WESTWOOD CHRISTIAN CHURCH DIGITAL PIANO DEDICATION IN MEMORY OF CHRISTINE HENES

Today in our worship service, we have the privilege of dedicating two items for Westwood in Christine’s memory.

Soon after Christine died, Ken and his daughter, Nancy, determined to request that memorial contributions be made to Westwood and WCMA, the church planting ministry that Ken leads. They were blessed to have $6,777.00 donated as of today, and have been notified of memorial gifts that were also made to other Christian organizations, churches, and music organizations with which she or Ken were involved.

Out of that total, just over $3,500 was given directly to Westwood or was from gifts given to Ken and Nancy that were split evenly between Westwood and WCMA. With the money given to Westwood, Ken and Nancy wanted that money to go toward something useful to Westwood’s ministry that would honor some aspect Christine’s life and her service at Westwood.

Since the church’s digital piano was purchased in 1988 and has needed repairs for some time, they determined to replace the instrument with a new digital piano. Eventually, the decision was made to purchase a Yamaha Clavinova, the instrument that we began using for our worship services last Sunday. Ken made a gift from insurance money he received from Christine’s accident to pay for the remaining cost of the digital piano. The instrument should give the church many years of useful service.

So today, we are dedicating the digital piano to the Lord for use in our worship services. In addition, we are dedicating a wall hanging in Christine’s memory. This wall hanging was designed and assembled by Kathi Seman. The wall hanging was designed to include words and phrases from many of you, in your own handwriting, that describe Christine. This art work has several elements that remind us of Christine’s skills and interest such as the music, gardening, jewelry making and quilting. But most of all we are reminded of her dedication to the Lord. The wall hanging will hang next to the front doors of our building.

As we dedicate these two items in Christine’s memory, it is the wish of the family and of the church leadership that when the digital piano is used in our worship services, it will enhance our worship of the Lord. Although Christine loved music in many forms and used it in her professional life as a therapy tool with clients, she mainly saw music as an expression of praise to God. She would above all want a musical instrument dedicated in her memory to be used as a means of praising God for our salvation through Christ. That should always be our goal in worship, and we trust that it will be as we worship with this new digital piano.

PRAYER OF DEDICATION

Heavenly Father, it is a great blessing to be able to dedicate these two items for Westwood in memory of Christine. We are reminded of her great love for you and her many years of dedicated and faithful service to you and your church. It has been a great blessing for all of us to have our lives enriched by Christine’s many talents. So Lord we thank you for the piano and the art work that we will enjoy and benefit from for many years to come. And so it is we dedicate these items to Westwood today. May you be with us now and each Lord’s Day as we honor you with our worship. In Jesus name, Amen.