Feb 21, 2012 – Shrove Tuesday. On a sun drenched afternoon, mild weather for winter we enjoyed the Shrove Tues Pancake Dinner in the Parish House. Shroves relate to acknowledgment of sin. On Shrove Tuesday, many Christians consider what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God’s help in dealing with. Shrove Tuesday is also called Fat Tuesday (in French, “Mardi”=Tuesday; “gras”=fat), because on that day a we use up the fats which will not be needed during Lent. Since pancakes are a standard way of using up fat, the day is also called Pancake Tuesday.
It was just a wonderful day to walk around, enjoy nature and then to get fed. Dave Fannon grilled up the pancakes and kept the crew (Johnny Davis, sausage, Bill Wick, batter, Cookie and Barbara Segar drinks). Nancy Long had here own special brew of chocolate cakes. About 30 attended through the evening – a great turnout.
We have a photo gallery for Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday here.
Feb 22, 2012 – Ash Wednesday. Now we are in Lent. Dennis Bratcher has a wonderful summary – “Lent spans 40 weekdays beginning on Ash Wednesday and climaxing during Holy Week with Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday), Good Friday, and concluding Saturday before Easter. Originally, Lent was the time of preparation for those who were to be baptized, a time of concentrated study and prayer before their baptism at the Easter Vigil, the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord early on Easter Sunday. But since these new members were to be received into a living community of Faith, the entire community was called to preparation. Also, this was the time when those who had been separated from the Church would prepare to rejoin the community.” Lent is a time of many things – yes, repentance, giving up things, fasting, simplifying your life but also doing new things such as developing new ways of spiritual life.
Ash Wednesday is on the first day of Lent. We had 23 people that showed up at 7pm on a cloudy night, a very different mood in weather and also the tone of the service. We received ashes with a forehead marked with the sign of the cross. In the Bible a mark on the forehead is a symbol of a person’s ownership. By having their foreheads marked with the sign of a cross, this symbolizes that the person belongs to Jesus Christ, who died on a Cross. This is in imitation of the spiritual mark or seal that is put on a Christian in baptism. It also reminds us of our mortality, and complete dependence on God for our lives. We enjoyed the red Lenten cross, a symbol of the Passion. that Helmut made a year ago and dedicated then
Feb 23, 2012 – A special treat. The Stained glass window on each side of the church toward the back were reinstalled after repair by Stained Glass of Shenandoah. This was a gift from an anonymous member of the congregation. One glass was missing and the other was cracked. It took remake of the glass with painstaking work to match colors. Paint came from France. Here is a photo gallery with pictures taken by the company
Feb 24, 2012 – Friday morning 7:30am Eucharist. Well, no one came. This is a wonderful way to begin any day. We hope more will come next week. Life is still, the Church is still and is a wonderful meditative
Feb 26, 2012 – First Sunday in Lent with 2 services – Morning Prayer 9am and Eucharist 11am with a new adult study in between. As with last month the sun flooded the church with light. We had 7 people including Mary Ann Betchy celebrating a birthday at 9am. Bill Wick provided an excellent reading.
Here is a gallery from today’s services.
The sermon connected 4 scripture readings around two themes – temptation (Adam and Eve successfully tempted and left the Garden in Eden in disgrace, Jesus came out of the wilderness waited on by the angels and left proclaiming the good news) and water (Noah’s ark, Peter with the saving waters of baptism, Mark’s baptism of Jesus marking the beginning of his ministry.
What’s in it for us ? We have to face temptation – “This season of Lent provides us with the opportunity to be driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, and to repent of those sins that we commit in thought word and deed against God, against one another and against creation itself…“Grant that all who have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection may die to sin and rise to newness of life, and that through the grave and gate of death we may pass with him to our joyful resurrection”
And then water – “Like Noah, if we follow God’s directions, we can create our own floating Garden of Eden, the ark that will bear us, in harmony with one another and with all of creation, through the plagues, pestilences, famines and temptations of this life. Our baptisms mark the beginnings of our particular journeys toward God. Our baptisms are a sign of the fact that we have chosen to be in covenant with God, and in this covenant, God promises, as he promised Noah, that the covenant is everlasting, with all of creation and with all of humanity, beginning now. “
Note the art on the bulletin cover – the “Peaceable Kingdom” provides an image of this Garden of Eden
The idea for the sermon came from a poem on a grave, above.
Sunday Adult Education began a study of suffering. This will cover both Old and New Testament thought as well as contemporary authors. Today, Catherine outlined 6 main theories containd in the book that is the basis for this study – "God and the Mystery of Human Suffering: A Theological Conversation Across the Ages by Robin Ryan 1. Law of retribution 2. Lament 3. Suffering as a transformative mystery 4. Suffering and Sacrifice 5. Apocalyptic suffering 6. God suffering with us. We mainly reviewed #1. God as the supreme judge. We suffer when we disobey the laws of God and are unfaithful.
The highlight of Lent 1 is the chanting of the Great Litany. This is a service that goes back to the time of Henry VIII with sources going back much earlier. The word “litany” derives from the Latin and Greek meaning prayer or supplication The Litany was the first English language rite prepared by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. It was first published in 1544 The Litany’s use in church processions was ordered by Henry VIII when England was at war with Scotland and France. It is based on the litany in the Sarum Missal, which was a variant of the Roman Rite, one of the earlier forms of the Divine Liturgy. It also borrows heavily from Martin Luther’s litany. Once, this litany accompanied each Sunday’s transition from Morning Prayer to the Holy Communion. Today it is mainly heard on Lent 1 It is composed of many separate prayers and petitions including prayer for various aspects of the church, the world, the government, and the poor. These petitions are prefaced by a series of requests asking God to deliver us from all manner of afflictions: evil, sin, heresy, schism, natural disasters, political disasters, violence, death, etc
This is a tour de force for the priest or lector. Catherine practiced it the entire week culminating in a dress rehearsal on Friday. Paige Martindale came in on Sunday to read the responses and lead the congregation
We were fortunate to have a number of visitors. Al Hales is an old friend of the Hicks family and participated in mission trips to the Rosebud in South Dakota. He was here with his sister who lives in Washington state. We also celebrated Barbara Wisdom’s birthday. 36 were in attendance
A good start to the Lenten season. As Lent goes on the day lengthens and so does our movement toward the resurrection.