We observed Ash Wednesday this past Wednesday, and with that entered into the Lenten season! Worship Designer, Marcia McFee says, “Lent is often known as a time of giving something up in order to make room in our lives for spiritual pursuits. Rather than just “giving up” in Lent, the scriptures ask us to consider all that Jesus is “up to” and all that he asks us to be up to in his name. Instead of bemoaning what we can’t do, or used to do, in a culture where “measuring up” to external standards seems impossible, this Lent we will celebrate the small things that we can do right now to respond to God's call in our place, for our time.” And with that idea she has created this series titled, “What r u up 2?” which we will be using for this season. 

“We who constitute the [Methodist Church] must find ways to bridge the gap of racial separation in our church, or forfeit the continuing opportunity to preach the Christian gospel of redemption...”  are words by Bishop Charles F. Golden spoken in 1962 at the Convocation on Christian Social Concerns, according to an article on the GCORR (General Commission on  Religion and Race) website, reminding us that there are many unsung heroes and sheroes in our history who we hardly know. One of them was Bishop Charles F. Golden and another is Clara Ester.

Today is the second day of Black History Month in the U.S. Created as Negro History Week in February 1926 by Carter G. Woodson of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, the month aims to encourage “people of all ethnic and social backgrounds to discuss the black experience” (ASALH).