316 North Main Street, Ulysses, KS 67880, US
services of worship
Every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. in the Sanctuary.
Other services may include:
Weddings
Funerals and Memorial Services
Baptismal Services
Baby Dedication Services
GREETINGS FROM PASTOR CRAIG
Friends at SMCC,
ASH WEDNESDAY
The Christmas decorations are all put away until late fall. The Credit Card bills are being paid down from all the on-line shopping for gifts. The Ground Hog has announced that winter will be with us until it’s not. In the midst of this season of recovery and expectation of spring the Church invites you to begin anew, an old journey of faith. The season of Lent is about to begin.
The faithful mark the beginning of Lent with services called Ash Wednesday (this year on March 2). The ashes imposed mark as both believers and as confessors to our humanity. As the liturgy proclaims, “From dust you were made and to dust you shall return.” This is a striking statement to make in our world today because we have such a culture of denial: denial of death, denial of sacrifice for others, denial we are accountable to anyone. The Ashes remind us of our Creator who took the dirt/dust of the land and formed man and woman. The Ashes remind us of our finitude, we who are born will die. The Ashes remind us of our Redeemer who took both our accountability upon himself at the Cross and who holds us accountable as divine judge.
This year there will be opportunities to receive ashes. Pastor Craig will be offering a ‘Drive-up’ Imposition of Ashes Wednesday morning from 7-9am at the corner of Main and Nebraska. A second service will be held at 6:00pm in the sanctuary. Please make the time to come and remember our need for redemption and receive the Ashes of Penitence this Wednesday, March 2nd.
MARDI GRAS
A tradition that comes to us from our French brothers and sisters is the Mardi Gras, or sometimes called FAT TUESDAY or Strove Tuesday. We will be making merry and eating all the things we will give up for Lent on Tuesday, March 1st at 6:00pm. There will be pancakes, eggs, sausage, coffee and juices, New Orleans Dixieland music, beads, boas, and masks, in other words a great evening of fun. Come on over, bring a friend, and enjoy Mardi Gras with us.
LENTEN STUDY
Our daily Lenten Devotional will be given out at Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday Service and in the Narthex starting March 6th. This year we will be reading “Gifts of the Spiritual Wilderness: A Lenten Devotional” by J. Dana Trent. Rev. Trent writes: “We are no strangers to places of drought. The world’s grit has left us parched. Years of communal and individual loss, grief, violence, injustice, oppression, and unrest have exhausted us. But what does this unruly, scarce, and wild landscape teach us about faith, spirituality, and God? This study will help us contemplate, process and explore how Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness intersects with our own 21st century experiences.”
Please take advantage of this study as we all walk the Lenten road to Jerusalem, the Upper Room, Golgotha, the Tomb, and the joy of Easter.
THE GOAL OF THIS LENTEN JOURNEY
One of my spiritual heroes was Father/Brother Henri Nouwen. A Belgium born and raised Catholic who in his adult years both ministered and taught at Yale University before closing his ministry as an Aid in a Home for Physically and Emotionally Impaired persons in Toronto, Canada.
Father Nouwen has this series of simple questions that I pray we can all both mediate upon and take into our beings this season of Lent and forever. He writes: “Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions.”
A Bookmark with these questions will be in the March 6th bulletin for all to take home. If we can answer these questions daily, using the season of Lent to internalize the power behind the words, we will be a changed congregation that will lead others into the Promised Land of God’s grace and love.
In His Service,
Pastor Craig