An Easter Pastoral Letter
from The Reverend Nancy L. Wilson
Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches

Gospel of Mark 6:1-8

Christ Is Risen, Indeed! Hallelujah!
"The Resurrection of Jesus happened before the sun rose. Miracles and hope happen before we can see or imagine them. God is at work, way ahead of us, while it is still dark and long before we can see the evidence."

Happy Easter to all of our MCC congregations, pastors, lay leaders, family members and friends!

The MCC Board of Elders, Board of Administration and staff have just returned home from a series of wonderful, productive, break-through meetings in Abilene, Texas. We welcomed new staff and dedicated our MCC General Conference and Business Offices - one of 17 offices and outposts worldwide! We enjoyed the marvelous hospitality of our Executive Director and of our host church, Exodus MCC in Abilene, during a spectacular "Community Outing!"

Now Easter is at hand; it has come early this year. And maybe that's not a bad thing...

The Gospels tell us that the women got to the garden just as the dawn was breaking. What they found was the stone rolled away and an empty tomb. Easter had started without them!

One Easter morning, many years ago, I realized that this meant that the Resurrection of Jesus happened before the sun rose. Miracles and hope happen before we can see or imagine them. God is at work, way ahead of us, while it is still dark and long before we can see the evidence.

Forty years ago, Easter of 1968 was a very difficult time in our world. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated on Good Friday and the war in Vietnam dragged on. No one could imagine a church that would welcome gay people. It was a dark time, a time of restlessness. But the dawning of change was at hand.

You see, God was ahead of us. God was already at work in the lives of people who would become courageous spiritual leaders.

Today, in 2008, there are still situations that are dire and bleak. Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East drag on. Our LGBT brothers and sisters in most of the world still cannot imagine a church, a spiritual center, that would welcome them. Young people are speaking up about global warming and poverty. AIDS continues to devastate individuals, families and nations. Religion seems to divide rather than unite.

But Easter is coming!

And before it is even dawn, the Christ of history, the Lord of the Dance, is up and out, alive and among us, calling us to be a people of miracles and of hope!

Christ is risen, indeed. Hallelujah!

Grace and Peace,

+Nancy

The Reverend Nancy L. Wilson
Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches