A special thank-you to all of the youth and adults who made the Mardi Gras pancake supper a very successful event. At the end of the supper the youngest members of the congregation took part in burying the Alleluia banner, which will reappear after the Easter Vigil service on Holy Saturday.

The Lenten series that began on February 20th will continue to run each Wednesday night from 6-8pm until April 17th. The Junior High group will explore "Lessons of Lent" by Mark Zimmermann and the Senior High group will be studying the theme of "Forgiveness."

Lastly, planning for the Maundy Thursday all night vigil is underway. The 8th-12th graders attending the overnight should arrive at the church at 6pm on March 28th. We will be attending the 7pm service together and then taking a short break before the 8:30 youth-planned service begins. After the youth service we will be taking shifts in the garden to keep vigil with Jesus. We welcome any member of the congregation to join us in these shifts as a part of our Lenten journey. Youth will be ready to be picked up at 10am on Good Friday.

Other March Events

• Mar. 7th at 5pm Pizza and a movie, "Simon Birch", for Jr. High

• Mar. 16th at 1:45pm BINGO at White Bear Lake Care Center

• Mar. 23rd at 10:30am Second-year confirmands are serving lunch at the PSP shelter

Rite of Affirmation

At the 9:00 service on Sunday, March 10, we will mark the spiritual journey of our 8th graders with a special Rite of Affirmation. This rite will highlight an important transition toward faith maturity for those completing their last year of pre-Confirmation study. We invite everyone to witness this event and celebrate the spiritual growth of all our young leaders.

Teens Encounter Christ (TEC)

The Spring TEC weekends are just around the corner. We have several Senior High youth group members planning to attend the March 15-17th weekend in Duluth and the April 19-21st weekend in St. Paul. A TEC weekend is similar to a Cursillo weekend and is built around discussion groups and the Episcopal liturgy. There are still applications available for youth who would like to attend and for adults who would like to help work at the weekend. If you cannot attend, but would like to support the weekend in another way, please talk to Alison. TEC weekends keep their costs very low for youth through financial and in-kind donations (baked goods/snack foods) from the Episcopal Church community. When our congregations' lists of candidates are final, we will be letting you all know through the Small Voice. We will be asking for prayers and spiritual support for all of the youth deciding to attend.