Worship with Our Neighbors Lent 2026

Each Lent, we join with neighboring churches for seasonal, midweek worship in partnership with the Massillon Area Clergy Association. These gatherings bring together Christians from different traditions for prayer, Scripture, and shared reflection.

​Hosted in rotating sanctuaries across the community, each service offers an opportunity to experience the preaching, music, and worship practices of neighboring congregations. In listening to familiar words spoken in new voices and settings, participants are reminded that faith is both deeply rooted and richly diverse. These shared services cultivate mutual understanding, strengthen relationships among churches, and affirm a common commitment to Christ that extends beyond any single building or tradition.

Our theme for the Lent 2026 season is “Objects of the Passion.” Throughout Lent, we will reflect on ordinary, tangible items that carry extraordinary meaning in the story of Jesus’ suffering and love. A basin and towel, used not for glory but for service. A stone, heavy with grief and sealed hope. A cross, rough-hewn and unavoidably central to our faith. These objects help us remember that God meets us not only in lofty ideas, but in real, physical things—water, wood, stone, bread, and wine.

A Rhythm of Table and Word

Each Wednesday evening follows the same simple, hospitable rhythm:

• 5:30 p.m. – A light dinner of soup and salad

• 6:30 p.m. – Worship with Holy Communion

The meal reminds us that we are fed by grace even before we come to the table of the Lord. Worship centers us in Word and Sacrament, grounding our Lenten journey in God’s promises rather than our own efforts.

Each service will be hosted at a different church, with a preacher from another congregation, reflecting the richness of the wider body of Christ. This shared leadership is a visible sign of our unity in Christ, even as we come from different traditions.

Lent 2026 Midweek Worship Schedule

All services include Holy Communion and are open to all.

• February 25 St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 127 Cherry Rd NE, Massillon, OH 44646

  • Preaching: Rev. David Oliver, First United Methodist Church

• March 4 First Baptist Church, 20 Sixth St. SE, Massillon, OH 44646

  • Preaching: Rev. Mark Kreemer, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

• March 11 St. John’s UCC, 101 Tremont Ave SE, Massillon, OH 44646

  • Preaching: Rev. George Baum, St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church

• March 18 Christ Lutheran Church, 3545 Amherst Ave NW, Massillon, OH 44646

  • Preaching: Rev. Oliver Kling, St. John’s UCC

• March 25 First United Methodist Church, 301 Lincoln Way E, Massillon, OH 44646

  • Preaching: Rev. Tina Crog, St. Jacob’s Lutheran Church

Come as You Are

You are welcome for one week or all five. You are welcome whether Lent is familiar or complicated, whether faith feels steady or fragile right now. Come hungry—for soup, for grace, for a word of hope that meets you where you are.