Lent is a time of purposeful turning toward God. This post is part of our 2020 Lent At Home worship resource series. You can also download the full Lent At Home worship guide here.
Shrov
e comes from the old English word, “shrive,” which means to hear a person confess their sins and receive forgiveness. It is one of the ways people traditionally prepared for Lent. On Shrove Tuesday, it was also traditional to make pancakes and use up the eggs, fat, and sugar that were in the house, because people would give up eating these foods for Lent. Now, many of us call it Pancake Tuesday. Here are some activities that have become traditional with this At Home series:
- Invite another family from your church into your home.
- Eat a delicious pancake supper with your guest family, or participate together in a special meal your congregation hosts.
- Play a food game, like a relay race that includes flipping pancakes in a pan. Try to flip the pancake three times in each round.
- Decorate the dining area together, using balloons and cloth or paper banners to give it a festive look.
- Write words of praise such as, Alleluia, New Life, New Sight, New Life, and Love Wins, onto paper streamers or cloth strips to create celebratory banners. If you celebrate Shrove Tuesday as a congregation, decorate the tables with ribbons on which these words can be written as a table activity.
- Promise to encourage each other on your Lenten journey this year.
- Pray for attitudes of curiosity and courage as you get ready; curiosity to have God show you things and courage to leave behind some of the things that can distract you from engaging with God and God’s way during Lent. The following prayer may help you do so:
Dear God, you have made us as people
with many different feelings
with many different ways of showing that we love you.
We are getting ready to learn from Jesus
on his journey to the cross and out of the tomb.
Thank you for the good times we can have with friends
as we encourage each other on this journey.
Thank you for our experiences as we follow Jesus during Lent.
Thank you that Lent is followed by Easter.
Thank you that we can trust your forgiving, renewing love.
Amen (spoken by all).
- Send half of the banners home with your guest family to celebrate with on Easter. Or, if you celebrate at church, distribute the ribbons to participants to take home or put the banners away to use again at your Easter breakfast and/or worship service.
