Ash Wednesday or Valentines Day? Either way, it's all about love!

​    Wednesday, February 14 is not only Valentine’s Day around the world, but also Ash Wednesday in Christian churches, and the day Word-Up Wednesday services will resume at 6:30 pm at St. Stephen Lutheran Church, 537 Bolton St., Marlborough.
    As love is the focus for Valentine’s Day, it is also compatible with Word-Up Wednesday worship, notes St. Stephen Pastor Joseph Graumann. 
    “As society celebrates love with hearts and chocolates, Saint Stephen Lutheran Church also offers a chance to celebrate a very different kind of Love. During Lent, we walk with Jesus to the cross, where God’s love is poured out for all of us. This Ash Wednesday, we begin to look to that cross, to remember our own mortality, and to celebrate the depth of God’s love; love even to death.”    
    Old Testament prophecy, contemporary poetry, easy-to-sing music, and participant Bible study are all part of the service, which more resembles a gathering in the catacombs than a formal service in a cathedral. 
    Valentine’s Day began as a Christian commemoration. “Saint Valentine died for the sake of God’s love,” the pastor added. “He literally loved us all to death. What better way to celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day than to celebrate God’s love to the depth of who we are.”
    Word-up Wednesday takes place weekly at 6:30 pm; Sunday worship at St. Stephen is at 9:30 am, with Sunday School running concurrently, followed by coffee and fellowship.
     For more information about the church, visit www.saintstephenlutheran.com or the church’s Facebook page. Saint Stephen is a member of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (www.elca.org)  The church is a Reconciling in Christ congregation, inviting people of every gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, ability, marital status, or class. Parishioners come from Marlborough, Hudson, Berlin, Northborough, Southborough, Westborough, Shrewsbury, Stow, Sudbury, and Bolton.
    The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the nation’s largest Lutheran church, with approximately four million members split into 65 synods, or territories, across the United States and the Caribbean.