A growing interest in the tradition of Lent is giving Protestants something more in common with Catholics. Though slightly different in practice, some call this a step toward convergence in the global church. Christopher Ruddy, an associate professor at The Catholic University of America who is an expert on ecumenism and ecclesiology, said of the Protestant churches rediscovering Lent, “There’s certainly a sense of a spiritual desire to prepare for Lent...a desire of conversion.” Washington’s multisite National Community Church is one among several Protestant churches to have adopted Lenten practices of fasting and giving up material things and habits. “Lent is about repentance; it’s about confession,” Joel Schmidgall, the church’s executive pastor, said in a sermon on March 2. “It’s about pruning and cutting things back so that you can grow closer to Christ.”
Lent: It’s Not Just for Catholics Anymore
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
In these dark times, surrounded by death and destruction in Gaza, we hear the command in the first reading, “Choose life.” What are the ways we can do this in a world that seems to have gone mad?
On July 31, Pope Leo XIV announced that St. John Henry Newman, English theologian, educator, and writer who converted to Catholicism after being an Anglican priest, will be named a Doctor of the Church.
The chair of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace put out a statement on July 31 demanding more humanitarian action for those in Gaza.
Latin Mass, Eucharistic Revival, real presence: In every age—including our own—the church has seen a complex Eucharistic landscape.