Lent is not a time to make yourself miserable. Often, we can be encouraged to think that the season of Lent is all about people giving up their favourite treats with the thought that in doing so we will lose some weight and get a little healthier. For some of us it is also associated with Lent Groups and study, additional services and soul searching.

Neither approach really does justice to the wonderful opportunity of the 40 days that run from Ash Wednesday to Easter Eve. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (15th February March) , and ends on Easter Eve (19th April), the forty days comprising the intervening weekdays, as Sundays do not count!

So what is it really all about?

Over the last 2,000 years, three main elements have gone into the making of Lent. They are:

1. Preparation for Easter Baptism. The early Church (especially in Jerusalem, 4th century) came to use the forty days building up to Easter as a time to prepare their new converts for Baptism. For these converts, Lent was a time of great and joyful anticipation.
2. Time for penance and reconciliation with the Church. Since early times, Lent has also been used as a time when those who have fallen away from the Church were prepared for re-admission to Holy Communion and full active membership. This often-involved confession and penance and in the process forgiveness and restoration brought a deep sense of peace and security.
3. A fast in preparation for Holy Week and Easter. This, too, has been popular since earliest times, and normally meant giving up food or some food until the evening of each day. The point was not to punish oneself, but to abstain, to both focus the mind in prayer to God, and to appreciate the real value (if any) of what one was depriving oneself. The value of the food uneaten was often offered as a gift to the poor or the Church.

Lent is Joyful

Lent is therefore about joyful anticipation, about renewed peace and a new focus on prayer and charity. It is a time of hope and happiness as we cleanse and renew ourselves to be ready to celebrate the wonderful news of the resurrection on Easter Day. On this journey we are invited to spend time praying, reflecting and being charitable.

Above all we would like you to be joyful, to remember that as members of the Church God calls us into a relationship with our Creator which is fresh and full of life and hope. May this be a Holy time of anticipation and wonder.

Opportunities During Lent 2026

Ash Wednesday, 18th February

Is the start of Lent and is one of the most important days in the church calendar. Traditionally, Ash Wednesday has been seen as a Holy Day of Obligation—a day when we make every effort to go to church. You may find a service that is on close to where you work during the day, or join at one of the services in the parish:

10am—Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes
7pm—Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes

Lent Study

Holiday is a series of stories about Jesus set in an Australian Landscape. The stories are written and illustrated by Stephen and Vanessa Daughtry to be a Lent (or any time) Study for the Anglican Board of Missions (ABM). Given our historic link with ABM and it being its 175th Year, these stories invite us to consider how we embody our faith, reflecting the culture and landscape in which we live. We will explore some of these stories in 4 sessions. These will be reflective sessions using both biblical and imaginative techniques. Each session will last an hour, with time for further discussion after, if needed, for a maximum of 30 mins.

Sessions 1–3 will be offered twice each Thursday at 12noon after the 10am Eucharist, and at 7pm. You will get the most from the stories by attending all 4 sessions, but they are stand alone, so you can come to those you are able.

Session 1: Thursday 26th February—Mad Boy—12noon or 7pm
Session 2: Thursday 5th March—Cutting Loose—mdash;12noon or 7pm
Session 3: Thursday 12th March—Midnight to Dawn—12noon or 7pm
Session 4—Quiet Morning Saturday 21st March, 9am–1pm with invitation to share lunch together afterwards)

Exploring remaining stories and landscape—with space of prayer, silence and creative response.

Please sign up at the back of church or email Christine. You can order your own copy of the book for $10; please do this on the sign up sheet.

Fasting or Giving Something Up!

The point of fasting or giving something up is about offering to God the devotion that motivated it. The time not spent in preparing and eating can be used for prayer or spiritual reading. A fast can simply be not eating meat or a fuller fast of leaving out a meal or two.

In the early Church fasting meant not eating until the main meal of the day, usually in mid-afternoon, and was widely practised before the Easter celebration. As Lent developed as an idea in the 4th Century, fasting came to be a part of the season for all Christians. A less intense form of fast, not eating meat or dairy products, was the norm on all Fridays and continued in much of the Anglican communion almost till the present day and is still practised by many. (‘Fish on Friday’).

The point of the tradition of fasting or giving something up is about making space to be more focus on God and to be even more mindful of how we live our lives of faith. As you consider what you give up, (or take up), think about what would help you grow in love for God, and help you to be the person God created you to be!

NB Those over 60 or under 12 have always been excused the need to fast. Older people, people on regular medication and diabetics should think carefully before fasting and would be advised to speak to their GP before doing so.

Confession and Reconciliation

Confession is a spiritual discipline. Individual Confession is meant to compliment and build on the general confession that we share in each week—its very personal assurance of God’s continuing love can be a powerful way of addressing spiritual questions. It is a common Lenten practice.

In the Anglican Tradition individual Confession has long been seen as an act of personal devotion that can greatly enrich the spiritual life of the believer. The rule has always been "All may, none must and some should.". All of us may make our individual confession, though none of us has to, but equally there are some of us who should.

Personal Reflection—40 bags in 40 days

In 2026 we are inviting one another to take part in 40 bags in 40 days. It is a process which allows us to reflect on what is necessary in our lives—where we focus on cleaning one area per day. In this one area you challenge yourself to declutter, simplify, decrapify, and get rid of things we don’t need. The goal is one bag a day, but you can do more or less. It doesn’t need to just be material things, it could be emails or issues or even concerns. The idea is to remove in a small way each day during Lent those things that distract us from faith and living a whole life.

Start small—bag size may vary. Maybe choose one draw or activity you are going to clear, rather than a whole room. Allow what you choose to inform your prayer life: "What does our clutter tell us about our relationship with God? How might God inform our living in the days ahead?"

Charity

Charitable giving is also a common practice in Lent. If you do fast you might like to donate what you have saved on food to Charity. Alternatively, you may just want to focus on your giving in Lent.

Helping to get ready . . .

We will have a Working Bee Saturday 28th March from 8am till about 11am. Please come and help prepare the church and garden for Holy Week and Easter—and for the changing seasons too!

Reclaiming Faith—Encouraging Others.

We have experienced a lot of change in recent years, and we hope that Lent is a time that will encourage us all to reclaim our faith and our faith practices. Some of you may like to join in the additional activities provided; OR just focus on cultivating your existing practices. Lent is a good season in which we might like to worship more regularly with our faith community, so that we can support each other in our Lenten journey. Could you commit to attending Sunday worship each week in Lent? When we worship together, we not only nurture our spirit, but we encourage each other as well.

We look forward to our Lenten Journey, and to Holy Week and Easter when they arrive.

The Days between Palm Sunday and Easter Day are important days of devotion—please join us!

Sunday 29th March—Palm Sunday

8am—Blessing of Palms and Eucharist
10am—Blessing of Palms, Procession and Eucharist
This Service begins with the Palm Procession and includes the story of Holy Week as told in the Passion of Jesus

Wednesday 1st April, 7pm—Tenebrae
Tenebrae is a traditional service during Holy Week—The name Tenebrae is the Latin word for "darkness" or "shadows." One of the most conspicuous features of the service is the gradual extinguishing of candles until only a single candle, considered a symbol of Christ remains. This light is also removed towards the end of our service but is restored to its place as we listen to the Benedictus. By this single light we all depart this service in silence. Most of the readings are from the Hebrew scriptures and lament the pain of a people longing for hope within a fragile world.

The Triduum is the period from Maundy Thursday till Easter Sunday, and is the most important days of the Christian year. A Triduum pamphlet will be available towards the end of Lent.

Please pray for me and each other as we journey together through Lent.

Rector Christine January 2026