Ash Wednesday
Lent Begins with Ash Wednesday on February 22nd
Worship at one of these 30 minute services
of
Worship to begin the Holy Season of Lent
"Create in me a Clean Heart, O God"
7:00 AM - Noon - 7:00PM
Lunch follows Noon Service
COME CELEBRATE IN COMMUNITY
WITH YOUR CREATOR!
MAKE YOUR SUNDAYS MEANINGFUL WITH
5 HOURS OF WORSHIP
in Community and Service
(One hour each week to worship God…
…one hundred sixty seven hours to play, work, serve, etc.)
Some Facts About Lent
The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. That day is so named because
in the early church ashes were sprinkled on the heads of penitent Christians.
This custom remains today and is becoming more wide spread in the Protestant Churches. The sign of the cross on forehead or in the palm of the hand symbolizes our being open to God and offering ourselves with clean hearts before our God.
The color for Lent is purple, reminding us of Lent's penitential mood.
Lent lasts forty days, until Easter. but if you count the days from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday, you get 46. That's because Sundays are excluded from the count (and from Lent). They are designed as "feast days," commemorating the resurrection.
The origin of the word LENT is the Anglo-Saxon word, LENCTEN, meaning "spring", the time when the days lengthen.
In some families there is the tradition of "giving up" something for Lent. That evolved from the idea that Lent was a period of fasting in preparation for baptism which was observed on Easter Eve.
Thankfully, most of us have progressed from the idea of "giving up" (Self denial) to the idea of "taking on" for the good of others.
There are many ways Christians benefit from Lent today. The season encourages us to set aside time for quiet contemplation...to read, meditate, and pray; to reflect on the direction of our own personal lives and on the meaning of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
It reminds us that we are a part of a community of faith that makes a profound difference in our lives and in the way we reach out to those near at hand as well as those on the other side of the world.
In short, Lent is a time to reflect on the relationship between our lives and our faith, between Jesus' journey and our own.
HOLY WEEK SERVICES
PALM SUNDAY, APRIL 1st at 9:00AM & 10:30AM will include special music and palms. Cherub Choir sings at beginning. JOURNEY WITH JESUS WALK follows Worship Service
MAUNDY THURSDAY, APRIL 5th at 7:00PM will begin with a light meal around the tables in candlelit Woodworth Hall...followed by the events of the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane re-enacted by the disciples and Jesus. It is a very moving, memorable evening! (Child Care for young children…let us know if you need it ahead of time, please!)
GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 6th at 7:30PM(please note time difference between Thursday and Friday) service will be held in the Church Sanctuary with the procession of the Cross and the crucified Christ followed by the Tenebrae Service of Darkness.
EASTER VIGIL will begin following the Good Friday Service and continue until Easter Dawn. (There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board in the hall.) This has been an unforgettable experience for those who have participated - especially in the middle of the night!
EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE will be at 6 AM at the Grist Mill Pond .
EASTER CELEBRATION SERVICES: APRIL 8th at 9:00AM and 10:30AM Trumpet, Organ and Timpani play ten minutes before the services begin. Children’s Choir sings. All children begin in church and pre-school through 5 th graders are invited (unless parents want them to remain in worship ) to move to the Hall for an age appropriate special program.
Flowers in memory or honor of loved ones may be brought
to the room behind the sanctuary on Saturday. April 7th
Please enter through the parking lot door entrance and use the carts
and tables designated for flowers on the day before Easter
(Saturday, April 7th).