This Sunday is the first Sunday in Lent and we are beginning a new sermon series for Lent en-

titled “Boot Camp for the Soul”. Lent is a season of intentional preparation for Easter and liv-

ing a wholehearted Christian life. The Apostle Paul utilizes the language of the athlete as a

metaphor for the Christian life (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Athletes enter into a training boot

camp to get them ready for their competition. Lent provides us a chance to intentionally re-

orient our lives. We will walk this season together, demanding the best of ourselves, ready to

support one another, and prepared to see truths that shatter our self-understanding and in-

stead see ourselves as God’s beloved children, sent into the world to proclaim His Good

News. I hope you will join us as we seek to put ourselves in postures of receptivity to be

changed by the Holy Spirit into the image and likeness of Jesus Christ to the glory of God the

Father. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

In His love,

Pastor Nick

3/1 Lenten Mission Project collection by children

1st Sunday in Lent

3/2 Property Mtg. @ 6:00 pm

3/3 Women’s Association Mtg. @ 6:30 pm

3/4 Lenten F.E.A.S.T. begins @ 5:30-7:30 pm

3/8 Sacrament of holy communion celebrated

3/10 Deacon/Session Mtgs. w/ dinner @ 5:30 pm

3/11 Ruth Circle resumes @ 1:00 pm

3/11 F.E.A.S.T. @ 5:30-7:30 pm

3/16 Deborah Circle @ 6:30 pm at church

3/16-3/22 Pastor Nick will be on study leave

3/18 F.E.A.S.T. @ 5:30-7:30 pm

3/22 Trinity Choir at Riverdale at 6:00 pm

3/25 F.E.A.S.T. @ 5:30-7:30 pm

March Anniversaries

3/5 Jason & Liz Cagnon

3/22 Chuck & Janice Adamski

March Birthdays

3/1 Mark Muslin

3/4 Brenlee Knox

3/11 Michael Duganich

3/14 Logan Gregory

3/14 Harper Shaffer

3/16 Chuck Adamski

3/16 Rich Palmer

3/20 Frank Waryck

3/21 Daniel Fox, Sr.

3/23 Casey Honess

3/25 Betty Solinski

3/27 Evelyn Cagnon

3/27 Kasey Hoth

3/29 Debbie Ceccarelli

3/29 Sam Snatchko

Lenten Mission Project

Again this year the children will be collecting money for

clean water. The well will be in the sanctuary from

until April 5. Our goal this year is to collect $3000 for

two water projects. We will still be collecting for a well

in a developing nation, but there is a community in

Butler County where 50 – 60 families lost their clean

water to fracking by gas companies in 2011. The White

Oak Springs Presbyterian Church serves as a water

bank for these families, ordering 200 to 400 gallons of

water a week, to distribute to the families needing

clean water. Please remember these people when you

are drinking clean water.

There will be a loose offering, collected by the children

on March 1 and April 5, for the support of these two

water projects.

A Lenten history lesson

Though the date of Easter varies, the majority of the Lenten season occurs during March. In fact, the word Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon words lenctentid (meaning “March”) and lencten (meaning “spring”). The first reference to Lent dates back to 325 AD, in one of the 20 canons decreed at the council of Nicaea. By the eighth century, Christians started observing Lent, and a 10th-century monk named Aelfric connected the use of ashes and “the Lenten fast” to the pre-Easter period. Lent lasts 40 days to represent Jesus’ time in the wilderness, when he was tempted by the devil. The six Sundays that occur between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday aren’t counted as part of Lent; instead, as the traditional day of worship, they’re considered “mini-Easters.”

The Homebound Person of the Week:

Nancy Shade

Beaver Elder Care, Room 22

Aliquippa, PA 15001

PRAYER PERSON:

Shirley Fluharty

200 Westfield Dr., Apt. 103

Aliquippa, PA 15001

WOMEN’S RETREAT: SAVE THE DATE!

WHEN: APRIL 24-26

Ladies-mark your calendars for our annual

Women’s Retreat! We will once again be

staying in a beautiful cabin in the

Pennsylvania Wilds. You will have your

own private bedroom, great food, lots of

laughs , Bible study and will enjoy working

on a service project. The cost is generally

around $150.00.

If you have never attended and want more

information, speak with Patti Strominger

on Sunday or by emailing her at

pattistr@gmail.com

LITTLE FREE PANTRY

We are collecting Munchies in March! Cereal bars, granola, cookies, raisins, fruit cups, fruit roll ups, etc.

Individually wrapped!, please!

LENTEN F.E.A.S.T.

"Won't You Be My Neighbor?: Learning how to be a

good neighbor from Mr. Rogers"

When? March 4 - April 8

Time? 5:30 - 7:30 pm

Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love

God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all

your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Which

leads us to the questions, who is our neighbor?, and

how do we love them? Mr. Rogers has much to say on

these matters. As our Lenten practice this year, Mr.

Rogers will teach us and demonstrate to us what loving

our neighbors as ourselves can look like. I hope that

you can join us.

Pastor Nick

This is a perfect book to read with your children while collecting spare change for the Well Mission Project during Lent.

Princess Gie Gie’s kingdom is a beautiful land but clean drinking water is scarce in her small African village. And try as she might, Gie Gie cannot bring the water closer; she cannot make it run clearer.

She dreams of a day when her village will have cool, crystal-clear water of its own.

Enjoy these photos from Story Time this week!

Our story time theme in February is kindness. “Be kind to one another.” Ephesians 4:32

Enjoy these photos from Story Time

We ended the month’s theme of kindness by having the chil-dren raise a “sunbeam” each time they heard that word while singing “Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam”. During activity time, the children enjoyed brushing away the stain caused by pop and juice on “teeth” (hard boiled eggs) with Pastor Nick.