In scheduling for Sunday mornings, I try to make sure at least one of the clergy is free from teaching responsibilities so that he or she can circulate during Coffee Hour. That enables Jane and I to welcome newcomers, learn about pastoral situations, and simply listen to any concerns parishioners might have.

With Jane teaching the Adult Inquirers’ class this year, it’s been my turn to be at Coffee Hour. As always, I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to mingle more among the congregation over the past few months.

One issue that has arisen during these discussions concerns the ability to hear the liturgy and sermon during church services. This is not a new concern. When confronted by it in the past, however, I’ve addressed it by reminding the clergy and LEMs to project their voices during the service.

While that has helped to some degree, the problem has never really gone away. For starters, the church has some acoustic “dead spots” that make it hard for parishioners seated there to hear. What’s more, during well-attended services, the extra bodies present tend to absorb the sound even more. Finally - let’s face it - as we get older, we’re not hearing as well as we used to.

These factors have led me to propose to the Vestry that we consider the possibility of adding a sound system to the church.

The idea is not without precedent. During the final years of the Rev. Albert Jones’ tenure, the congregation employed a rather crude sound system to amplify his weakened voice.

Since then, acoustic technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, not only enabling microphones and speakers to be nearly invisible, but also vastly improving the quality of the sound output. Many historic churches now employ such systems, while still preserving the architectural integrity of their worship space.

But before the Vestry takes any further action on this matter, we’d like to hear from you. If you haven’t already filled out one of the surveys that have been circulated on Sunday mornings, please take a moment to complete the form included in this month’s Pohick Post. When you’ve finished it, either mail it in or drop it by the church office.

Once we’ve received a significant number of these surveys, we’ll tally them up, read the comments and then go from there. We’ll report these back to you in subsequent editions of the Post.

In the meantime, if you have any other concerns you’d like to share, just look for me at Coffee Hour!

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As we all know, Easter comes this month on April 16. On that day, we’ll have our Easter Vigil/Flame walk at 5:30 am (walkers/runners meet at the church at 3:30 am to carpool up to St. James'), and Festival Eucharists at 7:45, 9:15 and 11:15 am. The Easter Egg Hunt for the children will start at approximately 10:30 am.

While Easter services are always the best attended, I cannot overstate the importance of participating in the services leading up to that day. These allow us to journey with Christ on the road to Calvary and to share in his suffering - so making the joy of Easter morn more complete.

And so, please put a circle around all of Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday on April 9, when we will have the distribution of the Palms and dramatic reading of the Passion. Later in the week, the Maundy Thursday service (April 13 at 7:30 pm) will allow us to share in Christ’s humility, as we reenact his washing of the disciples’ feet, his inauguration of the Lord’s Supper, and his arrest.

That will be followed by an all-night Vigil in the Vestry House, where individuals or couples can sign up to “watch and pray” for an hour. This year, we’ll also have sign-ups for parishioners to devote themselves to an hour of prayer at home in the same manner.

Our Good Friday observance, 12 noon to 3:00 pm on April 14, will include walking the Stations of the Cross, a dramatic reading of Christ’s Passion from John’s Gospel, and meditations on the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Come and stay for as much of the service as you can - the three hours actually go by very quickly.

Finally, join us on Holy Saturday at 4:00 pm to welcome the newly baptized, as we bring to the font those seeking to join the family of Christ.