Ash Wednesday in Holladay Park

“Takin’ It to the Street”

Jesus wasn’t one to sit around in the synagogue waiting for people to come to him; he went out to the highways and byways to find people and bring them God’s Word of hope and healing!  SO, as followers of Jesus, maybe WE need to “get out more,” and what better time to start this new practice than Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent?!

Yesterday, my Methodist coworker, Reverend Patricia Kessel, and I saw Diana Butler Bass's video clip that told the story of an Episcopal bishop in Chicago who took ashes and went out on the street on Ash Wednesday.  Several people came over to get ashes.  Some of them exclaimed, “Oh yeah, it’s Ash Wednesday!”  One said, “Thank you for bringing the church to us.”  When Patricia and I saw this, we thought, “Hey, we should do this in our neighborhood!”  So, we want to invite you, God’s people in the N, NE, and SE Portland, to join us next Wednesday, February 22^nd, at NE 11^th and Multnomah (Holladay Park across from the Lloyd Center).  We plan to distribute ashes from 12 to 1 pm and just see what the Holy Spirit is up to!

In the meantime, if you feel called to participate, you can e-mail me (pastor@centralportland.org) or Reverend Patricia (revpatricia@comcast.net).

This is exciting…and a little scary, too!  But that’s often the way it is when God inspires us to do a new thing!

God’s Blessings,

Michelle Manicke,

Interim Pastor,

Central Lutheran Church