Lent 2018 Ideas

This will be individual effort this year, focusing on creating time for daily prayer.  The Presiding Bishop has requested that all Episcopal Churches participate in the Archbishop of Canterbury's "Global Wave of Prayer" to take place May 10-20, 2018, so getting into the practice of daily prayer will assist that.

Singing Prayers

The Anglican Rosary - 

Learning one octet of Psalm 119 every 2 days (picking two days in Lent to give only 1 day, since there are 22); alternatively searching YouTube for songs for any of the Psalms.

Rhyming Prayers

The rhyming couplets found in the Lay Folks Mass Book, provide a wide variety of prayers in the vernacular in Middle English to help in memorization.  And they're fun to figure out the words.

Celtic Prayer

Utilizing any of the Celtic Christian resources like the Carmina Gadelica, Celtic Evensong, or the daily office of the Northumbrian Community.

Praying the Hours

Utilizing the Daily Prayer for All Seasons, Lent beginning on Page 72, and organizing anyone interested in signing up for a particular hour for the whole of Lent, until all hours are covered, making it a cooperative effort.

Other Prayer Books

There are prayer books for a wide variety of countries at this web site.

Advent News 2017

The year has gotten away from us, but as we begin our new year in Advent, we begin again.  December 3 starts Advent.

Services

Our normal services are still at 9:00 a.m., Morning Prayer. 

Christmas Eve, we will have a 9:00 a.m. abbreviated service, form still being decided.

Christmas Day, we will have a Morning Prayer service at 10:00 a.m., with more music than we normally sing, and a potluck to bring your favorite breakfast, dessert, good to eat something, or just come and bring us your company.  We welcome all.

The Bishop will be visiting Saturday, January 6 at 4:00 p.m., and providing a Eucharist service.  More information on that will be coming later next month.

Ideas for Advent

The Presiding Bishop and House of Deputies have worked up an Advent Plan for the Church. 

The Sisters of St. John the Divine will be offering daily meditations beginning December 3.  You can sign up for them to be delivered to your inbox.

Taking Advent to the Streets, what we can do to actively support our communities and prepare for the Birth of Christ.

A series of publications for meditations and ideas for Advent.


Lessons and Carols, each Sunday in Advent.

Lent: Week 2, Day 6

Change - this is something that happens, one person at a time.  But, as the video for today tells us, that change has to begin with ourselves.  One of the concepts in Lent is that of repentance, but often what people forget is that after asking for forgiveness for past actions, we must then change the behavior or attitude for which we had to ask forgiveness for in the first place.  We have to choose to make better choices, and as Christ explained to the adulterous woman, "Go and sin no more."

So what does change look like for you?  Could it begin with something as easy - and difficult - as speaking kindly to yourself?  You are also a child of God - is it not rude to speak poorly to one of God's own?

Could it begin with speaking up when you see someone saying or doing an act of unkindness in your presence - whether the person to whom the unkindness is done is present or not?

Could it begin with finding a way of replacing a bad habit with a good one - consciously making the choice to change?

How can you make a difference in your own and the lives of others today?

Lent: Week 2, Day 5

The Kingdom of God is both within us and among us.  Fr. Bartoli speaks in today's video about the things that we need to let go of, to foster the Kingdom of God within us.  So let's take 3 minutes (you can start the video) and sit in stillness.  Each time something comes up in your mind - take note of it, but set it aside.

Each of those things that comes up are impediments to the Kingdom, the ability you have to reflect the Kingdom of God to everyone around you - to tell them in actions rather than words how special and joy-filled it can be.  Be still enough that you can hear the voice of God.

In the meantime, the activity for the week is something you can start on today:  Who has been a channel of God’s grace for you? In conversation or over email this week, reach out to five people to find out how they came to know God’s love. How does the Good News shape the way they live? Reflect on how you are inspired by their witness and examples.  There's a video at the link, along with a .pdf, and a sample of the exercise for you to explore.

Lent: Week 2, Day 4

Wow!  Today's video from SSJE carries a huge impact.  Please make sure you watch it.  Then, if you like the idea, decide how you're going to remember:

• For what am I most thankful today?  

• When was I most fully alive today?  

• How have I received love today?

Br. Ditewig gives some great ideas of how you can track your own stories that will help you proclaim the good news to someone else.  Some ideas include:

• Take a photograph
• Collect a stone
• Paint a picture or symbol (maybe even on the stone)
• Write a blog
• Write it onto a piece of paper and put it into a jar to review at the end of the year
• Make a Jar of Remembrance

Or be creative and do some combination of those.  Feel free to share them here, or share your blog.  All of these ways are both ways to help remind you, and to help you tell someone about your own experience of God in your life.

Lent: Week 2, Day 3

Evangelism - telling the good news.  And as Br. Woodrum points out in today's video, when we hear good news, we want to spread the news, tell someone about it.  Below is SheDaisy's method of sharing in their version of "How Can I Keep From Singing".

So put yourself in Mary's place:  the Angel of the Lord has just told her the good news - a young, teenage, unwed mother.  Or put yourself in Joseph's place when the dream comes to him to reassure him that not only has Mary not betrayed him, but God has a very special job for him to do.

Now think about your job in this dispensation of Christ:  what good news has God shared with you?  And what form will your telling, sharing, evangelizing take?

Lent: Week 2, Days 1 and 2

Extra!  Extra!  We've got the Good News right here!

Surprise for me!  SSJE is apparently doing videos on Sundays, so you'll find Day 1 of Week 2 and Day 2 of Week 2 at these links.  No worries - the two videos are less than 5 minutes on their own.

In this week, the overarching theme is to tell, or in the language of the church, to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God.  This is actually part of the mission of the Episcopal Church.  And within the first video, we learn that this was Jesus' mission on earth.  His quoting of Isaiah made it quite clear.

So today, think about the first time someone proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ to you.  What did you think?  What did you do?  Who did you talk to about it?