Lent: Love is Calling Us Home
A note from Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis
Beloved,
Lent is a reckoning. A time to tell the truth about the world as it is—and about the world we are called to build. It’s a season where we turn toward justice, toward love, toward the liberation that Jesus preached with his whole life. For some of us, Lent is about fasting, about giving something up, but not for the sake of suffering—no. We fast from the lies that keep us bound to stories that no longer work. We lay down despair and pick up hope. We reject apathy and choose resistance.
And you know what I’m fasting from? Some false notion that we can’t have joy even as we struggle. I’m claiming joy! In the face of all that tries to steal our breath, I am going to breathe, eat, and live joy. Because joy is resistance. Joy is fuel for the fight.
The world is on fire. Christian nationalism is raging, trans kids are under attack, the rights we fought for—bodily autonomy, voting rights, the very freedom to exist—are being stripped away by politicians who claim to follow Jesus. Our Lenten faith demands we love the stranger and care for those who the world despises. This faith does not share the values of empire. This faith rejects tyranny and oppression. This faith is a fire shut up in our bones, calling us to act, to build, to love fiercely.
Our Lenten faith calls us home to our best selves. And this Lent, we are preparing to leave the wilderness of spacelessness and move back into our physical home! We’re going home to love. Home to joy. Home to gather in a community that refuses to let hate have the last word. Home where we will grieve, rage, dance, and strategize together. Home, where we will find joy in the fight, and make space for each other in our physical and digital spaces.
When Easter comes, we will rise. We’ll celebrate the resurrection of our 50 E 7th Street building. We’ll rise into a new reality, a new space in which it cannot die.
Come walk this Lenten journey with us. Join us for special programming like what is below.
Love is calling us home.
With fierce, unshakable love,
Jacqui
Wisdom for the Wilderness: A Forty-Day Spiritual Journey
Lent isn’t just about giving something up—it’s about picking up what sustains us. This year, we invite you to pick up a practice with us.
Middle folks have put together a 40-day devotional, Wisdom for the Wilderness, and we’ll be reading and reflecting together on Circle. Because we know the wilderness isn’t just a place we wander through—it’s a place that forms us.
What are we learning from this wilderness?
What do we yearn for in a home?
How do we care for home?
Join us. Let’s get ready for resurrection.
Ash Wednesday March 5th: Remembering & Rising With Ashes and Fasting
The world is burning, and yet, we mark ourselves with ashes not to mourn, but to remember. We are dust, yes, but we are also fire. We will rise from the ash.
Pray to Rise (8:00 AM on Zoom) – Wherever you are, we begin this journey together.
Glitter and Ash–Stonewall (8:00–10:00 AM) – Because faith and justice belong together. Because the fight for liberation didn’t start in churches—it started in the streets.
Ashes–Middle (corner of 2nd Ave & 7th St, 12:00–1:00 PM) – A sacred pause in the midst of the city. Come get your ashes.
Art as Prayer: Women in Film
Our people have always told the truth through art. Through music, through film, through stories that refuse to be silenced. This Lent, as we commemorate Women’s History Month, we gather to watch, to listen, to learn.
Keepers of the Flame March 16, 4:30p at Judson Memorial Church
A film by Shari Carpenter, this short is an exploration of civil rights leaders whose names history tried to erase—but whose impact cannot be denied. A screening and discussion with the film’s directors and producers, because the movement didn’t end. It’s still burning.
Mississippi Turning March 23, 4:30p at Judson Memorial Church.
This short is about the activism of Genesis Be. It follows her deep dive into the fight for racial justice in Mississippi, challenging the legacy of white supremacy and illuminating the courage of those working for change. Featuring a conversation with Aunjanue Ellis, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, and Irshad Manji.
Justice & Organizing: Love is Resistance
We don’t just pray about justice—we build it. Justice is our worship.
Fierce Urgency of Now Learning Cohort First Wednesdays, 1:00p
A national gathering of clergy, activists, and thought leaders who refuse to sit on the sidelines. Middle leaders are running this, bringing in folks who are doing the work—preparing for the Fierce Urgency of Now Conference (Oct. 31–Nov. 2). A space for those ready to dream and strategize beyond empire. Folks can join through May 15.
Integrating Into a Burning House: Conversations for Survival March 18, 7:00p
Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis and Rev. Natalie Renee Perkins in a no-holds-barred conversation about what happens when you integrate into a system built to burn you. How do we resist, survive, and build something better?
Children, Youth & Families: Joy as Resistance
Our kids deserve joy. Our kids deserve space to be free, to laugh, to play, to know that they are deeply loved, just as they are.
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper
This is a night for joy. For pancakes, for music, for community. Join us at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, co-sponsored by Middle Church, St. Mark’s Church, and Trinity Lower East Side. Because breaking bread together is a sacred act.
Middle Church Trampoline Takeover
Because sometimes joy looks like jumping as high as you can and laughing until you can’t breathe. Join us at UrbanAir Trampoline Park in Brooklyn. We’re bringing our kids, our youth, our whole selves. Because resurrection begins in moments like these.
The wilderness will not undo us. It will teach us and make us strong. We will not let empire have the last word. This Lent, we journey home—through fire, through grief, through hope. We journey home to love.
Come with us.