Lenten Services and Programs
Ash Wednesday Worship
Wednesday, March 5 | 7:00 p.m. | Chapel
A Cross Torn Open: to a Broken World was inspired by the East Window at St. Martin in-the-fields Church in Trafalgar Square in London. The window, designed by Shirazeh Houshiary in collaboration with her husband, architect Pip Horne, adds light to the Grade I listed church and is one of the most significant pieces of religious art commissioned in modern times.
We are captivated by the appearance of a cross being torn open. We believe it allows the church to better see the world and, in turn, allows easier access to the church from outside. The Lenten series will walk through seeing both the church and the world through different views.
Lenten Preaching Series
A Cross Torn Open to a Broken World
A Cross Torn Open: to a Broken World was inspired by the East Window at St. Martin in-the-fields Church in Trafalgar Square in London. The window, designed by Shirazeh Houshiary in collaboration with her husband, architect Pip Horne, adds light to the Grade I listed church and is one of the most significant pieces of religious art commissioned in modern times.
We are captivated by the appearance of a cross being torn open. We believe it allows the church to better see the world and, in turn, allows easier access to the church from outside. The Lenten series will walk through seeing both the church and the world through different views.
Houshiary and Horne say, “The transparent/translucent glass allows the world outside to enter inside…It suggests the outside world is part of the sacred and that the mundane and the sacred belong together. This idea of inclusivity as against exclusivity is an important part of the ethos of St Martin’s.”
We hope you will join us during Lent for Sunday Worship, Vesper services, and other special programming as we delve deeper into how the torn cross offers new insight into the church and the world.
March 9 — Introduction to A Cross Torn Open: to a Broken World (John 14:25-31)
March 16 — Enter Jesus (Matthew 4:23-25)
March 23 — Empowered by Jesus (Matthew 5:13-16, 38-43)
March 30 — Jesus in Community (John 4:3-15)
April 6 — Jesus Reconstructs the Church (Mark 11:15-18)
April 13 — Palm Sunday Jesus vs. Power (Luke 19:28-40)
April 20 — Easter New Jesus/New Life
Devotionals
Into the Deep
Published by the United Church of Christ, and written by the “Still Speaking” writers group, this daily devotional for the season of Lent invites reflection on God’s mysterious depth. As Mary Luti writes in the introduction, “God inhabits the depths of life, love, loss, ecstasy, and pain. God dwells in the profundities of prayer, in sighs too deep for words. God loves the deep.” This Lent, what courage, what faith, what reckoning, what wonder might find us as we go deep into God’s depths?
Copies will be available at the Lathrop entrance and on the table in the back of the Sanctuary.
Mid-Week Vesper Services
Thursday, March 20 | 7:00 p.m. | Chapel
Thursday, March 27 | Online (Pre-recorded)
Thursday, April 3 | 7:00 p.m. | Chapel
“Broken Open” – Was a time when you found yourself “broken open” to a deeper understanding of loving yourself, others, and/or the world? What did you discover and how did it change you?
Join us for these mid-week worship services to reflect on our Lenten theme. The service is an intimate time of prayer, reflection, music, and silence.
Prayer Labyrinth
Sunday, April 6 | 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Chapel
Step (literally!) into a quiet space for prayer and meditation by walking the Prayer Labyrinth. As a spiritual tool, the path winds and becomes a metaphor for our journey with God. Walking the labyrinth quiets the mind providing an opportunity to pray and reflect on life questions with God.
Lenten Theme Discussions
Session 1: Sunday, March 16 | 8:30 ‒ 9:30 a.m. | Hearth Room
How have you witnessed or experienced the CHURCH being broken or torn? What is the result personally or communally of that for you? Was there any insight you gained from one or more of the articles?
Sessions 2: Sunday, April 6 | 8:30 ‒ 9:30 a.m. | Hearth Room
How have you witnessed or experienced the WORLD being broken or torn? What is the result personally or communally of that for you? Was there any insight you gained from one or more of the articles?