On Ash Wednesday we are reminded of our mortality with the "imposition of ashes." Receiving these ashes (which are the burned palms from the previous Palm Sunday) are a central part of humbling ourselves before God by confessing our sins and receiving forgiveness. We are offering two Ash Wednesday Services in the CLS barn, the evening one is in partnership with the members of United Church of Christ of East Goshen.
AFTERNOON SERVICE, 12-12:40 PM:
Led by Rev. John Woodcock, Pastor Emeritus of CLS
Service will include prayer, liturgy, and imposition of ashes
EVENING SERVICE, 7-8 PM:
Led by Rev. Jill Laufenberg of CLS and Rev. Homer Royer of UCCEG
Service will include music, prayers, liturgy, sermon, and imposition of ashes
We will be joining UCCEG in their annual Lenten fellowship, "Prayers & Soup", for five Wednesdays in Lent. Volunteers sign-up to bring soup and/or bread, and each week we experience and reflect on community of prayers from individuals from different faith backgrounds.
WEDNESDAY EVENINGS, 5:45-7 PM:
Join us for soup, fellowship, and a time of spiritual reflection & discussion.
March 12th: Hindu Prayer & Reflection
March 19th: Indigenous Prayer & Reflection
March 26th: Buddhist Prayer & Reflection
April 2nd: Jewish Prayer & Reflection
April 9th: Muslim Prayer & Reflection
If you are interested in bringing a soup, helping with set-up or would like to volunteer to pray at the start of the dinner, CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW!
DEVOTIONAL BOOKLET: Download, print, or create an online bookmark to this 40-Day Devotional Booklet created by the International Council of Community Churches. Each day a Scripture is suggested for your reading. It is recommended that you read and reflect on that whole Scripture before moving on to read and hear the “voice of faith” given in the devotional.
Included in this booklet is a prayer list given as the “Prayer for Today” at the end of each day’s devotional. CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW!
OPEN FOR PRAYER: The Barn Sanctuary will be open every Wednesday during lent for quiet meditation from 9 AM - 8 PM. The grounds of CLS are open daily for anyone to walk, sit, pray, and meditate. This is a place of refuge for our community, please share this gift with anyone who would benefit from the peace they would find here.
MARCH WORSHIP
MARCH 2ND: COMMUNION SUNDAY
Preacher: Jill Laufenberg
Music: CLS Choir
MARCH 9TH
Preacher: Jill Laufenberg
Music: Psalm Choir
MARCH 16TH
Preacher: Jill Laufenberg
Musical Guest: Karen Dannessa, Clarinet
Dr. Karen Dannessa has been professor of clarinet at West Chester University since 2005 where she teaches clarinet and chamber music. She also performs with Quintsylvania Winds, the faculty wind quintet in residence at WCU and with Duo del Sol, an ensemble that “plays with superb chemistry and intonation while creating a wide array of colors and moods” (American Record Guide). She has performed in Greece, the Czech Republic and England. She can be heard on Duo del Sol’s Windward CD, released on the Centaur label in 2015, American Lyrique, a solo CD and on the Capstone label.
MARCH 23RD: HEALING & PRAYERS
Preacher: Jill Laufenberg
Musical Guest:
Kathy DeAngelo, Harp
Dennis Gormley, Flute
Kathy DeAngelo (harp) and Dennis Gormley (flute) have been playing traditional Irish music together as McDermott’s Handy for over 45 years. They live in South Jersey and have been fixtures on the folk music scene for decades. They were inducted into the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame in 2015 in recognition of their contribution to the Irish community, particularly their teaching of traditional music. They’ll be playing pieces from the early Irish harp repertoire, notably from 18thth century harper/composer Turlough O’Carolan.
Bible 101 is currently reading and discussing the Bhagavad Gita. Please join us!
March 4 – Chapters 10 and 11
March 11 – Chapters 12 and 13
March 18 – Chapters 14 and 15
March 25 – Chapters 16 and 17
CLS Book Club
All are welcome to join the CLS Book Club via Zoom at 7:00PM on Monday, March 10th when we’ll discuss “Becoming”, by Michelle Obama. Please bring friends.
Friends on the Journey
Friends on the Journey: During Lent, Friends will be studying the book, A Year to Live by Stephen Levine. Levine (1937-2016) was an American poet and teacher of guided meditation and healing techniques.
He noted that this book is a book of renewal, “not simply about dying but about the restoration of the heart…It is an opportunity to resolve our denial of death as well
as our denial of life…” Using the themes of forgiveness and gratitude and meditation practices, he teaches how to live our lives mindfully.
Dates for Lenten discussions are: March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 3 and 10. All meetings are over Zoom at 7:00 pm. The Zoom link will be available on the Church of the Loving Shepherd website. All are welcome. For more information, please
contact Maureen McGovern after service on Sundays or at simkovich1@comcast.net.
CLS Opportunities
Choir Rehearsal March 1 at 10:00 AM
Interested in singing with our wonderful choir?
Then please join us for a rehearsal in the barn!
The CLS Psalm Choir will also rehearse at 9:15 AM before worship on March 9th.
Our first grounds day of 2025 is this month! We serve between 9 AM- NOON, and volunteers may come for part of the time or the entire time...it is up to you. We need volunteers willing to assist us with a number of projects ranging from picking up sticks, repairing wood on our pond bridge, painting, and removing vines on trees. Please take a look at the list (link is below) and consider lending a hand!
For the month of February, generous CLS members provided 3 meals a week for the Hales family, which proved to be incredibly helpful! Many others provided either Giant or Wawa Gift cards to help pay for gas, as KJ had therapy an hour away (Dupont in Wilmington) from the Hales home (Coatesville).
Fortunately, KJ is now going to therapy closer to home! But the Hales would appreciate another month with the meal assistance. Of course, we are more than happy to continue to help them in their time of need! The details haven't changed...
All food/meals may be dropped off at the CLS Food Pantry freezer. The food will be picked up weekly and delivered to the family.
CLS volunteers will provide 3 meals per week, hence the dates listed are every Sunday until the end of March.
Make a meal or provide ingredients for a meal that can be frozen; i.e. frozen meatballs, a jar of sauce, a box of spaghetti, and frozen garlic bread.
Write on the meal what it is and the date.
Any nonperishables may be placed in a bag marked "Hales Family" and placed on the table by the freezer.
GIFT CARDS ARE WELCOME in place of OR in addition to food. They shop at Aldi and get their gas from Wawa - for driving back and forth to Dupont. Gift cards may be dropped off at the Church office or placed in the offering plate.
We scheduled two sound baths for this month! March 11th and March 24th. One has guided meditation (like our February one) and the other is both singing bowls AND harp.
Sunday, March 9 at 3:00 pm, the Chamber Ensemble of the Chester County Choral Society will present a concert at Central Presbyterian Church in Downingtown.
Tuesday, April 1, 12:00 PM.
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 415 E Athens Ave, Ardmore, PA 19003.
Kathleen Scheide, organist.
Our Food Delivery Team witnessed an amazing outpouring of assistance for both our
bag set up and our packing and delivering for our February food deliveries! Since
many of our regular Foodies were traveling or could not make it, we put out an SOS for extra help for February 19th and 21st. When CLS folks are asked to help, they come! And did they ever! For bag set up and non-perishable food and paper good packing -- 11 wonderful Foodies came and set right to work on 2/19. For unloading the Chester County Food Bank truck, packing and bagging fresh produce, eggs, cheese and delivering to 48 families in the West Chester area -- 26 intrepid Foodies and their friends arrived ready to do whatever was needed!
Thank you to all of you for your help!
Please join us for our next food delivery at 8:30AM, on Friday, March 21st. New
volunteers are always welcome and needed. At that time, we will bag fresh fruits and vegetables, load our cars and deliver to 48 households in our community who are dealing with the burden of food insecurity. We always deliver in pairs or groups and are usually finished by 10:30 if not before. The date for bag set up and non-perishable packing will be announced later in the month.
Thank you to all of you who generously donate paper towels and toilet paper! These
essential items are received by the families we serve with much happiness and relief.
Paper towels, toilet paper and now 50-ounce bottles of liquid laundry detergent are the top 3 choices on our food and essential items survey that our families recently
completed. These items may be placed in the baskets that are in the church narthex. - Ann Bare
If you have any questions, you may contact the church office at 610-692-8280.
Inclement Weather Plan
Any storms that may affect our ability to safely worship in-person will require us to move worship online via a Zoom link. Decisions will be made by noon on Saturday prior and will be announced on Facebook and via email.
Are you NOT GETTING EMAILS from CLS? To be added to our church email list, contact please contact Amos Kohne by calling the church office or by emailing akohne@churchofthelovingshepherd.org
"BEAR HUGS"
An Excerpt of Pastor Jill's Sermon from February 23rd
Based on Luke 6:27-36 and Matthew 5:8
In Matthew 5:8, Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” The opportunity to bring someone comfort is like an opportunity to see God. A pure heart is one that is sincere, unclouded by selfish motives, and free from deceit. It’s a heart that is open and compassionate, capable of reflecting God’s love in a world that can often seem harsh or broken. A pure heart helps us recognize when someone is hurting and gives us the strength to respond in love.
A pure heart is one that notices the suffering of others. It’s quick to act, to step into the pain, and to offer love. We’re not just talking about good intentions here—pure hearts take action. They show up. They respond. And when we do that, we experience God’s presence in a profound way. To see that God is not only about the future or some distant reward, but it’s about experiencing the Divine now, as we love and serve those around us.
In Luke 6:27-36, Jesus gives us a challenging and radical command. He tells us to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, and to pray for those who mistreat us. Jesus is showing us a love that goes far beyond the easier love offered in return for good deeds. This is a love that is extended to everyone—those who are hurting, broken, or even our enemies.
Think about it. When Jesus says, “Give to everyone who asks of you,” He is calling us to live with compassion without hesitation. A pure heart does not shy away from others’ needs. It moves toward the pain, ready to help. One simple but powerful way we can do this is through something as simple as a hug. A hug in someone’s time of need is a way of physically embodying that radical love. It’s a tangible act of comfort. And when that hug comes from a pure heart, (again, one that is sincere and without selfish motives) it becomes a vessel of God’s love, bringing His comfort into that moment.
Now, please don’t think I am telling you to go to WaWa and just start hugging people. I am not. But consider how someone may have figuratively embraced you in a time of weakness, how someone may have met you in a time of brokenness. We are called to do the same for others. We are God’s arms extended to a hurting world.
Jesus says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Mercy is God’s heart for us, and it’s what we are called to extend to others. When we offer mercy, we are acting as the Spirit’s hands and feet. This doesn’t always have to be a grand gesture. Sometimes, it’s as simple as bringing a word of encouragement, or a shoulder to lean on.
You know, these gestures may seem small in the grand scheme of life’s hurts, but in that moment, it can mean everything. It can say to someone, “You are loved. God sees you. You are not alone in this.” A pure heart clears away the noise of selfishness, judgment, or indifference, and it opens our eyes to the people who need us most.
March Office Hours
Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Church of the Loving Shepherd | 1066 South New Street | West Chester, PA 19382 US
