Dear friends,

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the penitential season of Lent. We will have services at noon and 7 p.m. There will be the imposition of ashes, a reminder of our mortality; and the Eucharist, a reminder that Jesus calls us all to be around the table with him. It is a powerful service, and a good way to begin this holy season.

When you come to worship tomorrow or Sunday, you will notice there are visual cues that tell us that the liturgical season has changed. The cross is draped in purple, the liturgical penitential color. There are no flowers. The chalice and paten change from silver to pottery. The music during the Eucharistic prayer is changed. The psalm is spoken. There is no postlude music. All of these are ways of noting that we have moved into a different, more subdued, season.

We also have some resources to help you observe Lent. A book of daily meditations, A Spring in the Desert, is available for everyone in the narthex. Also there is a Lenten calendar, provided by Jon and Susie Throop, which has daily suggestions for how to observe the season.

Some people observe Lent by taking on a new habit — reading scripture, being more intentional in prayer, or regular in worship. Some observe it by giving up something that has importance in their lives. This year a suggestion came out of the Sunday School class that people be invited to give up Amazon for Lent. I plan to be part of that. There are different ways that Amazon is a vital part of many of our lives — online shopping, of course. And shopping at Whole Foods. And watching Amazon Prime videos. You’re invited to join at whatever level you wish, or not to join at all. Someone said that this would not make a difference to Amazon owner Jeff Bezos. That’s true. But that’s not why I’m doing it (although as a former journalist I deplore what he has done to the once fearless and great Washington Post). I’m doing it because I have fallen into the trap of ordering anything that pops into my mind. The convenience of not having to leave home, and the easiness of clicking a button to have just anything delivered to my doorstep has a hold over me that I want to break. That’s really the purpose of giving something up — to say that whatever it is does not have central authority or power in your life.

In Sunday School during Lent we are going to be using a series put out by Bishop Wright called Growing Up in Christ. I’ve pasted below a message he sent to the clergy in encouraging us to use this material. Remember that Sunday School is at 9:30 a.m. in the Founders’ Room. Child care is available during that time.

Finally, I have another thing to share from Bishop Wright. On the first Wednesday of every month there is a zoom call with the bishop for all clergy. This month it was moved to today because of Ash Wednesday. Last week the bishop asked me if I would talk during the call about our refugee work.So I shared about the wonderful way this congregation has embraced this ministry. When I was finished the Bishop held St. Dunstan’s up as a model of a healthy parish, and said that if anyone doubted that a small parish could do big things they should look at us. That’s high praise in front of most of the active clergy in the diocese. And it is all because of you. 

With love,
Tricia

Message from Bishop Wright

Friends,

The theme for this year’s Lenten series is Growing Up in Christ!

I get to this theme in response to the opportunity and necessity of us all becoming more mature Christians. Our marriages, families, vocations, state, nation and world all will be better when we decide, with new resolve, to Grow up in Christ! Above all, Growing up in Christ is an active friendship with Jesus that changes us and points us toward the world that he loves. 

St. Paul had Christian maturity in mind when he wrote, “…we will no longer be like children… but growing up in every way more like Christ.” Eph. 4 He also said famously, “When I was a child, I thought, spoke, and understood like a child, but now that I have become an adult, I have put away childish things.” 1 Cor. 13

To unpack St. Paul’s words we would show Growing up in Christ is minimally: a knowledgeable and thoughtful life with scripture, an authentic and frequent practice of prayer, a conversational ability to communicate life with God and an increasing commitment and joy in neighborliness.

These audacious outcomes begin and are sustained with small, personal steps like: asking the Holy Spirit to guide and direct our willingness to know Christ, being open to seeing the ways in which our current living is out of alignment with Jesus’ invitation to abundant life, and a readiness to experience the trustworthiness of God. 

We enter this season of Lent and this journey toward new spiritual maturity together bearing in mind that all we undertake is first a response to the invitation of a loving God who wants us to be free and whole.   

I am so excited when I think about what the Holy Spirit will do in our lives and in the world when we decide to Grow Up in Christ!

Your brother and bishop,
Bishop Rob Wright