The season of Lent always seems to sneak up on us much faster than expected! Here are the details you need to be aware of for this year's season of preparation leading up to Easter: 1. Lent officially begins on Ash Wednesday (18 February) and we have an evening service (18h30) on that day where we will be marked with ash crosses on our foreheads as a sign of repentance and our longing to return to God.

This Sunday our gospel reading (John 15:1-10) has Jesus comparing us to branches that must remain connected to the vine if they want to experience life and bear fruit. The passage from John is the set reading for our covenant service (first instituted by John Wesley in 1755) which provides an annual opportunity to renew our commitment to the Vine and the Gardener who tends the vineyard.

At our leaders meeting this week, we prayed Paul's prayer in Phil 1:3-11, giving thanks for many years of fruitful "partnership in the gospel" for Westville Methodist, and asking God for wisdom that we "may be able to discern what is best" going forward.