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Today we woke up in New York City. Some of us woke up a little earlier and went on a private tour of the Good Morning America control room. We saw where the directors and assistant directors talked with the television staff while they were live in air! Once everyone was packed and grabbed whatever breakfast, whethwr it was from the Starbucks on the same street as the hotel or food from the Dunham's, we headed out for Pennsylvania. We had a total of about 4 hours of driving, or in other words, 4 hours of exhausted New York kids sleeping on the bus.

Today we woke up in New York City. Some of us woke up a little earlier and went on a private tour of the Good Morning America control room. We saw where the directors and assistant directors talked with the television staff while they were live in air! Once everyone was packed and grabbed whatever breakfast, whethwr it was from the Starbucks on the same street as the hotel or food from the Dunham's, we headed out for Pennsylvania. We had a total of about 4 hours of driving, or in other words, 4 hours of exhausted New York kids sleeping on the bus.

After two days in NYC we are in the road for the return leg of our trip. According to our pedometers we walked more than 24 miles in two days and that doesn't include all the miles we spent on the subway. Our time in NYC started with a ride into Manhattan on the Staten Island Ferry after which we toured the 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center.

In the morning we had the Easter service where we lit the candles and we're all participating in the service by reading scriptures individually. Afterwords we were able to have individualized omelets made by the boy scouts that were a part of the church for breakfast. Then we got on the bus and drove to get lunch. Pennsylvania's fast food does not taste the same as Chicago's. Then we got back on the bus to go to the nursing home and we were almost late. We had to cut some songs so that everyone could eat dinner on time but the performance still went well.

Day 1,
It was an early morning for us all, especially the seniors. We woke up at 3 or so to meet up at IHOP for pancakes.

After the bus was all loaded up, the journey started. We all slept for most of the ride and made it safe and sound to Ohio State University where Jill Loveless gave us a wonderful tour of her campus.

Testify to Love

2016 Chapel Choir Tour

Please Follow us on our daily blog as we give highlights of our adventures.  We will reveal interesting facts and highlights we learn each day.  Members of the Blog Crew this year are Kotomi Crabdree, Wes Davenport, Lily Dunn, and Sam Prazma.

Schedule for the 45th Annual Chapel Choir Tour

Pre-Tour Concert

March 20, 2016  -  Baker Memorial UMC - St. Charles, IL.

Tour Schedule

This week I am preaching on the Prodigal Son story, or if you are a positive person, it is really a story about the compassionate father and two sons. I uncovered some surprising insights while reading about life in a Palestinian village during the time of Christ that I will share in my sermon.

For insight into life and friendships old and new with music to lift your spirits to a new place, come and join us this Sunday as we bring a bit of Easter into the last week of February.

This Sunday, we'll hear together what happens when Jesus helps to lead worship at a local synagogue.  Not surprisingly, he shakes things up a bit with his different perspective on a standard religious idea - this time on what it really means to "remember the Sabbath."

How do you "remember the Sabbath" in your life? Do you find ways to pause in the midst of your week for an hour, for a day, for a change of pace that allows your spirit to be refreshed, or to make some space to listen for God?

This Sunday I will continue my sermon series on Dreams. I will reflect on how dreams can be born amid the dusty moments that sometimes cause us to sneeze. I am using the scripture Genesis 1 where God used Chaos, or dust, to create life and how we too can use a word, a gesture or action to bring life again to the dust, or create a new order amid chaos. This is where God began and sometimes it's where we find ourselves.

This is the time of year we often focus on fresh starts - perhaps in diet or exercise, perhaps in tackling new projects, or setting new goals. And it can also be a time of "fresh starts" in our spiritual lives.

We will start off 2016 with a "Covenant Renewal Service" on Sunday, January 3 at each of our worship services - 8:15, 9:30, and 11:00 a.m.

The Covenant Renewal Service has been used by Wesleyan-related churches for over 200 years. This traditional service helps us to reflect on the year past, recommit ourselves to God in the year ahead and return to a life of integrity, service and joy in the world. Our scripture for the day is Matthew 2:1-12, the account of the wise men's journey to find Jesus, and Pastor Jim's message will be "Interpretive Understanding."

We hope to see you Sunday - the first Sunday in 2016!

- Pastors Jim and Greta

Christmas Day is just a week away and while this realization brings delight to the younger people among us, the older people may be experiencing anxiety or even panic!

One of our local publications recently published an article titled "7 Tips to Help You Get Through Christmas" (which, truth be told, was actually a pretty helpful article). This article picked up the sense we have regarding the expectations we attach to Christmas so that it is requirement to be completed rather than a promise to be lived.