Lent
Lenten Resources
Lent is a time of prayer, service, and self-examination. During this time, many of us choose to live simpler lives, remembering those who do not have the food, money, or resources to simply live. Here are some resources to help your congregation remember those who are hungry and living in poverty this Lenten season.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
40-DAY CALENDARS
 |
World Hunger and Disaster Appeal 40-day Calendar and Coin Box (God's Math)
The calendar (left) invites individuals, families, classes, and other groups to journey for 40 days and seven Sundays, praying, learning, giving, and deepening your commitment to take steps every day to walk with neighbors in need. The new calendar pairs well with the ELCA World Hunger "God's Math" coin box (right). |
 | |
Living Simply with God: A 40-Day Hunger Calendar (online only)
Any calendar helps you mark your days on Earth, comparing them to each other, making sense out of each one. This calendar is about hunger that God wants us to abbreviate, alleviate, eliminate. The calendar is also about how you can live a joyous and abundant life, filled with generosity towards others. A life modeled on Jesus’ own. A life that’s lived simply so that others can simply live.
>Go to calendar page
>Download calendar (PDF - 2.5 MB) |
 |
|
|
FUND-RAISING IDEAS
 |
Congregation Connections
Browse the latest issue of this congregation-focused worship resource to help you incorporate ideas into your Lenten worship.
Congregation Connections is sent to all congregations and subscribers twice a year in the ELCA World Hunger Resource Packet, one of the Top 40 ELCA World Hunger resources. |
Lenten Fast and Give
A popular Lenten activity, refrain from engaging certain items or activities - meals, coffee, soda, desserts, movies, etc., during Lent. Give the money you saved to ELCA World Hunger.
Noisy Offerings
Children, youth, or adults can decorate plastic milk jugs with paint, stickers, and fabric. They can collect coins from congregation members during the offertory. The coins will make plenty of noise. Coins can be stored in a public place, so that everyone can see the progress.
 Build a Barnyard
A display is created to house animals in a barnyard. This can be a barnyard on a poster, bulletin board, a swimming pool as a fish pond, or an actual barnyard area. As animals are purchased from God's Global Barnyard, they are added to the physical barnyard at the fund-raiser--a great way to display the progress of the fundraiser.
Hunger Education Meal
Choose a nation you would like to use as your experience. Research the staple food and meal for this region. Prepare a traditional meal for your guests. While eating, you can discuss hunger issues of the region. To add to your experience, you can decorate your dining area with related pictures and artwork. After the meal, provide an opportunity for those attending to give a gift to end world hunger.
Bread Display
Bake a loaf (or loaves) of bread. Place the bread on display in your narthex, fellowship hall, or other common space as a reminder of hunger in the world. Put a sign indicating the purpose of the bread if it is not obvious or explained elsewhere. If you host a breakfast or lunch, leave one table empty/open and place the bread on it.
| |
FUND-RAISING SUCCESS STORIES
|
Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp – “Grace Race” (Sloan's Lake Park in Denver, CO)
In 2009, Colorado bore the coldest October 10 in the state’s history. But that didn’t stop 160 dedicated Lutherans and their friends from “racing” around their community to combat hunger!
“Grace Race,” born out of the Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp’s 50th anniversary in 2007, is an annual walkathon to raise money for ELCA World Hunger. Done in honor of Dave Jarvis, the camp’s executive director who loves to run, the event is held in collaboration with the Rocky Mountain Synod Hunger Network.
Signs were created and peppered along the route to educate people about world hunger. Some participants walked three miles with buckets of water and bundles of firewood to enhance their and others’ awareness of the difficulties faced by many who walk miles each day to obtain clean water.
When the “cold fun” ended, a medal ceremony recognized the top three finishers. In total, $7,798 was raised for ELCA World Hunger. Way to go!
| |
|
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (Chatham, NJ)
Leaders at Gloria Dei used various pieces from the ELCA World Hunger Resource Packet (mailed to all congregations twice a year) to kick off a Lenten focus on hunger. Here are some of the ways they did that:
- Provided two hunger-related service projects each week (see below for examples)
- Hosted a coffee-hour speaker or event each week related to hunger
- Mailed the 40-Day Calendar and "a guide to Lenten services" to each membership home
- Children's sermons were taught at weekly table grace for kids, and regular sermons were focused on justice
During Lent, their worship attendance increased by 50 percent! They ran out of bulletins, pew seats, and parking spaces. During service projects, church members donated over 500 pounds of food, sent letters of support to U.S. soldiers in Iraq, cooked and shared dinner at an AIDS shelter, send 100 postcards to President Obama regarding Darfur, donated 20 Easter baskets to foster children, and raised $175 for a food pantry in a bread-baking contest. When members saw how their donations of time and money were impacting their community, they engaged exponentially in their congregational life and activities and wanted to do more. | |