BROWNINGTON — The Orleans Federated Church and Brownington Congregational Church hosted a joint Ash Wednesday service and free lunch on February 22nd for the greater community.
The service was organized as such that anyone could attend for meaningful worship, acceptance of ashes and lunch in-person or to-go for those on their lunch breaks.
Rev. Alyssa May & Rev. Mary S. Hoadley said they were thrilled to bring back the joint worship after a hiatus since 2020.
Rev. May and Rev. Hoadley have been working as a team since 2019 when Rev. Hoadley started her Field Education Placement at OFC.
Now ordained, Rev. Hoadley is the pastor of BCC.
One of their first projects was a joint Ash Wednesday Service and then soon after, many of those projects were launched virtually due to the global pandemic.
“It’s just so good to be back together. You just never know who you might get and today we had to keep adding chairs to the circle,”said Rev. May.
There were multiple churches represented for worship as Chris Reed shared her talents as pianist and many hands shared in making fresh bread, soups and other treats.
“We need community. Today, in my sermon, I reminded our group, we are called to be with each other. Sometimes that might be in a lunch hour service, other times it’s in the great joys or deepest pains of life. No matter what, in this life, we are going to need each other. One thing our UCC churches offer us, is a safe, open and affirming place for people to find community and maybe even a little Jesus too.”
The service offered multiple resources such as a Lenten Calendar to help fill the food shelf, a prayer a day and weekly devotional guide.
