Lent 2025

United Thank Offering

Pick up a bag containing materials from United Thank Offering. This year, UTO is proud to partner with Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) to present 40 Days of Welcome and Gratitude, a call to giving thanks for the ways we are welcomed in the world and the ways that people offer welcome to us and to our communities. Bring your BLUE BOXES back on Easter and St. John’s will send a donation to United Thank Offering or you may send a check directly to UTO.

Do you enjoy listening to podcasts? United Thank Offering has one with host The Rev. Erin Jean Warde. You can find it on Spotify or by searching for “Good News and Gratitude” wherever you like to listen.

Episcopal Relief and Development

This Lent, “let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Join writer Jerusalem Jackson Greer (she is the author of the pageant we used this past Christmas) this Lent as she encourages us to partake in “A Commonplace Lent.”

You may sign up on the “Learn More” page below to receive daily meditations

Lent Madness

Lent Madness began in 2010 as the brainchild of the Rev. Tim Schenck. In seeking a fun, engaging way for people to learn about the men and women comprising the Church’s Calendar of Saints, Tim came up with this unique Lenten devotion. Combining his love of sports with his passion for the lives of the saints Lent Madness was born.

The format is straightforward: 32 saints are placed into a tournament-like single elimination bracket. Each pairing remains open for a set period of time and people vote for their favorite saint. 16 saints make it to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen; eight advance to the Round of the Elate Eight; four make it to the Faithful Four; two to the Championship; and the winner is awarded the coveted Golden Halo. The first round consists of basic biographical information about each of the 32 saints. Things get a bit more interesting in the subsequent rounds as we offer quotes and quirks, explore legends, and even move ino the area of saintly kitsch.

Local Outreach during Lent

Join us in our household goods drive for the Clarkstown Family Resources Center. We are collecting the following items for them due April 6: paper towels, toilet paper, dishwashing liquid, liquid hand soap, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap.

We will also continue to partner with St. Paul’s Spring Valley to assist with their Feeding Ministry. Pick up a flier or print one from the link below and consider bringing shelf stable foods to St. John’s as we help them to replenish their shelves. Do also consider volunteering twice a month on Saturdays as they seek to feed those in our community.

From the Episcopal Diocese of New York

Daily meditations via text about sanctuary. (Sign up here.)

Lenten Meditations found weekly on the blog of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine