Practicing Grace during Lent 2025
The purpose of the liturgical calendar is to draw us out of the pace and rhythm of our own, busy lives and draw us deeper into the life and mission of Christ and His body, the Church.
At The Table Church, we follow the rhythms of this calendar to provide a so-called “Rule of Life” for us as a church and to emphasize different aspects of our walk with Christ.
ASH WEDNESDAY & LENT
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Traditionally, Lent has been about preparing us all for the chief Feast of the Christian year, Easter. By observing and committing to intentional spiritual disciplines, we celebrate and enter into the Presence and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The three primary spiritual disciplines practiced during lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These disciplines are described by Jesus in Matthew 6:1-19.
I like to call them “Practices of Grace” because we don’t engage in them to earn grace but to put into practice the grace we have already received through Jesus.
What could the season of Lent look like for you and your family this year? Here are some helpful resources and ideas.
PRAYER
Weekly Compline Prayer (online)
Compline is a Christian prayer service that takes place at the end of the day, before going to sleep. Carve out some time during Lent and join us every Wednesday night (8:30-9:15 PM) on Zoom for a time of corporate prayer with a focus on contemplation and “practicing the presence of God.”Daily Personal Devotions
We recommend Lectio365, an app that takes you through a time of Scripture reflection and prayer during Lent (includes an audio version).Daily Family Devotions
Jessica Jones helped develop and edit a great tool for families to engage in daily prayer and discussion around key truths and teachings of the Bible (“catechism”). Download your free copy here and give it a try.Introduction to Christian Contemplation (April 7th, 2025)
Join us for a two hour introduction to Contemplation, an ancient form of prayer that focuses on the presence of God in our lives. Register here.
FASTING
In general, it is entirely up to you if and to what extent you would like to fast. Remember that the point of fasting is to use the time you would normally spend eating or doing other activities to engage with Jesus. Ideas include:
Fasting certain foods.
Fasting entertainment.
Fasting social media.
Fasting from bitterness, anger, and resentment by seeking reconciliation and forgiveness.
ALMSGIVING
Reflect on your own consumption during Lent and find ways to show acts of kindness by volunteering your time or donating money. Ideas include:
Consider giving financially to some of the local and global missions we support as a church (click here).
In-kind donations to the St. Francis Homeless shelter in St. Augustine.
Make or pay for a meal for someone in need.
Help a student at Picolata Crossing Elementary by signing up to be a mentor (time commitment: 30 minutes/week). Learn more.
Preparing for the Election
Our next election is mere days away. The USA is suffering from deep division, TV and social media are full of tense emotions, suspicions run very deep, and fear is driving the narratives in many people’s hearts and minds.
The Church is caught up right in the middle of everything.
I’m not sure where you personally stand. Maybe you feel strongly about politics, maybe you’re somewhat indifferent or even annoyed. Wherever you are, I’m writing to you today neither as a political analyst, nor as a Republican or Democrat (I’m not even eligible to vote in this country yet); I’m writing to you from my heart as your pastor who has dedicated his life to serving and preparing the “Bride” of Jesus (the Church, see Eph 5, Rev 21).
Last month, I was ordained to the priesthood. Before I took my vows, I was charged with the following instructions (an excerpt):
“I now exhort you, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to be a messenger, watchman, and steward of the Lord. You are to teach, to warn, to feed, and to provide for the Lord’s family, and to seek for Christ’s sheep who are in the midst of this fallen world, that they may be saved through Christ for ever. […]
Therefore, consider the purpose of your ministry to the children of God. Work diligently, with your whole heart, to bring those in your care into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of God, and to maturity in Christ, that there may be among you neither error in religion nor immorality in life. Finally, equip and lead your Congregation to proclaim tirelessly the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” (BCP 2019, p.488-489)
It is in this spirit that I’m writing to you today. I want us to be a church that is mature in Christ and united in the faith and in the knowledge of Jesus. What a great time we live in to grow in these areas! When division, hatred, and discord are rising, we, the followers of Jesus, are called to shine (Phil. 2:15) and to represent a Kingdom that is unshakable (Hebrews 12:28).
However, there are two specific things that concern me as I think about the Church and the election:
1) The “yeast of Herod.”
In Mark 8:15, we read: “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” The “yeast of the Pharisees” refers to the religious, self-righteous, hypocritical spirit that constantly tries to infiltrate the Church. It attracts attention to self and puffs people up with pride.
The “yeast of Herod”, on the other hand, refers to the political spirit that tries to contaminate the Church with the fear of man and with desire for worldly power. Jesus warns us to watch out for it.
I’m calling on us today to repent of either yeast that we might have allowed in our midst.
I’m not saying don’t be active in politics. By all means, be involved, be passionate, have a vision for this country, make use of your right to vote and use it for America’s good. Use your vote boldly, carefully, and biblically. Use your vote, and pray for the Holy Spirit (and not Herod’s yeast of fear and power) to guide you.
2) The next generation.
One of our core values as a church is “Blessing the next generation.” One of the ways we can bless them is by demonstrating to them what it looks like to seek God’s agenda above our own, how to disagree amicably over secondary issues in theology (e.g., baptism) or politics (e.g., who to vote for). Young people watch us closely as to how we disagree more than about what we disagree over. Let us be good examples.
A few weeks ago, I preached about Joshua and how the angel of the Lord appeared to him the day before he conquered Jericho (Joshua 5:13-15). When Joshua asked the warrior whether he was on their or on Jericho’s side, the angel said “neither.” The angel hadn’t come to take sides, but to represent God and his ultimate purposes that are far greater than our thoughts and ideas. Joshua needed to be reminded of that. God has a purpose for this nation that is greater than who wins an election cycle. I love Joshua’s response: he fell facedown, took off his shoes, and listened for instructions from the Lord.
As we approach this election, I want to encourage all of us to have the same attitude. What can this look like in practice? Here are some ideas:
Be humble.
Joshua fell facedown before the Lord. Why don’t we literally try the same? Go and be by yourself somewhere and fall face down before God asking him for his will, not ours, to be done.
Take the Lord's Prayer and dwell on the line that says “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” What does his will being done on earth actually look like? Pray into that vision.
Pull out your own “log” first.
Luke 6:42, “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
Let’s be clear: there are evil strongholds in this nation that need to be addressed and torn down; there are political forces that seek to undermine and destroy God’s life-giving and life-promoting values and statutes. You know what these strongholds are.
No matter which side you’re leaning on politically, you’re probably very aware of the “evil” on the other side. However, according to the above verse, our ability and our mandate to confront evil in others will increase if we come from a place of humble self-reflection and a willingness to remove our own logs first.
Yes, I hope that our political leaders will have the courage to be examples of what it looks like when we take responsibility for our own actions first. But I hope even more that we, as followers of Jesus, can set an example to them.
Therefore, I want to call us to repentance. Identify the “sacred cows” and idols that exist in your political camp and in this nation and ask the Lord to tear them down. Ask the Lord to set you free where fear, judgment, idolatry, or hardness of heart have gotten a hold of you. I’m speaking to myself, too!
Judgment (“house cleaning”) always begins in one’s own house first (1 Pet. 4:17). It’s time to be a people of “priests and prophets” that fearlessly call powerful people to account.
What can you repent of today, on behalf of yourself, the USA and the political parties in this country?
Be mindful of what influences you.
Honestly, why not switch off your political news stations and social media feeds until after the election and, instead, spend more time reading the Bible and filling your mind with the reality of Christ’s rule and reign here and now?
Unfortunately, the world is manipulative. This means that most of the news and information it presents us with is trying to feed into our fears. Why? Because fear makes money. Fear is an acronym for “false evidence appearing real.” Don’t allow that. Get into God’s Word and let his love become your guide. True discernment is always rooted in love (Philippians 1:9).
Let me be clear: I’m not advocating that you stick your head in the sand and ignore what’s happening. What I am encouraging you to do is stick your head in God’s Word and be filled with his Kingdom realities so that you become a beacon of light instead of an echo chamber of the manipulative negativity that tries to get your attention every day.
Love and pray for your “enemies.”
Whoever it is that disagrees with you politically, Jesus wants you to love them and to pray for them (Mt. 5:44). Very simple. Not easy, but simple. If you’re a Democrat, pray for Donald Trump and/or have your Republican neighbor over for the best dinner ever! If you’re a Republican, lift up Kamala Harris and find ways to bless your Democrat neighbors.
Trust that God is sovereign.
No matter what happens, God is good, God is in charge, God is full of hope and confidence. Pastor Bill Johnson once said, “I cannot afford to have a thought in my mind that is not his.” The moment we start being more impressed with evil than with the majesty and goodness of God is when fear replaces faith. Let’s change the “atmos-fear” around us by being joyfully hopeful in the perfect sovereignty of God. This reminds me of Jesus in the boat: “Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.” (Mt. 8:24) Jesus knew his Father was sovereign. I believe God is calling us into greater rest and peace.
How will you respond to the “furious election storm?”
I’m aware that this is a challenging topic. Some of you might feel passionately about the election, and for good reasons. I commend you for your deep desire to see justice and truth prevail, to see God’s Word honored in public, for life to be preserved and for God’s plans to unfold in our country, for manipulation and deception to end, for tyranny to stay away and for the USA to be an example of honor, dignity, and freedom. Please keep praying for those things. And keep praying for protection from the “yeast of Herod,” from anger, and from the deceitfulness of power.
Almighty God, to whom we must give account for all our powers and privileges: Guide and direct, we humbly pray, the minds of all those who are called to elect fit persons to serve in the United States. Grant that in the exercise of our choice we may promote your glory, and the welfare of this nation. This we ask for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (“For an Election”, BCP 2019, p. 655)
Female Preachers & Church Leaders
Upon moving to Florida, we (Lenny & Caly) were surprised by the level of intensity around the topic of women’s ordination and/or women’s empowerment to be leaders and preachers in churches.
While we desire to be sensitive to everyone’s conviction, we believe that it is both missiologically essential and biblically encouraged to empower women to be ordained ministers and leaders.
We have come to realize that, for many people, this is a sensitive topic because, in the end, everyone’s desire is to be faithful to the Bible. We commend and honor everyone who wants to uphold the Word of God without compromising the Gospel. We share the same desire. Sometimes, however, it seems that for some people the question of women preachers/leaders is a primary Gospel issue. We don’t agree with this assessment for the reasons listed below.
Entire books have been written about this subject. In the interest of being concise, here is a list of our most compelling reasons for why we hold a so-called “egalitarian” position that allows women to preach, lead, and celebrate Communion at The Table Church:
1) Jesus
The very first person to see the risen Christ in the Gospel of John was Mary Magdalene, who was commissioned by Jesus himself to go to the disciples (the apostles!) and tell them the good news of his resurrection and coming ascension (John 20:17-18). In other words, a woman became the first apostle to the apostles. Well-known theologian N.T. Wright (an egalitarian) says that all preaching flows from this proclamation. So, if Jesus had a woman preach the first resurrection sermon, who are we to hinder them?
Another example is Mary who sat at Jesus’ feet listening to him (Luke 10:39). This posture of learning from an esteemed rabbi was always with the intention of becoming a rabbi (or teacher) oneself, and was only open to men in Jesus’ culture. Jesus, however, not only tolerated Mary’s sitting under him but applauded her choice.
People sometimes argue that Jesus’s apostles were 12 men. Therefore, women aren’t supposed to hold apostolic authority.
Jesus called 12 male disciples because he was prophetically restoring the 12 Tribes of Israel through his arrival and the announcement of the Kingdom of God on earth (Isaiah 49:6). This had nothing to do with making a statement regarding men being more suitable than women for the task of apostleship or spiritual leadership. In fact, we know that many women followed Jesus as his disciples, too.
2) New Testament Examples
The NT is full of examples of women being ordained as deacons (Romans 16:1, for example) and there is very strong reason to believe that Junia (not Junius!!) was an apostle (Rom. 16:13).
Other women in the NT seemed to have had very influential teaching ministries as well. One great example is Priscilla (wife of Aquilla) who, in Acts 18:26, taught Apollos more accurately about Jesus.
3) Old Testament Examples
While there were no female priests in the OT, there are examples of female prophets, judges and leaders (p.e. Deborah) who God used to influence, exhort, rebuke, direct, and lead Israel.
4) Hermeneutics & Exegesis
1 Timothy 2:11-15, 1 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Corinthians 14:33b-35, and Ephesians 5:22-25 are some of the main passages people use to argue against women’s ordination or empowerment to be teachers in churches.
However, when interpreting Bible passages, we always ought to ask whether something is applicable to all people at all times in all places. There are various reasons and arguments as to why the restrictions placed on women in these passages should not be accepted as general restrictions. For example, there was a strong Diana cult in Ephesus (Timothy pastored in Ephesus) with female priestesses who performed all kinds of immoral acts. Did Paul give Timothy some of these limiting instructions to help protect the newly formed church that consisted of Jewish and Gentile believers from some of these immoral influences?Particularly the passage in 1 Tim. 2:11-15 needs to be interpreted carefully. The word Paul uses in the Greek for forbidding women to “exercise authority” over men is authentein, a word that only appears here in the entire NT and that is more likely to mean “usurp authority” or “domineer”.
We must not use Scriptures like this to build entire doctrines, especially if they lead to restricting the majority of believers in the Body of Christ (women).Eph. 5:22-25 also needs to be read in its wider context. Verse 21 actually starts out by saying that submission to each other applies to everyone, both wives to husbands and husbands to wives, in the way they lovingly serve each other.
We sometimes wonder why these passages are interpreted and applied without paying attention to cultural (and other) factors. After all, why don’t we apply a straight reading and application approach to passages like these:
Titus 1:12-13
One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This saying is true.
The Bible says Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, and lazy gluttons. It’s in the Scriptures!
→ Hence, no Cretans should ever become pastors or church leaders.1 Corinthians 11:5-6
But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head.
→ Why aren’t women covering their heads in our churches??2 Timothy 4:13
When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
→ Who has actually ever obeyed this Scripture? Who wants to go on a mission trip to Troas to find Paul’s cloak, scrolls and parchments? 🙂
5) New Covenant Context
Scripture always needs to be interpreted in the wider context of Scripture (Biblical Theology), and, particularly, in the context of the New Covenant.
In the NT, we are in union with Christ and, spiritually speaking, there is “neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). In the Kingdom of God, there is a “level ground”. If we take the New Covenant principle of the “priesthood of all believers” (1 Pet. 2:9) seriously, then we must no longer prefer one gender over the other when it comes to exercising priestly duties!
In the New Covenant, true headship belongs to Christ alone (Eph. 1:22). Men and women together are under Christ’s Headship.
The New Covenant is a covenant of the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:6), and as we learn from Pentecost and the prophecy in Joel 2, God explicitly poured out his Spirit on all flesh, sons and daughters, male and female servants, so that they prophesy. God wants women to speak and prophesy. In light of this, difficult passages like the ones we have seen above in 1 Corinthians need to be exegeted very carefully.
The New Covenant has broken the curse of inequality between man and woman that came as a consequence of the fall (Gen. 3:16). We are now restored to a pre-fall egalitarianism. Nothing in Genesis 1-2 (before the fall) indicates that men and women were unequal in any way. In fact, they both together reflected the image of God (Gen. 1:27).
6) Practical Inconsistencies
While women are generally allowed to teach boys, why wouldn’t they be allowed to teach men? At what point does a boy become a man? And if they teach boys, aren’t they exercising “headship” over them?
Much more could be said and more nuanced discussions could be had. At this point, suffice it to say that we firmly believe that, in light of the entirety of Scripture and the full counsel of the wisdom of God, restrictions on women are often arbitrary and a hindrance to the expansion of God’s Kingdom on earth.
Do you have feedback or questions about this important topic? Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us! We welcome open and honest dialogue.
P.S.: The Table Church is part of a group of Anglican churches that are geographically linked called the Gulf Atlantic Diocese, which is part of all of the Anglican churches in North America. This group, or province, allows individual dioceses to determine the level of leadership held by women under the direction of their bishop. Our diocesan bishop, Bishop Alex Farmer, supports women’s ordination and endorses our position here at The Table.