Lent: Sixth Events and Ideas for Personal Practice/Study
Lent is coming so early this year! We are just two weeks away from Ash Wednesday.
We will begin our preparations for Lent on Sunday, Feb. 7, when the children of the church will be "Locking up the Alleluias." The kids will be creating colorful banners and art that will be put in a trunk during the worship service and "unlocked" on Easter Sunday.
We will hold our annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper from 5 to 7 p.m. on Feb. 9. And something new - Dr. Kolb and friends will be offering ashes and prayer at the bus stops located in front of our church beginning at 6 p.m. on Ash Wednesday, February 10.
Dr. Kolb also will lead a weekly Lenten Study: “Finding God Beyond Religion” on Sunday mornings on February 14, 21, 28 and March 6 at 10 am in the church parlor. Do you describe yourself as “spiritual but not religious?” Have you “outgrown” the traditional religious teachings in which you were raised? Are you no longer sustained by easy answers? Join us for a time of study, prayer. Using Tom Stella’s book Finding God Beyond Religion as a guide, the study will embrace our uncertainties as an invitation to a more vital understanding of God and faith practice.
I will also be setting up a resource table in the Chapel with devotions and ideas for ways to observe Lent at home. There will be copies of this devotional available:
"Be Holy" is the 2016 Lenten Devotional from Presbyterians Today magazine. It's written by Brian Coulter and illustrated by Bess Reynolds. Pick up a copy in the Chapel.
Here are just a few other suggestions may want to consider for Lent:
The Work for the People
Consider spending time watching and learning with a video series, film or visual liturgy from The Work of the People. TWOTP is an independent ecumenical platform that produces and publishes multimedia to stir imagination, spark discussion and move people toward discovery and transformation. Visit the site at The Work of the People and check out all the options. There is a fee - you can purchase a streaming subscription for $7 per month. There are other monthly streaming and downloading subscriptions options as well as a free 30-day trail.
One of the things I am interested in viewing is the series"Sitting in the Dark- Growing through the Poetry of Pain" which features contributors such as Walter Brueggemann and Barbara Brown Taylor and Brené Brown. You can watch a preview on their website or visit the Facebook Page. I have purchased a monthly subscriptions to let me know if there is something that you are interested!
Try Visio Divina
Through the Lens is an online worshiping community that is taking worship outside of the four walls of a traditional church. The group partners with professional and hobbyist photographers to combine their love of finding images through their camera lens with the spiritual aspect that can also be found through that same lens.
Lectio divina is a traditional Benedictine practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer. A passage is read word by word, line by line, thoughtfully while praying. With the practice of Visio Divina, a picture, instead of words, is used to meditate contemplatively. This style of prayer is intended to promote communion with God and to guide the worshiper into viewing the world as Christ views the world. Visit the site to learn how! Through the Lens
The Thoughtful Christian
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