It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, O Most High!

Giving thanks to the Giver of all good gifts is one of the surest signs of both faith and faithfulness for the people of God. The thankful heart is a full heart. The thankful heart is a generous heart.

The thankful heart is a loving heart. As God’s people in this place—here at Christ Lutheran Church—our hearts are filled with thanksgiving for the blessing of Chuck Blanchard, our Director of Music Ministries. On Sunday, April 6, following the 11:00 service, we’ll be able to show our deep appreciation for Chuck’s ten years of ministry among us. I hope you will join us!

We give thanks to God for Chuck as organist. He was instrumental is helping us select and secure the organ we now have, put in place about five years ago with the aide of generous contributions from our congregation. This organ will last us for years to come, and has the versatility for adding pipes in the future. But week after week, Chuck makes our organ sing to the Glory of God.

We give thanks to God for Chuck as choir director. Chuck has assembled a fine group of basses, tenors, altos and sopranos. He often pulls from them a sound that makes us believe there are far more people in our choir loft than there actually are! So much so, in fact, that twice in the last two months, our senior choir has received applause after having sung the anthem!

We give thanks to God for Chuck for his work with soloists. Chuck has been a great encourager of people to sing solos, some for the very first time in their lives. Helping them to select the right music, working them during rehearsals, affirming their performance have all strengthened the musical capabilities of many.

We give thanks to God for Chuck and his use of musical instruments other than the organ. He’s been very supportive of using piano, oboe, flute, trumpet and tympani. Such additional instrumentation adds much to both choir and congregation, anthem and liturgy.

We give thanks to God for Chuck and his willingness to work with both pastor and interns, assisting us in learning to chant new liturgies. We give thanks to God for Chuck’s camaraderie with our staff and council. His sense of humor, his insights from the business world, his support of other staff members all go a long way toward making CLC a delightful place in which to do ministry.

This Sunday, April 6, we have an opportunity to say “thank you” to God for sending Chuck to us and for the multitude of gifts that are a part of who he his. And we have an opportunity to say “thank you” to Chuck himself.

Let us give thanks to the Lord, indeed!

Pastor Bill