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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Mt. Nebo/Pleasant Grove Methodist Church is inviting the community to reflect on the Lenten season and enjoy a meal with other community members.

The annual Lenten Lunch returns March 4 and will continue each Wednesday throughout Lent.

Each event will feature a different guest speaker and singer as well as a free meal. The speakers are from a variety of denominations.

Pastor Tony Hughes said he wanted to “issue an invitation to everyone to be our guest as we journey toward Easter.”

“One of the things that really is a joy to me is the fellowship,” Hughes said. “People really enjoy getting together and talking and sharing. We are bringing people together from throughout the community, different churches.”

Hughes tries to have different speakers each year.

Pastor Rex Kent of First Baptist Jemison and Pastor James Watkins of West End Baptist Church will be participating this year for the first time.

“Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on good Friday of Easter Week,” Hughes said. “It is referred to as the great 40 days of Lent. It is a time that the church has for many centuries used to prepare for (the remembrance of) the Crucifixion and the glorious Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Sundays are not counted when calculating the 40 days.

“It is a time when people think more about their lives in Christ as far as their servanthood … prayer life,” Hughes said.

Often a person observing Lent will choose to give up something pleasurable, such as chocolate, for the 40-day season.

Hughes gave the example of if he were to skip a meal once a week then “whenever I get hungry I let it be a reminder to me of what Jesus did for me on the cross when he denied himself.”

Each Lenten event starts with lunch with a variety of soup or chili and dessert available.

The musical guest will present, and then the speaker will present a devotional. Hughes said the plan is to be finished by 1 p.m. He plans to start on time and get done on time.

The guest speakers and singers will be:

March 4: Pastor Matt DeBoard of First Baptist Clanton and singer Stacey Adams.

March 11: Pastor Rex Kent of First Baptist Jemison and singer Eddie Lightsey.

March 18: Pastor Randy Reid of First Assembly of God Clanton and singer Lacey Ellison.

March 25: Pastor James Watkins of West End Baptist Church and singers Gerald & Tammy Smitherman.

April 1: Pastor Tony Hughes of Mt. Nebo/Pleasant Grove Methodist Church and singer Hal Ellison.

April 8: Evangelist Daniel Wilson of the Alabama Baptist Association and singer Lisa Hughes.