Holy Week Resources

Now’s the time to print and prepare for Holy Week! Follow the LINK to Worship With Children’s website to download free black and white or color copies to distribute on Sunday.

Then, encourage children to color the boxes each day, counting down to Easter.

Scriptures are included in the far left column so families can easily find and read the text for each day.

 

Lent in Present Tense, Step 2.

Originally Published at Restoration Anglican Church’s blog. 

A few weeks ago I reflected on my personal blog about the realities of Lenten devotion. The inconvenience of sacrifice brought pain that spiritual endorphins pre-Lent had blinded me to.  I expected to feel holy, but I just felt frustrated. As it turns out, practicing Lent is more difficult than thinking about it before hand.

Now, though, the pendulum has swung and my Lenten observance has become almost wrote; I barely remember it except for a few moments at the beginning and end of my days. It’s become easy for me to find new, Lent-approved distractions to fill the void left from my fasting. I’m both tired of the Lenten season and numb to my particular fast.

I saw this a few days ago when I heard someone mention that she doesn’t even miss the food she chose to abstain from. In an “adopt a healthy diet” sense, this is a good sign, but her fast isn’t necessarily encouraging reliance on Christ.

Here, at the halfway point, lies a great time to reassess and adapt our Lenten practices: Is there a new perspective or habit I hoped to gain from Lent? Is there a spiritual practice I planned to incorporate? What did I hope to gain from this particular form of fasting?

Before Lent, I envisioned spending some extended time in prayer, reading, and reflection, which I haven’t scheduled yet. I planned to commit a Scripture to memory related to my area of justice, and I have yet to pick a reference. With nearly three weeks left, though, it’s not too late to reincorporate these realities into my life. By making concrete plan to spend time in quiet and prayer, I can recenter my heart and mind on God’s work in and through me in this season.

 

It’s also not too late to incorporate Lent as a family. If you chose to make a sacrifice as a family a few weeks ago, it might be time to recommit to prayer for justice. Maybe a family fast didn’t happen this year, but there’s still time to adopt a service project like cleaning up a neighbor’s yard, sending cards or pictures to an ill family member of friend, or choose to pool financial resources to make a donation to a local ministry.

I’m reminded of Christ’s admonition to his disciples that the Sabbath was implemented for people as a day of rest; people weren’t made just to follow the rules of the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-27). The season of Lent comes to the church as a time for quiet repentance, a reminder to yearn for justice, and an anticipation of resurrection life in God’s Kingdom.

 

 

Lent in Present Tense

I woke up early the morning after Ash Wednesday anxious about Lent.

Why had I voluntarily complicated my life?
Would I actually be uncomfortable?
Surely Jesus doesn’t want me to be uncomfortable! 

I’m okay with doing complicated things, but I’d like to do them from as comfortable a space as possible. Comfort during Lent is designed to come from Jesus rather than ephemeral pleasure, though.

Approaching Lent in present tense- that is, not dreaming about how it will look next week or next month, but how it looks right now today- has been helpful. Practicing Lent diverges from achieving or perfecting it.

As I was Pinterest-ing resources for our children’s ministry observance of Lent a back in February, I ran across the admonition to pause the crafting, coloring, printing, and gathering resources for Lent and just start observing it. Just do Lent. Resources are helpful (and I’m all about integrating reminders and illustrations into daily life!), but they are not the central thing. The focal point of Lent is dependence on the sustaining work of God.

So what might help us live Lent in the present-tense?

Remember your Fast:  

A fast as described in Isaiah 59 is about solidarity in suffering, both with people who suffer around the world and with Christ who suffered on our behalf. Does my fast encourage compassion toward someone in my community or around the world? Spending time in remembrance and prayer for that group and considering whether there is an action of compassion or justice that I can take with the time, energy, or resources preserved from the fast helps refocus hearts and minds.

Ash Wednesday Watercolor Project

A few of our Ash Wednesday watercolor paintings from the three, four, and five year olds at church.

Meditate on the Love of Christ: 

The message of the Gospel is that Christ has suffered on our behalf to purchase reconciliation and freedom. It’s quite possible to fast with justice in mind and overlook the central gift of Christ. Reading various accounts of the Holy Week (in the different gospels or different Children’s Bible Storybooks), reflecting on the Stations of the Cross, or singing hymns that retell the gift of Christ can redirect a heart toward the source of our hope and compassion.

Lean into the Quiet, Slow Pace: 

When we  say “no” to something because it’s related to a Lenten fast (a snack, a TV show, etc.), point to a different form of observance. For children, this might look like saying something along the lines of, “We don’t have dessert this week, but why don’t we put on some special Lent music to listen to while we eat crackers and cheese?” or, “We’re not watching TV right now, but would you like to light the candles on the table while you color a card or read after dinner?” Learning to slow down takes practice, encouragement, and intentionality; Lent is a natural time in our church year to lean into these slower rhythms of reflection.

 

 

 

Children's Worship: Ash Wednesday Plan

Ash Wednesday: Lesson Plan

Of all the church holidays, Ash Wednesday is perhaps the hardest for me to create meaningful learning and reflection opportunities to engage children. This year, children ages 3-7 will be invited to participate in a short 25-minute lesson during the homily.  I was going to just share our plan afterwards (and I might edit this post to add details!), but if you’re doing some last-minute googling, this might be helpful!

Here’s our plan:

 

  1. Transition: First, we’re going to do some movement outside of the space where we’re reading. Our service will be in the evening, and I expect the excitement of something new and mid-week will have everyone excited. I’ll gauge their current energy level and wind down from there.  If they’re wound up, we’ll start with some jumping up and down, some spinning around, some running in place. Then, we’ll transition to some more graceful, gentle movements: swaying, slowly turning in place. Finally, we’ll do some small movements with our hands. After we wind down, I’ll talk about how our reading for today is a quiet, small movement reading. When we’re ready to be quiet and gentle, we’ll enter our story space together.
  2. Story: In our story space (usually a tailgate tent set up in a multi-purpose room, but quite possibly just a blanket on the rug for our pared-down midweek service!), we’ll read pages 3-9 of Make Room: A Child’s Guide to Lent and Easter by Laura Alary. This is a gorgeous book, and one I plan to utilize often in the future! It would be especially appropriate for a family worship or devotional time.
  3. Activity: For special occasions during the church year, I like to have a thoughtful craft instead of just open reflection time following our story. On page 3, Alary writes, “This is the Season of Lent. The church is dressed in purple.” I’ve drawn crosses with paint-infused white school glue on watercolor paper sheets (similar to this technique) to make a slightly raised cross shape. During the quiet reflection time, the children will have a chance to watercolor these papers with various hues of purple watercolors. In my experience, watercolor tends to slow children down and help aid in reflection. The medium, color, and subject all seem to point to the slow, reflective nature of Lent.