Marking the Season of Lent

Lent is a season of the Church year which developed early in the common life of Christ-followers. It marks the season of preparation for the Feast of the Resurrection, commonly called Easter. From the time of the early church forward, this season has been a period of preparation for baptism and a time of renewed attention to our spiritual practices. 

This year at St Stephen's, we are pleased to mark the season in a variety of ways:

1. For Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, we will join Anglicans from the other parishes in Burnaby. Please see the Events page for details on a Pancake Supper and worship for Ash Wednesday.

2. Beginning of Sunday, February 18, our Sunday worship will reflect the following changes:

• we will shift the announcements to the end of our worship time. This means we will sing our first hymn closer to 10am exactly. Please make the necessary changes to your Sunday morning routine. 
• we will start our worship with an opportunity to reflect on our baptismal vows, to confess where we have fallen short, and to renew our commitment to those promises.
• we will say the Apostles Creed, affirming the core beliefs of our faith

3. Following the Way of Love - A Lenten Journey is a devotional booklet prepared for St Stephen's. It returns us to some of the themes we looked at in Advent (such as trusting our belovedness, acknowledging our weariness, finding joy in connection). The booklet provides instructions in several different prayer forms such as lectio divina, praying with your imagination, the awareness examen, and visio divina and offers suggestions to pair those practices with a weekly theme.

4. Join Esther and Pastor Ruth for Weekly Guided Prayer Practice times on Zoom on Thursday evenings. Starting at 7:45 and taking roughly 1/2 an hour, these sessions are a way to try out a prayer practice with others, learn a new prayer practice, and to simply deepen your own spiritual awareness. Zoom links and details can be found on our Events page.

5. A Lenten Quiet Morning will take place on Saturday, March 9th. Working on the same Following the Way of Love: A Lenten Journey theme, spiritual directors Esther and Rod will use story, contemplative prayer, music, and silence to help us to explore and open ourselves to Jesus' way of love. Registration is required. See details here.

6. The parish is anticipating a baptism on the Feast of Pentecost and invites anyone interested in the rituals of baptism, confirmation, or reception into the Anglican Church of Canada should speak with Pastor Ruth.