If you’re busy organizing children’s, youth, adult, or parish-wide programs for Lent and Holy Week, we’ve got you. We have compiled a list of new and relatively recent resources for Lent and Holy Week 2023 to help formation leaders through the planning process. This list (alphabetized by title) includes devotionals, calendars, curriculum series and studies, and activities in print and digital formats. Some of these resources are available in English, Spanish, and French, and many can be adapted for church or home use. As always, we encourage you to consider the gifts and needs of your own context along with the resources’ theologies, biblical interpretations, representations of human identities and experiences, and materials as you use this list to discern what resources may best serve your community’s Lenten journey this year.
Devotionals
The Desert of Compassion: Devotions for the Lenten Journey by Rachel M. Srubas
Publisher: Westminster John Knox, 2023
Audience: Adults
Cost: $17
Additional info: Free group study and sermon series guides are also available on the publisher’s website
Encuentros con Jesús: Historias de fe para Cuaresma / Encounters with Jesus: Stories of Faith for Lent, edited by Hugo Olaiz, Loida Sardiñas Iglesias, and Ema Rosero-Nordalm
Publisher: Forward Movement, 2022
Audience: Adults
Cost: $9 (price is discounted if you buy in bulk)
Additional info: A bilingual devotional written in both Spanish and English; includes discussion questions
Hear Us, Good Lord: Lenten Meditations from Washington National Cathedral
Publisher: Forward Movement, 2022
Audience: Adults
Cost: $15 (price is discounted if you buy in bulk)
“An Illustrated Lent for Families: This Is My Body”
Publisher: Illustrated Ministry, forthcoming Feb. 7, 2023 (available for pre-order now)
Audience: Children | Families with Children | Intergenerational
Cost: $9.99 for personal use, $39.99 – 69.99 for church use (sliding scale by church size)
Additional info: A digital weekly resource that includes discussion questions, coloring pages, and activities; worship resources are also available for separate purchase
Living Well through Lent 2023: Practicing Compassion with All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind
Publisher: Living Compass, 2023
Audience: Adults
Cost: Free for digital download, $0.99 for ebook version, $1 (plus shipping) for printed booklet (free shipping if you buy at least 10 copies)
Additional info: Available in English and Spanish; free facilitator’s guide is also available on the publisher’s website; you can also sign up to receive daily devotions by email
“Seeking: Honest Questions for Deeper Faith: Daily Devotional Cards”
Publisher: A Sanctified Art
Audience: Youth | Adults
Cost: $7 for one copy; $20 – 55 for more copies (based on number of copies)
Additional info: A digital daily resource; worship, preaching, poetry prayer, and art meditation resources are also available for separate or bundle purchase
“Seeking: Honest Questions for Deeper Faith: A Lenten Devotional”
Publisher: A Sanctified Art
Audience: Adults | High School Youth
Cost: $18 for one copy, $40 – 85 for more copies (based on number of copies)
Additional info: A digital weekly resource; worship, preaching, poetry prayer, and art meditation resources are also available for separate or bundle purchase
“This Is My Body Lenten Devotional”
Publisher: Illustrated Ministry, forthcoming Feb. 7, 2023 (available for pre-order now)
Audience: Children | Youth | Young Adults | Adults | Intergenerational
Cost: $9.99 for personal use, $29.99 – 59.99 for church use (sliding scale by church size)
Additional info: A digital weekly resource that includes discussion questions; available in illustrated (text and coloring pages) or text-only formats; worship resources are also available for separate purchase
Water and Spirit: Devotions for Lent 2023 by Meghan Johnston Aelabouni, et al.
Publisher: Augsburg Fortress, 2022
Audience: Adults | Families with Children
Cost: $3
Additional info: Free promo pack with a set of drawing activities for kids and bingo cards is also available on the publisher’s website
Who Is My Neighbor?: 2023 Lenten Meditations by Robin Denney
Publisher: Episcopal Relief and Development, 2023
Audience: Adults
Cost: Free
Additional info: A digital daily resource; includes ideas for group use as well as embedded videos to accompany the Sunday devotions; you can also sign up to receive the devotions by email
Calendars
2023 Way of Love in Lent Calendar
Source: The Episcopal Church website
Audience: Adults
Cost: Free
Additional info: A digital calendar available in English, Spanish, and French
Lent and Holy Week Praying in Color Templates by Sybil MacBeth
Source: Praying in Color website
Audience: Children | Youth | Adults | Intergenerational
Cost: Free
Additional info: Printable templates for Holy Week and Easter that are undated are available in the 2020 – 2021 resources section; templates that are not season-specific and instructions for Lent are also available here
Curriculum Series and Studies
The Lord’s Prayer: An Exploration” by the Society of Saint John the Evangelist
Source: Cowley magazine, Lent issue, forthcoming 2023
Audience: Adults
Cost: Free
Additional info: A digital resource with reflections and meditation prompts
Meeting Jesus at the Table: A Lenten Study by Cynthia M. Campbell and Christine Coy Fohr
Publisher: Westminster John Knox, 2023
Audience: Adults
Cost: $17
Additional info: Includes discussion questions for each chapter as well as ideas for preaching and ministry
“Preparing to Become the Beloved Community: Lent – Year A”
Source: The Episcopal Church website, updated 2022 in English, 2023 in Spanish and French
Audience: Adults
Cost: Free
Additional info: A digital curriculum available in English, Spanish, and French
“Seeking: Children’s Curriculum for Lent (Year A)” by Anna Strickland
Publisher: A Sanctified Art
Audience: Children
Cost: $20
Additional info: A digital curriculum with ideas for various uses; worship, preaching, poetry prayer, and art meditation resources are also available for separate or bundle purchase
Activities
“Lent, Holy Week, and Easter Digital Activity Kits: Series One”
Publisher: Sparkhouse, 2022
Audience: Young Children | Children | Youth | Families with Children | Families with Youth
Cost: $49.99
Additional info: A digital resource with kits tailored to each age group; includes activities, games, art projects, and scripture as well as ideas for use
Lent Madness
Source: Lent Madness website
Audience: Adults
Cost: Free
Additional info: A printable 2023 bracket is available on the website, along with instructions for playing the brackets; posters and scorecards are available for purchase on the Forward Movement website
Featured image is by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash