Worship Notes - LENT 2024

Lent is the 40-day season of the church year prior to Good Friday and Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday, which this year is on February 14. As you know, Lent is a season of preparation – a time of waiting. A beautiful book for children by Laura Alary (Make Room A Child’s Guide to Lent and Easter) begins “This is the season of Lent. The church is dressed in purple.” The book goes on to remind us that just as the ground is waiting for spring, so too we are waiting for new life, for Easter. During Lent we make time to be with God – to pray with words and with colouring; to be silent and practice listening; to read the Bible and wonder what God might be saying to us; and to pay attention to our daily choices, wondering if there’s anything we need to change. This is a season of renewal and repentance, of prayer and introspection. One intentional practice we will participate in for our Lenten worship this year is called the “burying of the Alleluia.” Leah will lead the children in this activity on the first Sunday of Lent. We will “give up” our singing of the word “alleluia” until we burst with joy on Easter!

What’s Going On? Lenten Worship: “Who is this?” – Pastor Brady

Our theme for Lent this year is Who is This? This question is frequently asked of Jesus by both his followers and his opposers. Jesus wasn't the kind of Messiah that any of them imagined. Is Jesus the kind of Messiah we are looking for? Perhaps we have our own version of what we'd like Jesus to be, but the Bible describes him differently than we hoped for. Are we willing to let Jesus tell us exactly who he is without imposing our own ideas?

Good Friday Tenebrae- Service of Shadows, March 29 @ 7 PM

Resurrection Sunday – March 31 @ 10 AM

A couple of specific opportunities coming up for your worship participation:

·       CHOIR – I have one simple 3-part piece for Easter Sunday that I’m hoping a group of singers (old and young!) will learn. Rehearsals TBD mid-March, after worship on Sundays. Let Ruth Ann know if you are interested in singing.
·       BUTTERFLIES – there will be opportunity to colour lots of butterflies in the weeks prior to Easter, to be hung throughout the worship space, as a symbol of new life. Stay tuned for details.
·       Palm Sunday, March 24, 2-4 PM: God’s Big Easter Path: An Intergenerational Journey from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday (especially geared for families). Come and walk through the journey of Jesus from Palm Sunday to Easter, following a “path” through the church, connecting the stations/stories in the final week of Jesus’ life. Lots more detailed information will be sent out in the next weeks. Be ready to spend about 35 minutes on this “path” on Sunday, March 24 in the afternoon.

I’ve also included a LENT playlist here – not Easter yet!

In Christ,

Ruth Ann

What’s Going On? / Worship Notes - Lent – February 14, 2024