The Faithful Followers Sunday School class at the Church of What’s Happening Now was discussing the upcoming season of Lent. The congregation had never had such a discussion. This congregation prided itself on their core value of relevance. Adhering to ancient seasons such as Advent and Lent simply did not rise to that standard. Their church calendar had a softball schedule but no mention of Lent.

Their new pastor, however, had suggested the congregation might find the rhythm of a traditional church calendar spiritually enriching. He said they might even find it relevant. The Faithful Followers Sunday School class was not convinced but wanted to be supportive of their new leader and decided to give it a try.

In the past few weeks, they had learned Lent is to be a time of preparation for …