January 31, 2017

Oh, beloved in the Lord,

Here’s just a brief review of this past weekend as I attended the LCMS Life Conference and the March For Life in Washington D.C..  I wish you could have been there with me.  The enthusiasm and excitement of the marchers is something to behold and experience.  On the day of the March, we had a morning opening Divine Service at the hotel (conference location).  We then took the Metro to the national mall.  Our LCMS members from across this land began to gather together at about 11:00AM.  On a designated site, we had a brief worship service led by our Synod President, Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison.  And then, we waited for Alpha Group A (a bunch of LCMS marchers) who were planted upstream in the march to allow our sizeable group into the march.  There were so many marchers that we had to wait patiently for two hours.  While we waited, we talked, encouraged, laughed, sang some of our wonderful Lutheran hymns, and enjoyed each other’s company.  Around 2:00PM, Alpha A Group arrived.  And we entered the March. We marched for about an hour and a half, singing many hymns, smiling, talking as we walked.  Around 3:30PM, we arrived at the supreme court building.  Once there, President Matthew Harrison led us in a final worship service.  We sang the Lord’s Prayer, and then he gave us the Lord’s blessing.  We hung out there for a half hour or so.  The 44th annual March For Life drew to a close.  What an event!  Praise be to God!  Then we went back to the hotel and we continued on with our Life Conference, which lasted until 1:00PM on Sunday.  We were blessed with wonderful worship, excellent speakers, and good (healthy and limited food).

It is overwhelming to see so many gathered for the March.

I would surely love it if we could assemble a bus load to go down for the March next January (2018).  Would you consider that trip?  Let me know.

Peace in Christ!

Pastor Kotila