Lent continues

We are half way through lent.  As of Tuesday it will be 19 more days until Easter.  How has Lent affected your life?

At Epiphany we have met two new parishioners,  some of us have participated in www.lentmadness.org. (a bracket "game" that discusses the lives of different saints and lets the "players" decide who will win the Golden Halo), attended services and the discussion group between services that discusses the Last Words of Jesus.  We will be anticipating Holy Week beginning with Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday on April 13 where we will have the blessing of the palms, process in to the Church where we will hear a dramatic reading of the Passion.  Then we will follow with the most holy week of the year for Christians.  Maundy Thursday will be April 17.  We will start at 6:30 with soup and bread supper in the parish hall, followed at 7:00 pm by the liturgy of the day with the reading of the story about the Garden of Gethsemane, betrayal, and finally the shipping of the altar.  As we leave the service in complete silence the Church is bare.  When we return on Good Friday the altar is bare, the tabernacle is open and empty.  Services that day are at 12 noon and 7pm.  Some of us will have traveled with the other Churches in the walk from St. James Lutheran Church to Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church with reading along the way.

On Easter Sunday  our services will be at 8 am and 10 am.All will enter the darkened church symbolizing the world.  The Paschal Candle is lit to symbolize the light of Christ and we begin our joyous proclamation that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead after dying for our sins.  To enhance our joy and happiness we ask everyone to bring a bell to Church to ring during our hymns.

On Tuesday, April 1, at 4:30 pm our Upper Room will meet to discuss how to disburse our funds.  We have been blessed to help a young mother who has returned to school, is at the head of her class in computer service, will graduate shortly and found new clothing at the Upper Room Thrift Shop to help her start her interviewing process and future career.

See you in Church?