Holy Week at Central UMC

Dear Friends, 

It’s Holy Week, which means a LOT is going on at Central.   

Among other things, it means Easter is only days away.  Easter also provides an excellent opportunity to invite people to church.  If you have someone in your life you have been thinking about inviting, now is the perfect time to do so.  We also know that Easter brings many people through the doors who are not normally part of the Central’s worshiping life.  Easter offers us an opportunity to show Christian hospitality as we welcome visitors.  It is like opening your home to guests.  When we have guests in our home, we want to make the best impression possible and ensure guests feel welcomed and comfortable.  Likewise, we want our guests on Easter Sunday to have a meaningful worship experience and a positive impression of Central.    It is our job on Easter to proclaim the joy of the risen Christ and we want to do that as faithfully as possible. 

We also have special worship opportunities during Holy Week.   

• Our Maundy Thursday service with Tenebrae is at 7:00.  This impactful service recalls Jesus’ institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion and invites us to reflect on the events that led to His crucifixion.   

• On Good Friday we will have a somber service at noon, reflecting on Jesus’ death. 

• On Easter, we will move from the grief of Jesus’ death to the joy of His resurrection with our Easter Sunrise Service.  This service will begin on the Sanctuary porch at 7:30 and move into the Sanctuary after the greeting. 

• We will also have our customary Sunday morning Sanctuary and Well services at 10:30. 

I hope to see you at these special worship opportunities and may you have a blessed Holy Week! 

Yours in Christ, 

Thomas Smith

Ash Wednesday

Dear friends, 

The Season of Lent is nearly upon us, inviting us to spiritual self-examination.  Lent begins on Ash Wednesday with special services inviting us to a season of repentance. 

Repentance is not simply apologizing to God for our sins.  Repentance is spiritually turning toward God and away from the things that distract us from God.  Yes, it involves sorrow for our sins, but it also involves making changes in our lives to keep us from sin.  Repentance is one of the main themes of the Ash Wednesday service, which I always find personally meaningful. 

From time to time, someone asks me, “Why ashes?”  Throughout the Old Testament, ashes are mentioned in connection to dust and sackcloth as signs of mourning and grief.  Ashes were applied to a person’s head and body during times of crisis as a sign of penitence, often accompanied by fasting.  Ashes and dust are also used in conjunction to refer to human mortality.  On Ash Wednesday, we receive ashes as a sign of grief for our sins, to acknowledge our own mortality, and to acknowledge that God alone can save us.  We continue this centuries-old Christian practice as an act of worship as we humble ourselves in God’s presence. 

We will have two Ash Wednesday services in the Sanctuary, one at noon and the other at 6:30.  Both services will include the traditional imposition of ashes.  I encourage you to attend one of these impactful services as you begin the Season of Lent. 

Yours in Christ, 

Rev. Thomas W. Smith

Christmas Eve Worship

Dear friends, 

I love Christmas Eve.  For my family, Christmas Eve means oyster stew, sugar cookies, and me watching the Pope’s midnight mass as everyone else goes to bed.  Most importantly, Christmas Eve provides the opportunity for worship. 

Worship is one of my favorite parts of Christmas Eve.  I am blessed to be in ministry with a church like Central, who does Christmas Eve so well.  This year is a little different since Christmas Eve is on a Sunday.  On Sunday morning of December 24th at 10:30 AM, we will have one combined worship service in the Sanctuary.  This morning service will not be a Christmas Eve service.  Rather, it will mark the Fourth Sunday of Advent.  As such, the morning service will not have Holy Communion and will not have the traditional lighting of candles.  We will have three Christmas Eve services that evening – Sanctuary services at 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM and a Well service at 4:00 PM.  I look forward to seeing you Sunday! 

Yours in Christ, 

Thomas W. Smith
Senior Pastor

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Dear friends, 

We are well into the Season of Advent, and Central is a busy place during Advent!  One of the many ways we mark this time of year is with our annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, which is this coming Sunday afternoon at 4:00.   

Our service of Lessons and Carols is modeled on that of King’s College, Cambridge University.   This well-known annual service is the one most associated with the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. However, this holiday tradition can be traced to Truro, England where the service as we know it was first celebrated in 1880.  Church leaders in Truro were looking for ways to discourage the raucous celebration of the season in pubs and instead invite people to reflect on the true spiritual meaning of Christmas.  As such, they developed a festive service in which Scripture readings recalled the fall of humanity, the prophetic promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus.  The readings are interspersed with Christmas carols, hymns, and choral anthems.  At Central, we continue this tradition as we hear the story of God’s loving interaction with humanity and sing the songs of the season.   

One aspect of the service is that it offers an opportunity to celebrate and support community ministry.  Each year a representative of one of Central’s partner community ministries participates in the service.  We also receive an offering, which goes to support the work of that ministry.  This year our offering will support Lighthouse Ministries and its mission to help our needy neighbors.  Central was instrumental in the founding of Lighthouse Ministries and this is one of the ways we offer ongoing support. 

After the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, there will be a reception with refreshments in Spears Fellowship Hall.  

All of which is to say, I hope to see you Sunday afternoon! 

Yours in Christ, 

Canceled Due to Weather

Dear Friends,

This Wednesday was set to be an exciting time as we resumed Wednesday Night Dinners.  However, out of an abundance of caution, we have made the decision to wait until September 6. While forecasters with the National Hurricane Center believe Idalia will weaken to a tropical storm after landfall, South Carolina could experience four to eight inches of rain, isolated tornadoes, and flash flooding beginning Wednesday. Please monitor your local forecasts and stay informed.

As Idalia approaches, I encourage you to pray for those who lie in the storm’s path.

Yours in Christ, 

Thomas