What is Lent, anyway? Isn't that something only Catholics do?

Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter. In Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent, which begins 40 days prior to Easter. (Sundays are regarded as feast days and are not included in the count).

Lent is a time when many Christians (Catholics and Protestants alike) prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. In the Early Church, this was the time when those seeking to be baptized (catechumens) would enter into intense preparation for receiving the sacrament of Baptism.  Today, the church regards Lent as a time of looking inward, examining our sin, and remembering our mortality. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Christ  - his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection.

What about giving stuff up?

The early church asked people to engage in Fasting as a spiritual discipline.  Fasting is a spiritual discipline that does not involve starvation or dehydration. Quite often, our bodily appetites control our actions. The purpose of fasting is to make your bodily appetites your servant rather than your master. Viewed in that regard, fasting is a way to refocus yourself on Christ's call to you. 

If you feel that God is calling you to give something up, consider giving up something that seems to distract you from your relationship with God. In a world with so much begging for our attention, many people give up things like TV or Facebook.  But the point isn't to give up something just to give up something-- it's sacrificing something to help you remember the sacrifice that Christ made for us.  If you're looking for an alternative way to observe Lent, you might also consider adding something to your daily routine.  Perhaps a daily reading of the Psalms, or a morning prayer walk might be speaking to your soul.

What will Lent look like at Sherwood?

Our observance of Lent will start with a Pancake Dinner on Shrove Tuesday (March 8, 2011) in which we will not only feast on the "rich" foods of celebration, but we will lay our abundance before God.

On Ash Wednesday (March 9, 2011), we will have an Ash Wednesday service at 7 p.m.  This traditional service will include prayers confessing our sins before God, times of silence, and the imposition of Ashes.  It will also include an invitation to observe a Lenten discipline.

Each Wednesday during Lent (March 16-April 20) we will have a noontime devotional/soup lunch. 

During Holy Week, (Beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter Saturday) we will have a Maunday Thursday service, in which the Sanctuary where we will worship will be stripped away of everything.  This powerful service reminds us of what it is to experience lonliness and grief, and calls us to wait expectantly for Christ to triumph over death.

 We invite you to come experience Lent with us, for only by really journeying through these forty days, can you truly experience the joy of Easter.