Lent 2021
Diocese of Blackburn – Readings for each day of Lent
Read Mark and Learn
An exciting home-grown resource is the Diocesan Lent Devotional which takes us through the entire Gospel of Mark during Lent. The reflections have been written by priests and people from across the Diocese.
With the drama of the narrative, highly selective in the events he leaves out, Mark gives us vivid details about the events he does include, details left out by Matthew and Luke.
To read/download the booklet go to https://www.blackburn.anglican.org/seasonal-resources and follow the link.
Our Benefice – A weekly course to join online on Tuesday evenings
Looking out in Lent
We will use the weekly Diocesan Lent Course talks from our Bishops and Archdeacons. The overarching title for the course is ‘Looking Out in Lent’ and it will use Mark’s Gospel and the five marks of mission to explore ways of being a more outward-looking church when we start to move out of the pandemic.
There will be the five sessions on Zoom, each consisting of 15-20 minute talks followed by discussion. Depending on numbers, we will stay together for the discussion or use Zoom breakout rooms. We will end with a form of Night Prayer.
All evenings will be on Zoom from 7.30-9.00pm.
Please book a place with Robin: email vicarwby@outlook.com or phone 01524 732946.
The five sessions are as follows:
Week 1: February 23
Looking Out in Lent by: Telling the Good News (Evangelism) (Bishop Jill)
Mark 1.14-20 Proclamation of the Kingdom and call of the disciples
Week 2: March 2
Looking Out in Lent by: Teaching the Faith (Discipleship) (Bishop Julian)
Mark 4.21-34 Parables of growth
Week 3: March 9
Looking Out in Lent by: Tending to human need (Service) (Archdeacon David)
Mark 5.1-20 Healing of a demon-possessed man – service of the whole person, physical, spiritual, relational
Week 4: March 16
Looking Out in Lent by: Transforming society (Justice) (Bishop Philip)
Mark 10.35-45 Contrast between the kingdom and the world
Week 5: March 23
Looking Out in Lent by: Treasuring creation (Environment) (Archdeacon Mark)
Mark 16.1-8 Good news to all creation
Diocese of Blackburn – A weekly course online on Wednesday evenings
Looking out in Lent
We are offering a new weekly online Diocesan Lent course featuring talks from our Bishops and Archdeacons. The overarching title for the course is ‘Looking Out in Lent’ and it will use Mark’s Gospel and the five marks of mission to explore ways of being a more outward-looking church when we start to move out of the pandemic.
There will be the five ‘live’ sessions on Zoom, each consisting of 15-20 minute talks followed by a Zoom breakout Q and A discussion.
All evenings run on Zoom from 7.30-9.00pm.
Register for the course sessions on Eventbrite here.
The titles of the five sessions are as listed opposite for the Benefice course. The dates (and the leaders for each) are as follows:
Week 1: February 24 (Bishop Jill)
Week 2: March 3 (Bishop Julian)
Week 3: March 10 (Archdeacon David)
Week 4: March 17 (Bishop Philip)
Week 5: March 24 (Archdeacon Mark)
The Bible Society – A daily email reflection for each day of Lent
The Lent Encounter
This year, you can join The Lent Encounter. It’s a completely free 40-day journey to help you connect more with the Bible and the life of Jesus – AND you don’t have to give up chocolate!
Sign up today and you’ll receive one email from us every day during Lent. These will include Bible verses, beautiful and inspiring images (created especially for you to save as your device screensaver), video reflections and practical challenges.
The Lent Encounter follows the narrative of Andrew Ollerton's new book 'The Bible, a story that makes sense of life'. Many of the themes we explore on our journey through Lent, can also be found in this book!
You don't need the book to get the full Lent Encounter experience, but if you'd like it, you can get it for £9.99 (including postage and packing) when you sign up for The Lent Encounter.
Go to the Bible Society website here.
The Bible Reading Fellowship - Join us for the journey through Lent
Following Jesus
Sign up for BRF’s biggest home group (on Facebook) as we draw on a new devotional guide exploring how Jesus modelled the ten holy habits throughout his life and how we can too. Tuesdays 7.30pm – 8.30pm, starting Tuesday 16th February. Learn more at www.holyhabits.org.uk/onlinehomegroup.
Join the group at Holy Habits home group: Following Jesus | Facebook
Other resources to explore
YouTube Video – The Journey of the Cross. Artwork by Seiger Koder. 6 min 47 sec.
Church of England
God’s Story Our Story
From Ash Wednesday (17 February) to Easter Sunday (4 April), there are six reflections for each week, written by Stephen Hance, the Church of England’s National Lead for Evangelism and Witness. Each reflection includes a short passage from the Bible, a brief exploration of the reading, and a prayer.
The daily reflections are available through the booklet available to buy from Church House Publishing. The booklet is also available in a Large Print format.
The reflections will also be available as a free app (launching in early February), emails (scroll down the page to the Sign up section), audio and through the Church of England’s social media accounts. The app version will include a daily Family Activity, offering a simple way to explore a story or a theme from the day’s reflection.
If you have a smart speaker you can use the following commands:
- "ask the Church of England for today's LiveLent reflection"
- "ask the Church of England to play LiveLent reflection day [dayNumber]"
Sisters at Hyning Monastery
Stations of the Cross
At 11.00am each Friday in Lent the Sisters are offering Stations of the Cross.
They will be streamed through the Community's' Facebook page - add Hyning Chapel as a friend, or join the group, Bernardine Cistercians or like the page, Bernardines.
Or through a Zoom link; you need to email or message srmichaelasbc@yahoo.co.uk for a Zoom link.
The Community will publicsise which way it will be streamed each week; the relevant Facebook posts will be shared to the Benefice Facebook page.