Ash Wednesday Worship Service; February 10, 2016; 12:30 - 1:00 pm and 6:30 - 7:00 pm

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent, a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline.  It emphasizes two themes:  our sinfulness before God and our human mortality.  The service focuses on both themes, helping us to realize that both have been triumphed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

During Ash Wednesday services, the minister will lightly rub the sign of the cross with ashes onto the foreheads of worshippers.  The use of ashes as a sign of mortality and repentance has a long history in Jewish and Christian worship.  Historically, ashes signified purification and sorrow for sins.  It is traditional to save the palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday service to produce ashes for this service.  The ash cross on the forehead is an outward sign of our sorrow and repentance for sins.  - Adapted from The United Methodist Book of Worship