Lent is the 40-day season of the church year prior to Good Friday and Easter. It’s an introspective season, calling us to consider how we can be more like Jesus in his sacrificial life and death for us. It’s a season for Psalm 51 and repentance and remembering. This can be a time to “give something up” that might be hindering you in connecting with God. Many folks also add a discipline, such as silence, prayer, or fasting to help in focusing on Jesus and what he’s done for us. The tone of worship during Lent is often more sombre, with intentional confession and prayer, while still remembering that Sundays can be seen as “little Easters” even in this season. You will note the long purple banners up, and the centrality of the table. Pastor Erick will write a blog next week to speak more into the Communion theme of our Lent series.

Lenten Worship: Communion Series:

February 26 – Preparation
March 5 – Our Need for the Lord’s Supper
March 12 – Jesus is the Bread of Life
March 19 – One Body
March 26 – Celebrating the New Wine
April 2 – Anticipating “do this until he comes again”

Good Friday Tenebrae- Service of Shadows, April 7 @ 7 PM
Resurrection Sunday – April 9 @ 10 AM

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

Wednesday, February 22 is Ash Wednesday: we will have a brief service of prayer, song, silence, reflection, and the imposition of ashes to begin the Lenten season. Join us at 7 PM in the worship auditorium.
Choir Opportunity (mixed) – preparing one piece for Good Friday; and 1-2 choruses for Easter Sunday. Rehearsals Sundays after worship, beginning on March 12. Men & women, boys and girls welcome.
The Table -each week I would love to have a “household” (family, couple, single) bring the display bread and juice and place it on the communion table in a weekly ritual. I’ll be reaching out, but if this is something you want to do, please let me know!
Prayer of Thanksgiving – part of the traditional communion “liturgy” is a prayer called the Great Prayer of Thanksgiving. It follows an easy template which I will share, and I would be eager to have some of you write this prayer, each week. You may also read it in worship, or if you prefer just to write it, that’s also fine. Again, I’ll start emailing people, but it’s much easier if you volunteer yourself. All ages welcome.
Palm Sunday, April 2, 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. Stay tuned for that and be ready to spend about 35 minutes on this “path” on Sunday, April 2 in the afternoon.

Lent/Easter Playlist: And finally, here are links to a new worship playlist I’ve prepared for this season (YouTube and Spotify):

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP6VMsrDv_g7d18-eYNy7WLocsl6PO27r

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4xcg2Me0Bdd3ns2WxEtNYe?si=2aa66ee78a0a4473

In Christ, Ruth Ann

Lent 2023 - February 16, 2023