2012 Season of Lent at St. Matthew's UMC
Please join us for the following Lenten activites.  Previous church affiliation is not required and we invite all members of the surrounding communities to be a part of this special time at St. Matthew's.

Lenten Sermon
Series

"High Cotton"
Youth Musical
Mar. 11

Youth Lenten
Dinner
March 29

Palm Sunday Worship
(Traditional & Contemporary)
Apr. 1

Prayer Path
for Youth
Apr. 1

Community Easter
Egg Hunt
Apr. 7

Easter Sunrise Service
(led by youth)
Apr. 8

Easter Sunday Worship
(Traditional & Contemporary)
Apr. 8

Save the Date
Community Family
Service Day
Apr. 14

Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sunday, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday.  Lent COMES FROM THE Anglo-Saxon word lencten, which means ‘spring’.    Historically, Lent began as a period of preparation for baptism by converts and has now become a time of penance by all Christians. Traditional Christian observances of Lent include fasting and penitence, both in preparation for Easter and as a way of spiritually “joining” Jesus with the fasting and meditation he did in the wilderness.
 
The First Sunday of Lent describes Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, and the Sixth Sunday (Passion/Palm Sunday), Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his subsequent passion and death.  During Lent we are to spend intentional time and attention our relationship with God.  In these 40 days of wilderness we will experience God’s presence and be renewed and ready to celebrate the risen Christ anew in our own lives. 

Ash Wednesday Pancake Supper - Wednesday, February 22nd

Please join us at 5:30 PM in the Social Hall for our annual Ash Wednesday Pancake Supper.  Come anytime between 5:30 - 7:00 PM, church affiliation is not required.  Suggested donation is $7.00 per person and no more than $25 per family of four.  All donations go to support our youth programs.  No RSVP required, just come on in!  After you eat, please feel free to join us for our Ash Wednesday Service taking place in the Sanctuary at 7:00 PM.

Lenten Wednesday Evening Services - Beginning Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22nd

Every Wednesday from Feb. 22 through Mar. 21 at 7 pm we will worship together and explore how we have discovered God in the wildernesses of our lives. Each service will last 30-45 minutes and include prayer, communion, Scripture, reflection. Come join us on our journey through the wilderness and discover what God has in store for all of us together.