Dear Friends in Christ:

A few thoughts on worship...

Christmas has come and gone, yet the memories of wonderful worship, a beautifully decorated sanctuary, glorious music, and the ministries of so many that contributed to the season continue to live on! My heartfelt thanks to all who gave so willingly of their time and talents to make our
Advent-Christmas worship so powerful. I’m afraid that if I start mentioning the many groups, organizations, and individuals who contributed to our worship, I will surely leave some out.

This year we had the addition of A Service of Lessons and Carols at 4:00 in the afternoon on Sunday, December 13. What a wonderful experience in worship that was; I hope it becomes an annual tradition. Thanks to Andy Heller and the choirs.

A huge snowfall on Sunday, December 20 caused us to postpone the annual Children’s Christmas Pageant to January 3rd. Again, the children really proclaimed the birth of the Christ Child in their song. Thanks to Andy Heller, Liz Cassidy, Mary Lynn Kennedy, and Pam McDowell, along with all of the Sunday School staff.

Now we look ahead in worship...

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 17. We will have our usual Ash Wednesday schedule with liturgies of Holy Communion and the Imposition of Ashes at 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm. The first service will be preceded with a soup luncheon at 11:00 am.

For the next five Wednesday evenings (February 24 through March 24) guest preachers will present our 2010 Lenten theme: “Who is this Jesus?” This theme and the preaching will be based on Jesus’ “I am” sayings in the Gospel of John.

I hope you will join me on our annual Lenten journey toward Holy Week and the road to Jerusalem.

In Christ,