What I Did on My Thanksgiving Vacation - at least on Sunday Morning

The church's facade,
It sits on the side of a hill - like everything else in Asheville!

One of the first things I do when planning a vacation is decide where I’m going to go to church. It didn’t take me long to find St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Asheville, North Carolina. As far as I can tell, it’s the only ELCA congregation in the city. A quick look at their website told me it might be just thing I was looking for – and it was.

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of celebrating Christ the King/Reign of Christ Sunday at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Asheville, NC where David Anderson, Cantor, is doing a remarkable job of leading the church's song. The hymns were all perfect (and beautifully played) for the day.

I arrived early and was met by a smiling woman who introduced herself as Roseanne D. I have never received a warmer greeting when visiting a church. She guided me to where I could find a bulletin, showed me where the guest register was, and told me a little about the church. She also explained that it was their new Pastor's first Sunday so they were having a big Thanksgiving-style luncheon after church and warmly invited me to stay.

I sat down to absorb the nave and review the bulletin. The nave was well-lit and lovely. It was still pretty early, so I checked in on Facebook. Seconds later I received a text message from Pastor Daniel asking me to greet Pastor Matt Smith for him and Pastor Sarah. As I suspected, their paths had crossed at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary.

Jeffery Blersch’s setting of “Crown Him with Many Crowns” was the prelude and it set the tone for the rest of the service. The choir sang Carl Mueller’s “Come, Christians, Join to Sing.” Their singing was confident and sure – a fitting call to praise for the day.

One charming feature of the sanctuary was an old-fashioned hymn board. They aren’t commonly seen these days and I have to admit it made me smile.
We sang “Crown Him with Many Crowns (Diademata),” “At the Name of Jesus (King’s Weston),” “What Feast of Love (Greensleeves),” “Jesus, Remember Me (Taizé),” and “Jesus, Still Lead On (Seelenbräutigam).

The postlude brought back the Hymn of the Day in a vigorous setting of King’s Weston by Robert Powell.

Pastor Matt Smith's sermon hit home for me since part of the time he addressed a topic I had been thinking about a lot lately. He said, "The cost of grace is realizing God's grace is for OTHER sinners, including those who have wronged us AND those who have committed atrocities (against humankind). . . We have to let go of our hierarchies of sin."

I also loved the psalm. The assembly had a typical refrain while David Anderson chanted the stanzas from the piano.

The organ! It's a warm tracker built by Martin Ott in 1997. You can read the specs at this link:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/stmarkslutheran/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/07144434/Organ-Specs.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3DXstRxDz3zLzmBbhbwII38whjCMYjc8n0lTK0kS2IwDQzimtKlGrUIuk

Visiting Asheville? I highly recommend that you spend Sunday morning in this place of worship! Good preaching, worshipful music, and friendly people  - could you want anything more when you are on vacation?
Visit their website: https://www.stmarkslutheran.net/

After church there is scenery like this throughout the area. This photo was taken from the Biltmore Estate.