Sowing Peace: Digging into Lenten Themes of Lament, Repent & Forgive
Are you looking for a relevant Lenten series for your group, church, or community?
Pre-order now and get early bird pricing until February 6!Series Summary
You may be entering this season of Lent feeling the upheaval of the world. Both nationally and globally, we have been experiencing what feel like unprecedented times. There is so much uncertainty. There are so many people suffering. How can we respond to such daunting challenges?
It may be both obvious and hopeful to remember that we are here now because our ancestors survived. They may have survived famine, genocide, natural disasters, wars, poverty, displacement, and other, often human-created, calamities.
The lineage of our faith tradition offers the fertile soil of lessons and learnings to show us the way. Within and beyond our traditions, we find resurrection-keepers: past and present wisdom-holders, storytellers, and our common home of Earth, who guide us to discern a sustainable path through what seems impossible and impassable.
Remembering that you, beloved, are made from dust, you are invited to play in the soul-soil of the world — to delve into the messy dirt of humanity, to help what is rotten to generate fertile soil, and to sow and nurture perennial seeds of love, hope, and mercy, so we may grow ourselves into a garden of beloved community
Sowing Peace consists of six 1-hour sessions, an optional get-to-know-you session, and discussion questions for an optional post-Easter gathering. JustFaith Ministries provides all the resources and support you need to facilitate this program in your own church or community — you don’t need to be a biblical scholar or have experience leading groups.
Session Content
Get-To-Know-You Session (optional, 60-90 minutes): This session is an opportunity to get to know each other and explore the “starting point” in the group’s understanding and relationship with the words lament, repent, and forgive.
Session 1: Psalms of Lament (1 hour): What is lament? How can a psalm of lament guide us in our relationship with the world and how might other resurrection-keepers teach us to practice lament well?
Session 2: Holy Ground (1 hour): With Jesus and modern-day truth-tellers as guides, how do we honestly express ourselves in a context where honest expression isn’t valued?
Session 3: From Rot to Richness (1 hour): Explores our kinship with God and each other and how we practice accountability with one another.
Session 4: Prodigal People (1 hour): Through the parable of the prodigal son, explore the relationship between repentance and forgiveness. What can accountability look like for social injustice?
Session 5: Redemption in Reciprocity (1 hour): Explores the vastness of God’s forgiveness and mercy and invites us to grow our own capacity for forgiveness.
Session 6: Repair. Restore. Rise! (1 hour): How can we follow Jesus’ example: “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” This session expands the understanding of forgiveness as both individual and collective practices.
He Is Risen! We Are Rising! (optional, 1-3 hours) – Participants discern how they can live out the invitation to be resurrection-keepers.
Who Is This For?
This series was designed primarily for in-person use in churches of all denominations. However, it could also be adapted for the following uses:
- Individually (instead of answering discussion questions, participants would journal or reflect silently)
- With a spouse, roommate, friend, or partner
- With a group of friends or coworkers
- With virtual groups
- As material for a sermon series
Ideas for church-based use:
- As a small group or Bible study offering
- Sunday School series
- Gathering time before or after worship/mass
- Women’s groups, men’s groups, young adult groups
- Campus ministries
- Wednesday night programming
- As a parent activity during children or youth programming
- Intergenerational ministry with high schoolers and their parents
Cost
Early Bird Pricing (extended until February 6!)
- Pre-order $175 (1-14 participants)
- Pre-order $200 (15-30 participants)
- Pre-order $225 (Unlimited participants in your community)
Standard Registration Rates (Feb 7th – March 5th)
- Standard Registration $225 (1-14 participants)
- Standard Registration $250 (15-30 participants)
- Standard Registration $275 (Unlimited participants in your community)
This one time registration fee allows you unlimited access to the materials. (For example, you could conduct one small group, 35 small groups, or a large group of 500 people – the cost is the same).
Want to know more? Need help inviting people to your small group?
An overview and sample session are available for free download. Just fill out the form below.
JustFaith Lenten Series – Overview, Sample Session, Promotion Kit
To get access to this program’s overview, sample session, and promotion kit, complete the form below and you will receive an email with the downloadable materials.
About the Author
Sowing Peace was written by teacher, artist, speaker, former JustFaith staff member, and current JustFaith Ministries consultant, Cory Lockhart.