Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church
For Immediate Release
February 14, 2024
COB President's Message for Lent 2024
Washington, D.C. – Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church President Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton emphasizes spiritual renewal in a Lenten message.
The complete message follows:
In the early days of the Christian movement, a deep devotion emerged around intentional practices of faith that would lead to spiritual renewal. It was out of that devotion that the season of Lent emerged: the setting aside of forty days, not including Sundays, as a time of spiritual preparation in order to rightly and significantly celebrate the annual observance of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday.
This period of intentional sacrifice was focused not only on penitence and forgiveness, but also on reconciliation and restoration as a way of entering into a full relationship with God and one another. All of this was designed to remind Christians of the mercy, love, and forgiveness offered by God through Jesus Christ. In other words, Lent was an intentional season of renewal, restoration, and faith development.
As we enter into this Lenten season, the need for deep devotion, spiritual renewal, forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation is unquestioned. We enter this season shortly after a painful season of disaffiliation and separation. We enter this season shortly before the General Conference gathers to shape the future direction of our beloved United Methodist Church. We enter this season in the midst of an election year where politics seem to grow more toxic and polarizing with every passing day. We enter this season where the sin of racism, exclusion, and violence has grown not diminished.
Given these painful realities, we not only need this season of Lent, we need the disciplines and devotion this season calls us to remember.
In our United Methodist liturgy for Ash Wednesday, near the end of the service these words are spoken:
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church,
to observe a holy Lent:
by self-examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self-denial;
and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word.
That is my invitation to the people of The United Methodist Church as we enter this holy season of Lent. Use this time to pray for forgiveness and reconciliation. Discipline yourself to pray for healing in the midst of trauma, peace and direction at the upcoming General Conference, civility in upcoming elections, a clear pathway for dismantling racism, a resolve to open our arms in a posture that welcomes everyone into family of faith, and an end to violence that has spun out of control in every part of our world. Pray for a spirit that will reclaim, revive and renew not only our church but every heart that longs to be restored.
In her wonderful book, Circle of Grace, Jan Richardson shares this wonderful prayer for Ash Wednesday entitled, “Will You Meet Us”,
Will you meet us in the ashes,
will you meet us in the ache
and show your face with our sorrow
and offer us your word of grace:
That you are life within the dying,
that you abide within the dust,
that you are what survives the burning,
that you arise to make us new.
And in our aching, you are breathing;
And in our weeping you are here
within the hands that bear your blessing,
enfolding us within your love.
May God bless you, and the church that we love, with a holy and renewing Lenten Season as we focus upon and await a glorious resurrection.
Amen.
The Journey Continues,…
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton
Council of Bishops, President
The United Methodist Church
###
Media Contact:
Rev. Dr. Maidstone Mulenga
Director of Communications
Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church
110 Maryland Ave. NE # 301
Washington , D.C. 20002
(202)-748-5172 (work)
