Lent 2022
LENT is a forty-day-long season of the Church based on the forty days that Jesus fasted in the desert. The original purpose of Lent was to prepare Catechumenates (people who were learning about the Christian faith) for baptism on Easter Sunday. Today, Lent isn’t always used for pre-baptismal preparation, but it continues to be an important season of prayer, repentance, and self-denial for many Christians.
The Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (ashes being an Old Testament symbol of repentance and mortality) and concludes on Easter Sunday (where we celebrate the triumph of Christ over Sin and Death).
There is no ‘official’ way to celebrate Lent in the Anglican tradition. Some people observe Lent by abstaining from certain practices (watching TV, Facebook, eating certain foods, etc.) or by taking up certain devotions (prayer, fasting, solitude, etc.). Lent is important primarily because it reminds us of the ‘big’ ideas of Christianity – our own culpability, the need to repent, and the unconditional Grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Ash Wednesday is the first day within the Lenten season. Why Ash Wednesday? Well, ashes are a biblical symbol of repentance and mortality (as in ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’), and in the 8th century some Christians began using them within worship in order to (literally) mark the beginning of Lent. If you wish to make a confession on Ash Wednesday, please email one of our ministers.
We offer TWO Ash Wednesday services on March 2nd:
- A 12:10 pm brief, spoken liturgy with the imposition of ashes.
- A 6:30 pm liturgy with music, the imposition of ashes, and Holy Communion. Childcare is available at this service.
Lent is a somber reminder that all of us are born into a world that is shackled with sin and death, yet through the undying love of Christ, manifested in his death and victorious resurrection, we – beginning in this life and culminating in the next – become free of the chains that bind us.
Join us for TWO Lenten dinners at 5:30pm at Tower Church as we discuss the unmaking of death and sin in people’s own, personal pilgrimages.
If you want to make soup for the dinners, please contact Mandi Beck.
FRIDAY, MARCH 11
UNCHAINED FROM DEATH
Mrs. Emily Jefferis talks about a major loss for her family, and how they together walked through extremely difficult grief with the risen Christ and his church.
FRIDAY, MARCH 25
UNCHAINED FROM SIN
The Rev’d Dr. Len Finn, a priest from Grace and now rector of All Saints in Cranberry Twp, talks about freedom from the seductive world of material success and academic achievement.
For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
-Romans 8:2
Unmade/Remade
Spiritual practices that help to deepen a Lenten journey
Lent is a time when we ‘try out’ certain Christian practices that help us to understand ourselves better and, ultimately, understand who Christ is as he’s revealed in Scripture. This Lent we’ll share in some practical advice regarding certain Christian practices that Lent tends to focus on – namely, confession, fasting, and personal prayer.
PLEASE JOIN US AT 4PM in the Coffee Room at Tower for this new series as Dr. Gillis Harp, Dr. Don Shepson, and Ethan talk about these important practices.
- March 6 – THE HISTORY OF LENT
- March 13 – CONFESSION
- March 20 – FASTING
- March 27 – PRIVATE PRAYER
Together we’ll learn how to ‘live into Lent’ in a way that will help us to become both UNMADE and REMADE as gracious followers of a gracious Messiah.
