This week’s Sunday School lesson – Singing for God. Acts 16:16-40. Paul and Silas sing their way to baptizing a guard in Philippi.
Plus PENDER ALLSTAR ENSEMBLE sing (and hopefully tickle your funny bone), Whiteboard Comics retelling Paul sings, Laurie Lett signs Psalm 100:1.
Watch. SHARE! Peace.
A brief Ash Wednesday Service will be held, Feb. 26, 7:00 pm in the sanctuary. Burned palm branches from last Palm Sunday will provide the ashes. The service will include scripture, prayers, hymns, as well as the imposition of ashes.
Pastor Marg is also offering ashes to the Pender Hill Preschool parents and staff at the time of drop off on Ash Wednesday at 9:30 am. The sign of ashes on the forehead is a powerful symbol of repentance and marks the beginning of Lent.
Your participation is encouraged.
And Chuck Knows Church says…
Ever seen a little smudge mark on someone’s forehead as they walk out of church? That’s a sign of the cross and it means it’s Ash Wednesday during Lent.
Chuck tells you about this important worship service:
While many think of actions such as the imposition of ashes, signing with the cross, footwashing, and the use of incense as something that only Roman Catholics or high church Episcopalians do, there has been a move among Protestant churches, including United Methodists to recover these more multisensory ways of worship. This is in keeping with a growing recognition that people have multiple ways of learning and praying.
Worship that is oriented to the intellect or to the emotions, both interior, leaves out those who engage in prayer through vision, smell, touch, movement, and so forth. We are increasingly aware that people are formed in faith when practices become embedded in memory, nerves, muscles and bone through sensory engagement.
United Methodists have had resources for worship that include the imposition of ashes since 1979 when Ashes to Fire was published as Supplemental Worship Resource 8. This practice became part of our official worship resources in 1992 when General Conference adopted The United Methodist Book of Worship. See the service for Ash Wednesday, p. 321-324. It is, of course, optional and no congregation or individual is required to use it.
Other such practices were adopted in 1992. SeeThe United Methodist Book of Worship for:
This FAQ was prepared by Rev. Daniel Benedict, Center for Worship Resourcing, The General Board of Discipleship.
The original article is at http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/when-did-united-methodists-start-the-imposition-of-ashes-on-ash-wednesday
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16
Chrismon Tree. Did you know that Pender has a Chrismon Tree in the sanctuary during Advent and at Christmas time?
Do you know what do those symbols mean on the tree? Who made them and why?
Ornaments made from Christian symbols (or Chrismons, a contraction for ‘Christ monograms’) were first developed by Frances Spencer and the women of the Ascension Lutheran Church in Danville, VA. Many churches display a Chrismon tree during the Advent and Christmas season decorated with handmade ornaments.
Pender’s ornaments were made by our Prayer Shawl Ministry in 2013 (At that time, it was called Casting God’s Love). This is a sample of what they made using a technique called counted cross stitch:
In the video below, Chuck talks about the Chrismon Tree.
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