April 6 - Good Friday Service, 7:00 p.m.
April 8 - Easter Services, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00 a.m.)
The best evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is the people of God living resurrected lives.
Harbor Covenant has been an exciting place lately! Recently I have been heavily involved in helping newcomers plug in to Harbor Covenant and with what God is doing among us. I've learned quite a bit about our church as well as our visitors:
- Did you know that we have had five and a half times more visitors in 2011 than we did in 2009?!
- Did you also know that if all the visitors in 2010 and 2011 plugged in and stuck with us the church would have already more than doubled in size?
- Did you know we have had almost 50 new people participate in our newcomers luncheon since November?
- Did you know that Easter Sunday swells our attendance to double?
On Easter Sunday some of our visitors will be family from out of town and nominal church attenders that show up a couple times a year. But that's not the whole story. On Easter Sunday we will have a significant population of visitors that will show up because they have been invited by a friend, co-worker, neighbor, or family member. Furthermore, we will also have a significant population of visitors that will come on their own and spend the morning with us because they are spiritually curious, intrigued by Jesus, looking for hope, and starving for an encounter with a loving God.
We are doing a much better job of welcoming newcomers and helping them plug into the church but we can do better.
We need your help.
How can we come together and celebrate the resurrection and not be concerned about dozens if not hundreds of people with us that day that are not yet following Jesus? If you have or are going to invite one of your 3's, a co-worker, neighbor, or friend that is not yet a follower of Jesus to Easter, great! You have your hands full and we pray that you love and support that person and be fully present with them while they are with you here at Harbor Covenant.
If you are not inviting someone who is not yet a follower of Jesus to one of the Easter services please help us create a welcoming community for those that are and for those visitors that will show up on their own. Please e-mail us and let us know how you can help. For greeters, plan to attend one Easter service and serve at another.
- Parking Lot Greeters - 8 people at 8:00 a.m., 8 people at 9:30 a.m., & 8 people at 11:00 a.m.
- Greeters at entrances - 4 people at 8:00 a.m., 4 people at 9:30 a.m., & 4 people at 11:00 a.m.
- Propane Patio Heaters - 2 heaters for visitor area on patio
- Visitor Table & Canopy Tent Set Up & Tear Down - 4 people
Why Ash Wednesday?
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. The early church determined that the Lenten period of fasting and renewal should correspond to Christ's fasting (Matthew 4:2), and by counting forty days back from Easter (excluding Sundays, which remain "feast" days), arrived at the Wednesday seven weeks before Easter.
At one time Lent was primarily viewed as a period during which converts prepared for baptism on Easter Sunday, but later the season became a general time of penitence and renewal for all Christians. And Ash Wednesday became the day that marked the beginning of the Lenten renewal.
Why "Ash"?
Ashes have a long history in biblical and church traditions. In Scripture ashes (dust) symbolize frailty or death (Genesis 18:27), sadness or mourning (Esther 4:3), judgment (Lamentations 3:16), and repentance (Jonah 3:6). Some traditions also have considered ash a purifying or cleansing agent.
All these images are caught up in the church's use of ashes as a symbol appropriate for Lent. We recognize that we are sinners, but forgiven sinners. We lift high the cross. We go though Lent with renewed gratitude to Christ, with new discipline and dedication.
