This Lent, the clergy and Adult Education Advisory Committee look forward to offering a series focused on the cross. The cross is understood as the central image for Christianity, but it can also be a very difficult image and concept for Christians. We hope this series will offer many ways in to thinking about and praying with the cross of Christ. These events will happen after the 9:30AM Sunday service; at around 10:45AM we’ll come down to the Great Hall, grab a cup of coffee, and begin. Please do reach out to Mtr. Emily if you have any questions or concerns!

March 2, Alleluia Sunday (Last Sunday of Epiphany): ALL AGES FORUM, Images for the Stations of the Cross
This Lent, we will hang in the nave the seven Stations of the Cross from Scripture (as found in our Church’s Book of Occasional Services). At this all-ages forum, all parishioners are invited to come down and see a great variety of images that can be used for each of these stations. You will be given stickers to put on the images that especially appeal to you, that you think the congregation would benefit from, or that seem to capture the moment of that station best. If you don’t know what the Stations of the Cross are, don’t worry! This will be a good introduction and at the very least a chance to look at some beautiful art.

March 9, Lent 1: Some Ways to Understand the Cross
Scripture and the Christian tradition offer us a great variety of motifs and theologies for understanding what happened on the cross. As Kallistos Ware has said, “There’s safety in numbers!” What we cover in this forum will be repeated and built on in the other Adult Forums in Lent. Whether or not you’ve thought a lot about what you believe about the cross—whether or not it’s a favorite or least favorite part of the Gospel story—wherever you are in your experience with the cross, this will be a good introduction to some Christian ways into it.
This forum will also be offered on an evening weekday online.

March 16, Lent 2: But Why Did We Choose the Cross?
How did the cross end up becoming the essential Christian symbol? And why would we ever show Christ still on the cross, when we believe he was raised again? This forum will include a few short video clips and discussion about these questions.

March 23, Lent 3: ALL AGES WORKSHOP, Cross-Making from Natural and Castoff Materials
Rev. Megan is bringing in a special guest to do an all-ages workshop in which we will make our own crosses from natural materials, recycled materials, and materials that otherwise would be thrown out.

March 30, Laetare Sunday, Lent 4: What the Cross Means to Us from Different Religious & Local Backgrounds
Note: This Forum will probably start later than usual, as this Sunday is our Healing Service with Anointing, that often goes longer than usual.
After reminding ourselves of the many ways in which the Scriptures and Christian tradition present the meaning of the cross, Rev. Megan and Mtr. Emily will reflect together on how their experiences of the cross were different, and changed over time. (Rev. Megan was raised in the Roman Catholic Church in the Midwest, and Mtr. Emily was raised in the Evangelical Free churches in the West.) We will have a chance for questions, and for everyone to share their own experience of the cross.

April 6, Lent 5: “Why are we doing that?” The Liturgies of Holy Week
Last year, we talked about the histories behind the (sometimes strange and startling!) liturgies of Holy Week. This year, with our focus on the cross, we will go a little deeper into the theology of the liturgies, and have a chance to share our own experiences of these special once-a-year services.
This forum will also be offered on an evening weekday online.

April 13, Palm Sunday: All Kinds of Crosses for All Kinds of Christians
With all these rich ways of understanding what happened on the cross, Christians have responded by making many different styles of crosses, and putting crosses in different places. This forum will be primarily visual and will present many different Christian crosses (both styles and specific crosses in specific locations), and participants will be invited to take a cross with them as they enter Holy Week.