(note: this event description is from last season, but we keep it available as a glimpse into the types of experiences we offer.)

Beginning Ash Wednesday (February 22 this year),
Lent is a 40-day season in the Christian liturgical year during which many faith traditions encourage an extended period of fasting, reflection, and prayer.
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the Lenten season is referred to as a “bright sadness.”

That phrase, “bright sadness,” brings to mind the idea of lament. Lament is typically understood as an expression of sorrow or loss, but in the context of faith it contains an inherent component of confidence. An expectation God can be trusted to be with us and be our comfort.

During the weeks of Lent, we invite you to join us as we welcome the bright sadness of our lives and invite God’s presence into our lament. To assist us we’ll use an ancient prayer from Saint Francis of Assisi along with a bit of scripture, a few prompts, and an image. Each week we’ll introduce a different focus for our lamenting, holding an aspect of our struggle alongside something good that is ours because of Jesus.

Special note: This lenten experience will not be in-person. Instead, we’ll journey together through Lent and toward Easter “in spirit.” What that means is each week we will email a different one-page document (starting Sunday February 26) with a new focus for our collective engagement with lament.

Our hope is that this will be a transformative experience as we accept the pain and sorrow of our lives while also receiving the love, grace, and forgiveness that welcomes us into the bright hope of tomorrow. That hope was made real and sure through the passion of our Savior, Jesus, who embraced an eternal bright sadness through his obedient death and victorious resurrection.

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Thank you to all who journeyed with us during Lent 2023. May your lament and experience of God during that season continue to bear fruit.

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