General Prayer & Devotional Resources
- The Diocese of Toronto has gathered a number of prayer resources together, including a Monthly Cycle of Prayer and an Outreach and Advocacy Cycle of Prayer
- Online lectionary from the Anglican Church of Canada’s adaptation of the Revised Common Lectionary
- A Disciple’s Prayer Book, composed by the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples.
- A concise explanation of Lectio Divina, the ancient form of Bible study and prayer, from St. John’s Cathedral, Winnipeg.
- More prayer resources can be found on the Anglican Church of Canada’s prayer webpage.
He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
Mark 10:14
Resources for Families & Children
- Here is a liturgical resource for children for Lent: available here. Families are invited to use the prayers, psalm, and songs for their own family devotions. Bible stories can be chosen from the daily office lectionary, or from a storybook Bible.
- Storybook Bibles are a great way to introduce children to the narrative of Scripture. Ones we use at the Church of the Transfiguration include the Jesus Storybook Bible, the Children of God Storybook Bible, and the Spark Story Bible.
- More prayer and liturgical resources for growing in faith together can be found on the Grow Christians website, a ministry based in the American Episcopal Church, and in the parenting section of the Anglican Church of Canada’s Community Blog.
- For specific ideas on how to observe Advent with children, this Anglican Journal article offers some ideas.
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard.Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
ISAIAH 58:6-9
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.
Lenten Resources
Online Resources
- Lenten Booklet – The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF)’s 2019 Lent Resource. We invite you to dig deeper into the issues and work supported by PWRDF around the world, and the call to prayer, reflection, and action that comes along with it.
- Less Plastic For Lent is a 2019 resource put together by the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, inviting readers to take small steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle and world.
- ‘Live like you say you’re gonna live’ – Michael Thompson, honorary priest at Transfiguration (and General Secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada) reflects on the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness after his baptism, and invites us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, choosing life, these 40 days of Lent.
- Faithfulness – The Rev’d David Howells invites us into Lent with this sermon.
Books
- Show Me The Way – This book by Henri Nouwen invites readers to journey with him on a 40-day Lenten path.
- The Word in the Wilderness – Malcolm Guite’s book reflects on a poem each day for Lent and Easter.
- A Way Other Than Our Own – Walter Brueggemann calls us to follow the path of Christ – a path that often leads us out of our safe, walled places.
- Lent Is Not Rocket Science – Devotionals by astronomer, physicist, and bishop W. Nicholas Knisely exploring the intersection between faith and science.
Fasting & Other Practices
- “A Monk’s Guide to Fasting” (BBC)
- “How Some Christians Prepare their Hearts, Stomachs for Lent” (Daily Herald)
- “‘Beneficial Discomfort’: Anglicans Share Their Practices for Lent” (The Anglican Journal)
Advent Resources
Online Resources
- The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund has asked four writers and theologians to provide daily meditations connecting Advent’s themes of hope, peace, joy, and love to the work of PWRDF. Sign up here to receive the daily emails.
- #AdventWord is an international community of prayer offering visual and written daily meditations.
- The Diocese of Westminster (Vancouver) has invites people to sign up for “Advent 2019: A Companion” – a daily meditative email written on Sundays by Bishop Melissa Skelton and weekdays by lay leaders.
- The Sisterhood of St. John the Divine, an Anglican women’s convent in Toronto, posts a daily reflection during Advent.
- “Liberated by God’s Grace” 2016 Advent devotional created jointly by the Anglican and Lutheran churches to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, focussing on how we are “liberated by God’s grace” and that “salvation, human beings, and creation are not for sale.”
- Need ideas for how to observe Advent with children? The Anglican Journal has an article with a few tips.
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
Isaiah 11: 1-2
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Books
- The Advent of Justice by Brian J. Walsh, J. Richard Middleton, Mark Vander Vennen (edited by Sylvia Keesmaat). First published in 1993 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Citizens for Public Justice; “In this book of reflections, four friends come together to lead us more deeply into Advent as a time of profound hope for the coming of God’s good kingdom of shalom while also a time of lament and anguish in the face of injustice.”
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,
Mark 1:46-48
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.”