Welcome to Our Blog

 Dear Paw Creek Community,

We bring you greetings as the calendar turns our attention to the season of Lent.

During Lent (which lasts six weeks from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday), we say we are “preparing ourselves for Easter”. Maybe it would be better to say we are “being prepared for Easter.” Just as the joy of resurrection is hollow unless we have “been prepared” by the pain of crucifixion, and just as the miracles of life mean little unless we have “been prepared” by the struggles - so too the celebration of Easter needs some time of being prepared to become a true celebration. That is what Lent is for.

This year, knowing that we cannot plan on the usual rhythms of Lenten worship and study, three of our church committees have worked together to offer a different way of “being prepared”. Enclosed here you will find a booklet of Lenten Devotions:The Way to Shalom: A Lenten Journey to Peace and Wholeness, published by Presbyterians Today magazine. As stated in the introduction to the booklet:

While Lent is a time for prayer, fasting, service and contemplation, at the top of our list should be a prayer for the acquisition of peace. This year for the season of Lent, we invite you to reflect upon the gift of shalom, the Hebrew word for peace. In the Bible, shalom can be translated not only as peace, but also as tranquility, security, well-being, health, welfare, completeness and safety. How can we receive this gift of shalom and, in turn, bestow it upon the world?

We invite you and your household to read and reflect on these devotions each day AND we have also prepared a pandemic-friendly way for us to share our thoughts so that we can learn from each other each day through an on-line blog. Even if you have never used a blog before, we invite you to give it a try! By checking it each day, you can easily see what other members of the church family are thinking, and perhaps you will be moved to add thoughts of your own. We will also be sharing some of these thoughts during worship each Sunday in Lent, so that you can be part of the conversation whether or not you want to use the blog.

Here are the practical details:

• There is a copy of the booklet enclosed for your household - if you need more copies or would like to have a copy sent to friends in the community, please get a message to Kim in the church office.
• The booklet is also available as a PDF at https://www.presbyterianmission.org/wp-content/uploads/Lent-2021.pdf
• Our new Blog, Reflections from Paw Creek can be found at pawcreekreflections.blogspot.com. The link is also available on the church website at pawcreekpc.org.
• A copy of the daily devotion will post on the website early each morning beginning Ash Wednesday, February 17. All you have to do is click “comment” under the devotion and then you can leave a comment and read what everyone else has to say.

We pray that this will be a blessing for our church in this unusual year, and we look forward to seeing what everyone has to say!

Karen Cathey (Congregational Care), Debbie Taylor (Worship), Barbara Ullem 

(Christian Education), Elliott Hipp (Pastor)