LENT HAS BEGUN! And I want you to know about some Sunday School at Home changes coming for this season.
First, starting this Sunday night at 6PM, you are invited to gather on ZOOM for “Soup Supper Devotions.” Soup suppers are an old Lenten tradition, but we’ll put a modern on-line twist on it, of course. No, you don’t have to eat soup to join us, but yes, you can if you’d love to. We’ll have a short worship time, similar to what we did at Advent, though Lent has its own quieter spirit. Each Sunday night will include time with a bit of scripture, some table talk, a symbol of the season, and a challenge to bend and stretch us a bit on our Lenten journeys. Look for the link in the Highlights today or reach out to Jackie in the office.
If you picked up a Lent at Home kit on Ash Wednesday, the bag has several of our Soup Supper symbols in it. If you’d like one of these kits, you can pick one up from me at church this Sunday at 1PM. (If it’s raining, I’ll be just inside the sanctuary doors.) Or let us know if you need one and we’ll find a way to get it to you. We also tucked a Lenten Devotional in these bags, which includes….soup recipes!
Second, starting next Sunday, Feb. 28, the Christian Ed. Ministry will offer ZOOM Sunday School at 9:30! We’re piloting this opportunity through the season of Lent. We’ll start with one simple 30-minute class right before worship. This will be geared toward school-aged children K-5. Depending on who and how many are interested, we’ll use breakout rooms or start another class. We have some parent volunteers who are excited to help us try this out and polish it up along the way. ZOOM Sunday School is an informal and easy way for your children to see church friends, hear a scripture story, and engage in an activity as a warm-up for worship. All children are welcome. Parents, too. Look for the ZOOM link in next week’s Highlights. And look for an email from me each week to let you know if you need some supplies on hand.
Lent has begun and changes are coming! The word “Lent” comes from an Old English word for “lengthen,” and refers to the gradually lengthening days of late winter and early spring. Over the centuries, Lent evolved into a 40-day period of reflection, repentance, and preparing, not only for Holy Week, but also for the 50-day celebration of Eastertide. In the ancient scriptural imagination, “40” was both a way of saying, “for a long time,” and marking a time of liberating change and re-centering in God’s love. Think about Noah and 40 days and nights of rain (Genesis 7:12), Moses’ 40 days and nights on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:28), Israel’s 40 years wandering in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:2), and Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness facing temptation. In the Season of Lent, we’re invited to participate in our own re-centering time by stepping into our own 40-day pilgrimage of reflection, repentance, prayer, and preparation.
And we are off to a good start on this pilgrimage. My heart is still full from seeing all of you last night for Ash Wednesday’s drive-thru devotions. We created a traffic jam to share a moment of blessing, the urgent reminder to love, and touch. Even with gloved hands and messy ash, this was so deeply moving. There’s something about these times that has refreshed the meaning of these very old rituals: Life is precious, relationships are precious. Yes, they are.
And we are precious to God. Yes, we are. Yes, you are.
Blessings as you continue on your Lenten journey,
Pastor Karyn
