Lent 2026 at LNPC : Being in TimeWelcome to Lent.
(Read our Ash Wednesday Message). Lent holds us in a rhythm of practice and a tradition bigger than ourselves. For 40 days we are invited to join with Christians all over the world, to be in time differently, with honesty and openness, to be present to God who is present to us. Jesus took on our humanity; he was born, he lived and he died. As we anticipate his resurrection that sets us free from sin and death, we first come back to the truth of our own mortality and humanness, and our inability to save ourselves, each other, or the world. Historically, Lent is a time of "fasting", to consciously let something go in order to be more attentive to God. |
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This Lent we will practice inactivity.
We are fasting from constant doing. When human identity is defined by doing, we are captive to non-stop activity. We begin to behave as though we ourselves are God, or the clamoring noise and raging powers are God. Instead of time being for love--God’s gift for experiencing our life as on earth belonging to God and each other—our relationship with time becomes hostile and tense. We treat time as something to stretch, kill, spend, manage, use and waste. Non-stop doing alienates us from God, each other, ourselves, the world, and time itself. This frenetic and non-stop activity seeks what can only be found in inactivity: our humanity. Inactivity—stopping and simply being—returns us to what’s true, reconnects us with God, other human beings and all of creation, and re-anchors us in a loving relationship to time. Read more about why we are practicing inactivity. |
"The great Swiss theologian Karl Barth wrote, ‘A being is free only when it can determine and limit its activity.’
By that definition, I have a hard time counting many free beings among my acquaintance. I know people who can do five things at once who are incapable of doing nothing. I know people who can decide what to do without being able to do less of it. Since I have been one of these people, I know that saying no is a more difficult spiritual practice than tithing, praying on a cold stone floor, or visiting a prisoner on death row.” - Barbara Brown Taylor “Inactivity...has a healing effect....Only in inactivity do we become aware of the ground on which we rest, and of the space in which we are. Life enters the contemplative mode, and swings back to its secret foundation in being.” - Byung-Chul Han |
To be in time this Lent, you may wish to use:
1- The Lenten Playlist
2- The 2026 Lenten Prayer Guide
2- A Timer on a Ribbon that reads, "slow down, time is for love."
For our Lenten practice of "inactivity", or for morning and evening prayer. We can stop and be for 20, 10, or 5 minutes of inactivity every day, or whatever other amount of time we choose.
3- A Lenten Daily Devotional Book
A Way Other Than Our Own, by Walter Brueggemann for adults, and for kids, Twas the Season of Lent, by Glennis Nellist and Elina Selivanova. Each offers a short reflection and prayer for each day. Books can be picked up at church for an optional donation of $13, or whatever you want to pay (including $0).
1- The Lenten Playlist
2- The 2026 Lenten Prayer Guide
- that explains the daily practice of inactivity.
- that offers a morning and evening prayer liturgy that can be used every day throughout Lent.
- that provides other simple practices of being and presence that you might enjoy trying out during Lent.
2- A Timer on a Ribbon that reads, "slow down, time is for love."
For our Lenten practice of "inactivity", or for morning and evening prayer. We can stop and be for 20, 10, or 5 minutes of inactivity every day, or whatever other amount of time we choose.
3- A Lenten Daily Devotional Book
A Way Other Than Our Own, by Walter Brueggemann for adults, and for kids, Twas the Season of Lent, by Glennis Nellist and Elina Selivanova. Each offers a short reflection and prayer for each day. Books can be picked up at church for an optional donation of $13, or whatever you want to pay (including $0).
Being with God Together in Lent:
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Worship Services in Lent
ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE,
February 18, 6:30 pm We met online amidst a blizzard. READ THE ASH WED. MESSAGE LENT 1 - SAT, FEB. 21, 5:00 PM (w/ Sabbath Sunday)
LENT 2 - SUN, MAR. 1, 10:00 AM LENT 3 - SAT, MAR. 7, 5:00 PM (w/ Sabbath Sunday) LENT 4 - SUN, MAR. 15, 10:00 AM LENT 5 - SAT, Mar. 21, 5:00 PM (w/ Sabbath Sunday) HOLY WEEK WORSHIP
PALM SUNDAY
Sunday, March 29, 10:00 am 
GOOD FRIDAY TENEBRAE SERVICE
Friday, March 2, 6:30 pm 
EASTER CELEBRATION OF THE
RESURRECTION with breakfast & egg hunt Sunday, April 3, 10:00 am |
