Lent begins with ashes — a small cross marked on the forehead. It is a quiet reminder that we are human. Fragile. Loved. Held.

Our Ash Wednesday service (8pm at Church House, 6 Woodpecker Close) offers space for:

• Stillness (while listening to reflective songs, helping those unfamiliar with silence feel more at ease)

• Bible readings

• Prayer

• For those who would like it:
  - Marking with ashes 
  - Bread and wine, or a blessing

You are welcome whether Lent feels familiar or completely new.

🌿 Fringe Dweller — Jonny Baker / CMS

This year’s Lent reflections from CMS (where Beth is currently studying) invite us to notice Jesus at the edges — among those overlooked, excluded, or living beyond the centre of power.

You can:

• Sign up for weekly standalone emails from CMS: Lent 2026: Fringe Dweller resource - Church Mission Society (CMS).

• Or buy Jonny Baker’s new Lent book for a deeper journey.

Fringe Dweller is a collection of forty reflections based on encounters in the gospels of Jesus the Fringe Dweller. Each reflection includes a practice and a liturgy. There are twenty original illustrations throughout. It is an invitation to encounter the person of Jesus Christ afresh through scriptures and in prayer as your own story, life and call dialogues with Jesus' life. Ideal for personal use, for groups and for those preaching or curating worship.

Jesus was loved by fringe dwellers - the poor, lame, blind, lepers, the oppressed, the possessed, foreigners, beggars, outsiders, those deemed unclean, women who experienced shame, tax collectors and sinners. He spent time with them. He reframed how they were seen and how they saw themselves. He challenged the way the world was ordered to keep them in their place. He gravitated to fringe places where you were not meant to go - the other side of the lake, Gentile areas, Samaria, the borderlands, Tyre and Sidon, Levi’s house. He taught that God’s new society is one in which the poor and the grief stricken are blessed and God’s table is one where all are welcome. He re-storied the world, flipped the script.

• Written by Jonny Baker & David Cotterill
• Illustrations by Jon Birch, design by Joel Baker

Buy the book from GETsidetracked

📖 Making Room — Laura Alary

Although described as a “child’s guide to Lent and Easter,” this little book speaks beautifully to every age.

It explores the idea that Lent is about opening space — in our hearts, homes, habits, and schedules — so that love can grow.

You can:

• Watch a reading of it online.

• Download Laura’s free activity guide.

• Consider buying a copy for your household and exploring it slowly together.

The accompanying resources include reflective questions, creative activities, and simple practices adaptable for any stage of life.
Activity Guide for Make Room – Laura Alary

Make Room: at Eden.co.uk

🕊️ The Curtain and the Cross

Much loved by several of our Little Explorers families, this book helps children (and adults) understand why Easter matters.

We’ve recently spotted a simple countdown activity that pairs beautifully with the story — a tangible way to walk through Lent as we move towards Holy Week.

See it on Eden: The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross Easter Calendar:  at Eden.co.uk

🕯️ Lent Candles

If Advent moves toward light, Lent moves through shadow.

A traditional Lent practice uses six purple candles, often arranged in the shape of a cross.

On the Sunday after Transfiguration, all six are lit — we begin in brightness.

Then each week, one fewer candle is lit.

Light slowly reduces.
The room grows darker.
Until Good Friday is held in stillness and shadow.

And then, on Easter morning, the Christ-candle blazes again.

Both Pathfinder School and Pathfinder Church are following this pattern this year. You might like to try it at home:

• Light the candles once a week (or daily).

• Pair it with a sand timer or simply sit in silence together.

• Notice what surfaces.

Sometimes making room begins with simply stopping.