Lent in worship and reflection
What hymns to use?
As well as the hymns already available in Singing the Faith, take a look at Carolyn Gillette’s reflection on words of the prophet Joel ("Return to me with all your heart") in her hymn, “Ash Wednesday comes, and Lord, we hear”. And for some contextual thoughts around Ash Wednesday, see Beginning Lent – some thoughts about Ash Wednesday.
Published in the Resource Hub, David Lee offers a paraphrase of Psalm 130, Out of the depths I cry to you, suitable for Ash Wednesday and throughout Lent. In its final verse, we may perceive the glimmering light of Easter drawing near:
May we, your people, joined in one accord,
out from the depths renew our hope, O Lord.
May we in you find redemption and mercy:
Lord, hear our cry, our deepest song.
Andrew Herbert's We'll walk with you also sits well with the Lent season while also surveying the full life and ministry of Jesus.
A number of hymns published here on Singing the Faith Plus explore the imagery and symbolism of desert places: Lord save us from the desert (Rachel Parkinson); You call us to the wilderness (Paul Wood and Ian Worsfold); and Joy Dine's popular God who sets us on a journey. Compare Joy Dine's desert journey with the one Brian Wren describes in Come, build the Church - not heaps of stone (StF 679). It carries the weight and suffering of war alongside the challenges and aspirations of faith:
Come, occupy with glad dissent
where death and evil fence the ground,
and pitch a Resurrection-Tent
where peace is lived, and love is found.
Together, these hymns convey the challenges and opportunities of the inward (and outward) journeying we associate with the season of Lent.
Holy week
For use later in the season, there is a thoughtful and memorable hymn based on the events of Maundy Thursday by Sue McCoan and Matthew Prevett, Dusty-footed, heavy-hearted (website only). Likewise, Dominic Grant's O watcher in the wilderness (StF 667) draws on images from the Last Supper as well, again, from desert experiences.
Lent – expanding our horizons
In Lent – expanding our horizons, we look beyond the Lent section of Singing the Faith to discover hymns suitable for this season.
Other resources for Lent
Faith and Order have also drafted some guidance for people concerning Anti Semitism and the service for Good Friday. Click here for details.
A sequence of prayers for Lent and Easter can be found on the Methodist Church website.
This year’s Easter Offering dedication service, prepared by the Methodist Church, takes the theme Education for all, Hope for all. It focuses on every person’s right to education and shares stories of people who are committed to changing lives through education.
Monthly Matters is All We Can’s Lent campaign for 2025. Over the 40 days of Lent, the Methodist overseas aid charity will share daily videos, blogs, poems, and reflections that explore why regular commitments and habits are so important in our justice-seeking.
Additional series of studies for the Lent period are produced each year by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) Resources going back to 2008 are still available:
For Lent 2025, CTBI is exploring the theme of Christian Unity in a Fragmenting World.
The resource examines the enduring relevance of the first ecumenical council of the Church in Nicaea 1700 years ago.