LENT COURSES 2026
The forty days of Lent are a time to enter the wilderness with Christ, to push into prayer
and deepen our spiritual formation. This Lent you are invited to dive into the ancient wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers: a radically counter-cultural movement that chose to live, work and pray away from civilised society, in the foreboding desert landscape through the third and fourth centuries AD.
` The Desert Fathers and Mothers came after a time of extreme persecution for the Church, and were endeavouring to navigate an era in which Christianity was increasingly politicised by Rome, the superpower of their day.
` They craved silence, solitude and spirituality in a busy, noisy world, dropping ‘off-grid’ to look for a simpler, truer life.
` And they were hungry for holiness, troubled by the compromised state of the Church, which was looking less and less like Jesus the more power and prestige it gained.
Our Sunday sermons will follow themes and we will explore questions in two small groups:
1. From 2.30pm to 3.30pm in the Rectory on Thursday afternoons from 19th February to 2nd April inclusive.
2. On zoom 3.30pm - 4.30pm every Tuesday afternoon, from 17th February through to 31st March inclusive except for Tuesday 24th February when the zoom will be at 4.30pm on Thursday 26th February. Do ask for the zoom invite.
The themes for each week will be:
◊ The desert as a place of prayer
◊ The desert as a place of testing
◊ The desert as a place of silence and solitude
◊ The desert as a place of self-denial
◊ The desert as a place to find wisdom
◊ The desert as a place to grow in humility
◊ Finally, on Palm Sunday, the desert as a place to carry with us.
Individuals are encouraged to go deeper on the theme by praying each Morning with Lectio 365, and watching the video profile of a Desert Mother or Father for that week: see lectio365.com/
Alternative Lent Course run by RE_SOURCE
Tuesdays from 24th February 2026, 1.30-3pm ON Zoom
Alive in Christ is a course for small groups, whose aim is to offer each member of the group a transforming experience of God’s love, enabling them to love and forgive others and helping them to become confident about serving God as a member of Christ’s Body. RE_SOURCE is a Christian organization committed to supporting renewal in the Church of England, based in Telford. Sarah Clark will run this course.