Resources for Lenten Worship 2024

JANUARY 11, 2024

RELATED PROJECT: CULTURAL ARTS

THEME: WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT JUSTICE

TYPE OF RESOURCE: BIBLE STUDIES

Our faith traditions and the Bible frequently lift up expressions of longing, mourning, even anger at the way things are. We lament that in the US over 700 people die every day due to poverty. That millions die every year from inadequate healthcare. That poor and people of color are disproportionately violated and degraded by the interrelated crises of pandemic, state sanctioned violence, war, storms and more. In the richest country in human history we have 140 million people who are poor or one emergency from economic ruin. And this Lenten Season we lament and bare witness to the violence, death, and ongoing genocide of tens of thousands of people in Palestine – violence that is funded by the US and backed up by a twisted Christian theology of dominance and supremacy. These are our people, our leaders, our families and we must mourn and wail. We must cry out to God for justice and demand #CeasefireNow. 

In this season of Struggle and Lament, the Freedom Church of the Poor and the Kairos Center have developed Lenten Resources to offer worship elements that can be integrated into your congregation’s worship during the Lenten season, guided by the plight, fight, and insight of the poor and dispossessed. You are invited to consider incorporating the prayers, artwork, and songs to your worship services throughout this season. Additionally the corresponding chapters in We Cry Justice offer sermon starters for those preaching during the season as well as a Struggle & Lament study series that can be used in your community. 

By Kairos Center, Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), Black Christians for Palestine, Faith for Black Lives, National Council of Churches, and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights.