UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Begin your journey to the Easter Resurrection with the Upper Lake Community United Methodist Church as they observe Ash Wednesday at the Feb. 18 service, which will include the Disposition of Ashes. 

The service begins at 6 p.m. at the church, located on the corner of First Street and Clover Valley Road in the town of Upper Lake.

Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance and spiritual discipline.

Even our singing changes: where Advent in December brings carols, Lent brings songs with a particular emphasis on repentance.

During the Ash Wednesday service Pastor Wanda Celli will lightly rub the sign of the cross with ashes onto the foreheads of worshipers.

The use of ashes as a sign of mortality and repentance has a long history in Christian worship.

It is tradition to save the palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday service to burn to produce ashes for this service.

The ash cross on the forehead is an outward sign of our sorrow and repentance for sins.

The church's annual prayer vigil will run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., at which time they will gather for the Ash Wednesday service. 

After Ash Wednesday you are welcome to join church members on their Lenten journey through Holy Week and Easter Sunday.

A future article will discuss the many services planned for Holy Week at the United Methodist Church in Upper Lake.