Finding Faith ... in living through a different kind of Lent together

By Pastor Devlyn Brooks

To say that no Lenten season is the same would be an understatement.

While the significance of Lent stays static each year: We observe Lent to prepare for Easter by efforting to renew our relationships with God through a variety of disciplines, including fasting and prayer.

And, while that remains true from year to year, our human circumstances do not.

Additionally, the circumstances of our church. and church family do not either. Which, of course, is very true for us here at Faith Lutheran this year! ... Because we are embarking on a bold experiment in collaboration with our friends in Christ to our north, the Comstock-Hoff Lutheran Parish.

And while I’m excited to experience what Comstock-Hoff’s learning series will teach me, and I'm also excited to worship alongside my Faith Lutheran family while simultaneously getting to worship alongside new neighbors at the same time as well!

I also can’t shake this nagging feeling that this year’s Lenten services will be “different,” right? It’s just different! … Not bad. Just different!

If you’ve been feeling similar feelings about this year’s Lenten experiment, then I just wanted to assure you that you weren't the only one!

Acknowledging all of that, I also want to invite you to enter into this Lenten season in an experiential mood! I’m pretty excited about the potential of what this learning season could teach me about my faith. 

We’ve performed the Holden Evening Prayer multiple times in recent years, and we’ve performed skits several times as well. And frankly, I’ve wanted to host a learning Lenten series myself for some time to break up our routine. So maybe this is an opportunity for us to kick the tires a bit and see what we think of the concept!

Come join us for this Lenten series, Faith Family! There will be food, fellowship and a lot of good faith teachings! 

As a recap, the presentations will include a representative of the synod sharing about their recent trip to our synod’s sister synod in India, a local Comstock man discussing the mission he supports in his home country in India, a seminar on Mormonism and I will be hosting two of the five sessions myself. One about Churches United, a mission opportunity right here in our backyard and another about the storytelling ministry that I am so passionate about!

We will begin each week with a supper served by members of Comstock-Hoff, and then there will be a 45-minute or so presentation. All we have to do is attend and bring our curiosity!

Finally, I would reiterate that we will still be in our own beautiful church for Ash Wednesday and for Holy Week. We’ll be celebrating Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday, with me at the helm, in the familiar confines of our beautiful Faith Lutheran!

If you have any questions about this exercise, please feel encouraged to reach out to me!

Blessings to you this March, Faith Family! ... See you in church!