Dear Good Samaritans,

The season of Lent is upon us. We have swapped out our Ordinary Time green for Lenten purple.

You will likely notice a few other things when you come for church. The first is that the reredos is veiled again. Lenten Veils became popular in the medieval period as a way for our eyes to have a Lenten fast from the familiar beauty that we see week after week. I wrote a message to you all about it last year if you’d like to read it again. This year the veil is made from a variety of shades of purple ribbon. Some are wide, some are thin, some are opaque and some are quite translucent. As I was walking around the church today I noticed something else. Because of the angles and varying translucency, as you move toward the edges of the church less of the reredos is visible through the ribbons. At the same time the purple becomes more and more apparent. I hope you’ll consider walking around the church to see this effect.

You will also notice that the chairs are back in quire formation (facing each other on both sides of the aisle). We had them set up this way over the summer for our contemplative Eucharists and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The hope is that this arrangement encourages deeper participation and connection to one another. It also allows us to see the sanctuary in a new way. Perhaps you will notice things that you haven’t seen before!

And, lastly, we will have musical changes as well. Some will be familiar Lenten hymns, while some may be entirely new to you. I have put together a Spotify playlist of some of the music we will be singing this Lent. The first three songs on the playlist you will hear, in one form or another, week after week. I pray that any or all of them become a beautiful refrain for your Lenten journey.

Whatever you choose to let go of or take up this Lent, I pray it will be meaningful for you and help you to encounter God and others in a new way.

Peace,