Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent is a time of the church year that I have come to love more than the rest. Yesterday, the Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa observed Ash Wednesday in the midst of an HIV and AIDS workshop at a nearby venue in Johannesburg. 19, 2015, on her blog, “Little Ginger Big World.” Republished with the permission of the author. Due to the violent nature of some of these texts we will be engaging with, we ask that any middle schoolers who will be attending MUST bring a parent.Allison Westerhoff is an ELCA missionary in South Africa. Inspired by SHIFT’s question “What is that doing in the Bible?” we will gather via Zoom (1:30 PM) to read, learn and discuss some of these difficult texts and take a deeper dive in the many wildernesses that we encounter not only in the bible, but perhaps also in our world today. Thank you to all who participated in our first round of Stories from the Wilderness! Last Sunday, we read through some of Exodus and met Miriam and the Israelites as they begin their journey into the wilderness. This week we will meet Jephthah’s daughter in Judges 11:29-40! If you missed our first session, you are more than welcome to join when you are able for our INTERGENERATIONAL journey of (re)discovering some of the lesser told stories from the wilderness found in our Bible. Daniel Yang will preside over Communion–so save a hot cross bun (or special Easter treat of choice) to celebrate with the Sacrament with us virtually!

Finally, LAC will hold one service on Easter (4/4) morning at 10:00 a.m.

Details regarding time and location are still being confirmed, but watch out for an update in Church Notes.

For early risers, our ecumenical partners will gather for an in-person sunrise service on Easter morning.

On Good Friday (4/2), we will share in a midday service with special music and space to meditate on scripture at 12:00 p.m.Maundy Thursday (4/1) will be led by our Hudson River Presbytery leaders and will be streamed Live on Facebook (and not LAC’s website) at 6:30 p.m.We invite you to have a palm frond or hard house-plant ready to wave while we shout “Hosanna!” and sing “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.” (Read more below about a special opportunity to submit your Palm Sunday Greetings!) Palm Sunday (3/28) will be a regular Sunday morning (10 AM) worship service, led by Rev.Here is the game-plan for our online worship together:

Script for imposition of ashes