This Lent, we have adopted the theme “seeking: honest questions for deeper faith” from worship materials provided by a group of pastors and scholars called “Sanctified Art.”

The Gospel stories for Lent this year offer us many stories of Jesus encountering people who are seeking: Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, a man born without sight.

Each person is seeking a new beginning, a different life, a deeper faith. What unfolds is an exchange with Jesus filled with questions and exploration.

Like the characters in our Lenten scriptures, we are also seeking many things: clarity, connection, wonder, justice, balance. We are seeking our calling, the sacred, and how to live as a disciple.

Throughout the turbulence of the past few years, many of us are asking big questions about our lives and our faith. If you are returning to church, or exploring church online or in-person, you probably bring questions and a critical lens. We hope this series will help us unpack some of those big questions in ways that are honest and faithful. Throughout this season, we hope you will continually ask yourself: what am I seeking? What is God seeking?

This Lent, we invite you to engage in the spiritual practice of seeking. We encourage you to stay curious, open, and nimble. We hope you will soften your assumptions and expand your perspectives.

We pray that these questions will create a safe space to explore—to be drawn more deeply into the fullness of life, into the heart of God. We pray they lead to a new beginning, a restoration, a wider grace.

Rev. Patricia Farris
Senior Minister