Leaning into Lent
By Fr. John Trammell
I had the opportunity of attending a Bible College with a diverse group of professors from a variety of Christian traditions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, two Anglican professors were among those who made the most lasting impact on my spiritual life. It would be more than a decade until I joined their ranks as an Anglican, but there were aspects of the tradition that I adopted even back then. The practice of Lenten fasting was one of those aspects.
Now, Lent isn’t particularly Anglican. On the contrary, it’s deeply and historically Christian. Its practice long pre-dates the English Reformation of the sixteenth century. That’s actually one of the beautiful things about this tradition. Many of the richest parts of it aren’t particularly Anglican. They’re just Christian.
In Lent, participants typically fast from certain things as a form of self-discipline, identification with the sufferings of Christ, and spiritual participation in the desert wanderings of Christ. Lent is also a wonderful time for self-reflection, spiritual detox, and assessment of your spiritual health.
In that spirit, I would like to warmly invite you to fill out a Spiritual Health Survey which I and Father Jeff have created. As a church, we want to be a community of disciples who live all of life in reference to Christ. As such, we have compiled this spiritual health survey in order to understand how we are doing in that endeavor, and how we can best care for the congregation. The better we understand how individuals are doing, the better gauge we will have on the overall spiritual health of our community. At only 12 questions long, this should take you no more than 10 minutes. Please answer honestly; if it helps, you can do so anonymously. If, on the other hand, you'd like a pastor to follow up with you, there is a space to be able to share your name as well.
If you would like to engage in further or deeper reflection, be sure to reach out to Father Jeff or myself. We have tools which may assist you in performing a more comprehensive spiritual health assessment.
I continue to pray for our congregation as we enter into this season. It has the potential to be powerfully transformative as we allow the Spirit to guide and convict us during this time.
In Christ,
John ☩
PS: For those interested, I’ve written this one-page document outlining a brief history of Lent, and if you’d like further resources for practicing Lent, be sure to check out our Lenten Resources page.
