ICYMI: Week of 2/19/17

Welcome back to the latest In Case You Missed It, a.k.a. ICYMI, our weekly blog roundup of the latest stories around the @fwd_mvt and #Episcopal world.

Lent is coming! Are you ready? In this week’s Forward Today, Scott writes that “back in the day, there was a miniature season in the church to get us ready for Lent. We had three Sundays’ notice that a penitential season was on the way. They were kind of like those rumble strips on a highway, to warn us that something is coming.”

At Forward Movement, we’re helping you get ready with a wide variety of Lenten resources this year. If you haven’t browsed books or printed materials, now’s the time! The standard shipping deadline for Lent delivery is Wed Feb 22 (UPS Ground or USPS Priority). We suggest the new Ashes and the Phoenix or newly reprinted Meeting Jesus on the Margins for your Lenten meditations. We’re also running a sale on Lent Madness bracket posters—currently just $7, and perfect for your parish hall.

Have you ever been curious where all those great saintly bios come from during Lent Madness season? All last week on lentmadness.org, the SEC ran interviews with the celebrity bloggers. They’re lots of fun to read if you’re going mad with Madness anticipation.

We’ve got another big Lenten project on the docket this year—A Season of Prayer: 40 Days in the Desert. If you followed along with our election-time Season of Prayer, you’ll be familiar with the framework: daily shareable prayer images on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds, and free downloadable weekly bulletin inserts. This time we’re adding a bunch of additional resources (all available now here, along with the inserts). And the theme is a critical one: exile, migration, and Christian hospitality. We hope you’ll join us.

Which brings up a good question: If you have a daily prayer practice, do you have a dedicated space for it? Nurya Love Parish posed that question last week on Grow Christians, and got some cool and eclectic responses. Here are three:


If you’d like to share a photo of your prayer space, let us know on Facebook or Twitter. Have a great week!