Observing a Holy Lent . . .

Lent is the forty days (excluding Sundays) preceding Easter where Christians around the world focus on the I would like to trials and suffering of Christ and our own need for redemption.  Fasting or “giving something up” is a common practice during Lent.  At Salem, we would like to encourage you to “pick something up.”  The purpose of fasting as a discipline is not depravity, but to focus on our spiritual life in Christ.  Rather than focusing on what one may choose to give up, we are encouraged  to consider how we may choose to focus our attention in this holy season on how we may deepen our relationship with Christ.  Below are listed several ways that we will mark this season at Salem this year. Please Join us!

• Lenten Lunches, Noon - Beginnning on Ash Wednesday (March 9) and going through Wednesday, April 13, we will gather at noon in the Fellowship Hall for a light lunch.  Each week, a clergy person from a local church will be here to give a brief devotional.
• Wednesday Evening Prayer, 7:00 pm - We will gather for a time of prayer using a different form  of prayer each week and reading the lectionary texts. This is an opportunity to communally offer prayers on behalf of one another, our community, nation and world. 
• Maundy Thursday/Tenebrae Service - On Thursday, March 24, Sunset, we will gather to rememeber the Last Supper Jesus celebrated with his disciples before his crucifixion and the narrative for Good Friday.  This is a quiet and reflective service where we focus on Jesus' command for us to love as he loved, and where we focus on his sacrificial love in dying on the cross for our sake and the sake of the world.