So, you’ve gotten your ashes (or not!), so now you can just jump right to Holy Week, right? Wrong! If you think that, you’re missing out on the beautiful gift of Lent, which is a time the Church sets aside for contemplation, self-examination and study. Plus, some really good soup but at a NEW TIME! More on that later…

We often speak of Lent as a journey following Jesus to his cross. A trip is always more fun with a group than solo, right? And having fellow travelers can be better as we can lift each other up and share the joys and struggles on the way. That’s why traditionally the church has come together midweek during Lent for worship and fellowship in addition to our Sunday gathering.

This year we will still have worship twice on Wednesdays, but the main worship will be at noon with a half hour worship pulling topics from our Lenten book study, Giving Up Something Bad for Lent. For those who can’t make it at noon, our evening offering of worship will be evening prayer at 6:15 followed by fellowship and discussion at 6:30 of our Lenten book selection. A daytime discussion of the book will be on Mondays at 9:30.

Food often goes with fellowship, and our Lenten soup meal will move to 12:30 instead of its normal evening slot. Our traditional evening soup supper has been only lightly attended, almost exclusively by those who would find a daytime meal more convenient. Therefore, it was decided to move our soup meal to the noon hour following the short worship at 12pm. We will watch how attendance goes with our evening prayer, and if there is enough interest we can always expand that evening program according to people’s desires. If you come to evening prayer, you are not required to come to the book study. In fact, the book study is just a add-on to complement our travel together.

A trip is better with a guide book and travel information. This year we selected Giving Up Something Bad for Lent as our Lenten study.  If giving up something for Lent sounds to you like just one more unkept New Year’s resolution, why not join us for our study of some bad things you might consider giving up for Lent (and hopefully, permanently)? If you wish more information about how to join us in our Lenten journey with the book, please read our articles about the book and how to get involved by following the link below,

So we invite you to participate as much as you can in these great opportunities to deepen your faith and improve your relationship with God and each other. Come to one, or come to all. We guarantee that this will be a gift that keeps on giving.