It was a beautiful service and a great time of celebration and remembrance. It was so wonderful to worship together, hear and share stories about Jay and see so many of his friends and family gathered together.
The service began with SMCC pianist, Bill Lange playing beautiful prelude music as everyone arrived. Pastor Paul Beck opened in prayer and lead us is the hymn, How Great Thou Art.
SMCC Elder and Jay’s longtime friend, Bill Witczak, read from 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:8.
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are
wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us
an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our
eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is
seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 1Now we
know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have
a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by
human hands. 2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with
our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will
not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan
and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but
to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is
mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now it is God who has
made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as
a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6Therefore we are
always confident and know that as long as we are at home
in the body we are away from the Lord. 7We live by faith,
not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to
be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Pastor Dick Anderson, Jay’s pastor for 35 years at SMCC, gave a biography of Jay’s life.
If you would like to read the text of Jay's biography, please see the previous blog post.
Jay was eulogized by his close friends, Pat Doocy, Don Kuchenski, Gary Jones, Nathan Robison, Bruce Koch, Bob Maile, and Victor Polek.
Victor Polek:
On behalf of our entire family I want to say Thank You for being here tonight and thank you for all the visits, prayer and phone calls for Jay while he was in the hospital – some of you visited several times, and some stayed for hours, and many more called us or checked his email or web site daily. Most of all, we want to say thank you for all the love you have shown to Jay over the 35 years that he has been a part of Sierra Madre Congregational Church. Know that you all, individually and as a community of faith were always near and dear to his heart.
Jay’s mother Betty couldn’t be here tonight. Losing Jay has been an indescribable loss for her and I would ask that you continue to pray for Betty. She wrote a message that I would like to read on her behalf.“To all of Jay’s dear friends:Our family thanks you all for the love and prayers that you openly expressed to us. The gates of heaven were opened and Jay is in the loving arms of the Lord - No more suffering or pain. God has been the Great Physician, the Rock and the Shepherd to all of us. We will miss Jay now, but we know that he is resting well, and this has been a great comfort.
Love in His name,
Jay’s mom, Betty”
We then had an “open mic” time when a number of other friends shared stories and special thoughts about Jay.
A special memorial DVD was played providing a glimpse back across Jay’s life.
If you would like a copy of this DVD, please email your mailing address to prayersforjay@gmail.com and I will mail you one.
Pastor Paul Beck closed out the service with a message and led us in the hymn, It is Well with My Soul.
Following the service, we had a reception in the fellowship hall. There was a display with pictures of Jay and many of his most important possessions including his key chain collection, Splash Mountain pictures, bowling trophies and journals.
Thank you to everyone who shared during Jay’s service. It was such a treat to hear all of your stories and memories, and to be able to hear about Jay from those who knew him in different ways.
We cannot thank you enough for the love and support you have all shown to us as a family. We could not have made it through this difficult time without you. It has been such an honor to meet and spend time with the many people that Jay knew and loved and impacted so greatly. Thank you for laughing with us and crying with us. Thank you for sitting with us in the hospital. Thank you for visiting and talking to Jay in his last few days. Thank you for loving Jay and for being such a wonderful example of the body of Christ.
Please stay tuned to this blog for the text of some of the eulogies given at the memorial service.
Also, we will be posting information soon about the internment of Jay's ashes at Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery.
Please keep in touch!
Christy Polek
Reflections on Jay Denison's Memorial Service
ReplyDeleteI radically changed what I had planned to say about Jay at the memorial service because I was one of the last to speak and so many similar things had been said about Jay, that there was not much I could add. But something was stirring in my heart that needed to come out. I took a shot at it when my time came, and while what I said was appreciated by many, the clarity came later that evening.
It was clear that Jay endured a difficult life, particularly his younger years because his epilepsy and later because of his phlebitis. Jay was a unique person in many ways, some that were quite delightful, some that could be at times annoying. Jay, like all of us, just wanted to be loved and accepted for who he was. It was clear from the personal reflections that Jay found that love in the true source of unconditional love - Jesus. The sharing was a beautiful portrait of how God can touch a life and then touch so many others if that person continues to love Him and serve others in His name.
I and my family loved and enjoyed Jay, but his needs were so deep that Jesus used more than a few people to minister love to Jay. I knew Jay had many connections in the church. Until last night, I had no idea how many.
At the memorial, we emphasized, and rightly so, how Jay showed his love to so many people in special ways. But it was a two-way street, so many showed love to Jay in unique and special ways. This is not to say that everyone loved Jay in ways that were meaningful to him. Sometimes his expectations were too high, sometimes we just didn't make the effort. He had to learn to extend grace. On the other hand, when Jay was a little grumpy or feeling sorry for himself, we had to learn to extend him the same grace.
What was stirring in my soul that I could not quite put my finger on is this: Last night was not just a wonderful celebration of the life of Christ in a unique guy named Jay Denison, it was a celebration of the life of Christ within His body.
Pastor Paul says that his current sermon series on the church has been thirty years in the making. Last night God was glorified in a beautiful celebration of the power of His life within His body, the church, a message that was fifty one years in the making.
I am glad that Jesus brought Jay to SMCC to love us and be loved by us. We all experienced the love of Christ in a deeper way because of it.
"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you."
(John 15:12)
Bruce Koch, 5/16/09