At SouthWest, we don't always do things in a traditional way. Take the lead-up to Lent, next week. In the Christian tradition, Tuesday is Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, also known as Shrove Tuesday, when traditionally families ate rich, fatty foods to sort of "stock up" before the fasting of Lent. The extent of "fasting" varies among Christian groups, and often means giving up meat, or sweets, or alcohol - or all three - for the forty days leading up to Easter. In modern times we may give up things other than food: everything from cigarettes to social media.
Regardless of what you give up, the day after Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, is traditionally the first day or deprivation. I'm not sure when it started, but at SouthWest we like to do a mash-up of those two days on the Wednesday. So we invite all and sundry to enjoy pancakes and sausages in the church basement, followed by a simple celebration with ashes to officially start us on our Lenten journey. Rev. David will be back from vacation and we hope to see many of you out, weather permitting. After all, it's a SouthWest tradition!
Wednesday, February 14, pancakes at 6PM, followed by celebration.
1445 Clemenceau, Verdun