Monday, May 20, 2013
The Rev. Donald R. Wassinger, Jr. To Serve As Interim Pastor-Click Here
Grace Presbyterian Church in Spring Hill announces the selection of an interim pastor. The Rev. Donald R. Wassinger, Jr. will be leading the worship service beginning Sunday, April 14. A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, Rev Wassinger has been serving Presbyterian churches in Pennsylvania since his ordination in 1983. He is a member of the Philadelphia and Tampa Bay Presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church USA.
According to Barbara Kingen, chair of the church’s interim pastor nominating committee, the church has been seeking an interim pastor since the announcement of the February retirement of long-term Senior Pastor, Rev. Chet Okopski. The process to call and install a permanent senior pastor will begin in the next few months and is expected to take as long as two years. Rev. Wassinger will serve the church during this interim period, facilitating the process to assure that the congregation effectively identifies their needs to continue to move forward.
During the three months between their pastor’s retirement and the arrival of the interim pastor, visiting pastors from the surrounding area have filled the pulpit on Sunday mornings. The daily activities and member care services of the church have been provided by lay leaders and volunteers in the church. Fifty members of Grace Church who had previously been ordained and installed as Elders or Deacons have volunteered to serve on the Congress of Elders and Deacons, which has taken on the assignment of visiting members in the hospital, in nursing homes, in hospice, and those who have been confined to home during periods of serious illness. The Congress, led by Clerk of Session, Joyce Flint, was formed in February and is expected to continue to serve the church in various ways as needs change.
Rev Wassinger comes to Grace Presbyterian Church with thirty years of experience in the clergy and specialized training in Interim Ministry. He has an undergraduate degree in music from Temple University and is married to Dawn Wassinger, a nurse anesthetist. They have twin 23-year-old daughters.
Grace Presbyterian Church, established in 1968, is located at 8375 Spring Hill Drive in Spring Hill, FL. The traditional service, Sundays at 10:45 AM, is enriched by the Chancel Choir, under the direction of Jackie Major. There is a blended service held Sundays at 8:30 AM, featuring a relaxed atmosphere, casual dress and contemporary music. Music selections by the choir and video recordings of sermons delivered at GPC are available on the church website.
GPC Mission – To Lead with Love…To Follow in Faith
To contact the church, call (352) 683-2082 or email [email protected] or visit the Website: www.gpcsh.org
FROM: GRACE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SPRING HILL, FL
CONTACT: JOYCE FLINT, CLERK OF SESSION, (727) 810-0706
SUBJECT: Holy Week at Grace and A Good Friday Remembrance
On Good Friday, the congregation of Grace Presbyterian Church escaped from their modern day routine to focus on life as it might have been for the early Christians. But this was not a typical service, just as these are not typical times for the congregation of Grace. Currently without pastoral leadership, members of the church have stepped up to plan and produce Holy Week events, as well as to take on other responsibilities that usually have been left in the capable hands of clergy.
This year, Holy Week began with an all music service on Palm Sunday, led by director of music, Jackie Major. The Good Friday service provided an emotional, spiritual experience for all participants and the week culminated with the celebration of Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Photos of Holy Week events and music selections from the choir program are available on the church website.
“A Good Friday Remembrance” was held Friday, March 29, beginning with a traditional Tenebrae Service at 5:00 PM in the church sanctuary. From the time they arrived, members and friends of Grace Church realized that this would be a special time. They were greeted by ushers in Biblical-era attire and entered the dimly lit sanctuary, which set a somber tone for the evening. A narrated video, produced by church member, Paul Griffin, invited the congregation on an imaginary tour from Nazareth to Jerusalem during the weeks leading to the day Jesus was crucified and ending with the realization He was on the cross. As the video tour played, the congregation witnessed the arrival of members dressed in Biblical costumes, who gradually filled the front pews of the sanctuary.
The event, co-chaired and produced by Ken Trufant and Joyce Flint, featured twelve speaking parts, four vocalists and two solo musicians. In addition, there were 43 supporting characters, serving as table hosts, servers, ushers and greeters, and included Matthew Moore, who portrayed Jesus on the Cross. Costume Mistress Irene Griffin and her committee created more than 50 costumes for the event. Hosts and servers were led by Jackie Boewe, Jan Johnson and Ralph Ambrose.
Rev. John Grove, a member of the church’s choir and a retired pastor, led the Tenebrae service and later played the role of Joseph of Arimethia. The Tenebrae featured reflections on the Seven Last Words of Christ, which were read by lay members of the church. A life-sized, rough, wooden cross was used in a stylized reenactment of the crucifixion of Jesus. Sound and lighting effects simulated the lightning storm believed to have occurred as Jesus suffered on the cross. Traditional hymns and spirituals were sung without accompaniment, continuing the mood of ancient times.
Rev. Grove, then portraying Joseph of Arimethia, continued the imagery by inviting attendees to join him for a simple meal and the opportunity to share personal memories and stories about the man whose death they had just witnessed, their friend, Jesus of Nazareth. Joseph then led them outside and into the church’s Fellowship Hall, which had been transformed by set-designer, Joseph Starkey and his crew, to depict a garden courtyard at the home of Joseph. The landscape included a hill with three empty crosses, clearly visible to all. Details of the space, down to the table décor, designed by Wanda Kincman, reminded participants that they were in a different place and time. The Early Christian meal, served by church members wearing typical attire of servants of the day, and produced by members of the church’s Board of Deacons, featured ingredients that would have been available in Jerusalem in 33A.D.
Joseph’s home became the setting for lay members of the congregation to portray a few of the Biblical characters who were touched by Jesus. They had each spent the Lenten season preparing for the evening by selecting characters, researching their background and developing their own monologue scripts, under the direction of church member Bonnie Kauffman. Characters included: a crippled man who was healed, portrayed by Tony Holbrook, Mary Magdeline, by Jan Johnson, the Woman at the Well, by Valerie Moore, a young woman whose father was healed, by Natalie Russ, a young boy who caught the fish used to feed the multitude, by Patrick Moore, the unclean woman healed by touching His hem, by Paula Morton, and the traveler who carried His cross, by Chuck Morton.
As participants arrived at the home of Joseph, they were welcomed with the melancholy tone of clarinet music by Matthew Trufant, the youngest member of the Praise Band featured at the church’s early morning Sunday contemporary worship service. Later in the evening, Nina Morales, church member and talented violinist, used her instrument to continue the mood. Vocalists Joyce Flint, Sandy Termin and Paul Griffin were featured throughout the evening, which ended, following communion with soprano Irene Griffin singing The Lord’s Prayer.
Participants departed, visibly impacted by the experience created by the efforts of over 50 members of Grace Church who have been planning the event since August.
Grace Presbyterian Church, established in 1968, is located at 8375 Spring Hill Drive in Spring Hill, FL. The traditional service, Sundays at 10:45 AM, is enriched by the Chancel Choir, under the direction of Jackie Major. There is a blended service held Sundays at 8:30 AM, featuring a relaxed atmosphere, casual dress and contemporary music. Music selections by the choir and video recordings of sermons delivered at GPC are available on the church website. The church is currently seeking a new pastor, following the recent retirement of long-term Senior Pastor, Rev. Chet Okopski.
GPC Mission – To Lead with Love…To Follow in Faith
To contact the church, call (352) 683-2082 or email Grace.Presbyterian@yahoo.com or visit the Website: www.gpcsh.org
Narration: "A Christian Journey"
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