Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! Today is Ash Wednesday! I hope you will join us today to usher in the season of Lent at either 1:30pm or 7:00pm for our services of imposing ashes.  

Throughout the season of Lent, you will also notice some differences in our service music. You will recall that before last summer, we had sung the same Doxology (“Praise God from whom all blessings flow…”) and Gloria Patri (“Glory be to the Father…”) for many years. Then, last summer, we changed what we sing during those parts of our worship. You will recall that there were two reasons we made these changes: 1) to encourage diversity in our language for God, and 2) to introduce variety into our musical selections. Throughout Lent, instead of singing the Doxology, we will be singing Kyrie Eleison (Hymn 579), which is an ancient Greek phrase that simply means “Lord, have mercy.” The season of Lent is meant to be a serious and somber time to reflect on our need for God’s mercy and grace, and singing the Kyrie Eleison will reinforce that message to us during worship. Likewise, we will be singing a new Gloria called, “Praise to God the Father” (Hymn 605) which is based on a traditional West African song called Da n’ase (meaning, “Thank you, God.”) These songs will help us to faithfully observe Lent, and then we will choose other ones once we reach the season of Easter.  

I also want to mention that, throughout Lent, our theme of worship will be “Wisdom for Lent,” as each Sunday’s sermon will focus on the readings from Proverbs from our one-year Bible reading journey. The book of Proverbs is full of godly wisdom, such as yesterday’s reading: “A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered” (Proverbs 17:27). Perhaps this Lent, as we consider what we might abstain from, we can give up being quick to speak and replace it with being eager to listen. The Prayer of St. Francis encourages us: “O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek… to be understood as to understand.” I recently read a similar idea from the organizational psychologist Adam Grant, who said that to be a better critical thinker you should “be 10% more skeptical of people you agree with, and 10% more charitable to people you disagree with.” That’s good wisdom!  

Lastly, as you heard during the Faith Forward Update on Sunday, if you have any questions or feedback about changes being introduced by church leadership, tomorrow, March 6, from 11am - 4pm, feel free to drop in to the pastors’ offices and talk with them. Or, Session members will be available to talk with and listen to you following each worship service this Sunday, March 9.  

Blessed Lent, 

Pastor Aaron