Lent

Lent at Home in Community - The Diocese of Southern Virginia has purchased a license for a program designed by GenOn Ministries called “Lent at Home in Community” that can be used by churches and households in the Diocese of Southern Virginia.   This 6-week resource is centered on the Psalm readings for each Sunday in Lent.  Each week participants will focus on one of the following concepts:  See, Taste, Hear, Smell, Touch, and Give.  The program was designed to be a simple, flexible, in-home resource for households of all ages, sizes and stages to use.  A weekly virtual gathering component can be added for those seeking additional  small group reflection, but it is not a requirement of the program design.  If your church community or household is interest in using this resource please email lfarlin@diosova.org to obtain Lent at Home in Community as well as the distribution/use guidelines. 

Connecting with Jesus across Time and Culture - Let’s be honest. Sometimes we all have those “the Bible is so weird” moments when we are reading or hearing Scripture from our contemporary , Western perspective. This Lent you are invited to join a Zoom class on Monday evenings at 7:30 pm, beginning Feb 22 and continuing through March 22 to explore some of the ways we misunderstand or don’t understand the ancient culture of the Biblical world. The class is led by The Rev Dr Jacqueline Soltys, Priest-in-Charge at Good Shepherd, Norfolk. You must register to receive the Zoom link. Please send an email to office@goodshepherdnorfolk.org to sign up. The class will be a mixed lecture and discussion format.

Way of the Cross video and reflection guide - The Department of Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary is pleased to offer a video version of The Way of the Cross and a reflection guide. Through scripture, art, and music, the video invites us to walk with Christians of every generation on a virtual pilgrimage, meditating on our Lord’s passion and death.

Reflections and Prayers from the Beginning, God’s creation of the world and its life - A Lenten devotional from the York County Ministers and Christ the King Episcopal Church in Tabb.

Walking in the Wilderness: An Online Retreat with The Upper Room - The Upper Room invites you to join them this Lent for an online retreat from Ash Wednesday, February 17, through Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021. Featuring Beth A. Richardson’s book Walking in the Wilderness: Seeking God During Lent, our online retreat will include a variety of elements—some at a specific time and virtual place and some available to you anytime in the online classroom.

"Four Steps of Lament" Lenten Meditations from Episcopal Relief & Development - In response to the unprecedented events of the past year, Episcopal Relief & Development’s 2021 Lenten Meditations share deeply personal reflections on the theme of lament from a diverse group of writers. Many of the authors share experiences related to a variety of issues including disease, violence, racial injustice and poverty.

Lenten Resources from The Episcopal Church - Resources for Lent 2021 include "Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent", Lent Madness, Lenten devotions, sermons and much more.

Lectio in Lent - The Community of the Gospel (CG), an ecumenical non-residential monastic community with standing in The Episcopal Church announces Lectio in Lent. Using the ancient monastic method of praying the Scriptures, participants will deepen their paschal journeys by focusing on several texts traditionally associated with Lent. The facilitator will be Br. John Charles Westaway, CG, Deputy Guardian of the CG and long-time member of St. Paul in the Desert Episcopal Church, Palm Springs, CA. Br. John Charles is the Chaplain of the Daughters of the King, active in hunger ministries, and involved in diocesan activities. The Community of the Gospel invites all to join in Lectio in Lent. The event is free of charge. Zoom invites will be issued to those who sign up ahead of time at this Doodle poll. Additional information may be obtained from Br. Daniel-Chad Hoffman, at danhoffma@gmail.com.

Advent & Christmas

Stations of the Nativity – We invite you spend some time during this season of Advent “walking” through the virtual gallery to reflect on the scripture passages and featured artwork for each station.  The Stations of the Nativity provides the opportunity to connect words of scripture with art that was created by a number of gifted artists. Click here to view the Stations of the Nativity gallery. Some tips for navigating the Stations of the Nativity gallery: The tour provides stops at each of the stations to help make navigation in the gallery easier.  The program has an auto timer for each station but you can pause the tour, go back, go forward  or select a specific station.  If you click on the image the artist’s credits will appear. We hope you enjoy the Stations of the Nativity.

13 (and counting) Free Family Advent Activities

Advent During a Pandemic

Advent Word - a global Advent calendar

Sanctified Art - resources for Advent and Christmas

The Skit Guys - resources for Advent and Christmas

Advent Resources - A list of resources for Formation leaders and families from Pastor Traci Smith's presentation to CE-Net in October 2020.

Ten Advent Resources for 2020 - from Episcopal Church Foundation

Advent & Christmas Resources - from The Episcopal Church

Becoming Beloved Community - This version of the Becoming Beloved Community curriculum is tailored for use during Advent and Christmas.

Advent Candle Lighting Litanies - a resource from the Salt Project

Christmas Pageants

Christmas Pageants 2020: Recorded, Zoomed, Live Outside 

A Very Mixed Up Christmas Pageant

Digital Christmas Pageant

Illustrated Ministry: Do Not Be Afraid

New Ways of Doing the Christmas Pageant

The Skit Guys: Christmas

Pentecost

Pentecost at Home - Looking for Pentecost at Home suggestions or resources to send to families? The Norfolk formation group recently met and suggested ideas for families to celebrate Pentecost during Covid 19 and who parenting, working and teaching from home. The resources list provides easily done at home ideas with whatever materials you have are on hand.

Season of Creation - The Season of Creation, September 1st through October 4th, is celebrated by Christians around the world as a time for renewing, repairing and restoring our relationship to God, one another, and all of creation. It is an excellent opportunity to try out an outdoor formation event or outdoor worship service where safe, as a source of joy and connection with animals and with God's creation.

Vacation Bible School

Virtual Vacation Bible School - Amazing Stories, Unexpected Storytellers, a virtual Vacation Bible School curriculum created by Southern Virginia's CE-Net (Christian Education Network), and other VBS resources for congregations and families.

General formation resources

Creating Sacred Space at Home a video by Canon for Formation Lynn Farlin

History of the Church in England video course - The Church of the Good Shepherd in Richmond has produced a 12-part video course on the history of the Church in England for its adult education forum.  The course web page is here.  Senior Warden Dick Hickman wanted to present an overview of church history from the legendary arrival of the first Christian missionary, Joseph of Arimathea, in the Roman province of Brittania, in AD 63, through the English Reformation and the Elizabethan Settlement in 1563.  The course is intended for Episcopalians and others who are interested in learning more about the background of the Church of England.  The course includes a study guide and 12 video sessions averaging about 20-25 minutes each.  The videos were recorded (using an iPhone) in the church sanctuary, and posted on the church web site by Good Shepherd’s new Communications and Technology Committee.  This course was originally planned as part of Good Shepherd’s regular adult education hour on Sunday mornings after church, but since in-person gatherings have been restricted, the Christian Education Committee decided to experiment with the video format.  For further information, contact: richard.hickman.jr@gmail.com.

BibleProject - Experience the story of Jesus like never before with a reading plan from BibleProject. Reflect on major themes in Scripture as you read through the entire Bible in one year. Sign up for a weekly email, where you’ll find passages to read, a video to watch, and thought-provoking questions.

The Questions Project - The Questions Project explores "questions about faith, about being human, about relationships… A faithful life turns your brain on, not off! Christianity doesn’t promise easy answers; it affirms our responsibility for facing up to the challenges and questions life brings us…" This project comes from the Rev. Jacqueline Soltys (formerly at Grace Church, Yorktown), and includes a podcast, blog, video and other resources.

Resources for Imagining the Post-Digital Church

Youth Group at Home  Galilee, Virginia Beach, has put together some awesome youth group at home ideas for the whole family. For more information email Marty O'Rourke, marty@galileechurch.net.

Bruton Forum Lecture series with topics range from Scripture, and Science & Faith to the Doctrine of God

Introducing Matthew - A free course from ChurchNext and part of the Good Book Club. A live class beginning April 23.

A COVID-19 Spiritual Survival Kit - A free course from ChurchNext to help you tap into resources to help us deal with the pandemic in healthy ways. Course is available for individuals or for groups.

Faith@Home Daily Faith@Home is providing a new way to equip families and friend groups to participate in daily formation and discipleship practices at home. Each resource is designed to be experienced inter-generationally, and is provided via email. Click here for more information.

Illustrated Ministry Free weekly faith formation resources for all ages for use during this time of suspended services and programs

Prayer & Worship in Our Homes  a free course ChurchNext focusing on prayer, designed for those who might be seeking alternatives to group formation/worship as churches navigate Covid-19 (the coronavirus) in our communities. The course can be utilized either individually or via a zoom-style classroom.ChurchNext is offering two other free courses: Bridging the Political Divide with Parker Palmer and Make Me an Instrument of Peace: A Guide to Civil Discourse, sponsored by the Office of Government Relations of The Episcopal Church.

The Work of the People - A spiritual visual library. They offer a number of FREE films for streaming and their videos can be streamed in Zoom gatherings (here's how to do that).

Rule of Life songs for children (videos) from Anne Zobel, Director of Christian Formation, and Rev. Robert Foxwell, Organist/Choirmaster, at All Saints, Virginia Beach. Click here for the lyrics to the songs so you can sing along.

The Salt Project has many formation resources, including a Holy Week Tenebrae devotional for use at home (there is a fee for these resources)

Resources for worship at home

Prayer Amid an Epidemic by Kerry Weber

Live-stream worship at Washington National Cathedral

Alexa and Google Assistant - Both Alexa and Google Assistant have learned some Episcopal prayers. Thanks to a partnership between TryTank Experimental Lab and Forward Movement, you can now say, “Alexa, open Episcopal Prayer” or “Google, talk to Episcopal Prayer” and your device will begin playing the morning or evening prayer podcasts of Forward Movement.

The Audio Office Listen to Morning and Evening Prayer

Daily Office Morning, noonday, evening prayer and compline

Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families

Pause - An invitation to stillness and prayer is a weekly video series from Grace Church, Yorktown. Feeling fuzzy-headed, a bit unsettled or anxious? Need a few minutes to listen and pray and reflect? This is a new weekly offering: a brief series of prayers, readings, and gentle music read and sung by some Grace Church members.

Creating Sacred Space at Home a video by Canon for Formation Lynn Farlin

Bedtime Prayers for Children a video from All Saints, Virginia Beach

Virtual Spirituality Room at All Saints, Virginia Beach

Morning Prayer podcast

Lectionary calendar Find the collect and readings for each day

Online Book of Common Prayer