Please join us this Wednesday, March 9, at 6:20 p.m. in the Sanctuary for our Ash Wednesday worship service. This service will follow our weekly fellowship meal (5:30 p.m.); all ages are invited to participate.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day season of preparation for the celebration of Easter. At one time Lent served primarily as the time of instruction during which converts prepared for baptism on Easter Sunday. Over time it has developed into a period of penitence and renewal for all Christians. The Ash Wednesday worship service allows us to ponder our mortality and need for salvation, providing an option for worshippers to receive on their foreheads the sign of the cross. This sign proclaims both our need for Christ and our identity in Christ, a beautiful truth to claim as we prepare our hearts for Easter.

Praying God's blessing upon us all as we walk the path with Jesus. - Gordon Turnbull

The Presbyterian Women will meet Tuesday, March 8, at 11:00 a.m. Gordon Turnbull's Bible lesson will begin at 11:30, and lunch will follow.

We invite everyone in the congregation to join us in saving used commemorative stamps; these will be sold to benefit missionaries. You can bring your stamps to the church office anytime. Such a simple thing can make a difference in spreading Christ's love.

The Catawba Singers, Catawba College's highly regarded concert choir and veterans of Carnegie Hall, will give a concert in our sanctuary at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 10.

The choir is the premier choral ensemble of Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina, and its touring concert choir. The 62-voice ensemble sings selections from the world's greatest choral repertoire, as well as indigenous music, musical theatre, gospel songs, spirituals, and popular songs.

The Catawba Singers are under the direction of Paul E. Oakley, the artist-in-residence in choral music and an associate professor of music at Catawba College, where he is also the college organist.  He is also the music director and principal conductor of the Ethos Consortium, a professional chamber orchestra and chorus in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the organist for Salisbury's historic First Presbyterian Church.  He is also the editor of a choral music series for Colla Voce Music.

In 2008-2009, the Catawba Singers sang a solo performance in New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall, where they also joined forces with the New York Chamber Orchestra and Catawba's world-class vocal faculty soloists for a performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah, under Maestro Oakley's baton.  In 2009-2010 the Catawba Singers performed at the Washington National Cathedral, and sang concerts at the North Carolina ACDA Convention and the North Carolina Music Educators Convention.

Following the college's commencement ceremonies in May, the choir plans to participate in a Catawba College trip to France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.  This tour will include concerts in the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the Church of St. Etienne-du-Mont in Paris; Jesuit Church in Lucerne; St. Michael's Collegiate Church in Munich; and the Cathedral in Salzburg, Austria.