Ash Wednesday is considered a day to cleanse the soul as the season of Lent begins.
Ashes are used to mark a cross on the foreheads of churchgoers to symbolize repentance for sin. Palm crosses from the last Palm Sunday are burned, and the ash is used to mark parishioners. It is also said to be a reminder that death comes to everyone.
You are invited to celebrate the onset of Lent on Wednesday, March 1, 2017, at any of these eight Morrison, IL, churches.
† Bethesda Lutheran Church, 301 W. South Street, will hold an Imposition of Ashes service at 7:00 p.m. Holy Communion will be available. The service offers songs by the choir. During the following five Wednesdays, the church will hold a soup supper at 6:00 p.m. and “Holden’s Evening Prayer” service at 7:00. The focus is on a sung liturgy. Additionally, during the five Sundays of Lent, Pastor Bob Burton and area ministers will rotate round-robin style to deliver sermons in different towns.
† First Presbyterian Church of Morrison, 100 E. Lincolnway, will offer Holy Communion during the 7:00 p.m. service.
† Morrison United Methodist Church, 200 W. Lincolnway, will hold a 7:00 p.m. service including a Lenten Message, vocal solo, and Imposition of Ashes on the forehead or wrist.
† Our Savior Lutheran Church, 21496 Hazel Road, rural Sterling, IL, will offer Holy Communion during the 7:00 p.m. service, with coffee and fellowship afterward.
† St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 13320 Garden Plain Road, will hold Roman Catholic Masses, at 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., both with the Imposition of Ashes.
† St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church LCMS, 601 N. Jackson Street, will hold an Imposition of Ashes service at 7:00 p.m. Holy Communion will be available only to Lutheran members of the LCMC.
† Spring Valley Reformed Church, 10960 Spring Valley Road, offers service at 6:00 p.m., including Imposition of Ashes.
† St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, 401 N. Cherry Street, will hold Mass at 5:30 p.m. with the Imposition of Ashes, followed by a soup supper. Afterwards the Lenten study guide will be introduced: “Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation.”