This short week from Ash Wednesday to Sunday we begin by preparing our hearts to share God’s goodness.  Have you ever seriously considered what goodness means?  Perhaps that’s a helpful way to begin this Season of Stewardship.  You can follow our suggestions or choose something “good” to do on your own – the goal is one good choice every day!

Lent Sermon 1

March 9, 2014

Stewardship Conversation

OUC’s Stewardship Conversation invites you to a new Season of Stewardship during Lent.  “What’s a Season of Stewardship?” you ask.  It’s a brief period of time when you can focus on “doing good things for others in the Spirit of Christ.” Starting on Ash Wednesday (March 5) and continuing 40 day to Easter Sunday, everyone is encouraged to “share God’s goodness with others.”  Many of us remember Lent as a time to “give up” something important as a spiritual sacrifice; what if, instead of subtracting something from your routine, you added a good thought, or a prayer for others or an act of kindness.  Watch for a list of suggestions each Sunday during Lent to guide your Season of Stewardship.

LENTEN BOOK STUDY
Our book study will wrestle with the question “What matters most?”  We will be using a book by Martin Thielen called “What’s the Least I Can Believe and Still be a Christian?”  The study will begin on Wednesday Feb.26 at 7:30 pm, for seven Wednesdays.  Call Shirley or Peter Holt at 613.841.5143 for more info.

LENTEN ONLINE STUDY:  Rev. Molly and Rev. Glen will host an online discussion of Barbara Brown Taylor’s book, An Altar in the World.  Describing common human experiences like “paying attention,” “feeling pain,” “being present,” and “encountering others,” Taylor invites us to take them seriously and imagine them as “spiritual practices” … as “altars in everyday life.”  And we invite you also.  To register, simply email Rev. Molly (ouc.mollybell@rogers.com) or

Rev. Glen (ouc.glenstoudt@rogers.com) and they’ll include you in their weekly emails discussing the book, a chapter or two a week, beginning Ash Wednesday, March 5.  Then the final session will be a face to face conversation nearby.  The paperback is available new at www.amazon.com for $12.98.