Ash Wednesday services: 7 am, 12:10 pm, 6:30 pm
Special Lenten Opportunities
Sundays in Lent – Study of “Seasons of Faith” 9 am and 4-4:30 pm
The class will use material first written by Fr. David in 2000. It presents the seasons of the church year as a framework for living out our Christian lives. Learn more about the seasons of the church year and the impact they can have on our day to day life! We meet at 9 am between Sunday morning services and for half an hour prior to the 4:30 service in the church library. Copies of the book are available from the church office.
Fridays in Lent – Noon Day in the Chapel 12:10 pm to 12:45 pm
This is intended to be a mini-retreat for people. In the middle of the day, at the end of the week, there is a time and place to enjoy the quiet of the chapel, offer our prayers using the noon day service, and have time for quiet and possibly a short meditation.
Saturdays in Lent – Breakfast and Study 8:30-9:30 am
New this year, we will offer people an opportunity to gather with their coffee, and maybe breakfast sandwich or a yogurt, and discuss themes of Lent such as: prayer, fasting, self denial, study, quiet. We plan to use excerpts from the writings of Anglican and Episcopalian thinkers. You don’t have to read anything in advance. When we arrive, each person will be given a short reading which you will be asked to read, and then present a summary in your own words. We can then discuss the thoughts of the readings. We will meet in the church library and hope you can join us!
Fasting: A Community Experiment
Often we think of fasting as something very personal and private. But, it can be something we do together, or at least support those who enter into fasting, which can be as important as fasting yourself.
Fr David will once again choose to fast during the Lenten season (outside of Sundays which are considered “little Easters”, and this will consist of eating before 8 am and after 6 pm. You can join him in this fast by joining him for meals, or praying for him, or asking him how the fasting is going.
For those of you who would like to join in fasting, you are invited to let the church office know that you will be fasting (and if you want, what your fast will consist of), and we will include the names of those fasting in the prayer chain, asking the congregation to support one another in this journey. Your fast might be one or two days a week, or a reduction in food, or types of food. Whatever it is, there is a strength known when we pray for one another to be successful.
Other Lenten Opportunities
Both St Stephens’ and Church of the Resurrection offer soup lunches on Wednesdays in Lent.
Palm Sunday: 9 am
Holy Week:
- Monday: Quiet Day, Rev. Ann Wahlers, leader
- Tuesday: Chrism mass, 11 am, Fond du Lac
- Wednesday
- Maundy Thursday
- Good Friday
- Holy Saturday: 9 am liturgy (chapel)
- The First Eucharist of Easter
Easter: 6 am, 10 am, 4:30 pm
Ash Wednesday reflection – God’s Mercy Renews
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Psalm 51:1
Our temptation in Lent is to be so impressed by our sins and failings and so overwhelmed by our lack of generosity that we get stuck in a paralyzing guilt, a guilt that leads to introspection instead of directing our eyes to God. It is guilt that becomes an idol and form of pride.
But Lent is precisely the time to break down this idol and to direct our attention to our loving Lord. The question is: “Are we like Judas, who was so overcome by his sin that he could not believe in God’s mercy any longer and hanged himself? Or are we like Peter, who returned to his Lord with repentance and cried bitterly for his sins?”
“You are dust, and to dust you will return.” This ancient formula will be heard by millions of Christians all over the world this Ash Wednesday as the sign of the cross is made in ashes on their forehead. This symbolic act is both a solemn reminder and an invitation to renewal. Lord God, this Lent help me to do my best to keep my mind fixed on you and your Kingdom.
From Renewed for Life by Henri J.M. Nouwen
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