The Desert Mothers & Fathers
Throughout Lent this year we're going to be using some resources from 24-7 Prayer to journey with, and learn from, the spirituality and prayers of the desert fathers and mothers.
This is how 24-7 Prayer describe the resources:
'Alongside the Bible, we will be diving 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.
It’s easy to dismiss the Desert Fathers and Mothers as being archaic, esoteric or even irrelevant to our modern digital world, but they have a great deal more to teach us than it might first appear.
- 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.
The response of the Desert Fathers and Mothers to the challenges of their age was to enter the wilderness, embracing self-denial, silence and solitude in order to pursue their relationship with God. Their model in this was, of course, Jesus, who entered the wilderness after his baptism and spent forty days there: fasting, praying and engaging in spiritual warfare.
For us, the next forty days of Lent are a time to enter the wilderness with Christ, to push into prayer and deepen our spiritual formation. What better companions could there be for such a journey than these ancient, desert-dwelling, prayer warriors, whose witness echoes down the ages, and whose wisdom remains so relevant to our lives today?'
How can you get involved?
There are three ways of joining this journey, and we'd love it if as many as possible in the church could join us for all three:
- Morning Worship | Sundays 10.30am
Each week our morning worship services will include teaching and reflection drawing from the material. - Lent Groups | Tuesday 7.30pm & Wednesdays 2pm
Every week there will be a chance to explore some of the thinking in more depth through our Lent groups. These will take place at the chapel,and each time there will be a short video followed by space to think reflect and discuss together. Please note our home groups will be pausing their usual meetings to join the Lent groups instead. We are also pleased to welcome friends from other local churches to join us for these groups. - Personal Prayer | Every day
The Lectio 365 app guides you in a rhythm of daily prayer and reflection on Scripture, and will help you find space each day to keep thinking about the main themes and meet God on a personal level. The app can be downloaded for free from lectio365.com.
Any questions?
If you want to know more or have questions about any of this, please speak to James & Julia on a Sunday morning or get in touch.