Beloved Siblings in Christ,
We have begun the holy season of Lent.
On Ash Wednesday, we mark our foreheads with ash; a visible reminder that we are dust, that we are finite, that we are bound to one another in fragile and sacred humanity. In a moment when our nation feels restless, loud, divided, and rising with both righteous protest and dangerous rhetoric, Lent arrives not as escape, but as invitation.
An invitation to go deeper.
An invitation to remember who we are.
An invitation to strengthen the ties that bind.
Across our country, we are witnessing activism, resistance, organizing, and uprising. Some are marching in the streets. Some are legislating. Some are grieving. Some are exhausted. Many are asking: What does faith require of us now?
Lent does not call us away from the world. It calls us into it, more rooted, more disciplined, more clear.
Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness were not passive. They were formative. The wilderness clarified his identity and strengthened his resolve for the ministry ahead. Before he overturned tables, before he challenged empire, before he carried a cross, he was grounded in prayer, fasting, and community. So too for us.
If we are to be a people who speak truth to power, we must also be a people bound to one another in love. If we are to resist injustice, we must also resist the temptation to fracture among ourselves. If we are to march toward Easter, we must do so not as isolated congregations, but as one body in many locations.
Our denominational charge has always been clear: “that they all may be one.” That unity has never meant uniformity. It has meant covenant. It has meant choosing relationship even when strained. It has meant believing that the Spirit binds us together more strongly than fear can tear us apart.
This Lenten season, I invite you to consider: Where might we strengthen trust between congregations? Where might we repair relationships that have thinned? Where might we pray not only for courage in the streets, but tenderness in our sanctuaries?
The ties that bind are not sentimental, they are spiritual infrastructure. They are what sustain movements. They are what carry us through crucifixion moments toward resurrection hope.
As we fast, let us fast from cynicism.
As we pray, let us pray for one another by name.
As we give, let us give ourselves more fully to community.
And as we move through this sacred season, the United Church of Christ Council of Conference Ministers will offer an online Good Friday service where seven Conference Ministers will offer reflection on the Seven Last Sayings of Christ for those who wish to gather across geography in prayer and reflection. That will be held April 3 at 12 noon EST, and streamed from the SNEUCC Facebook page. We will also host an in-person Good Friday Service here in the Southern New England Conference at 7 PM at First Churches of Northampton, MA. I encourage you to begin making space now for shared worship as we approach the cross together.
Beloved, this is not a season for retreating from the world. It is a season for deepening our spiritual muscles so that when we act, we do so anchored in Christ.
The darkness may feel loud.
But the Light still binds us.
And resurrection still awaits.
May this Lent strengthen our courage, deepen our compassion, and tighten the sacred ties that hold us together.
In covenant and hope,
Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin
Executive Conference Minister and President
First Congregational Church in Melrose, UCC 