A "Thank You" from Harper Elementary for the gift of Christmas boxes for each student, staff and administrator.

Wondering how you will survive the weeks surrounding Thanksgiving and Christmas? Are you dreading these holidays, knowing that everything has changed and that happy memories from past years can’t be recreated? Our Surviving the Holidays seminar is especially for people who are grieving a loved one’s death. You’ll learn: How to deal with the many emotions you’ll face during the holidays; What to do about traditions and other coming changes; Helpful tips for surviving social events; How to discover hope for your future.

Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.

This pandemic is temporary. The church being closed, temporary. The way our world is, like it or not, temporary. You and I are also temporary. Unfortunately, our tendency is to live as if we will last for ever and we waste ourselves on attitudes and actions that are less than nourishing. Within the Christian tradition, Ash Wednesday is the day we collectively are shocked into facing that our days are limited. We mark ourselves with ashes acknowledging our mortality. From here we enter into 40 days of preparation for Easter. Drawing from an ancient word which originally meant spring, we call this season of preparation Lent. Put simply, on Ash Wednesday, we face our deaths and in Lent, we ask ourselves “how then should we live” in light of that reality.

Harper Elementary says "Thank You!" for the donation of playground equipment (playground balls, jump ropes, hula hoops, etc. for each classroom) and stock for the nurse's cabinet, a gift that was made possible by the generous donations of our church family.