Faith Formation Opportunities during Lent

Civil Discourse: From Separation to Engagement

Available group meeting days and locations are:

Monday evenings at Saint Mark’s Cathedral, February 27 – March 26
Tuesday evenings in a home in Bellevue, February 28 – March 27
Thursday evenings in a home in Capital Hill, March 1 – 29
*new* Wednesday noon in a home in Queen Anne, February 29 – March 28
Additional groups can be formed.

For additional information or to sign up for a group please email or call Jo Ann Bailey, jbailey@saintmarks.org, 206.329.5428. More groups can be formed. If you would like to form a group let Jo Ann know.

Does current political language make you uncomfortable? Do you know how to talk honestly with someone who disagrees with you? Are you tired of demonizing the “other side?”

Talk about this with people you trust during Lent. Join the five-week, small-group study session “Civil Discourse: From Separation to Engagement”

The “Civil Discourse” series is based on five conversations with national cultural leaders. Each week your discussion will be guided by a different conversation about the big questions at the center of human life. In each of the five weeks Krista Tippett talks with one of the following: with Elizabeth Alexander about “Words that Shimmer,” words that draw us together; with E. Ethelbert Miller about what is blackness, and what cultural icons inspire us; with Nicholas Kristof about journalism’s ability to awaken our consciousness and our hearts; with Frances Kissling about intimate conversations across a deep divide; and finally with Richard Mouw about building relationships where there are extreme differences.

Krista Tippett is the award winning host of “on Being” a conversation about religion, ethics and ideas on national public radio. (Visit onbeing.org and enter any of the names above in the search feature to view the conversation in advance.) Study curriculum for small-group ministry were developed in partnership with Morehouse education resources, a division of Church Publishing Incorporated, and American Public Media the show’s producer.

For the Life of All Creation: An Exploration of Christian Practices

Feb. 26 – Mar. 25; Sundays, 1:00 - 2:30 pm St. Nicholas classrooms, Rm 214

Community, Prayer, Learning, and Action

This Lent join a learning community of inquirers and thoughtful Christians who seek to practice a life of wholeness, compassion and gratitude—a life profoundly freed and transformed by the abiding presence of God.

For more information about the series and for registration information click here.

Exploring an Adult Faith in the Episcopal Tradition

Feb. 26 – April 1; Sundays, 1:00 - 2:30 pm Conference Room

Would you like to be baptized, confirmed or received into the Episcopal Church? Perhaps you would like the opportunity to reengage your faith in community? We welcome those new to the Episcopal Church as well as cradle Episcopalians!

Join the Rev. Canon Rebecca McClain and Leslie R. Miller for sacred stories, instruction, Bible study and conversation. Contact: Leslie at lrmil@msn.com or 425.445.7279.

Baptismal Preparation for Parents and Godparents of Infants & Young Children

Sundays, March 11, 18, and 25; 3:30-5 p.m. Leffler Living Room

Preparation for baptism is almost as important as the baptism itself. In the classes, parents remember their own baptisms, share the hopes and dreams they have for their children, renew their commitment to live out the promises they have made, and make connections with other parents.

Read more at http://www.saintmarks.org/Worship/Baptism.php

Contact: Cindy Spencer, 206.303.-0800, cspencer@saintmarks.org

Ash Wednesday and Lent in Two Minutes

This short video might help answer some of your question about Lent- and maybe invite some new ones.
Follow the link at the end of the video for a "Lent Calendar" in the style of an Advent calendar.

Episcopal Church offers Lenten resources, meditations

Resources, meditations and study guides for experiencing a reflective Lenten season are available from the Episcopal Church. The resources have been complied by the Mission Staff of the Episcopal Church.

Selected links:

Seeking God’s Justice for All: Exposing the Doctrine of Discovery Part Three

Carbon Fast Beginning Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent, participants will receive a daily email with the day's suggested carbon-reducing activity.

Find these and more at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/notice/episcopal-church-offers-lenten-resources-meditations-0

"Like" the Episcopal Church facebook page for an ongoing conversation focusing on Ash Wednesday/Lent. www.facebook.com/episcopalian

The Society of Saint John the Evangelist

"Framework for Freedom": Each Lent in recent years, the brothers of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, through a blog site, have invited others into the spiritual practices of creating and living a rule of life. "Each year we have received incredibly grateful feedback for the way that it has enriched people's Lenten experience," said Jamie Coats, Director of Friends of SSJE. This year's offering has been expanded to include daily videos and readings, and weekly audio of sermons from the brothers' Tuesday night Lenten preaching series--all under the heading "A Framework for Freedom" that invites subscribers to watch, read, reflect and listen throughout the days of Lent.

Read more and subscribe at ssje.org/lent.

One component of this year's Lenten offering is the "Brother, Give Us a Word" daily e-mail devotional begun last Lent. It now has more than 3,000 subscribers who receive a word--"prayer," "abide," "remember," "trust"--that can be used as a focus for prayer each morning and a simple sentence or two of observation about it from the brothers. People write to say that having these "words" accompany them in their travels and show up first thing in their newsfeeds and inboxes helps them get the day off to a right start, Coats said. "It's been a great learning experience with less is more," he said.

Read more and subscribe at ssje.org/word.

Lent Madness: Who will win the Golden Halo?

Lent Madness began in 2010 as the brainchild of the Rev. Tim Schenck. In seeking a fun, engaging way for people to learn about the men and women comprising the Church’s Calendar of Saints, Tim came up with this unique Lenten devotion. Combining his love of sports with his passion for the lives of the saints, Lent Madness was born on his blog “Clergy Family Confidential.”

The format is straightforward: 32 saints are placed into a tournament-like single elimination bracket. Each pairing remains open for a set period of time and people vote for their favorite saint. 16 saints make it to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen; eight advance to the Round of the Elate Eight; four make it to the Final Four; two to the Championship; and the winner is awarded the coveted Golden Halo. The first round consists of basic biographical information about each of the 32 saints. Things get a bit more interesting in the subsequent rounds as we offer quotes and quirks, explore legends, and even move into the area of saintly kitsch.

Read on and take part at www.lentmadness.org/.

Click here to read more about the authors of this "lighthearted approach to saintly education".

Give up a WORD: for a week. A practice for all people.

A week long challenge to give up a WORD that your life would be better without.

"We all try, at one time or another, to give up those habits, foods, or behaviors that do us harm—what about words? For some people, a word like “can’t” might hold them back from goals they would accomplish. Or perhaps, for others, a word like “fault” or “unfair” influences their relationships."

What Word would your life be better without? Then share the story of how you changed without that Word in your life.

Read on and take part at giveupaword.org.