In Lent, we’re reminded that, again and again, suffering and brokenness find us. We doubt again, we lament again, we mess up again. Again and again, the story of Jesus on the cross repeats—every time lives are taken unjustly, every time the powerful choose corruption and violence, every time individuals forget how to love. With exasperation we exclaim, “Again?! How long, O God?” And yet, in the midst of the motion blur chaos of our lives, God offers a sacred refrain: “I choose you, I love you, I will lead you to repair.” Again and again, God breaks the cycle and offers us a new way forward.
This theme provides a clear invitation in a time when much is unclear. Even if worshiping apart, we come to God again and again with our prayers, our dreams, our hopes, and our doubts. Even if from a distance, we will continue to be community to one another—especially when it’s hard—by choosing each other over and over again. We will continue to love God with the same persistence God chooses and claims us. Our sub-title, A Lenten Refrain, speaks to the ways God can make music of our lives. “Refrain” also reminds us that Lent is a season of abstaining from certain practices in order to take on new rhythms and habits.
In this season, we need rituals—both old and new—to remember and be transformed. Embodied practice builds muscle memory. Repetition helps retrain our neural pathways. We need the 46 days of Lent because this season shapes us into more faithful disciples. Join us this Lent as again and again, we bring all of who we are to God and trust that God will meet us, time and again, along the way.
ABOUT THE BUNDLE:
This is a bundle of 10 multimedia ministry resources for the season of Lent–Easter, following the RCL for Year B. Download our free theme infographic to learn more about our theme, Again & Again. We bundle our resources because they often overlap in use, and because we want to equip you with comprehensive materials for a whole season. Each resource is also available separately. Scroll down this page & click the “Resource Details” buttons to learn more about each individual resource.
Note: All resources are digital files. Release date: 2021.
WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THE BUNDLE:
(All of the following resources are included in the bundle, but each resource is also available separately for individual purchase)
1. Again & Again Devotional Booklet for Lent
(Individual Price: $18–$85)
Beginning with Ash Wednesday, this weekly devotional follows the Revised Common Lectionary (Year B) through Easter Sunday. Each week offers: commentary, poetry, visual art, written reflections, and coloring pages. We encourage you to walk through these weekly readings at your own pace throughout the season, following the rhythm that works best for you. The devotional features biblical commentary by our guest contributor, Rev. T. Denise Anderson.
2. Again & Again Words for Worship for Lent–Easter (Year B)
(Individual Price: $20)
A collection of over 50 prayers, this resource provides fresh language for worship inspired by the RCL scriptures and our Lent theme, Again & Again, A Lenten Refrain. We’ve included liturgy for 10 weeks and holy days: Ash Wednesday, the 1st-5th Sundays in Lent, Palm/Passion Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. For each of these holy days, we provide: A call to worship, a call to confession, a prayer of confession, words of forgiveness, a prayer for illumination, and an affirmation of faith. We hope you will copy/paste or adapt these prayers for your corporate worship (with credit).
3. Again & Again Daily Devotional Cards for Lent
(Individual Price: $7–$55)
This Lent, cultivate a frequent rhythm of prayer with our daily devotional cards. Print, cut, and select a card each day of Lent beginning with Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday. Contemplate the word you select each day, trusting that it is exactly what you need for that moment. Then read the short scripture, reflection prompts, and prayer on the back of the card. We hope these cards encourage you to come to God in prayer again and again throughout the entire Lenten season. This is a great daily devotional for middle & high school youth, college students, young adults, and adults of all ages.
4. Again & Again At-Home Liturgy for Ash Wednesday
(Individual Price: $7)
The beginning of Lent brings a new invitation—an invitation into a deeper life of faith, an invitation to renewed spirituality, and an invitation into deeper awareness of God and self. This liturgy is designed to carve out space for personal reflection and intention setting at the start, knowing that the more honest we are with our hopes for this season, the more meaningful this season can become. This liturgy was written to be used by individuals or young families at home, but it could be adapted for small group use as well.
5. Again & Again Stations of the Cross Liturgy (w/ art by Denise Anderson)
(Individual Price: $15)
This service honors the ancient story of Jesus’ death while recognizing the ways this narrative repeats itself again and again throughout the past and present. It provides multi-sensory ways to engage, confess, and lament, creating a profound and prophetic Holy Week worship experience. Outlining 3 pathways, the liturgy can be used for online worship, for an in-person service in a sanctuary, or for journeying through physical stations you prepare. Designed by Rev. T. Denise Anderson, the service features her original artwork and artist statement, Pietà: “Woman, Behold Your Son; Behold Your Mother—a sermon project exploring the story of Mamie Till-Mobley (the mother of Emmett Till) and the grief of Mary, mother of Jesus, beholding her son on the cross. We invite you to utilize Anderson’s artwork with care—for worship, education, or transformational purposes. We do not wish to profit from the Emmett Till tragedy in any way. Therefore, we have provided these visuals (linked here) free of any licensing fees for you to use with care (and credit to the artist). In honor of this project and liturgy, we have made financial gifts to the Emmett Till Interpretive Center and to The Innocence Project. If you utilize this liturgy, please consider making an in-kind donation to these organizations.
6. Again & Again Sermon Planning Guide for Lent–Easter (year b)
(Individual Price: $20)
For the Revised Common Lectionary scriptures for Ash Wednesday–Easter Sunday (Year B), this guide offers biblical commentary, theme connections, guiding questions, and links to further reading. This guide features biblical commentary on the weekly gospel scriptures in light of our Again & Again theme by Rev. T. Denise Anderson, Coordinator for Racial and Intercultural Justice with the Presbyterian Mission Agency, and former Co-moderator of the 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
We encourage you to use this guide as a starting point for your text study each week. We also provide a fillable Sermon Planning Grid to help you map out your ideas for your series.
7. Again & Again Visual Art Collection for Lent–Easter (Year B)
(Individual Price: $80)
This is a collection of 16 visuals inspired by the RCL scripture texts for Ash Wednesday–Easter Sunday, Year B. In addition to the visuals, we include artist reflections and scripture references for each image (you may wish to print this doc to add to your scripture study and worship prep for the season), as well as a visio divina bible study guide for you to use these images in a group study session that incorporates the ancient Benedictine practice of "divine seeing."
8. Again & Again Poetry for Lent
(Individual Price: $15)
This collection of 11 poetic prayers explores our Again & Again, A Lenten Refrain weekly sub-themes in light of the RCL (Year B) scriptures for Lent–Easter. Honest and intimate, these poems offer meditations that we hope become prayers of your own. Adapt them for worship liturgy, use them to open and close programming events, or print them as they are for members in your community to read and return to throughout the Lenten season.
“If you hold a newborn in your arms,
All at once you will understand
The crook of your elbow
And the cup of your palm
As never before—
Ordinary curves of the body
Transformed into a resting space.
You were designed for love.”
—Rev. Sarah Are, from “Hold” | Again & Again, God Loves First
9. Again & Again Lenten Prayer Wall Art Project
(Individual Price: $15)
This Lent, we invite you to come to God in prayer again and again, weaving your prayers in with the prayers of your community to create a beautiful prayer wall. Woven together, your prayers will form the shape of an ampersand, representing God’s holy “and.” When we become weary from the motion blur chaos of our lives, God promises that there is always more to the story—death does not have the last word. We invite you to follow our project guide and tutorial video to create a Lenten Prayer Wall in your own community. You can display the wall in worship (indoors or outdoors), filling the ampersand shape with your prayers throughout the season. If you are worshiping online due to COVID-19, you could install the prayer wall outdoors on your church grounds (with supplies nearby) in a location where pedestrians or visitors might interact with it so that it can become a public art installation for the whole community.
10. Again & Again Branding Bundle
(Individual Price: $45)
Whether you are a church with a full-time communications staff or one whose pastor handles all communications (on top of everything else), this branding bundle provides everything you need to effectively share the Again & Again, A Lenten Refrain theme with your community. The download includes beautifully-designed logos, theme graphics, and original photography to support you in all your communication needs—online or in print. We also provide backgrounds, .png logo files, and a branding story to guide you in customizing the branding files for your needs. We encourage you to use these branding materials in your communications throughout the season of Lent.
11. Bonus resource: Again & Again Theme Song (by The Many)
(Individual Price: $25)
Released after the initial launch of our Lent bundle, this bonus resource features our theme song, “Again & Again,” written and recorded by The Many. The visuals and textures convey the motion blur chaos of our lives being held and contained by the God of "and." You are welcome to embed this music video in your live-streamed or online worship. We have also provided sheet music so that your worship leaders can sing and play the song.
Note: The un-watermarked video is now included with all Again & Again bundle purchases. If you previously purchased the bundle, no need to buy the video—navigate to the Patron Access Page to download it.
12. A free gift to bundle patrons: Again & Again Content Calendar for Social Media
To support you in sharing these materials with your community online, we have mapped out a content calendar for you to use throughout Lent. The content for this social media calendar has been pulled from the art, commentary, and poetry included in the Again & Again bundle. We have carefully selected images and quotes to guide your social media audience through each day of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. We hope that sharing this daily content engages, inspires, and connects your larger community throughout the season. This new offering is available for free to all bundle patrons (if you’ve previously purchased the bundle, check the Patron Access page for more information).
MEET OUR GUEST CONTRIBUTORS
Rev. T. Denise Anderson
Coordinator for Racial and Intercultural Justice with the Presbyterian Mission Agency, and former Co-moderator of the 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Rev. T. Denise Anderson (she/her) is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and coordinator for racial and intercultural justice with the Presbyterian Mission Agency, working in connection with the agency’s Compassion, Peace & Justice and Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries. A graduate of Howard University School of Divinity, she is the former Co-Moderator of the 222nd General Assembly (2016) of the Presbyterian Church (USA). A nationally-recognized writer and blogger, Denise’s work has appeared in The Christian Century, The Huffington Post, These Days, and on her own blog, SOULa Scriptura: To Be Young, Gifted, and Reformed: soulascriptura.com. Denise writes, preaches, and engages on issues of social justice, diversity, and reconciliation. As a gifted visual artist, she creates art that explores themes of spirituality, history, religion, and race: tdandersonart.com.
The Many
Music Collective
The Many is an indie, intentionally diverse music collective from Chicago singing music of faith and doubt, hope and lament. The lead singers in The Many—Darren Calhoun, Leslie Michele, and singer/songwriter Hannah Rand—as well as writer Lenora Rand and musician/producer Gary Rand, come together around their shared love of music and commitment to honest expressions of faith, peace-making, economic and racial justice, and LGBTQ+ inclusion. The Many offer songs made for reflection, for protest, for healing, and worship. They are songs made for singing with each other, in churches, in living rooms, in basements, and in bars. . . anywhere and everywhere, in spirit and in truth. With lyrics born from scriptures, from headlines, and from their own experiences, this is not head-in-the-clouds “worship music.” These are not songs about a God who only loves some of us. These are feet-on-the-ground, heart-in-hands, scars-revealed, wild and holy songs of resistance and reconciliation and restoration. This unique group of musicians reminds us over and over again that we aren’t alone, that God so loves every one of us, and we all belong here. themanyarehere.com