Prince of Peace members have been making cloth masks since the beginning of the pandemic. Over 60 were donated to Rotating Safe Car Park. Many more have been given to Prince of Peace members.

There were an extra 15 in the office last week. Those were placed in the food pantry that sits on the Cox Avenue side of the parking lot and a brief announcement was made on Next Door (social site for neighborhoods).

By the next morning all masks had been picked up. Most importantly, 185 neighbors saw the post and reacted in some way.

Reactions included simple "Thank" clicks, requests for masks when available, many thank you's for sharing masks, kindness, and reminding people about the food pantry, but also engagement. Since the post, neighbors with no prior connection to Prince of Peace have delivered personal care items and food. A scout troop that was not previously connected with us was looking for a low-contact volunteer opportunity, so they "adopted" the pantry for a Mother's Day service project.

This small gesture had a huge ripple effect in the community. It is a reminder that little things can make a big difference. Thank you for sharing God's love with your neighbors!

If you have extra masks, they are needed. Anne has a list of neighbors that made requests after the initial batch were gone. If you would like to make a big difference in another way, there are many opportunities. Contact Drew or Pastor Sara.

Since March 8th, two members of Prince of Peace have taken it upon themselves to make sure this community can still worship together. As the social limitations began, they brought gear and know-how to the sanctuary, along with a thoughtfulness about including everyone, somehow, in being a worshiping community – and not just a show for us to experience.

From that time on, David L. and Ken P. have been giving their time every week to record, compile, edit, adjust, scrub, and whatever else it takes to produce the videos that unite us all. Without this pair, this isolation would be so much more… isolating. ;)

But there’s more! One of the bright-sides of this adoption of online worship has been the chance to welcome and welcome back folks from around the country. And these two fine gentlemen have been dreaming up a variety of ways Prince of Peace can continue to offer online worship as we make the transition back into meeting in larger groups. These folks are really turning this challenge into a wonderful opportunity for Prince of Peace, both now and going forward.

Thank you, David and Ken!

​by Pastor Nate Winterhof

One week after Rotating Safe Car Park (RSCP) rotated from Prince of Peace to another location, that church shut down, as did POP shortly after. The parks, libraries, community centers, coffee shops, where the guests often go during the day, also closed. They had no bathrooms available to them. The March RSCP Lead asked the host location to keep the campus open all day, so the guests could isolate safely for themselves and the community. This was granted. The guests also had no showers as their gyms were closed. West Valley Community Services, with the prodding of the RSCP, helped negotiate with a local entity to open their showers to the guests. This was granted. 
 
Soon after, the City of Saratoga reached out to offer assistance in getting PPE supplies. But even the city had to scrounge for disinfecting wipes, sanitizer and gloves. (The cleaning supplies picture is our cache from the city.) But face masks were not available. Since the surgical/PPE masks were not needed for the safe park’s purposes, soon, there were POP members willing to include masks for our guests and volunteers in addition to what they were donating to hospitals and members of our congregation. Many masks went to church volunteers and guests, and more are being made for the next group who will be operating the RSCP in May. And our June host is hoping for a good supply of our masks as well. A big thanks to Janet C., Barbara E. and Maria J’s neighbor for supplying masks, and an additional thank you to Andrea P. who will be joining the effort. 

by Karen Hauschildt

If you watched the Prince of Peace Easter worship service last week, you heard the Prince of Peace Band and Choir leading the hymns. This was not recorded last year, but put together in a few days by many volunteers. It sounded amazing!

A virtual choir or virtual band starts the same way any worship music plan begins, with selecting music appropriate for the season and specific message of the day. Music Director Barbara Day Turner starts weeks, or months in advance, working with the Pastors to choose music that enhance the service.

The difference between a live choir and a virtual choir is that you don't have a director standing in front of you counting the beats to keep you on track. You have to use other tools to keep the choir singing together and in the right places. To make that happen, pianist Michael Touchi records the piano music early in the week before the service as a rhythmic foundation for the piece. That music is sent to Marc F. who records a couple of guide voices with the piano track. The music and voice over serves as a reference track to help each individual record their part. Each contributor then listens to the the reference track while recording their own voice.

Barbara Day Turner wanted this to be accessible to everyone. "We didn't want special equipment or barriers to prohibit anyone from participating" according to Marc, who spearheaded the virtual choir project. All you need to participate is a way to listen to the reference track while recording your voice digitally. This can be accomplished with a computer and a cell phone, or two cell phones, or two computers, and the included microphone or some simple earbuds. We were impressed with the number of people willing to participate. "It takes hutzpah to record and listen to yourself sing. It is not a comfortable thing to do. They bent over back wards to make it work."

The Band goes through a similar process for their pieces. Mike H. assists Steve C. with the Band music tracks.

After recording, the individual files are sent to Marc, who matches them up to the music, equalizes volume, and compresses them into one file. It's a big job, taking 20 hours over a few days to make it sound right. Marc feels that the results are worth the work. We agree!

Thank You Virtual Choir Members! 

• Cammie C
• Connie C
• Andrea C
• Virginia D
• Elizabeth L
• Kerry L
• Tim H
• Lynne H
• Katie H
• Dave Z
• Mike H
• Christopher L
• Erik H
• Ingrid H
• Jim R
• Marilyn S
• Sigi P
• Brian S
• Yvonne S
• Carol C
• Christopher and Sandra Bengochea
• Marc F

The next Virtual Choir sing will be the first Sunday in May. If you would like to participate email Marc Farley by April 28th.

Listen again the Easter Hymns using these links:

5:22 Hymn: Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks to the Risen Lord (Band)
28:16 Hymn: Day of Arising (Choir)
38:17 Hymn: Jesus Christ is Risen Today