Churches plan Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday events

This week marks the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent is the time of preparation in advance of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many greater Spokane Valley churches will offer special worship services and plan other events to observe the beginning of Lent.

• Christ Lutheran Church, 13009 E. Broadway Ave., will host an Ash Wednesday service at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

• A Tri-Parish Shrove Tuesday pancake supper will begin at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, 15319 E. Broadway Ave. Shrove Tuesday, also known as Fat Tuesday, is the traditional day of celebration before Lent, when many people fast or give up eating certain foods. Church members will be joined by the congregations of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

The church also will host services on Ash Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.

• An Ash Wednesday service will begin at 7 p.m. at Millwood Presbyterian Church, 3223 N. Marguerite Road.

• A service will begin at 6:45 p.m. on Ash Wednesday at Zion Lutheran Church, 8304 E. Buckeye Ave. The service will be preceded by a soup supper.

• Spokane Valley United Methodist Church, 115 N. Raymond Road, will have an Ash Wednesday service at 7 p.m.

• The Veradale United Church of Christ will host its traditional Shrove Tuesday pancake supper at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The church is at 611 N. Progress Road.

• An Ash Wednesday service will being at 7 p.m. at Peace Lutheran Church, 4124 N. Harvard Road.

• Opportunity Presbyterian Church, 202 N. Pines Road, will have an Ash Wednesday service at 7 p.m.

• A 7 p.m. service on Wednesday will be preceded by a soup supper at 6 p.m. at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 810 S. Sullivan Road.

Icon workshop

Master Russian iconographer Vladimir Blagonadezhdin will be in Spokane Valley this week presenting an icon workshop at Christ the Savior Orthodox Church. Icons are heavily used in Eastern Orthodox churches and are usually small paintings depicting people and events from the Bible. Blagonadezhdin has been painting icons and teaching iconography for 25 years and is currently teaching at the Vancouver Academy of Art.

The workshop will be Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. It is open to the public, and the cost is $450. Students will learn composition, transferring drawings, golf leaf application, how to paint with egg tempera, detailing and varnishing. Each student will have a completed icon at the end of the workshop. Call 891-7632 for more information.