The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama
Explore the Lent Resources page for our top picks of curated resources for ministry!
Share your top picks with us and we will add to this page.
Don't hesitate to reach out to any member of the
​Christian Formation Department. We are here to help each other!  
You can order scratch off stickers from Amazon using the link below. Simply download the free calendar and order your scratch off stickers below. The kids will love it!
  1. The Episcopal Church website lists many available resources for Lent, including: Preparing to Become the Beloved Community, a vision document that lays out The Episcopal Church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice; weekly video lessons in Life Transformed – The Way of Love in Lent; and Living the Way of Love, a 40 day devotional by Mary Bea Sullivan available through Church Publishing.
  2. United Thank Offering has a Lenten journal to document a daily gratitude challenge as well as two separate resources for children that can be emailed or printed out and mailed to families.
  3. Lent Madness is an offering of Forward Movement, created in 2010 by the Rev. Tim Schenck. Instead of basketball’s March Madness, Lent Madness pits saints against each other in a tournament-like, single elimination bracket. To join in the fun and learn more about the saints, click here. To see Forward Movement’s different Lenten and Easter products, click here.
  4. Living Compass offers a variety of Lenten resources as part of their series, Living Well Through Lent 2022: Letting Go With All Your Heart, Soul, Strength and Mind. It includes a daily email, a Lent devotional available in English and Spanish, and a private Facebook discussion group moderated by Robbin Brent, Carolyn Karl, Jan Kwiatkowski, and Scott Stoner.
Episcopal Relief and Development sends daily meditations during Lent. These reflections are organized into Episcopal Relief & Development’s priorities: Women, Children and Climate, and include a focus on their Disaster Resilience & Response work. Click here to sign up to receive their Lenten Meditations 2022.
About Lent At Church and Home Devotional: For each day of Lent, this devotional offers three sections: “Dig In”, “Question”, and “And…”.  The topic for each day is specific to that day – sometimes Churchy, sometimes historical, sometimes Bible-ey, sometimes silly, but always Godly.
Depending on how much time your household has, you might use all three sections or just “Dig In”.
Using This Devotional: There are a variety of ways this can be used to bless the children and families of your parish. You may also want to distribute copies to single adults and older adults, they might want to send one to a grandchild or godchild, or they might want to participate in what your parish families are doing.
A few ideas for increasing engagement:
  • Ask parishioners to send a photo of themselves with the booklet for you to post on your church’s social media.
  • Some Sundays you might have items to send home to help with a particular day’s idea. For example, on Sunday, March 6th you might send home flower seeds for families to use on March 12. On Palm Sunday, you might send home sidewalk chalk for Good Friday.
  • Plan to sing hymns mentioned in the devotional in church. For example, on Palm Sunday, sing the hymn “All glory, laud, and honor.”
  • Each day’s “Dig In” could be posted on social media. These could be text with a corresponding image or a video of someone reading the “Dig In’ section for the day.
  • After Easter Day, you might have an evening to celebrate what participants learned during Lent.  Perhaps teach a more in-depth lesson on one of the topics.  Perhaps have a trivia contest based on the items from the days, such as “which country’s astronauts were the first to walk in space?” adults vs children. And share snacks based on what might be eaten during Jesus time in Israel. Re-sing Easter hymns.
This booklet is an editable Word Doc. You can format and adapt this devotional to fit your context. Written by: Gail Jackins
 Lectio Divina booklet (free!) for the Daily Office readings for Lent. Contains the readings for each day, a place to write a meditative verse, a section to write your prayers and a section to write your reflections. It's designed it to be used in GoodNotes on an iPad, but can be printed, as well. Written by Christian Formation Leader: M. Castelli
There are two versions to choose from:
Version 1: https://drive.google.com/.../1b0vGaEqoQD941CtddcL.../view...
Version 2: https://drive.google.com/.../1hhm0IiypxoGKq8nJ.../view...
Faithful Families for Lent, Easter, & Resurrection - By: Traci Smith. How do you share the deep mysteries of Lent, Easter, and Resurrection with children? Parents, guardians, teachers, and ministers will find dozens of fun and easy practices for celebrating the Easter season with our kids. The practices and seasonal prayers are grouped into chapters titled Ash Wednesday, Symbols, Lenten Prayers, Lenten Refraining, Lenten Acts of Service, Holy Week, Easter Vigil and Easter Day, and the Season of Resurrection. Smith also offers theological notes guiding parents on addressing the violence of the crucifixion and the meaning of Jesus' death. You may purchase the book on Amazon using the button below.
Discipleship Matters - Building cultures of discipleship in the Episcopal church Discipleship in Lent.
RenewalWorks is all about increasing love of God and neighbor in our congregations. We have found that going back to the basics – understanding our beliefs, emphasizing spiritual practices, and living out our faith through serving – is often the way to rejuvenate a community. 

Lent is a perfect time for re-committing to our own faith developments. Churches often ask us for resource recommendations. See two of our favorites here!
  • In this time of uncertainty, Revive Lent helps us to talk with one another, build a deeper relationship with God and prepare to journey with Jesus through Holy Week.

    Revive Lent is a supplemental seasonal resource for adapting Revive: Equipping Lay Leaders to be Spiritual Leaders for Lent. Six sessions, complete with outlines, video instruction, devotional practices and discussion starters are provided for small groups that want to grow in intimacy with God as followers of Jesus.

    Revive Lent comprises 5 sessions:
  • Session 1: Discovering your spiritual story
  • Session 2: Telling your spiritual story
  • Session 3: What is prayer and how do we pray?
  • Session 4: Making space and praying the lectio and visio divina
  • Session 5: Praying through the hurt
  • Session 6: Death and dying, and praying with Jesus in the garden
  •  
    WHAT DOES REVIVE LENT INCLUDE?
    When you purchase Revive Lent, you receive:
  • The complete version of Revive, including three six-week modules plus opening and closing retreat materials.
  • A Facilitator Guide
  • A Participant Guide
  • Access to 31 instructional videos
  • Revive Lent Supplement for adapting Revive into six sessions emphasizing Lenten themes.
  •  
    ONLINE OR IN-PERSON
    Revive Lent can be offered in both online and in-person formats. For online, facilitators must choose a suitable digital conferencing platform such as Zoom, FaceTime or Google Meet. You will need breakout groups and screen-share functions in order to successfully facilitate the small group online. For in-person, it is important to find a quiet and private setting where conversations will not be overheard or interrupted.
     
    Revive and Revive Lent can be purchased at forwardmovement.org.
​
  • My Way of Love for Small Groups: A Companion Resources for the My Way of Love Spiritual Life Inventory

My Way of Love for Small Groups is intended for participants who wish to receive some guidance about ways to grow spiritually—deepening our love of God and neighbor. You and your group or congregation can begin using this resource and meeting together at any time, either in person or virtually. Each group member will receive regular emails focused on the keywords that make up the Way of Love, and then share with each other how and where the journey is moving your community and your hearts along the way.

Participating in My Way of Love for Small Groups is a great community builder, and especially appropriate for smaller congregations. We believe you’ll find it to be a great process for a vestry study, undergirding confirmation classes, or informing a teaching series in youth group, or as part of a standard Bible study or prayer group. Additionally, you could use it as a generator, breathing new life to a stressed-out committee or offering some spiritual hospitality to your church or school staff.

ILLUSTRATED MINISTRY- 
Here’s what is available, and if you want to learn a little more, some short descriptions are below!

ChristineVHides.com is a Christian Educator and author who offers engaging faith formation resources to equip parents and ministry leaders. Get connected and explore her resources below.
Spirituality & Practice - Forgiveness: A Growth in Love - 2022
By Mary Dwyer, Contemplative Outreach 
​Thursday, March 03 - Monday, April 11  - Forgiveness:
A Growth in Love - 2022
A Lenten E-Course with
Contemplative Outreach
March 3 - April 11
 Click the link below to learn more or to register.
.www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/course/custom/62/forgiveness-a-growth-in-love-2022


Picture
February, 2022
Welcome to Cultivate, a place where we share some of our favorite resources for Christian Education! It is our prayer that this month's list of treasures we've curated helps launch you and your congregation into a meaningful Lenten season. This is another way that we at the PRC are living out our calling-helping you!
 You're just a click away from all the resources you need to get the planning started!
 
·     Lent and Easter Online Resources at the PRC Be sure to check this out for a compilation of our offerings and resources.
·     Lenten Let’s Talk February 16, 2022 at 3 pm EST. Join us for “Let's Talk”, as we come together to learn new ideas, share information, and re-imagine a season of Lent that will give our children a sense of wonder and will meet their spiritual needs in this confusing time. Geared towards those serving with children, youth, and families in-person, virtually, and in hybrid settings. 
·     
 The booklet gets its inspiration from the Benedictine monastic tradition. An adaptation of two of the “lesser hours” said during the day in the Benedictine tradition: Terce (said around 9:00 a.m.) and None (said around 3:00 p.m.). These are then followed by a selection of short passages by Archbishop Desmond Tutu for reflection and meditation. You might choose to add only one of these prayers, or a few, or all of them. If you already have a practice of praying Morning and Evening prayer, you might choose one or more times during the middle of the day and pray the nearest of the “lesser hours.” If you do not already pray Morning or Evening Prayer, you might pray Terce as Morning Prayer, or None at Evening Prayer, or both, at times that work with your schedule. Many thanks to good folks at the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan for sharing this great resource.
Picture



Introduction: This set of seven Adult Forums ties the Easter Vigil readings to the seven practices of the Way of Love. Drawing on the ancient practice of setting aside Lent as a period of study and preparation for living as a Christian disciple (known as the catechumenate), the forums encourage participants to reflect on salvation history; walk toward the empty tomb; and embrace the transforming reality of love, life, and liberation. As we stand with the three women at the empty tomb, we hear his call to go and live that transformed reality. Watch a new video teaching each week. Hint: Click the graphic to view the video introduction.
Great for Lent at Home Bags
Need lessons for Lent at Home? Check out GenOn. Their lessons are based on the Psalms and they’re do-able for parents and families. Included: Praying in color, walking through the woods, making pretzels, reading and praying. What’s not to love? Email: kgraham@dioala.org for access to this material.
Lent and Easter Resources for children and families. Perfect to share as a link to content or print and deliver to families.
Illustrated Ministries  TAKE A LOOK at ILLUSTRATED RESOURCES:Whether you're looking for worship resources, family faith formation resources, large coloring posters, custom fonts, greeting cards, or stickers...we've got something for you. Take a look at the different types of products they offer.
 Lenten Home Kits
Lent-in-a-Bag is one of the most popular of our take home activities. The bags are handed out on the first Sunday of Lent (one per household). The bag contains six objects, each in a snack-sized bag with a devotion stapled to the bag. Each kit also contains a booklet with the Bible reading that accompany each devotion. I find that including the scripture reading makes it easier for families to follow through on reading it. The Rev. Lauren Villemuer-Drenth has been doing ministry with children, youth and families for over 20 years, in three dioceses. From Building Faith website
Color for Calm (Coloring Book) from FORM and artist: Roger Hutchison
Ideas for Creating Your Own Lenten Walk in Your Parish - Thanks to our friends at Anderson First United Methodist Church in Indiana for their creative walk that uses: Sand, Rocks, Shells, and Human Touch/Comfort in their stations.