When the Party's Over, Study and Pray

What a super Tuesday! Or so they say. Politics is in the air with Presidential primaries across the nation. It's the birthday of sports superstars Hank Aaron and Roger Staubach, actress Laura Linney and my mother-in-law Evelyn. And, it's Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent.


In New Orleans and other places Shrove Tuesday is the time for Mardi Gras, for frivolity and parties of all kinds. When I served in the German Reformed area of the United Church of Christ in Pennsylvania, I learned of "Fastnachts" (literally, fast's eve). Before the Lenten fast the good German Reformed folks fried and ate donuts.

The pastoral messages in many of the church newsletters that I receive are reintroducing the themes, origins, challenge and promise of Lent. Jim Ziobro, pastor of the Homer Congregational Church began his message this way.

"The season of Lent invites us to make a frozen season fruitful --
spiritually fruitful. Though the garden beds remain stone-cold outdoors, we
can turn over the fallow, untilled holy ground within, and grow. We
can grow in awareness of the presence of Jesus, in the presence of the living
Word of God and the promise of Divine love at work in life. Our awarenenss
need not require endless backbreaking labor, but may flourish with a few moments of daily attention."

Ginny Anderson, pastor of Friedens UCC, Syracuse, pointed to the example of Jesus. She writes,

"All through the life of Jesus we see Him taking time to go off alone to
pray and just to be. If He needed this restoration time, why do we think we can
live quality lives with it?"

And, so, when the partying is over and the donuts are consumed, when Ash Wednesday comes tomorrow, it's time to study and pray.

Of course, many of our churches are offering special Lenten studies in addition to extra services of worship. Some churches are using spiritual growth resources as the basis of their Lenten study.

• Homer will be studying Henri Nouwen's book, Life of the Beloved.
• At Emmanuel, Watertown Ron and Patti Farr will be leading a self-written discussion, "Hearing God's Call: Discerning our God-Given Purposes."

Many churches are having special studies of the Bible throughout Lent.

• Steve Johnson, co-pastor of the Maine Federated Church, will be presenting a self-written Bible study, "War and Peace in the Bible."
• In Sherburne pastor Kelly Shifflet will be leading a study of Genesis.
• Mark Lawson is offering a course to the members of UCC Bayberry in how to read the Bible.
• Pastor Bonnie Bates reports from Madrid that the congregation will gather for soup, worship, Bible study and craft during their Tuesday evening Lenten Soup and Learn programs.
• At North Congregational, Middletown the midweek Lenten Services conclude with "God Talk" gatherings.
• Faith United, Oswego will be studying the Lord's Prayer.
• The women at First Congregational UCC in Malone will engage in a "Faith-Full" study group centered on the story of Mary and Martha.

A couple of churches are offering courses for leadership development, personal health and church growth.

• The Presbyterian-New England Congregational Church, Saratoga Springs a series of seminars for women (Body and Soul), for men (How are you feeling?) and for those that are hearing impaired (How's your hearing?).
• The United Church of Roscoe will be offering a series of Teacher Workshops and participating in the training for Disaster Reserve Volunteers by the American Red Cross in Greater New York.
• At First Congregational, Albany pastor Randy Hammer will lead a discussion of Christianity for the Rest of Us by Diana Butler Bass during their Thursday evening Lenten supper, worship and study programs.

Other churches are participating in cooperative Lenten series.

• Trinity UCC, Union Springs joins with six other churches in the so-called Southern Cayuga Wider Parish in a series of seminars on forgiveness, salvation/sanctification, creation, prayer and repentance.
• Groton City and Mclean and Groton Community churches are joining together in a Lenten Bible study led by Groton City pastor Chris Xenakis.

Other churches are holding Lenten retreats. Danby Federated will be conducting a men's retreat. The Homer youth group will hold a retreat in the church building from Maundy Thursday through Easter.

The wider UCC also is offering resources and events for spiritual inspiration throughout Lent. The national UCC is offering an online Lenten devotional guide. Click on this link to subscribe. http://www.uccvitality.org/devotional/subscribe-to-a-stillspeaking-lenten-devotional-for-2008.html. And, of course, the annual New York Conference State Youth Event is coming up on March 7-9. Go to the www.uccny.org to register.

Finally, church newsletters and websites themselves often are wonderful resources of inspiration and spiritual growth. Tom O'Donnell, pastor of Plymouth-Bethesda, Utica, has launched a campaign to recapture the theological discourse in this country for progressive Christians through his website www.ReclaimJesus.net. In this month's newsletter he challenged the congregation to take Jesus' words seriously, "Do not judge and you will not be judged." (Matthew 7:1) He wrote,

"When the gospel tells us over and over again that, in Christ, there are no
longer any 'pure' and 'impure,' 'clean' and 'unclean,' 'insiders' and
'outsiders;' that, in Christ there are no males and females Greeks and
non-Greeks, freemen and slaves; that in Christ we are all one: this year, let's
not just say it. Lets mean it."

Amen.

Blessings,

Rick Cowles