Sunday, August 9, 2009 From Paris
Dear Family and Friends,
There was excitement here at The American Church in Paris this morning as we welcomed Rev. Jesse Jackson as a guest preacher for our 11:00 a.m. service. The church was packed as we shared in a great worship experience that included an adult baptism as well as the special sermon. Rev. Jackson preached on the topic of Peace-Making. It was a powerful sermon in content and was delivered in a powerful way as well. He talked of the dream for peace, the difficulty of actually working for peace. To paraphrase: We so often give in to strategies of war and violence rather than peace-making, though war does not ever lead to really winning peace. He spoke of Jesus’ words regarding peace-makers in the Beatitudes. He drew applause as he repeated again and again “We must work for peace every day.” He gave examples of places where peace is so desperately needed now. The 20 minute sermon was challenging and certainly relevant.
Following the service he shook hands with many people, did an interview for a Paris TV station, then went to the senior pastor’s apartment for a light lunch. Nancy and I, along with other pastoral staff and a few others joined in for the lunch. He left in order to get some rest before departing tomorrow for Africa. He will be involved there in some peace negotiations. We are not clear about the details.
His schedule this morning was interesting. His plane landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport at 9:00 a.m. from his flight from the U.S. He was met by a news crew and interviewed for 15 minutes at the airport. Then he was driven as quickly as possible to The American Church, arriving at 10:55 a.m. He was ushered in to the senior pastor’s office, where we greeted him, had a picture taken, helped him into his robe, wired him with a cordless mike. The senior pastor gave him a worship bulletin pointed out the sermon, and asked if he would like to give the benediction. We entered the sanctuary at exactly 11:00 a.m. with the organ prelude in progress.
Even though we had a very full service, we recessed out of the sanctuary at just about 12:05 p.m. with a whole host of folks who hoped to be able to shake Rev. Jackson’s hand.
It was a great day!!!!! Our 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. services continued as scheduled, and I conducted a memorial service in the church library for about 35 people at 2:00 p.m. I was ready for a nap – and took it.
Dear Family and Friends,
There was excitement here at The American Church in Paris this morning as we welcomed Rev. Jesse Jackson as a guest preacher for our 11:00 a.m. service. The church was packed as we shared in a great worship experience that included an adult baptism as well as the special sermon. Rev. Jackson preached on the topic of Peace-Making. It was a powerful sermon in content and was delivered in a powerful way as well. He talked of the dream for peace, the difficulty of actually working for peace. To paraphrase: We so often give in to strategies of war and violence rather than peace-making, though war does not ever lead to really winning peace. He spoke of Jesus’ words regarding peace-makers in the Beatitudes. He drew applause as he repeated again and again “We must work for peace every day.” He gave examples of places where peace is so desperately needed now. The 20 minute sermon was challenging and certainly relevant.
Following the service he shook hands with many people, did an interview for a Paris TV station, then went to the senior pastor’s apartment for a light lunch. Nancy and I, along with other pastoral staff and a few others joined in for the lunch. He left in order to get some rest before departing tomorrow for Africa. He will be involved there in some peace negotiations. We are not clear about the details.
His schedule this morning was interesting. His plane landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport at 9:00 a.m. from his flight from the U.S. He was met by a news crew and interviewed for 15 minutes at the airport. Then he was driven as quickly as possible to The American Church, arriving at 10:55 a.m. He was ushered in to the senior pastor’s office, where we greeted him, had a picture taken, helped him into his robe, wired him with a cordless mike. The senior pastor gave him a worship bulletin pointed out the sermon, and asked if he would like to give the benediction. We entered the sanctuary at exactly 11:00 a.m. with the organ prelude in progress.
Even though we had a very full service, we recessed out of the sanctuary at just about 12:05 p.m. with a whole host of folks who hoped to be able to shake Rev. Jackson’s hand.
It was a great day!!!!! Our 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. services continued as scheduled, and I conducted a memorial service in the church library for about 35 people at 2:00 p.m. I was ready for a nap – and took it.
[Note on pictures - (1) I helped lead worship, so included a picture. (2) Jesse Jackson during his sermon (3) Picture before the service. On the right is our senior pastor, Scott Herr, the Rev. Jackson, then me, then our associate pastor, Laurie Wheeler] - photos by Nancy & Fred Gramann
Peace! Don and Nancy
Peace! Don and Nancy
You will both remember this day! How special.
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