Lent 2025 at St. Julian's:
Ash Wednesday, our annual call to the Observance of a Holy Lent, will be here soon and very soon on March 5. I want to mention specifically the special offerings we will be providing for this season of special devotion and preparation for entering into the joys of Easter. To begin, I would like to call your attention to our community's Rule of Life, which is intended to be a shared covenant for how we live together as a family of faith. These are spiritual commitments, if you will, that we ideally choose to live together to order our common life and lead us personally and corporately toward spiritual growth. The entire Rule of Life can be found at our website by clicking here.
One of the rules is that we will take advantage of the special seasons in our Church Year, Advent and Lent, to tend to our spiritual lives in an intentional way. Like all relationships, if we desire to grow closer and more intimate with God, we must set time aside to be together. Lent, in particular, provides this space and exists for: A deeper relationship with God; greater awareness of ourselves; deeper friendship with each other; service to those in need within and beyond our community; and to encounter and know, in a more personal way, the hope and promise of resurrection.
Please read on and consider taking advantage of one or more of the special offerings we will provide during this Holy Season.
1. Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, March 4, 6:30-7:30 PM: Join us as we feast together (breakfast for dinner!) before the fast of Lent begins. The meal is being prepared by and is supporting our Youth Ministry Program. The suggested donation is $10 per person or $20 for a family of 2 or more (though just joining us or a donation of any amount welcome). To help with cooking or to let us borrow an electric griddle. email Elle Micek-Delano, our Youth Ministry Coordinator.
2. Ash Wednesday Service, Holy Communion with the Imposition of Ashes, March 5 at 6:30 PM (in-person and online): Join us as we begin our Lenten journey to the cross and on to the empty tomb together. The service will include the Imposition of Ashes, an Invitation to a Holy Lent, sermon, music, and Holy Communion. We will also have Children’s Chapel and the nursery will be available. The service will be live-streamed on our YouTube Channel.
3. "Pathways of Prayer", Sunday Morning Adult Ed Program during Lent, March 9-April 6 (10:20-11:05 AM between Services): Our Theologian in Residence, Dr. Tony Baker, will be exploring with us the power and purpose of prayer and practical resources for deepening one's personal prayer life. These include: Iconography, Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, and the Daily Office in the Book of Common Prayer. Though Adult Ed is a part of our year-round practice at St. Julian's, perhaps you will consider making your weekly participation a part of your Lenten commitments. The class is in-person and streamed live each Sunday at our regular Sunday morning Christian Ed link.
4. Iftar Dinner during Ramadan with our Friends at Austin Dialogue Institute, Sunday, March 9, 6:45-8:15 PM at the Church: Join us as our Muslim friends from Austin Dialogue Institute and the Raindrop Foundation return for our annual Iftar Dinner. In addition to the wonderful Turkish food that will be provided for us, the evening includes time for learning about each others traditions and much time for table fellowship. To RSVP, click here. For questions, email Miles.
5. “An Invitation to a Holy Lent”, Wednesday Evening Lenten Suppers and Program, March 12, 26 and April 2 and 9, 6:30-8 PM: Join us on Wednesday evenings for a simple potluck supper of soup, bread, salad and dessert. Dinner will be followed by programs for all ages. Adults will be exploring the spiritual practices outlined in the the Invitation to a Holy Lent in our annual Ash Wednesday Service. These include: Self-examination, Repentance, Prayer/Fasting, and Studying Holy Scripture. Children and Youth will be led in their own corresponding programs by our Children’s Minister, Jennifer Cowles, and Youth Ministry Coordinator, Elle Micek-Delano. Our nursery will also be available. We will conclude each evening with Compline around our altar. We will meet each Wednesday in Lent with the exception of March 19, which falls in Spring Break. To RSVP and let us know if you are bringing something for dinner, click here.
6. "Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Heart, Soul, Strength and Mind", Daily Devotional Readings for Lent from Living Compass: This year we will, once again, be reading together daily devotions by the Living Compass. Booklet versions are available each Sunday in our entry. They are also available electronically in various forms, including, a free pdf download, an e-book from Amazon ($0.99), or receiving the devotions daily via email (also at no cost). To see options for downloading the devotions or to sign up to receive them daily, click here. Additionally, Living Compass has a regular podcast that many in our community find meaningful. For current and previous episodes, click here.
7. The Rite of Reconciliation: The Rite of Reconciliation, commonly called Confession, is a service in our Book of Common Prayer that exists for those interested in intentionally naming before God and the Church (as represented in the office of priest) our sins and receiving absolution and assurance of God's forgiveness. This service is done individually with one of our priests in the church at a time convenient for you. Please know the seal of confession is absolute. Anything mentioned during the rite will be held in complete confidence forever, and matters brought up will not ever be mentioned again unless you desire further counsel or conversation. To schedule a time for this, please email Miles.
8. Easter Egg Hunt and Celebration, Saturday, April 19, 10-11 AM: Join us as we gather with our neighbors to hunt eggs, play games and celebrate the coming of Easter. We will also have a brunch-y food trailer present. If you are willing to help with the event, please email Mickey or Susan Dorsey, chairs of our Hospitality Ministry. Friends, family and neighbors are warmly welcome.
9. Holy Week Services, April 13-20: Palm Sunday (April 13), 9 AM and 11:15 AM with the Liturgy of the Palms, a dramatic reading of Jesus' Passion, sermon, special music, and Holy Communion. Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday (April 14-16), 12 PM with reflections and Holy Communion. Maundy Thursday (April 17), 6:30 PM with Foot-Washing, sermon, special music, Holy Communion and the Stripping of the Altar. Good Friday (April 18), 12:00 PM with the Good Friday Liturgy, sermon, and the Veneration of the Cross. Good Friday Stations of the Cross (April 18), directly following the Good Friday Liturgy (about 1:30 PM) outdoors on our new land. Easter Sunday (April 20), 7 AM, 9 AM (in-person and online) and 11:15 AM, with the Flowering of the Cross, special music, sermon, and Holy Communion. Please note, Palm Sunday (9 AM), Maundy Thursday (6:30 PM), Good Friday (12 PM) and Easter Sunday (9 AM) services will all be live streamed at our YouTube Channel.
A final word about fasting during Lent. There are two fast days in the Episcopal Church: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. This traditionally means abstaining from food, or food and drink, from sun-up to sun-down on these two days. Other expressions of fasting during Lent take the form of "giving something up" from social media, to sodas, to just about anything. I think fasting is a wonderful spiritual discipline but want to perhaps give the tradition some context. If you choose to fast from something this Lent, it is to name God as the center of our lives rather than the other things we enjoy, use and consume. We fast to make space for something else that grows us closer to God and other people. We fast because the hunger or desire experienced calls us into prayer. Lastly, we fast because when we are missing something from food to things, we are reminded of those who truly do not have enough and are perhaps moved to help do something about it.
As you can see, there are many offerings to deepen our walk with God in Christ during this Holy Season of growth and preparation, and we hope you and yours will participate with us in as much as possible. My experience remains that the deeper we enter into the spiritual growth that Lent provides, the more wonderous and transformative the Easter that follows becomes for us.
Please let us know if we can be of any assistance in making Lent a meaningful experience for you, and I look forward to our shared journey. It continues to be a tremendous blessing to share ministry and friendship with each of you.
Peace and Warm Friendship,
Miles+
The Rev. Miles R. Brandon, II, Vicar
with
The Rev. Kelly M. Koonce, Interim Associate Vicar