From Our Co-Pastors

In the United Church of Christ Book of Worship there is a prayer for Ash Wednesday which states, "As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to struggle against everything that leads us away from the love of God and neighbor. Repentance, fasting, prayer, study, and works of love help us return to that love. I invite you, therefore, to commit yourselves to love God and neighbor and by asking God for strength to persevere in your Lenten discipline. "I love the notion of us struggling against things that separate us from God and one another. I also love the idea that what facilitates that process are Christian disciplines like: repentance, fasting, prayer, study and works of love. Lent begins on Wednesday Feb. 17th which is Ash Wednesday. We will observe this day with a potluck and worship service with other area UCC Churches at the First Congregational Church of Glendale. It begins 40 days of time that we are invited to set aside as "outside the ordinary." Forty days will go by quickly. Why not use that way of marking time by trying a new discipline - start with something you want to change in your life and then find specific ways to work towards that change. Yes, we all want to lose 5 lbs. (or 10 or more?) but what about some internal shift that we have been wanting to make? Is something pressing inside yourself that needs attention? Why not use the church's tools of prayer and study to aid you? Fasting means to deny yourself something, but it does not have to be chocolate or meat. It can be a cessation of a habit or even a way of looking at the world. Repentance means to literally turn away from something and towards something else. What will you turn toward these 40 days of Lent? We hope and pray that the offerings in Lent will support your Lenten disciplines! This newsletter includes a schedule of Lenten events and activities. 

                                                             - Rev. Marlene W. Pomeroy