The 2018 Giving Statements and 2019 Offering Envelopes are currently in the Narthex. All members are encouraged to pick up their statements and envelopes by March 10th, worship service. All remaining statements and envelopes will be located at the church office.
Pastor David will preach a sermon series during Lent titled “The Two Roads”. Following lessons from our lectionary, the series will be based on the poem by Robert Frost, “The Road Less Taken”.
Our Mid-week services during Lent will be a presentation of dramatic readings from Sola Publishing: Pilate’s Investigation: Who Is This Jesus? Join us each Wednesday during Lent for an evening meal at 6:15 PM Our Lenten services will follow at 7:00 PM.
Lenten Meals will be held each Wednesday, March 13th until April 10th.
Lenten meals will be provided by the following groups: March 13th—Lutheran Women,
March 20th—Lutheran Men, March 27th—Youth, April 3rd—Church Council, and April 10th—Brandon and Marie.
Make plans to attend our Ash Wednesday Service on March 6th at 7 PM.
Morning Bible Study will resume on Tuesday, March 5th at 9:30 a.m. in the fellowship Hall. Our topic will be the Mission and Ministry of Paul. Bring along your Bible and a willingness to learn more about the most prolific writer of the New Testament. Bible study will meet weekly each Tuesday morning through the Tuesday of Holy Week, April 16th.
The Lutheran Men will be serving pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, March 5th with the assistance of the Lutheran Women. On March 17th, we will have our monthly meeting at 6:30 PM in the fellowship hall. Gerald has devotions. The cooks for this meeting will be Gerald, Richard, Jake, and Robert. Also, the LM will be serving the Lenten Meal on March 20th. All LM mark your calendars for these upcoming events.
The Lutheran Men will be making Country Sausage on Monday, March 4th. If you would like to purchase BULK sausage at $4.00 per pound, please place your order in advance – you may call or text Robert. The sausage can be picked up Monday from 4 – 6:30 PM in the fellowship hall or at the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper on Tuesday.
Shrove Tuesday, the day before the beginning of Lent, is a favorite church tradition. Mardi-Gras in New Orleans has its Fat Tuesday and King Cake, but pancakes, bacon and sausage are the stars of Shrove Tuesday. The Lenten Fast calls Christians to abstain from sweet and fatty foods and instead focus on Christian discipline such as worship, prayer and reading scripture. Thus, pancakes with sweet syrup are the highlight of Shrove Tuesday.
For centuries, Shrove Tuesday has had many traditions. One such tradition is the Pancake Day Race at Buckinghamshire, England. Legend has it that on Shrove Tuesday 1445, while cooking pancakes, a woman heard the shriving bell which summoned the townsfolk to confession. In her haste to get to the church, she ran through the town still wearing her apron and carrying her skillet of pancakes. Today this is reenacted with a race through the town by women wearing dresses and aprons, carrying skillets with a cooking pancake. Each person must flip her pancake three times before reaching the church. The winner is the one who gets to the church fastest, having three flips of the pancake.
Folklore says that it is bad luck to drop a pancake while flipping it. It is said that Napoleon blamed his failure for victory in Russia because of a pancake he dropped during the French Candlemas. So beware, and don’t drop your pancakes
on Shrove Tuesday. On this eve of Lent, it is also tradition that many Christians take a good long look at their lives and examine just what it is they need to confess. After all, the act of acknowledging and confessing sins is what “shriving” is all about. Having confessed their sins, a traditional practice is to burn the palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday to prepare ashes to be imposed on Ash Wednesday.
This year, Shrove Tuesday falls on March 5th. Join your church family and enjoy a wonderful Shrove Tuesday pancake
supper as we prepare for Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent.
The St. Jacob’s Church Council met for its regular meeting on Feb. 5th.
Good things recognized around the church from January were:
1) Marriage Enrichment Retreat was very good
2) Council Work Retreat was a great way to start the year
3) Kitchen Renovation has started and is on schedule
4) Pastor Pawluk had a good service while Pastor David was away
5) New Sunday School material is working well.
Important motions made during the meeting were, the approval for new internet service to be purchased from ‘Carolina Connect’ and approval to move forward with the reorganization of the St. Jacob’s Ministry Team Structure. Council also approved the reinstating of the “Meals for Mom’s” program to provide food for the parents of newborn’s and to help ease the transition of life at home with a newborn.
Next scheduled meeting was moved to March 7th, to accommodate for Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday services.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew J.
Secretary, St. Jacob’s Council
The Worship & Music Committee has been busy planning and preparing for the upcoming Lenten and Easter seasons. We begin the season of Lent with a service on Ash Wednesday, which is March 6th. On the following Wednesdays, please join us at 6:15 PM for a meal, followed by a brief service based on a Lenten drama from Sola Publishing entitled “Pilate’s Investigation: Who Is This Jesus?”
On Palm Sunday, we will gather in the sanctuary for the reading of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem; please make sure to pick up a palm from one of our youth as you enter the church. The reading of the Passion Gospel will transition us from the jubilance of the triumphant entry into the somber events of Holy Week.
Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services will begin at 7 PM as in the past.
To continue the Pascal Triduum (The Three Days – Maundy Thursday, Good Friday & Holy Saturday), we will have an Easter Vigil service on Saturday, April 20th at 7 PM. For many of us, this will be a new experience and we hope a very meaningful one as we reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice. The Vigil is a joint effort with New Hope Lutheran Church, in which St. Jacob’s is hosting this year.
Easter Sunday will be a bit different this year. After much discussion, and taking many factors into consideration, it was recommended that we have one Festival Communion service for Easter Sunday. Breakfast will be at 8 AM, followed by the service at 9:30 AM. There will be no early service and no Sunday School.
We look forward to having you worship with us.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Laurie
The January Up and Going Meeting was our annual “Soup Pot Lunch”. Eighteen members and guests gathered at 11AM on Thursday, Jan 10th to cook and enjoy a pot of soup. Each person brought something for the soup pot or sandwiches, cornbread, crackers, pimento cheese or a dessert. Once the beef and vegetable soup was ready, the business was conducted with the Treasurer’s report given. Frances gave the devotions; topic was new year, new beginning. We then enjoyed our soup lunch after which Bob quizzed us with several games on new testament trivia. He sent us home amazed with what we knew or thought that we knew. Thank you to all who brought canned goods for We Care. Good food, good fun and good fellowship.
What a wonderful way to start the New Year and spend a cold, windy day.
The February Meeting will be held on Feb 14th at 11AM in the Fellowship Hall. Lunch will be Turkey Stew and trimmings.
Ray will have devotions and a program on Gardening. We will be making bows for our Hospice Bags.
