Preparing to preach during Lent

LOUISVILLE — As he’s done for the past several years, the Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick took preachers meeting online Wednesday through an informative and collaborative webinar on “Preparing to Preach Lent 2026.” View the webinar offered by the Synod of the Covenant as part of its Equipping Preachers series here.

This year, Lent begins on Feb. 18. As always, Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, which is 40 days plus the seven Sundays that make up the Lenten season. Easter Sunday is April 5, a few days earlier than the median date of around April 9.

During Wednesday’s webinar, Hardick, synod executive for the Synod of the Covenant, asked participants to share favorite Lenten memories.

One pastor said that one church member doesn’t much care for Lent. “She says she gives up Lent for Lent,” he said with a smile. “She likes to think of the resurrection rather than the 40 days leading up to it.”

Another owned up to not being ready to embark on Lent in just a few weeks. She recalled a year “that was meaningful for me and for the congregation,” a Lenten season complete with prayer stations set up in the chapel. “That intentionality and preparation made it the best Lenten season,” she said. “This year, I and my congregation aren’t ready for that place of preparation.”

A third pastor recalled baptizing an adult member during worship one Easter Sunday. “It was a glorious occasion,” he said.

Hardwick recalled a church he once served that was raising money to roof a hospital in Mexico. One member gave up his Social Security check for Lent. “I found that so inspiring,” Hardwick said.

Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “lencten,” which means “to lengthen,” as in the lengthening of days during springtime.

Hardwick offered up both lectionary and non-lectionary possibilities for preachers to explore as part of their preaching during Lent.

Image

Theological themes including atonement, the Trinity, sin, Christology and the attributes of God can be explored. Hardwick recalled the year he paired scripture passages with questions from the Heidelberg Catechism, “which is very pastoral,” he said. “People appreciated learning about one of the confessions they don’t hear much about.”

Helpful sources for preachers during Lent include “Seven Last Words” from Illustrated Ministry, N.T. Wright’s “From Wilderness to Glory,” Barb Roose’s “Finding Jesus in the Psalms: A Lenten Journey,” and “Hard and Holy Work: A Lenten Journey Through the Book of Exodus” by Mary Alice Birdwhistell and Tyler D. Mayfield.

Hardwick also recommended a number of resources on spiritual practices, including Marjorie J. Thompson’s classic “Soul Feast,” Howard Thurman’s “Disciplines of the Spirit,” John Ortberg “The Life You’ve Always Wanted” and Kate Bowler’s “Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection.”

Webinar participants were asked about memorable Lenten series they either led or heard about that weren’t lectionary-based. One said he led a Wednesday study called “Sustainable Faith” based on a series by author Krista Tippett. The series explored doing Creation care better and featured church partners such as a builder of tiny homes and another who farms sustainably. “It was well-attended,” this pastor said.

Participants broke into two groups to discuss lectionary possibilities, sharing their ideas with the larger group near the end of the webinar. Groups discussed passages from the gospels and the epistles. Old Testament passages and a handful of psalms are also among the lectionary passages.

“We have the freedom as Presbyterians to use the lectionary or not use the lectionary,” Hardwick pointed out.

Those studying the gospel pericopes reported on some of the themes they noticed, including a desire for certainty in uncertain times and how modern-day eyes can be opened in ways reminiscent of some of Jesus’ most restorative healing acts.

Some of the lectionary lessons, especially those in John, are lengthy, Hardwick noted. If a passage is familiar to most hearers, preachers can “look for selected verses to get the point across,” he said.

“We were trying to find movement in the epistle readings and find where themes connected,” said a member of the epistles group. The first reference was to sin and death. “Hit them with that the first week and see if anyone comes back for the second week,” the spokesperson suggested. Fortunately, later passages are focused on faith and reconciliation as well as “waking up and being alive in faith and in the Spirit,” he said.

Another way to consider the epistle passages is to figure out what they tell us about Jesus, another preacher noted. Still, it’s “just so much easier” to focus preaching on narrative texts “than to go with just straight epistle.”

The webinar closed with a prayer thanking God for the chance to connect with one another “and with your Word,” a participant prayed. “I pray for all of us that you would send your Spirit to be at work in us as we seek to find a word for your people this upcoming season.”

“May we be blessed as we do our work, and may our people be blessed through their experience of this coming season of reflection.”

Monthly Equipping Preachers workshops are available to preachers inside and outside the boundaries of the Synod of the Covenant. The next one, set for 10 a.m. through 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Feb. 4, features the Rev. Dr. Claudio Carvalhaes from Union Theological Seminary. Carvalhaes will speak on “Praying With — Orienting Our Lives to the Wholeness of the World.” Learn more and register here.