The Christian Community of Churches, made up of Christian congregations in the lower portion of Sussex County, Del. east of Route 113, will again be conducting its long-established Wednesday Evening Lenten Services of Worship.
The third such service for the 2016 Lenten season will be held at Community Lutheran Church, 30897 Omar Rd, Frankford, starting at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 2. A light soup-and-salad supper at Community Lutheran Church is at 6 p.m. preceding the evening worship.
“People come for a nice meal, fellowship and a different type of preacher than they’re used to,” said the Rev. Peter G. Maurer, a CCC spokesperson.
Worship is in the usual style of the host church, according to Maurer. He said this is an opportunity to worship and share with the various congregations and denominations in the CCC, as well as become familiar with the work of Christians in meeting the needs of the disadvantaged in Sussex County.
Maurer said the Joint Lenten Worship Service, which has been a part of the spiritual landscape in lower Sussex County for 26 years, can be traced back to the early days of the Southeast Sussex Ministerium. He said the SSM, which later became the CCC, started as a group of ministers from various churches who discussed matters related to their ministries. He said the group believed conducting joint Lenten services would be a “good opportunity to have something to do spiritually.”
“Lent is a time to kind of get us back on track with our spiritual lives,” Maurer said. “It’s a time when we’re looking toward Good Friday and Easter Sunday…And it is a time for us to take stock and see where we are.”
The worship service is open to the public. All free-will offerings will be for use by the CCC in assisting those in the community needing emergency help with daily living expenses, Maurer said.
The CCC is made up of the following Christian groups in southeastern Sussex County: St. Martha’s Episcopal Church, Bethel Tabernacle, High Tide Church, Frankford UMC, Frankford Presbyterian Church, The Father’s House, Bethany Beach Christian Church, Mariners’ Bethel UMC, Millville UMC, Union Wesley, The River Wesleyan, St. Ann’s Catholic Church, Ocean View Presbyterian Church, Ocean View Church of Christ, St. George’s UMC, Community Lutheran, Sound UMC, Roxana UMC, Salem UMC, and The Odyssey Church.
The locations for the Wednesday Evening Lenten Services for the remainder of the Lenten season are: March 9 at St. Martha’s Episcopal Church co-hosted with Bethany Christian Church, Bethany Beach; and March 16 at Saint Ann’s Catholic Church, Bethany Beach, with soup and salad supper preceding.
For more information, call (302) 537-5944.
