Weekly Newsletter of the Immanuel Presbyterian Church School

Today is Ash Wednesday

Join us for worship at 7:30 p.m.

Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of Lent and gets its name from the ritual in which a priest or pastor uses ashes to draw the sign of the cross on the foreheads of worshipers, saying “Repent and believe the good news of the gospel” or “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The ritual is a powerful reminder that life is fleeting, that each day is precious, and that all will eventually die. Ashes are also a symbol of repentance, a turning away from sin.

Join us at 7:30 p.m. tonight for Ash Wednesday worship, either at Immanuel or online (livestream link is below). If you join us online, please gather some dirt for imposing ashes and communion elements to join us, virtually, at the table.

Incoming! Lent!

Join us this Sunday for a special Lent @ Home Workshop

beginning at 11:15 in the Peaceable Kingdom

Lent is a 40-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that prepares our hearts and minds to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday.

Join members of the Church School Committee for a special "Lent at Home" workshop this Sunday! Parents will gather with Teresa for a short conversation from 11:15-11:30, and then join children in exploring different ways to practice Lent at home.

There are three themes for Lent: pray, simplify, and give. The workshop will include activities for these themes, including:

• Creating prayer beads and cards to use with meals
• Getting your family's "One Great Hour of Sharing" fish bank
• Learning about different Lenten challenges to try (logging more hours outside, drinking more water)
• Putting the "Alleluia" to rest for the season

All are welcome! Please join us!

Coming Up in Church School

Practice Spiritual Disciplines

Fast

Esther 4:6-17

A new unit begins this week! Through the season of Lent, children and youth will learn about different spiritual disciplines and how consistent practicing of our faith draws us closer to God and one another.

This week's discipline is fasting, which means abstaining from an activity. The purpose of fasting is to use the fast, the time and intention away from something, to draw closer to God.

The book of Esther tells the story of a woman and her Jewish community who respond to deep distress with a communal fast. By hearing how Esther's community fasted together, children and youth will imagine how fasting can proactively strengthen one's relationship to God and to others.

This Sunday is also the first day of the Spring Quarter! Please join me in thanking this quarter's Church School teachers: Sarah Dominguez, Margaret Crowley, Sue Root, David Johnstone, Victor Plantinga, and Johnny Harkey.

Immanuel's "Five Guys" Serve at Divine Intervention

Thank you, youth and parents!

The Confirmation Class of 2024 reunited on Sunday to serve our neighbors at Divine Intervention on Sunday night. Thank you, friends, for showing up to serve!

Wednesday Night Supper & Study

March 12-April 9, 6:00-8:00

Join us each Wednesday evening during Lent from 6:00-8:00 for soup supper, worship, and study. Come for the whole evening, or just for supper and worship. All are welcome!

Child care available upon request; please contact the church office (ipc@immanuelwi.org) to register and let us know if you need child care. Quet spaces will be available for children and youth who need to do any homework following supper and worship.

Save the date for the Upper Room Meal!

Palm Sunday, April 13

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus will again welcome friends to the Upper Room for a special meal and stories from people who knew Jesus. A favorite Immanuel event to begin Holy Week! (And great new, it does NOT interfere with MPS spring break this year! Hooray!)

Attention Youth!

Save the dates for Triennium 2025

in Louisville, Kentucky!

Parent Info Meeting THIS SUNDAY

Attention rising 8th graders through high school seniors! Registration information for Triennium is coming very soon. CLICK HERE to read the note sent out in early December about this summer's special youth experience.

Purple Room Parent Helper

Help needed for the Spring Quarter

Our ongoing recruitment for an adult helper to join the Purple Room each Sunday continues. If you are a parent of a 1st-3rd grader, or just enjoy being with kids, please sign up to assist at least once this quarter.



Click the link below to sign up. Thank you for your help!

Church School Calendar for March

THIS SUNDAY, March 9

• Nursery opens at 9:30
• Church School, 10:30ish-11:30
• Second Sunday's "Lent @ Home" Workshop: parent meeting from 11:15-11:30, Workshop from 11:30-noon

March 12: Wednesday night Soup Supper & Study begins!

March 16: Church School, 10:30-11:30

March 23: Church School, 10:30-11:30

March 30: Church School, 10:30-11:30