Description
South Australian Council of Churches
Ecumenical Lenten Resource 2016
‘Return to God: Divine Grace and Human Struggle’
GUIDELINES FOR LEADERS AND PARTICIPANTS
Lent – Easter – Pentecost 2016
Western Orthodox
Lent Begins Ash Wednesday Beginning of Great Lent
10 February 2016 14 March 2016
Easter Sunday 27 March 2016 1 May 2016
Pentecost 15 May 2016 19 June 2016
Background and Hopes
Historically, Lent has been a time of preparation for the blessings of the Easter season. For more than forty
years, an Ecumenical Lenten Resource has been commissioned every two years through the churches in South
Australia.
These resources have offered Christians, locally and beyond, the opportunity to gather for personal
prayer and reflection, to share the experience of Lent and to journey together towards Easter. People
have been invited to consider their shared faith in Christ and what it means in practice: not only to
engage in education and conversation but to move beyond the discussion process to inner conversion
and to action.
Since the first Ecumenical Lenten Study in 1972, thousands have come together in small groups and have come
to know one another better. We give thanks for the sharing and growth in faith and action that has happened
through these resources.
It is hoped that Christians from different traditions will continue to come together in 2016 around the resource
Return to God: divine grace and human struggle and to reflect on how Lent can still be meaningful in the midst
of today’s complexities and challenges.
The following notes are designed to assist both group leaders and participants.
Content
Return to God: divine grace and human struggle offers suggestions for six group sessions in Lent. See the
Resource: page 2 – Introduction.
Groups
Are you willing to be a contact person for your local area and to assist groups to be formed that are as
ecumenical as possible? A ‘sign-up’ sheet is available for you to adapt as needed – see www.sacc.asn.au
Around 5-8 people probably works best.
Try to include people from different churches…contact neighbouring churches and invite the people to form
clusters of groups with you and with others.
As the Resource contains Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant perspectives, it would be great to see groups
gathering that reflect this diversity!
Continues…