Cultivating & Letting Go
Creative Resources for Lent | Year C
Cultivate (verb): to prepare and use for the raising of crops; to foster the growth of; to improve by labor, care, or study; to refine; to further; to encourage.
Let go (verb): relinquish one's grip on someone or something.
Lent is a season of spiritual gardening, of inviting God to unearth in us what lies fallow, what needs to be tended, and what needs to die for new life to emerge. This Lent, we’re embracing the literal and spiritual practices of cultivating and letting go.
As our largest yet, this is a bundle of 11 multimedia resources for you to use in your worship and ministry to practice cultivating and letting go throughout the season of Lent. The Cultivating & Letting Go theme emerged for us in our group study of the Revised Common Lectionary texts for Lent Year C, particularly the gospel texts for each week. This year, our lectionary offers us images and stories with themes of earthiness and grit.
If you’d like to learn more about our theme and get access to worship + programming ideas for fleshing it out in your context, be sure to download our FREE THEME INFOGRAPHIC HERE. We also include the theme infographic with every bundle purchase.
{We consider your purchase a form of patronage to support our work and ministry. To make our resources accessible to congregations of all sizes, we offer tiered pricing on our bundles. Please choose the bundle price you are able to give. Your support makes our ministry possible!}
$311 TOTAL BUNDLE VALUE (85 digital files)
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. Cultivating & Letting Go Lenten Coloring Calendar + Devotional Guide
[Individual Price: $18-$85]
This 2-part devotional resource features a large Coloring Calendar with shapes to color in each week of Lent. The shapes hold imagery inspired by weekly scripture (from the lectionary, Lent Year C). To accompany the Coloring Calendar, our Devotional Guide Booklet offers you weekly scripture, written reflections, poetry prayers, and journaling prompts.
We hope you will carve out space each week to complete the readings, coloring, and journaling at your own pace. Print as many copies as you need and distribute them to members in your community. There are elements (reading scripture, coloring, reading poetry, journaling) that families can do together.
[Individual Price: $12]
This service is designed to provide worshipers with space to pray and reflect on the needs in their lives, whether they are seeking healing or wholeness for themselves, a loved one, or the earth. Incorporating written reflection, prayer stations, and a visual meditation, the service flows through 3 major Movements:
1. MOVEMENT ONE | Letting Go of Anxiety and Busyness to Cultivate Calm
2. MOVEMENT TWO | Letting Go of Fear to Cultivate Confidence in God
3. MOVEMENT THREE | Letting Go of Doubt to Cultivate Hope
[Individual Price: $25]
This short film offers a visual and spoken mediation on the parable of the fig tree in Luke 13:1-9. We invite you to show this film during worship or educational events for a thoughtful and meditative reflection on the meaning of this parable.
You may wish to share this film as part of Movement Three in our Cultivating & Letting Go Healing & Wholeness Service.
[Individual Price: $12]
Ever wish you had a better way to organize your thoughts around a worship series? Want help connecting the lectionary texts for Year C to our Cultivating & Letting Go theme? We created this resource to help you bridge the gap.
Like biblical commentary, this guide seeks to offer you seeds of ideas, theme connections, questions for deeper study, and real-world intersections. For each text, we’ve included suggestions for how to connect the scripture to the theme, Cultivating & Letting Go, guiding questions for deeper study, a quote for inspiration, and links to articles and books that bring new perspectives.
Consider mapping out your ideas in our accompanying sermon-planning grid.
[Individual Price: $12]
This project provides a tangible and meaningful way for any member to practice Cultivating & Letting Go throughout Lent.
The project involves congregation members in worship, youth during youth group, and children during the children’s message in worship. (HINT: it provides programming and content for both youth group and the children’s message!). It allows everyone in your community the opportunity to participate in the evolving transformation of a Lenten tree. Materials needed are very attainable and can either be ordered or scavenged! Curriculum includes step by step instructions with photos.
[Individual Price: $10]
This collection of 9 poetic prayers explores themes of cultivating and letting go for each week of Lent. Honest and intimate, these poems offer Lenten meditations throughout the season. We hope you might adapt them for worship liturgy, or print them as they are for members in your community to read and return to throughout Lent.
Thumb to forehead. Remind me again.
That this precious life begins and ends.
And like the trees in autumn, may I learn to let go,
Making room in my heart for a new kind of growth.
—Excerpt from "Ash Wednesday”
[Individual Price: $35]
This is a collection of 6 visuals inspired by RCL scripture texts for Lent (Year C). Bundle includes artist statements for each image plus a visio divina bible study guide for using the images in an educational setting or contemplative practice.
(left: Mary washing Jesus’ feet) (right: The Prodigal Son)
[Individual Price: $10]
A collection of 13 liturgies, this resource provides language for worship connecting to the Lenten themes of cultivating and letting go. We hope you will copy/paste or adapt these prayers for your corporate worship (with credit).
Resource includes:
6 Calls to worship
3 Prayers of Confession
3 Prayers of Dedication after the Offering
1 Pastoral Prayer
[Individual Price: $30]
Whether you are a church with 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 theme, Cultivating & Letting Go, with your community. Download includes files for print and web so you can use them for projecting images and slides in worship, printing on bulletins, study materials, church publications, and advertising your worship on your website and online.
This time around, we’ve also included background images (featuring original photography) for you to create and customize your own graphics in the exact dimensions you need.
[Individual Price: $20]
Throughout Lent, create beautiful sanctuary art to install on Easter Sunday. These designs by Hannah Garrity feature blooming lilies with hints of imagery from the days after Jesus’ resurrection—crucified hands, breaking bread, fish, the road to Emmaus. These banners invite you to look closer to find the imagery embedded within the larger composition of blooming, new life.
As you will see, these designs can become either a pair of 2 banners or a triptych of 3 banners. We hope you will choose the option best for your space and creative team. Gather a group and create together, for the creative process is just as meaningful as the final result. And we promise, these are not as hard to create as they may look!
[Individual Price: $60]
A collection of 9 hand-drawn coloring posters inspired by RCL texts for Lent Year C. Print the art as coloring posters (we provide 3 size options) to invite members of all ages to dig deep into these scriptures through color, line, and form. These coloring posters are great for creating easy and meaningful community art.
Download includes artist statements for each poster plus a visio divina bible study guide.