We will gather this Wednesday morning at 7:00 am for Ash Wednesday worship.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent; a time of preparation for the mystery and hope of Easter. Ash Wednesday emphasizes both the ways in which we are prone to wander from God’s love and our human mortality. Join us at The Table Wednesday morning for worship that will weave music, prayer, readings, reflection, ashes, & communion. We plan to finish worship by 7:45 am.
Our Lenten worship series is called Hope in Dying. Fred Craddock, in Speaking of Dying: Recovering the Church’s Voice in the Face of Death, writes, If we as the church are to carry out our ministry to the dying and if we ourselves are to die well, we need solid support and rich resources because this ministry will test us. Such resources can only come from God’s love for us” (Kindle Locations 930-932). Our worship series will be rooted in the hope we find through God’s love for us as we reflect each week on a different theme related to grief, dying, and death.
HOPE IN DYING OUTLINE
February 18 7:00 am Ash Wednesday Worship
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return
February 22 (Mark 1.9-15) Facing Death & Resurrection in Christian Tradition
March 1 (Mark 8.31-38) How Did Jesus Face Death?
March 8 (John 11.28-36) Grief & Becoming Wounded Healers
March 15 (John 3.14-21) Atonement: What Does Jesus’ Death Mean?
March 22 (John 12.20-33) Writing Our Own Deaths
March 29 (Mark 14.1-15) Dignity in Dying
April 2 6:00 pm Maundy Thursday Meal & Holy Conferencing
April 3 7:00 pm Good Friday Worship
April 5 (Mark 16.1-8) Hope & New Life in Christ
Consider the questions you have about grief, dying, and death. If you have opportunity, share your wonderings with a trusted friend.
Read Mark 1.9-15. We find our hope in the community that gathers to claim our adoption by God as beloved children. Jesus experienced the depths of God’s love in the River Jordan and then was driven into the wilderness before beginning his ministry. His ministry was grounded in the relationships of his disciples and those who gathered around him on the way. Many of these people are the same ones who ended up accompanying Jesus in his death.
Take time to wonder about these questions: Have you ever felt deep love while accompanying a loved one in dying? If so, what was that experience like for you? Have you ever been driven into a wilderness while accompanying a loved one in dying? If so, what was that experience like for you?
We invite you to use this poem by John Henry Newman throughout the season of Lent at the close of your day:
O Lord, support us all the day long, until the
shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and
the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is
over, and our work is done. Then in your
mercy grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest,
and peace at the last.