Pastor’s Column
February 5, 2026
Within two hundred years of Christ’s resurrection, believers began a practice of fasting for three days before Easter. By the time of the Council of Nicaea in 325, the western church chose to set aside a forty-day period for fasting and renewal. This was designated to correspond to the period of Jesus’ temptation during which he fasted in the wilderness for forty days. Sundays were not included in the count because each Sunday was honored as the Lord’s Day, a feast day. Counting back forty days from Easter Sunday, excluding Sundays, one arrives at a Wednesday. This is the day we observe as Ash Wednesday.
In the early church, one simple meal was eaten each day of the forty-day fast. This may be the origin of our soup suppers, meant to be simple meals shared among believers and guests. Soup Suppes will begin on Wednesday, February 25. Soup Suppers are a wonderful opportunity to share the meal and a short devotional with friends and neighbors. Last year, we had a number of visitors from the neighborhood. I hope they will return this year.
The reminder, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return“ was spoken by God to Adam as recorded in the creation account. Genesis tells us that God formed humans from the dust of the ground and breathed into them the breath of life. God gave the humans free will. When they were tempted, they disobeyed God.
Yet God did not leave his beloved creations in a state of despair. God sought them out, provided for them, and protected them by banishing them from the garden. They would never be able to eat the fruit of the tree of life. Thus they were spared an eternal life spent in the toil and pain of the consequences of their disobedience.
Instead, they would die. The dust to which God’s humans would return was God’s rescue from the consequences of their sin. In this redemptive account of human mortality, God’s words, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” are immortalized.
Friends, as we remember our own mortality during these 40 days of Lent, let us always keep our eyes on our destination: Easter morning!
Looking forward,
Pastor Cindy
My dear church family,
In just two short weeks we will gather in the sanctuary to observe Ash Wednesday. As part of the service, we will each have the opportunity for the imposition of ashes on our forehead. The sign of the cross will demonstrate our sorrow for our sin and our commitment to daily repentance during Lent.
One of our Deacons, Dave Phelps, will assist me with the imposition of ashes. As you come forward, Dave and I will say, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” This phrase, from Genesis 3:19, will remind you of your mortality. While ashes are mentioned many times in the Bible, there is no mention of Ash Wednesday.