Suggested Lenten Devotionals:

Each year, the Christian Education Team at Covenant lifts up several devotionals for our congregation to consider using during the season of Lent. Our hope is that the following devotionals will challenge and strengthen you during your Lenten journey. Each of the following devotionals are available from the PCUSA Store or from your favorite book provider.

40 Days, 40 Prayers, 40 Word: Lenten Reflections for Everyday Life by Bruce Reyes-Chow

In 40 Days, 40 Prayers, 40 Words, Reyes-Chow encourages readers to pause in the bustle of their daily lives to reflect, engage, and share during the Lenten season. Forty devotions are each framed around a word inspired by the daily lectionary readings and include a short scriptural passage, inspirational prayer, and reflection. Readers who feel too busy for daily engagement with God will appreciate Reyes-Chow’s ability to speak to the blessings and burdens of everyday life in a concise, lively manner. Moreover, readers also have the ability to connect with others through interactive elements like QR codes that link to social media and provide access to additional reflections, graphics, and prayers. This unique resource expands the ways we can connect with God, and with each other, both during Lent and at any time along our journeys of faith. Follow along using the hashtag: #40wordprayer.

Were You There?: Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals by Luke A. Powery

Valuable not only for their sublime musical expression, the African American spirituals provide profound insights into the human condition and Christian life. Many spirituals focus on the climax of the Christian drama, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the ways in which those events bring about the liberation of God’s people.

In these devotions for the season of Lent, Luke A. Powery leads the reader through the spirituals as they confront the mystery of Christ’s atoning death and victory over the grave. Each selection includes the lyrics of the spiritual, a reflection by the author on the spiritual’s meaning, a Scripture verse related to that meaning, and a brief prayer.

Lent of Liberation: Confronting the Legacy of American Slavery by Cheri L. Mills

This Lenten devotional invites readers to learn more about the brutal institution of slavery and its impact on Black people in America and recognize how its evolution and legacy continue to harm their descendants in the United States today. Each of the forty devotions includes the testimony of a person who escaped slavery through the Underground Railroad, a Scripture passage, and a reflection connecting biblical and historical themes to challenge modern readers to work for liberation. Reflecting on Lenten themes of exodus, redemption, discipline, and repentance, readers, both Black and white, will be empowered for the work of racial justice.