The 40-40-40 Lenten Challenge
This is for bragging rights.
The Grand Canyon Synod and the Southeastern Iowa Synod are partner synods in the U.S. and for Lent 2023, the two synods are challenging one another to raise money for ELCA World Hunger. The challenge is to pledge to participate in some spiritual and physical practices during the 40 days of Lent, raise awareness of hunger issues, and raise some money for ELCA World Hunger. The synod with the most participants wins!
Lent is 40 days to reflect, remember our dependence on God and on one another, and look forward to the ways God calls us to be. Adding one or more of these small practices to your observation of Lent might help you feel more connected. A light-hearted challenge like this might help our synods be the Church together, and to see God’s vision and invitation for us to be a church for the world and share the good news of Jesus Christ.
Here’s how it works.
There are 4 Lenten practices to consider, and you commit to 3 of the 4.
Daily Devotion ~ Subscribe to receive daily email devotions for Lent or use ELCA World Hunger pre-made devotions. Learn more.
Daily Donation ~ Pledge to give $1 a day (or more) to ELCA World Hunger for the 40 days of Lent. Ways to give.
Daily Declutter ~ Once a day find a way to daily de-clutter, de-stress, and re-tune. It could be cleaning out the garage, cleaning your calendar, or finding some time to de-clutter a desk or drawer and donating gently used items. Get ideas.
Daily Discipline ~ Do one wellness activity every day. Maybe it’s your daily workout, maybe is a 1-mile walk a day. Maybe it’s taking an extra flight of stairs or an extra glass of water. Read more.
Visit the 40-40-40 Lenten Challenge website to read all about it. https://communications9676.wixsite.com/synodlentchallenge
The more individual sign-ups, the better.
Bragging rights goes to the synod with the most individual registrations. So if you’re a family of 4, enter all 4 email addresses, and have all 4 people commit to 3 things. And no, not all 4 need to donate to ELCA World Hunger (though it’s worth considering).
Share with your congregation
All the resources you need to spread the word in your congregation are available on the Lenten Challenge website, created especially for this challenge. An announcement in PDF and Word doc and artwork for use in newsletters, bulletin inserts, and social media can help you promote this synod-wide event. Website is https://communications9676.wixsite.com/synodlentchallenge
What do we get if we win?
The bishop of the synod with fewest participants will record a video acknowledging the superiority of the other team, and that video will be screened at both the winning and the losing synod’s assemblies in June.