Lessons learned through Lent!

During the 6 weeks of Lent Steve put on Lent Reflections for 30 minutes before our weekly Soup for the Soul Café to explore the journey of Jesus to the cross.

It was an opportunity to step back from the usual habits, distractions, noise, and busyness of life to give particular attention to God.

It was an informal space based around some simple liturgy he had written and included music, silence and discussion around bible readings using dwelling in the word.

It was deliberately aimed at those with little or no church background who were, perhaps, unfamiliar with the Easter story. It explored the key Lent themes of sin, temptation, denial, betrayal, pain, and death, along with the miraculous joy of resurrection and new life. To reflect that in the heights and depths of our own experiences of life we find that Jesus shares our joys and sorrows.

Steve advertised it for 3 weeks through the Café which resulted in about 7-10 people attending each week and some of the conversations were quite profound. Steve remembers the strength of injustice they felt around the dialogue between Pilate and the Crowd which resulted in Barabbas being released rather than Jesus.

On the week they looked at the Last Supper, Steve shared a short communion service. There was one lady who came specifically because it was communion and said she had not had the bread and wine for 15 years since her husband died. She was worried that she would not be allowed but on being assured she was welcome, she held her hands out she cried as she sensed His presence with her.

This was our first attempt at this kind of activity and were unsure whether people would turn up or how it would be received. We found that in sharing the Easter story in an appropriate and accessible way and inviting them to share their own personal experiences and responses God was at work.

Next time we would print out the lyrics to the hymns or songs as people wanted to talk about them.

Never have the words ‘Great is the mystery of faith’ meant so much as over those 6 weeks as we saw heaven connect to earth as people drew closer to God as they engaged with the story of Jesus, the word made flesh.

Lent material used took inspiration on Thorpe, Chris ‘Apprentices and Eyewitnesses’ creative liturgies for incarnational worship, Lent, Holy Week and Easter. Canterbury Press