You’re invited to join us for any or all of these events during Lent, Holy Week, and Easter at FBC! Click each linked event title to learn more.
Lenten Devotional Guides
In addition, here are two options for Lenten devotionals. One is provided by ABCCR region staff, and features insightful reflections penned by regional pastors and lay people. The guide features an introductory devotion, and devotions for Ash Wednesday, the five Sundays of Lent, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. The other is provided by Ottawa University Department of Theological and Religious Studies, with devotions from Ottawa University staff, area pastors, and community members. Our own Pastor Matt Sturtevant contributed the March 15 devotional, “True Hunger.”
During Lent:
Lenten Lunch & Learn Study: Tuesdays, February 13–March 26, 12:00 p.m., in person and on Zoom. Pastor Matt and Pastor Cristina will lead this study based on the book A Different Kind of Fast: Feeding Our True Hungers in Lent by Christine Valters Paintner. Feel free to attend whether or not you have read the book.
Ash Wednesday Worship Service: Wednesday, February 14 at 7:00 p.m., in person and livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook. Join us for worship and the imposition of ashes.
Team Purple Lenten Book Reading: On Ash Wednesday, February 14, begin reading Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing by Gayle Boss (Discussion on Wednesday, April 3, in person and on Zoom.)
“Learning Prayer in the Book of Psalms” Study: Sundays, February 18–March 24, 9:30 a.m. during Sunday school hour, Room 149. (In person only.) Lent is rooted historically in the church remembering the 40 days Jesus spent fasting, praying, coming to terms with His purpose in this world, and of being tempted by the devil. It has often been seen as a season of grief that ends with the great celebration of Easter, and because of that a variety of practices have been observed, foremost among those being prayer. Led by Rev. Bob Johnston, who has a special love for the Psalms, this study is open to anyone interested in both the Psalms and prayer.
Contemplative Lenten Walk/Pilgrimage: Saturday, March 2, 9:00 a.m. Join FBC Earthworks Team Blue for a meditative mowed-path labyrinth walk at Luna Bella Labyrinth. A walking meditation is a slow, quiet, deliberate walking style that connects the mind with the body and helps to reduce stress. We’ll meet at FBC and carpool to the nearby labyrinth. (Please park near the pollinator garden.) Wear clothing and footwear appropriate to walking outside on a natural surface for about 1 mile. We’ll be back at FBC by 12:00 p.m. Contact Lynne Beatty or the FBC office for more information.
Taizé-style Worship Service: Sunday, March 10, 6:00 p.m. in the Judson Room. There will be ecumenical Taizé-style services held at various churches in Lawrence throughout Lent. This particular one is here at FBC, in person only, no livestream.
(Post-Easter) Team Purple Book Discussion: Wednesday, April 3 at 6:30 p.m., Sojourners classroom. Join Team Purple for a discussion of Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing by Gayle Boss. (Readings began on Ash Wednesday, but you can participate in the discussion even if you haven’t done the readings.)
(Keep scrolling down for Holy Week info.)
During Holy Week:
Palm Sunday: Sunday, March 24, 8:38 a.m. (in person only) and 11:00 a.m. worship services (in person and livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook).
Maundy Thursday Worship: Thursday, March 28, 6:30 p.m., in person. The service will be livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
Northeast Area Good Friday Service in TOPEKA, at New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 2801 SE Indiana, Fellowship Hall Building: Friday, March 29, 7:00 p.m. Worship on Good Friday in a combined service with seven other Northeast Area American Baptist churches, including FBC Council Grove, FBC Hiawatha, FBC Topeka, New Hope and Love Community Church, New Life Baptist Church, New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church (host church), and FBC Lawrence. There will be a combined choir with a single rehearsal before the service that evening—you can get more details from FBC choir director Mark Robinson if you’d like to participate. Childcare provided. The service will be livestreamed on their YouTube channel and their Facebook page.
Children’s Easter Egg Hunt: Saturday, March 30, 10:00 a.m. All families are welcome! We’ll read an Easter story and then have an egg hunt on the playground. Please bring your own basket/bag to collect candy.
(Keep scrolling down for Easter morning info.)
On Easter, Sunday, March 31:
Easter Sunrise Service: 7:00 a.m, Baker University Wetlands. Rise and shine, and join us to celebrate the risen Christ at an Easter morning sunrise service at the Baker University Wetlands! We’ll be worshipping alongside folks from Peace Mennonite Church and Vintage Church. Park in the Wetlands Discovery Center lot, located at 1365 N 1250 Rd, Lawrence, KS 66046.
Early Worship Service: 8:38 a.m., located in the FBC sanctuary for Easter morning only (normally in the Judson Room). This service is in person, less formal, more interactive, with no livestream.
Easter Breakfast and Dessert Auction: 9:30–10:30 a.m. in Roger Williams Room (gym). Enjoy a delicious breakfast and some good fellowship! Also, come prepared to bid your way to an exquisite dessert for your Easter dinner table in a dessert silent auction benefiting the youth!
Children’s Combined Sunday School: 10:00–10:30 a.m.: On Easter morning, the children up through 5th grade will have a joint Sunday School class from 10:00–10:45 a.m. in the children’s church room. You can come for breakfast at 9:30, and still have time to get to class at 10:00!
Late Worship Service: 11:00 a.m., in person (in FBC sanctuary) and livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook. We’ll be celebrating a baptism this morning! Also: during the benediction response at the end of the service, the choir invites anyone interested to join them for singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah! During the benediction, Pastor Matt will make the invitation, and you can just walk back to the choir area where choir members will help you find your section and make room for you. If you have your own copy of The Messiah, all the better—bring it along! Limited extra copies are available if you don’t though.
(No 2-way Sermon Discussion Group today.)