{"id":12539,"date":"2025-03-02T13:40:05","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T21:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mem-umc.org\/mem-umc\/?p=12539"},"modified":"2025-03-05T13:56:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T21:56:32","slug":"ash-wednesday-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mem-umc.org\/mem-umc\/ash-wednesday-2025","title":{"rendered":"Ash Wednesday 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A Circuit<\/abbr> Ecumenical Service<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

March 5 at 7pm<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

First Congregational Church (UCC)
\n<\/strong><\/span>also known as the Big Red Church<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

2131 N. Van Ness Blvd,
\nFresno CA 93704<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Through the\u00a0service of ashes<\/a>\u00a0on the first day of Lent, we come before God recognizing our humanity, repenting of our sin, and remembering\u00a0who we are and who we can be<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Christian season called Lent. Lent originated in the 4th century, and was initially a time of preparation for those being baptized at Easter.\u00a0The ashes symbolize our humility before God, and our recognition that we are mortal.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a time when we reflect on what we need to change in our lives in order to live responsibly and lovingly as a member of the created world. We look more deeply at the observance of Lent over the next 40 days, take a fearless moral inventory of our lives, and look for ways to find more love, peace, and fulfillment in our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

ASH WEDNESDAY AT MEMORIAL<\/abbr><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Wednesday, March 5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Memorial<\/abbr> UMC<\/abbr> church will be open from 8am until 3pm.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pastor Falamao Samate will be available for the imposition of ashes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last updated: March 5, 2025 at 13:56 pm<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Circuit<\/abbr> Ecumenical Service March 5 at 7pm First Congregational Church (UCC) also known as the Big Red Church 2131 N. Van Ness Blvd, Fresno CA 93704 Through the\u00a0service of ashes\u00a0on the first day of Lent, we come before God recognizing our humanity, repenting of our sin, and remembering\u00a0who we are and who we can […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-what-happened-event-over","category-special-services","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t