Published: April 02, 2009 11:02 pm      

Holy Week services set next week

ASHLAND — Worshippers from a wide range of denominations will join together next week for the annual Community Holy Week Services.

Hosted this year by the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the service each day will include a guest preacher, worship leader and special music.

The services will be Monday through Friday from noon to 12:30 p.m.

The services, which have been observed for more than 25 years, are sponsored by the Ashland Area Ministerial Association and bring the faithful together to celebrate the central tenet of Christianity — the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ, said Rev. Ike Nicholson, pastor at First Christian.

“It’s a real testimony to the central unifying theme of our faith — that Jesus is the Christ,” Nicholson said.

The services will feature preaching by pastors of five area churches:

Monday: The Rev. Richard Suman, Grace Church of the Nazarene, South Ashland.

Tuesday: The Rev. Stewart Schneider, Community Presbyterian, Bellefonte.

Wednesday: The Rev, Jennifer Johnson, First Presbyterian, Ashland.

Thursday: The Rev. Chip Valentine, Calvary Episcopal.

Friday: The Rev. Ike Nicholson, First Christian Church.

“It brings us into the unity of all churches, where we lay down our denominational backgrounds,” said ministerial association president Rev, Henry Mosley, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church.

An offering will be taken at each service to be divided among the Shelter of Hope, CAReS and the Community Kitchen. A light lunch will be provided after each service by Church Women United.

The services are appropriate for worshipers who have limited time during weekday lunch hours or who want to add “a personal discipline of daily worship,” Nicholson said.

Holy week commemorates the last days in the life of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion.