Ashes to go: Starting Lent outside the four walls
These days, you don’t have to darken the door of a church to experience Ash Wednesday. Following a strategy that’s gathering momentum, United Methodist pastors and lay folk will bring the ashes to the...
View ArticleReflections: Lent – Season of regret, with cleansing to come
How can Lent be here already? It seems we were just celebrating Christmas. But Ash Wednesday, Feb. 13, signals the beginning of this solemn season of 40 days. On the High Holy Day of Easter, we will...
View ArticleGive it up – UMs mark Lent by giving up, giving away and helping out
Two or three times a week, Allison Griffin meets business associates at a Starbucks around town. Each time, she pays $3.75 for an iced espresso drink. But during Lent, which began Feb. 13 and ends on...
View ArticleUnusual gift transforms strangers into friends
By Chris Schutz, Special Contributor It all started when Steve Fields of Ponca City, Okla., and his wife, Jennifer, were watching a football game on TV in February 2012. Three months later, Mr. Fields...
View ArticlePretzels: Lent’s official snack
And you thought pretzels were just a salty, crunchy snack. At some United Methodist churches, the humble pretzel is a tasty sign of the arrival of Lent. A few, like Sumner United Methodist in Sumner,...
View ArticleLayman ‘walks with the hungry’ for Lent
COLUMBIA, S.C.—Some people give up chocolate or Facebook for Lent. Some vow renewed commitment to meditation, prayer or evangelism. But a certain few, like Matt Brodie, are embarking on a more extreme...
View ArticleThe ‘Splainer: Ash Wednesday and dirty Christian foreheads
The ‘Splainer (as in “You’ve got some ‘splaining to do”) is an occasional feature in which RNS staff give you everything you need to know about current events to hold your own at a cocktail party....
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