BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
 of Thomas R. Atkins Pastor Tom is a native of Laredo, Texas and a son of missionaries who served in Mexico. He graduated from Asbury College in Kentucky and served as a U.S. Army field artilleryman in Vietnam before entering Presbyterian ministry. After pastoring in Texas, he accepted a "three-year hitch" as a U.S. Navy Chaplain. Twenty-four years later he retired from "very fulfilling and never dull" active Navy service, and became pastor at Northminster on January 1, 2004. He and his wife, Alice, have three daughters who are all school teachers, and six grandchildren. For fun they enjoy boating and traveling.
FROM OUR PASTOR Gloria and Bill Gaither wrote the popular Easter song, Because He Lives. They wrote that song in 1971 when our country was being torn apart by racial tensions and the disillusionment with the Vietnam war. For the Gaithers it was also a very low time when Bill was losing his job in a church he was serving, and Gloria was expecting another baby. Times were very uncertain for them, to say the least. But it was in remembering that Jesus our Lord was born into turbulent times and faced violent persecution in his ministry that the Gaithers composed words and music to this very moving hymn when their baby arrived safely:
How sweet to hold our newborn baby Over the years this song has assured us that our Lord's Resurrection is the central truth of life. Because He lives I can face tomorrow!
May you have a joyful and glorious Easter. Pastor Tom
EASTER Easter is the oldest celebration in Christendom. As Christianity spread throughout Europe and Asia Minor, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ replaced the Teutonic festival for the goddess of Spring, Eostre. "Easter" became the day when new converts received baptism and received Holy Communion. It coincided with the Jewish Passover season when Jesus first instituted the Lord's Supper with his disciples.
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