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What an INCREDIBLE weekend we had at PWC with the Mother’s Day Brunch and Service on Sunday!
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A Reflection on the
Mother’s Day Brunch
At our Mother’s Day Brunch, something sacred happened.
Together, we created a living picture of love: flower by flower, name by name, story by story.
Our Honor Wall became more than a display. It became a garden of remembrance… a quiet testimony to the women who shaped mothers, grandmothers, sisters, mentors, daughters, and dear friends...those now in heaven and those still walking beside us today. Women who stepped into the gaps when we needed them most. Women who showed up. Who stayed. Who loved. Not perfectly… but powerfully.
As each flower was placed and each name was written, we were reminded of something beautiful: Love leaves a legacy. And that legacy does not end with the one who gave it. It lives on — in us. It lives on in the way we encourage. In the way we serve. In the way we listen, forgive, nurture, and love deeply. In the quiet ways we choose to stand in the gap for someone else.
As we reflect on the women who helped shape our lives, may we also pause and ask: Who has God placed in my path to love well? Where is He inviting me to step in, lift up, encourage, or simply be present? How can I carry love forward — out loud — in a world that desperately needs it? May the seeds planted by those who loved us continue to bloom through the way we live.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the women who stood in the gaps of our lives...for their strength, sacrifice, wisdom, tenderness, and love.
Thank You for those whose memory still shapes us, and for those who continue to walk beside us today.
Help us honor their legacy not only with remembrance, but by becoming people who love generously, serve faithfully, and show up wholeheartedly.
Open our eyes to those around us who need encouragement, comfort, guidance, or simply someone willing to care.
Show us where You are calling us to stand in the gap.
May our lives become a reflection of Your love —a living and walking testimony. steady, compassionate, courageous, and lived out loud.
Amen.
With grateful hearts, we also want to say thank you.
What made this day so beautiful was not simply the flowers on the wall, the lovely tables, or the thoughtful details — it was the love poured into every moment by so many faithful hands and willing hearts.
To our incredible Women of Faith Core Team — thank you for your vision, servant hearts, and countless hours behind the scenes. Your love created a space where women felt welcomed, celebrated, and deeply loved.
To each of our table decorators — thank you for the beauty, creativity, and care you poured into every table. Each one reflected a unique expression of love and helped create an atmosphere of warmth, joy, and wonder.
To Father Dale, Pastor Mark, and Father Mike — thank you for faithfully shepherding this community with wisdom, humility, and love. Your leadership helps create a place where hearts can belong, heal, grow, and encounter Jesus.
To Mary and John — thank you for beautifully setting the tone and closing the day in worship, lifting our hearts toward heaven and reminding us of the goodness of God.
To our remarkable speaker, Mary Jo West — thank you for sharing your story, your wisdom, and your heart so generously. Your presence blessed us deeply.
To every woman who attended — thank you for showing up, for honoring the women who shaped your life, for placing flowers on the wall, for sharing smiles, tears, hugs, and heartfelt moments that made the day so meaningful.
To the wonderful men who so graciously served throughout the day! Thank you for your kindness, hospitality, and servant hearts. Your joyful spirit, warm presence, and willingness to lovingly serve helped make every woman feel welcomed, honored, and deeply cared for. You were a beautiful part of what made this day so special.
The entire day was anointed.
God’s presence was woven into every detail — in every conversation, every embrace, every flower placed, every note of worship, and every quiet moment of reflection. What was created was more than an event. It was sacred space. It was community. It was love… lived out loud. For that, we give all glory to God.
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Our Women of Faith Core team along with Mary McMahon, women’s worship leader and our fabulous speaker, Mary Jo West.
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This Sunday, May 10
9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
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Please contact Helen Dipree for more information about the Children’s Ministry @ [email protected]
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Our Weekly Online Reflections
Check out a new reflection from Monday,
May 4 by Jody Serey.
Here is the link:
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Pastoral Counseling is available at PWC
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Fr. Mike Lessard is available for pastoral counseling on Wednesdays & Thursdays at PWC. Please call the church office to make an appointment at 480-649-0300.
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Pentecost Worship Nights
Wednesdays, March 13 & 20,
7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
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Mark your calendar for this sacred event
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The Diaconate Ordination of:
Sunday, May 24
@ the 10:00 a.m.
Service Pentecost Sunday
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Please keep these soon to be deacons in your prayers as they begin their ministry as a deacon to the PWC community.
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Important Children's Ministry Information
We will not meet on Pentecost
Sunday, May 24.
Our final meeting for the school year is on
Sunday, May 31.
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There will be no meetings in June, July, and August. We will start back up in early September.
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Blood Drive @PWC
Monday, June 22,
9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
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To schedule your appointment or for more information, please call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or visit redcrossblood.org and use Sponsor Code: PraiseandWorship
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The church office will be closed on
Monday, May 25 for Memorial Day.
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Mark Your Calendar:
“Memorial Day Luncheon Honoring Veterans:” Wednesday, May 27, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Details are forthcoming.
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Blood Pressure Checks take place at PWC on the first and third Sundays of the month
from 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
Our medical team is providing the blood pressure checks.
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At PWC
your tithing & generosity allow us to minister to so many who come through our doors with their spiritual, emotional, and physical needs.
Thank you for your tithing and
commitment to PWC!
From pastoral counseling to grief support, to bible study and adult education, to providing food through Matthew’s Crossing for families who are economically struggling, to Marriage Enrichment and our funeral ministry -- your consistent giving makes a difference, a big change in people’s lives!
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Here are the different ways you can tithe to PWC:
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• Mail in your gift to: Praise and Worship Center, 2551 N. Arizona Avenue, Chandler, AZ 85225.
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• Sign up for monthly giving with a credit card or voided check. Just call the office at 480-649-0300 or stop by the office.
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Do you want to be inspired again by Fr. Dale or Pastor Mark? You can listen to Fr. Dale or Pastor Mark’s sermons on our podcast page. Here is the link:
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Are you homebound? If so, Deacon John Null can bring you communion. The only exception is if you have or are recovering from COVID. The best way to get in touch with Deacon John is by contacting the church office, at 480-649-0300, and leaving a message.
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A Reflection by
Ronald Rolheiser
Unfinished Symphonies
Theologian Karl Rahner once remarked we will be haunted and driven by restlessness until we accept the fact that here on earth all symphonies remain unfinished. Our age would do well to listen to him because we demand too much from life. We demand the finished symphony.
We enter this world with mind and heart built for the infinite, with tortured complexity, and with deep insatiable congenital longings. We ache for a great love, to embrace the whole world and everyone in it. There is, as the author of Ecclesiastes puts it, a certain timelessness inside of our hearts that puts us out of sync with full peace. We are built for the infinite, but what we meet in life is always the finite. We ache to achieve perfect, in love and in art, but what we achieve is always limited and blemished. We ache for the eternal but are frustrated in time.
It is no wonder we are so demanding … in our relationships, our jobs, our vacations, and life in general. It is hard to make a full peace with our own very real limits, of body, mind, and achievement. In all our lives, there is a huge gap between what our hearts demand and what we can attain in this life. Consequently, we are frustrated, never able to attain the finished symphony.
When one does not believe in life after death there is the very real temptation to demand that this life give us the finished symphony. After all, we only live once and what a tragedy it would be to go through that one life unfulfilled!
In the parable of the conscientious steward, Jesus points out how the steward who does not expect his master’s return then sets about beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards. The images of violence that Jesus inserts here are metaphors precisely of the type of violence we do to life when we demand that it give us the finished symphony.
Conversely, the person who awaits the master’s return, who does believe this life is not all, can live in a greater patience with the frustrations of a life that refuses the full symphony. When this life is not all, then it is easier to not demand all from it.
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Have a wonderful week, please pray for those who are struggling to feed their families.
Just a reminder…Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 10. We will have a special blessing for moms at Sunday Service.
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Love,
Fr. Dale & Pastor Mark
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Please do not reply to this email;
the sending address is not monitored.
Please reply to: [email protected]
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Chris Pfund PhD, MBA, BSN, RN
President Homestead Health
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phone: (602) 755-4508
fax: (602) 691-0283
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Homestead Health is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to helping adults live safely and independently at home. We offer a range of in-home and virtual medical services, including concierge medicine, palliative care, transitional care, and geriatric care management. We believe everyone deserves access to compassionate and affordable healthcare.
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