Episcopal Relief & Development’s 2025 LENTEN Meditation Journey . . . A COMMONPLACE Lent

Preside in order to promote the good of those whom you govern…Provide rather than dominate. —Benardmo of Clairvaux, In Consideration

In the summer of 2023, a team of Episcopal Church staff, volunteers and consultants hosted a four-day-long festival in Baltimore called “It’s All About Love.” Each night, after the evening revival service, our team would gather in a meeting room to review the notes and plans for the next day, tackling all the things done and left undone, often working late into the night. The second night of the event, perhaps because we were our most exhausted selves, no one remembered to order dinner. Instead, we emptied our hotel mini-fridges and snack stashes in a loaves-and-fishes moment.

The Rev. Marna Franson, serving as a chaplain to the team, spent most of that evening figuring out how to feed us with our limited supplies. For several hours, as we prayed, reviewed schedules and triaged issues that had cropped up, she served us. Paper plates with scoopfuls of cheese spread onto kettle chips, apples sliced with a pocketknife and covered in peanut butter, heated-up Chinese leftovers and bowls of chocolate-covered peanuts continued to appear on the table, nourishing and sustaining us. That night, Marna knew what Jesus knew at the Last Supper: meaningful leadership and systematic change are taxing work. To do it well, we must be nourished and fortified.

The work we are called to as Christ-followers is the same work Jesus asked of the twelve disciples, and it requires collaborative, just and reconciling leadership. It calls for leaders willing to do what it takes to nourish people spiritually and physically, providing, not dominating. We need leaders who prioritize being vulnerable and clear with their people instead of controlling and micromanaging. In the Way of Jesus, we look for leaders who are willing to serve all, who make praying and breaking bread together a priority, and who, in every decision they make, seek the flourishing of all.

For REFLECTION:

Most of us lead in some capacity. We lead in our households, at church, in the workplace and in the public square. How does this picture of leadership challenge or
encourage your practice?

Click here to read the introduction to the 2025 Lenten Meditation “A Commonplace Lent.”

The Lenten Meditations prepared by Episcopal Relief & Development invite readers to deepen their spiritual practice during the season of Lent, the time of preparation leading to Easter. Our 2025 meditations explore the idea of “A Commonplace Lent.” This concept reflects Episcopal Relief & Development’s tagline: “Working Together for Lasting Change.” We share in common the work of advancing lasting change in communities impacted by injustice, poverty, disaster and climate change.

We also share in common spiritual practices that strengthen our faith—prayer, worship, love, grace, service and so much more. The author explores another meaning of common in the  meditations: finding God in the common and ordinary as well as in the extraordinary mountain-top moments. Each day begins with wisdom from desert mothers and fathers, monastics and other spiritual leaders who offer insight into our common path of faithful discipleship and service. Each meditation concludes with a question for deeper reflection.

Episcopal Relief & Development is the compassionate response of The Episcopal Church to human suffering in the world. Hearing God’s call to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to respect the dignity of every human being, Episcopal Relief & Development serves to bring together the generosity of Episcopalians and others with the needs of the world.

This Lenten Meditation Journey is provided courtesy of Episcopal Relief & Development and was authored by Jerusalem Jackson Greer, co-executive director and agrarian minister for the Procter Center, an Episcopal farm, camp and retreat center in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio. As former manager of evangelism and discipleship for The Episcopal Church under Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, she co-founded the Good News Garden movement and oversaw Way of Love and Evangelism initiatives for the wider church.