Lent 2025

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (March 5) and ends on Resurrection Sunday (April 20). It is a season that Christians around the world and throughout history have leaned into as preparation for Easter—a time for reflection, drawing near to God, and forming us into people who rely more fully on God.

Join us for a liturgical service during this season, on Sundays at 10:30am (in person at Miner Elementary or online at youtube.com/christcitydc), as well as for the following special services:

  • Ash Wednesday: March 5, 7pm @ Washington Community Fellowship (907 Maryland Ave NE)

    • WCF is hosting a soup dinner before the service, at 6pm. If you’d like to attend, please RSVP here so they know how much food to prepare!

  • Good Friday: April 18 (time and location tbd)

  • Easter Sunday: April 20, 9am & 11am

Lent: Prayer & Fasting

The forty days of Lent reflect the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting and praying (Matthew 4). (For those counting, the forty days do not include Sundays, which are always to be celebrated as Resurrection Days!) Because of this, Lent is traditionally a season of fasting, a time when we deny ourselves certain needs, wants, or privileges otherwise afforded to us in other seasons, in order that we might turn our attention to God as the one who provides for us and sustains us. The hope through the Lenten season is that our hearts may become more attuned to the Spirit’s work around us and in us, and that we become more mindful of and grateful for God’s love towards us.

As we have done for the last few years, there are two specific practices we are asking the Christ City community to join together in: prayer and fasting. 


Prayer

Beginning on Ash Wednesday and throughout the season of Lent, Christ City Church will be gathering for morning prayer, every weekday morning at 7am for 20 minutes. All are welcome to join via Zoom. We will gather as a demonstration of the truth that God is the Lord of all our days and our desire to continually live in light of God’s love, mercy, and provision. 

While you might not be able to join in prayer every morning, it can be helpful to set a goal or set a Lenten rhythm you wish to keep. For example, commit to a schedule of which days you intend to join in morning prayers (e.g. every Monday, Wednesday, Friday). 

Here is the Zoom link for our weekday Lenten prayers: go.christcitydc.org/lentenprayer.

Fasting

Christians throughout the ages have also fasted during Lent. Often this fast was from food or certain types of food, such as meat. More contemporary expressions of Lenten fasts have included media, television, or social media, as well as food or drink, such as chocolate, coffee, sugar, or sodas. (We’ve listed some ideas below.)

The purpose of giving something up for Lent is not to cause us suffering for suffering’s sake, but for our own sake—to remind us that we often drift from God by surrounding ourselves with things that crowd God out. So you fast from something that you will long for during the Lenten season and at each moment where you experience desire for that thing, that food, or that drink, it will prompt you to press into a positive spiritual practice: to pray, remember, and rely on the Lord’s provision in your life.

You may also consider, as a corresponding practice, what you will take on during Lent, what will fill the space you have created with your fast. Prayer is a natural and easily accessible response, but there are others too. (Again, we’ve listed some ideas below.)

Although we aren’t prescribing what you should fast from during Lent, we would strongly encourage everyone to fast from something, and to share that thing from which you are fasting with your small group or with someone who can pray for you as you fast.


Other Lenten resources

Ideas for things to fast:

  • Body: all food, rich (or your favorite) food, desserts, sugar, all liquids but water, caffeine, alcohol, meat; donating blood

  • Entertainment: certain shows, podcasts, movies, or channels, video games, going out to eat

  • Attitude (external): critical comments, gossip, sarcasm, complaining

  • Attitude (internal): judgments, bitterness, resentment, envy, anger, anxiety

  • Possessions: shopping (online shopping, clothes, electronics, etc.); donate possessions to charity (give up one bag a day)

Ideas for things to take on:

  • Scripture: reading and memorizing scripture, reading the Gospels repeatedly

  • Prayer: reading a book on prayer and following its suggestions, daily prayer (for a specific person or situation), increasing prayer time 

  • Contemplation: meditate on images from a Christian art book, daily thankfulness, an hour of silence daily

  • Actions (for others): send notes of appreciation to people, secret acts of service, give money away, find out who your neighbors are, call or email someone with whom you’ve been out of touch, spend time with someone who needs help, forgive someone who has hurt you 

  • Actions (for you): listening to Christian music, physical exercise, try a new spiritual discipline