained stones used in ancient cultures to test the purity of metals, like gold. Rub a piece of gold against a touchstone, it leaves a mark. When that mark’s color is compared to previously-established marks, you can judge the metal’s purity and value. Matthew Arnold was the first to use the word in a literary sense – modern poems, he said, held up to classic passages from antiquity, could be compared for their relative quality. You get the idea. A touchstone is a tool used to guide discernment, to help gauge the value of something of indeterminate value.

What are the touchstones in a life of faith? Are there things that we use, against which we rub our own sometimes beautiful, sometimes fickle faith? What touchstones does the church provide to guide us in discerning our life’s path?

During Easter season, NDPC will explore touchstones for life. Worship is at 8:30am and 11am.

April 27th – Bible: The role of the Bible in daily life; Rev. Lewicki, preaching

May 4th – Sacrament: Ordinary objects made holy; Melissa Tidwell, intern, preaching; Holy Communion

May 11th – Lord & Savior: Interpreting ancient creeds; Rev. Lewicki, preaching

May 18th – Mystery: Loving what we cannot know; Rev. Lewicki, preaching

May 25th – Contemplation: Finding quiet; Rev. Lewicki, preaching

June 1st – Activism: The power for change; Rev. Lewicki, preaching; Holy Communion

June 8th – Beloved Community: Others are essential; Pentecost; Rev. Lewicki, preaching; Holy Communion

We hope you will join us for Holy Week at NDPC. Everyone is welcome, even (and especially) if you haven’t been to any church recently. What will you find at NDPC? Each worship focuses on hearing the story of Jesus so that all of us can encounter it in a fresh way. Worship is participatory – we walk, we eat, we sing, we wash feet. You will also find an extraordinarily warm welcome.

Holy Week Worship Schedule

• Palm Sunday (4/13) – 8:30am and 11am; worship begins with a joyful Procession of Palms, which begins outside the church and moves into the Sanctuary
• Palm Sunday Concert (4/13) - Mozart’s Requiem – 5pm; a free concert in the Sanctuary for the whole community; this powerful and well-known musical work sets the tone for the week to come
• Maundy Thursday (4/18) – 7pm; worship begins with a meal and the celebration of Holy Communion together in the Fellowship Hall, after which we respond to Jesus’ invitation to wash one another’s feet; the worship concludes with a reading of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion in a darkened Sanctuary
• Good Friday Stations of the Cross Procession (4/19) – 11am; meet at NDPC for an hour-long walk up North Decatur Road; we will stop along the way to sing and pray and tell the story of Jesus’ own journey to his death as we are reminded of the death-dealing forces that continue to plague our community
• Good Friday Worship (4/19) – Noon; at North Decatur United Methodist Church; this reflective lunchtime worship service will tell the story of Jesus’ crucifixion in story and song
• Easter Sunday (4/20) – 8:30am and 11am; a glorious morning of joyful worship; all ages are welcome at both services, as we worship with music and story and Holy Communion for all
• 1st Sunday of Easter (4/27) – 8:30am and 11am; Easter is a way of life, not just one day! Join us again and experience how the NDPC community lives in faith each day

“He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” So says a man who was born blind who was given the power to see after washing with mud made from Jesus’ spit. It’s a story the explores the question of what it means to bear illness and weakness in our bodies. It forces us to ask how much of the pain of any illness is physiological and how much is social. Welcome to the third Sunday in Lent.

Collect and bring quarters this Sunday to support the Mercy Church laundry ministry!

Early Worship begins at 8:30. Early Worship is nearly identical to the 11am service, with the same liturgy and sermon. We share communion every Sunday at early worship. There is no childcare during early worship, but families and children are welcome to attend.

Sunday Worship begins at 11am. Rev. Lewicki will preach both services.

Christian education for all ages begins at 9:30am. Three adult education classes are offered this week: a) Exploring the Way, a Lenten small group; b) Stories of our Faith, a Bible study on core stories from Scripture, especially relevant for parents who want to share faith with their children and c) Love, Loss, and Living, a class taught by a chaplain and a musician about how grief can be a pathway to a deeper life. Children’s and youth classes begin at the same time. The nursery is open for our littlest ones from 9:15am – 12:30pm.

After worship, everyone (NDPC members & guests) is invited to stay for lunch and the live & silent auction that supports our youth as they journey to Guatemala to continue our long friendship with sisters and brothers there.

See you on Sunday! First-time visitors are always welcome.