Last year, as we were preparing for Ash Wednesday, we realized at the last minute that there were no ashes. It would have been easy to assign blame or panic. Instead, I picked up the phone and called the deacon at the Episcopal church across town. They shared what they had, and because of that simple act of communion across congregations, Ash Wednesday was not only saved, it was holy in a deeper way. We were reminded that the church is never just one place, one supply cabinet, or one tradition. It is a people who show up for one another.

This year, snow has cancelled our service.

And yet, as I look toward the snow-covered Carson Pass, I find myself thinking about the wilderness.

The wilderness of Lent.
The wilderness where Jesus is led by the Spirit.
The wilderness where we are stripped of certainty and taught to trust in God’s abundance.

And I wonder if that is not a Lenten image for us: God’s presence moving beside us in ways we did not plan; in landscapes we would not have chosen.

This season is inviting us to shift our vision: from scarcity to abundance, from isolation to neighbor, love, from fear to moral courage.

I recently heard Senator and Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock speak about this moment as a time of moral reckoning, a time when we are asked where we stand and how we will live. And I have been thinking about the stories I’ve heard right here in our communities, about people encountering ICE patrols, about neighbors who may not even claim faith and yet embody the gospel by loving and protecting one another.

Because at its core, the way of Jesus has always been this:
Love your neighbor.

Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, to reveal its deepest purpose: a love that resists empire, crosses boundaries, and restores human dignity.

This weekend I will return to my home congregation for its 80th anniversary. It is in Placer County, a place many would label politically conservative, and yet it is where my faith was formed. Three generations of my family still gather there week after week. The same is true here in Carson City, where generations come together in this community we share.

Which is why I cannot accept the narrative that the church is dying.

The church is not dead.
We may simply need new eyes to see it.

We see it when ashes are shared across denominational lines.
We see it in a snowy wilderness.
We see it in neighbors protecting neighbors.
We see it in grandparents, parents, and children gathered around the same table.
We see it in this congregation.

This Lent, I invite you to look for that abundance.

To notice where God is already present.
To notice the companions on the road.
To notice the love that refuses to be cancelled — even by snow.

Because the wilderness is not empty.

It is full of God.

The National Faith + Climate Forum is one of the nation’s largest and most diverse gatherings at the intersection of faith and climate. Each year, it brings together more than 2,000+ participantsacross 80+in-person host locations, representing more than 550 congregations and 30 faith traditions and denominations. Clergy and congregational leaders of all ages come together to learn, collaborate, and implement meaningful climate solutions in their communities.

Join us on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at a host location or from your home or office for a powerful hybrid event featuring live-streamed program. This year’s theme, The Future We Choose: Faith in Action for a Thriving Tomorrow, invites attendees to imagine and build the world that becomes possible when people of faith lead with courage, care, and conviction.

Participation is FREE! Attend in person at one of our host locations, 
or online from the comfort of your own home or office.

Today we mark Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent — forty days of repentance, reflection, and reconciliation. In a time when the brokenness of the world can feel overwhelming and insurmountable, this holy season reminds us of a profound promise: God meets us in the dust, in the ashes, in the places of fracture — and God is always at work bringing healing and redemption.

Lent is not only a personal journey of prayer and devotion. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to witness to God’s transforming work not just within our worshipping communities or private spiritual lives, but as the church together in the public sphere. Our civic life is often marked by tension and forces that seek to divide us from one another. Yet the cross stands at the center of our faith as God’s embodied promise that division and death do not have the final word. In Christ, reconciliation and new life are already breaking in.

This season, we invite you to live out your faith as public witness through learning, prayer, advocacy, and community engagement. The following resources offer ways for us to walk this Lenten journey together:

Faith and Civic Life

Studies for Civic Life and Faith has released a churchwide curriculum designed to help us engage faithfully with questions of religious liberty, the relationship between church and government, and our shared life in society. Each session includes an opportunity to offer feedback directly to the task force, making this not just a study, but a conversation shaping the future of our church.

Body of Christ – ELCA Sumud Lenten Series

In the 2026 series, “Body of Christ,” we are invited to reflect on Paul’s proclamation that “we who are many are one body in Christ” (1 Corinthians 12). No member of this body can be dismissed or deemed expendable. This series lifts up Palestinian Christians as an inseparable and equal part of Christ’s body, calling us into prayer, solidarity, and deeper awareness of our mutual responsibility, care, and love.

ELCA World Hunger Lenten Calendar

A daily practice that connects prayer with action, reminding us that our Lenten disciplines are always tied to God’s concern for our neighbors — especially those experiencing hunger and poverty.

ELCA Region 2 Lenten Challenge

Rooted in Matthew 25:37–40, this challenge invites us to see Christ in our neighbors who are hungry, sick, imprisoned, and marginalized. Each week focuses on learning, compassion, and advocacy, stretching our spiritual lives beyond reflection into concrete action on behalf of underserved communities.

Wherever you begin this Lenten journey, whether in ashes, in longing, in weariness, or in hope, we walk together toward Easter morning trusting in God’s promise that new life is always possible.

Lent does not call us into despair.
It calls us into honesty, into community, into courage, and into hope.

For we are an Easter people, and even now, hope is already rising.

“We will tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and the wonders that God has done.” —Psalm 78

Dear Church, Lent invites us into a story. Not a story we invent. Not a story we control. But the story of God’s faithfulness: a story that holds us, shapes us, and sends us. 

From the beginning, faith has been carried through story. Around tables. In sanctuaries. At bedsides. In wilderness moments. In seasons of exile and in seasons of homecoming. This year in the Grand Canyon Synod, we are leaning into our theme: Rooted in God’s Story. To be rooted is to be grounded in something deeper than the news cycle, deeper than anxiety, deeper than our own limited understanding. Roots draw nourishment from what is unseen. They anchor us when winds blow. 

In Lent, we tend the roots. One way we are doing this together across the synod is through our Lenten Challenge, with its simple daily practices that invite prayer, reflection, and acts of mercy. I encourage you to participate as you are able, allowing these small, faithful rhythms to deepen your connection to God’s story and to one another. We listen again to the story of Jesus — the Word who “became flesh and lived among us.” We walk with him toward Jerusalem. We hear his teaching. We watch him kneel to wash feet. We stand at the foot of the cross. We wait at the tomb. And in the waiting, we remember that this story is not only about what God did long ago. It is about what God is doing now. This year at our Spring Gatherings, we will spend time reflecting on the prayer Jesus taught us — the Lord’s Prayer. These familiar words are more than just a habit. They are a story of how we are rooted: Our Father. Daily bread. Forgiveness. Deliverance. A kingdom coming even now. When we pray these words together, we are connected again in the story of God who provides, forgives, liberates, and reigns in mercy. Lent prepares us to tell that story, in a world that is hungry for hope. The apostle writes that we are to “always be ready to give an account for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3). We do this as we live lives shaped by mercy and as we create communities marked by welcome. We give an account to hope as we witness to Jesus among us with courage and boldness. As you journey through these forty days, I invite you to consider: Where has God’s story met your own? Where are your roots being strengthened? Who needs to hear the story of hope you carry? We are rooted in God’s story so that we may become storytellers ourselves, embodying the good news. Let us walk this Lenten path together — grounded, honest, hopeful — trusting that the One who began this story will bring it to completion.

With You on the Journey,

The Rev. Deborah K. Hutterer
Bishop
Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA

Bishop Deborah Hutterer has recorded a special invitation to participate in this year’s ELCA Region 2 Lenten Challenge. This short video outlines the challenge, and how your participation makes an impact.

Watch the video, consider registering for the Lenten Challenge, and invite others to join in this meaningful Lenten journey!

What is the Lenten Challenge?

The theme of this year’s challenge derives from Matthew 25:37-40. The passage emphasizes that caring for the poor, sick, and marginalized is an act of service to Christ, and that a person’s treatment of others is a reflection of their relationship with God. The spiritual practices for the six weeks of Lent will focus on stretching our learning, care and advocacy muscles on behalf of underserved communities. The six weeks will be broken up according to the gospel text, as below, with participants focusing on what we know and think about these siblings in Christ, as well as how we act in support and on behalf of these communities:

• Week 1, February 22: Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food?
• Week 2, March 1: Lord, when was it that we saw you thirsty and gave you something to drink?
• Week 3, March 8: Lord, when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you?
• Week 4, March 16: Lord, when was it that we saw you naked and gave you clothing?
• Week 5, March 22: Lord, when was it that we saw you sick and visited you?
• Week 6, March 29: Lord, when was it that we saw you in prison and visited you?

Why Lent? Lent is a season of 40 days to reflect, remember our dependence on God and one another, and look forward to the ways God calls us to be. Adding one or more of these spiritual practices to your observation of Lent might help you feel more connected. A light-hearted challenge like this could help our synods be the Church together, and to see God’s vision and invitation for us to be a church for the world as we share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Let’s make this year’s Lenten Challenge the most impactful yet!

• Watch & Share the Invitation Video from Bishop Hutterer: https://youtu.be/a73nlQ0hdow
• Sign Up for the Lenten Challenge: www.lentenchallenge.org