News & Messages

Lenten Resources Available



Weekdays of Lent
Hoping it will be of value to some in the coming season, Fr. Richard Craig, a retired priest of the diocese now residing in Texas, has provided us with a Lenten devotional, "Weekdays of Lent," to share with you. It is in a pdf format. Click here to access it. A note about printing: All pages of this document must be printed, even blank pages, double-sided (front and back). This will ensure that the booklet is formatted correctly in hard copy form. If you have any problems accessing the file, email Sara Bitner at , and she will email it to you directly.

Lenten Meditations from ERD
Episcopal Relief & Development is offering daily Lenten Meditations throughout the 2024 season to help Christians think deeply about their faith and actions towards other people.

This year’s meditations, a compilation of daily reflections on humility, authenticity and justice, were authored by Miguel Escobar, an Episcopal Relief & Development Board member and the Director of Strategy & Operations at the Episcopal Divinity School in New York City. In his writing of the work, he has reviewed Scripture and pulled from his own personal faith and experiences as an advisor and educator to provide insights into how following Jesus Christ empowers Christians to act.

Living Compass 2024 Lent Devotional
The theme for Lent, 2024 is Practicing Forgiveness with All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind. The devotional is available in print and online, in English and Spanish. The devotional contains meditations written by several people, including a few priests from the Diocese of Milwaukee. Practicing forgiveness is at the heart of the Christian life. Our faith teaches that forgiveness is not merely an act of pardoning wrongdoing, but also a process of letting go of resentment, fostering empathy, and seeking reconciliation. Through forgiveness, we aspire to emulate the mercy of God, exemplified by the life and teachings of Jesus, as we seek to promote harmony, restoration, and the healing of broken relationships. Click here to access the Lenten devotional.

Lenten Resources from The Episcopal Church

  • Lent curriculum, sermons, lesson plans, devotionals, and meditations
  • Lent Madness
  • “Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent” – adult forum sessions with videos
  • “Prophetic Voices: Preaching and Teaching Beloved Community” podcast series
  • Sermons That Work for Holy Week and Easter
  • 40-day gratitude challenge via text
  • Publicity material, bulletin inserts, and more

Click here to access these resources.

Resources for Lent 2022

Resources for Lent 2022

  1. "In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer). This Lent, the United Thank Offering is offering a 40-day Lenten gratitude journal. Each week we ’ll look at an area of your life and world and take time to notice all the ways that god shows up through the people or places you encounter.
  2. The United Thank Offering has also created a guide for at-home Lenten practices for children. While children clearly can grasp right from wrong, the idea of repentance can be challenging. One of the things that we can help children focus on is noticing the good things that happen and seeing God amid our daily lives. Lenten Gratitude Practices for Children and Families: UTO and Growing Gratefulness offers lessons about gratitude, discussion questions and crafts to do at home.
  3. This Lenten season Living Compass is offering a daily email devotional, Living Well Through Lent 2022: Letting Go With All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind. "Lent is a time for introspection and self-reflection, a time to reflect on the core of what it means to live a Christian life in the midst of great change and uncertainty. When facing change and uncertainty, few practices are more central to that life than letting go so that we are freer to receive the gifts God has to offer us" (Scott Stoner). The emails will begin on Ash Wednesday, March 2, 2022. You can sign up to receive the devotions on their website: https://www.livingcompass.org/lent-signup.
  4. Preparing to Become the Beloved Community: Organized around the four sections of the Becoming Beloved Community labyrinth (telling the truth, repairing the breach, practicing the way, proclaiming the dream), this Lent curriculum can help your small group or congregation to engage in racial reconciliation and reflect on Jesus’ coming among us. 
  5. For Creation Care: Climate Church, Climate World is a compelling book to engage people and congregations in the imperative of why churches need to lead on climate care. The Rev. Jim Antal has devoted his ministry to this challenge and opportunity to learn why, how, and where we can make a difference in caring for our earthly home. The book has nine chapters with discussion questions at the end of each. It’s an effective tool for getting people engaged in the movement of climate justice and climate care.
  6. From Episcopal Migration Ministries: Join us for the Lenten Virtual Borderlands Experience series, staring March 10 and continuing on Thursday evenings, at 6 pm CT. This is an opportunity to participate in a Lenten journey that brings you face to face with the injustices experienced by individuals and families who are seeking refuge as they attempt to enter the US with hope for a better life. Our presenters include individuals involved in immigration ministry and advocacy, as well as the immigrants themselves who have personally experienced the impact and trauma of our national immigration policies. Free registration here: https://zoom.us/.../tJAqcuiurz4uGtY43hJDbc3PYt7B3ddeaGva
  7. Zion, Oconomowoc has two offerings available that are open to anyone in the diocese. The Anglican Rosary for Lent is offered Monday through Friday, at 8 a.m. To join the prayer: https://bit.ly/RosaryZoom. For prayer sheet handouts: https://bit.ly/ZionLentRosary2022. Secondly, you are welcome to participate in the Online Stations of the Cross on Fridays at noon. To join online: https://bit.ly/StationsAtNoon. For a copy of the handouts: https://bit.ly/ZionStationsHandouts




 

Posted by Sara Bitner

Lenten Resources for Home Use

Lent will begin this next week with Ash Wednesday on February 17.  We've compiled several resources for you that are especially well-suited for at-home use this year. 

Life Transformed – The Way of Love in Lent

The journey through Lent into Easter is a journey with Jesus. We are baptized into his life, self-giving, and death; then, we rise in hope to life transformed. This Lent, communities are invited to walk with Jesus in his Way of Love and into the experience of transformed life. Together, we will reflect anew on the loving actions of God as recounted in the Easter Vigil readings. Together, we will walk through the depths of salvation history into the fullness of redemption. 

Click here to access an Adult Forum curriculum, a Quiet Day curriculum, calendars and posters. 

Living Well Through Lent 2021: Listening with All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind

Designed for use as an individual reflection or for group study, this Living Compass resource is a daily devotional that provides a foundation for seeking a deeper experience of Lent, an experience that will help prepare us for the true meaning of Easter. Available in both print and electronic editions here. A free downloadable facilitator guide for group use is also available. To learn more or to order, visit: https://www.livingcompass.org/lent

Lent Madness 2021

Lent Madness, the Lenten activity that allows you to get to know some amazing people who have come before us in the faith, begins Thursday, February 18. Thirty-two saints are placed in a tournament-style single-elimination bracket. Download the bracket, sign up for email updates and learn more by visiting https://www.lentmadness.org/.

You can also fill out a bracket online on this Lent Madness fan site: https://www.playlentmadness.com/.

Reflections on the Stations of the Cross 

Episcopal Migration Ministries offers an audio compilation of its Reflections on the Stations of the Cross. This resource is appropriate for prayer at home and in congregations. The audio compilation features the liturgy of the Way of the Cross from the Book of Occasional Services, alongside meditations on each station. Thank you for praying with us. If you’d like to follow along, you may request the Reflections booklet here

You can also sign up to receive daily devotions from Episcopal Migration Ministries. They will be sent to your email daily. 

Journey to the Cross with d365

The d365 devotions are written by ministers, professors, students, teachers, missionaries, denominational leaders, and others who work with and care for students. These devotions are available year-round, but they offer a special Journey to the Cross series from Ash Wednesday through Easter.

 

Lent at Home Benedictine Practice

The Diocese of Northern Michigan created a Lent at Home booklet in the style of Benedictine Prayer, with adaptations of two of the “lesser hours” said during the day in the Benedictine tradition: Terce (said around 9:00 a.m.) and None (said around 3:00 p.m.).

Care for the Creation Ideas

Fast from Single-Use Plastics

Challenge yourself to turn from the sin of damaging God’s planet and work to preserve the earth. Green Anglicans offers several challenges to help you learn where you can make sacrifices and improve our attempt to protect and nurture Mother Earth through actions such as fasting from single-use plastics and carbons or reducing our food waste. Find more information and calendars with activities and actions here.

Track your Carbon Footprint

Another way you can develop more mindfulness about how your lifestyle and choices that you make impact the environment this Lent is to track your carbon footprint. The Carbon Tracker from The Episcopal Church is a web-based application that helps individuals, households, congregations, and even dioceses to measure their carbon footprint and take steps to shrink it to fit a sustainable life.  Click here for access to the carbon tracker.

 

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