My church and its two different Lents
Our lives are overstuffed, and we desperately need to fast.
On the eighth day of Christmas, I began my diet. Or rather, I embarked upon a penitential period of prayer and fasting—but it sure better involve my losing weight. This regime is in accordance with an official, corporate season in my local church. We habitually start the new year with 40 days of prayer and fasting. The church staff even sends out an e-mail each morning with suggestions as to what the faithful should pray for that day.
My church’s founder and senior minister learned this practice during his apprenticeship at a Pentecostal church that was part of the Assemblies of God. Our church is loosely associated with the AG as well. Thus, I have come to think of this time of fasting as a season called Pentecostal Lent.
Our minister was deeply influenced by theologian Robert E. Webber, founder of the Institute for Worship Studies. Webber promoted “blend worship,” by which he meant primarily a way to encourage churches that had thoroughly adopted a contemporary worship style to incorporate elements of historic liturgical practice.
