Lent Devotional
Lent 2023 Resource Kit
Looking for ideas for worship and teaching this Lent? Our resource guide has everything you need for you and your congregation to experience a meaningful season on the way to Easter!
2023 Sermon Series
Consider the following sermon series to plan out your Lent worship, or adapt for using with Bible study, Sunday School classes of all ages, or other formation groups.
Sermons on Joseph
In this series, the Rev. Andrew Wirt ’10 follows the story of Joseph in Genesis, connects it to Jesus’ ministry, and considers how sometimes expectations don’t line up with reality.
Sermons on the Lord’s Prayer
The Rev. Erik Hoeke offers a framework to examine the Lord’s Prayer throughout Lent in order to create more space for prayer in our lives.
Sermons on the Apostles’ Creed
PTS alums the Revs. Thomas (’03) and Connie (’94) Hoeke unpack the deeper meaning of the Apostles’ Creed over the Sundays of Lent and Easter.
Good Friday Message: “What Jesus Didn’t Say from the Cross”
Karen Slusser ’21 offers a Good Friday meditation centered on the practice of listening carefully to spoken or sung presentation of Psalm 69.
From Contemplation to Action: Spiritual Practices for Lent
PTS faculty and staff introduce a variety of spiritual practices, including: dancing, thinking, walking, and forms of contemplation.
The Rev. Dr. Edwin van Driel, Directors' Bicentennial Professor of Theology: “Thinking”
Dr. Josie Hoover, Director of Human Resources: “Movement and Dance”
Dr. Shan Overton, Director of the Center for Writing and Learning Support: “Growing Your Interior Garden with Teresa of Avila”
Dr. Helen Blier, Director of Continuing Education: Walking
The Rev. Dr. L. Roger Owens, Hugh Thomson Kerr Professor of Pastoral Theology: Contemplative Silence
Big Book of Lenten Devotionals - Year 2
The Seminary's 2023 “Big Book of Lenten Devotionals” gives you a valuable resource for personal and corporate spiritual formation during the Lenten season. From Day 1 through Easter, each section includes multiple biblical passages from the daily lectionary, reflections based on those passages, and accompanying prayers based on each reflection. Seminary alumnae/i, faculty, staff, Board members, and students have contributed to this resource to help enrich your Lenten worship for many years to come.
Download the Big Book of Lenten Devotionals (WORD)
Download the Big Book of Lenten Devotionals (PDF)
Selected previously released Lenten resources include:
"SEE MY HANDS" VIDEO
This video looks at the stories related to Jesus' hands throughout the Gospels and could easily be used as a media presentation during a worship service, as part of a sunrise celebration, or as a jumping off point for an adult or youth education class. Be creative! This video comes with a lesson plan.
EASTER BREADS - A BRIEF OVERVIEW AND SAMPLE RECIPES
Special (mostly) sweet breads are traditional Holy Week and Easter fare from Great Britain eastward across Europe and through Russia, and also in the United States. Find out why, take a look at some recipes, and try out a few of them at home and/or your church for coffee hour—or Communion!
DON’T BE A HERO! AND OTHER GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING A LENTEN DISCIPLINE
These insights by the Rev. Dr. Roger Owens, Hugh Thomson Kerr Professor of Pastoral Theology, can aid you in forming Lenten disciplines that are helpful, realistic, and focused on honoring God, not yourself.
COMMON QUESTIONS KIDS ASK ABOUT LENT, HOLY WEEK, AND EASTER—AND HOW TO ANSWER THEM!
When kids ask questions about Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, you might find that you don’t really know how to answer them! Here you’ll find suggestions for what to say in response to some of those questions. You might even use them as the basis for a children’s sermon or Sunday school lesson, or for conversation at home around the dinner table.
GALILEE TO GOLGOTHA SLIDESHOW
Via captioned lantern slides from the Kelso Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology’s historic collection, this PowerPoint resource, compiled by alumnus the Rev. Richard Byerly ’07, follows the Gospel of Luke’s account in taking you on a visual trip of the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, the city of Jesus’ Passion. Use this slideshow as the basis of a Sunday school class at the start of Passion Week.
SYI HYMNAL FOR WIND INSTRUMENTS
The Miller Summer Youth Institute Hymnal for Wind Instruments coordinates with the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal and the 2013 Glory to God: the Presbyterian Hymnal. This resource contains three charts for each song, and each chart shows the vocal lines from the hymnals transposed for a collection of instruments—the ones that the youth in your congregation learn to play for marching and symphonic band. Involve your kids and young adults in an upcoming service! Have them accompany your choir, perform special music in a small group, or play a solo on their flute, saxophone, trumpet, or other wind instrument.
ACCESS THE SYI HYMNAL FOR WIND INSTRUMENTS
ADDITIONAL LENTEN RESOURCES
For additional Lenten resources, visit the Seasonal Resources - Lent page of our website.