By Marisa Young | Reporter
Beginning on Ash Wednesday and concluding on Easter Sunday, Truett Seminary will offer daily Lent devotionals to students and faculty of all faith traditions.
This devotional plan is accessible to anyone on Truett’s webpage. Ben Simpson, the associate director of spiritual formation at Truett, said his team carefully selects dedicated seminary students to write each devotional, while the Holy Days are written by Truett faculty.
One of these student writers, Los Angeles seminary student Anna Johnson, said she hopes these devotionals minister to a diverse audience, not only those celebrating Lent.
“I want it to be applicable to everyone,” Johnson said. “No matter race, gender, socioeconomic class or education status, I want it to speak to everyone.”
Johnson said in preparing for writing a devotional, part of her process was “consulting exegetical commentaries,” as well as praying through the Scriptures.
During the writing process, Johnson asked herself questions to best consider students’ needs.
“How do I make this applicable and highlight Jesus’ love for us, but make sure that there’s a solid interpretation?” Johnson said. “How does this give us a lens to see Jesus in a way that maybe we haven’t seen Him before?”
Simpson said the focus of the Lent Devotional series is to minister to readers of all backgrounds and help guide them in the formative season of Lent.
“For those who are part of any Christian tradition, our hope is that readers would grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ … that they would be one as part of the body, brothers and sisters in Christ across denominations and traditions,” Simpson said.
Because the Baylor community consists of many different faith traditions, Simpson said the Lent devotionals are not written to any specific denomination; rather, all members of the Christian faith can benefit from the series.
“The themes that are present in the Lent season … things like a focus on Jesus and His life and teaching on the call to discipleship, a call to fasting and prayer, these are common across the faith,” Simpson said. “These are ecumenical things, things we share.”
Simpson hopes that the season of Lent, along with these devotionals, will provide an opportunity for members of different faith traditions to learn about each other’s heritage and seek unity as one body.
“Within Lent there is the possibility to discover shared understandings of the faith between those who observe Lent and those who do not,” Simpson said. “For those who do not, it is an opportunity to be reminded that there are brothers and sisters within the Christian tradition who follow Jesus in a way that differs from the tradition of their heritage and upbringing. And in humility … it is an opportunity to ask questions, to learn to receive.”
In addition to considering others’ traditions, Lent gives Christians an opportunity to consider their own and to reflect on why they believe what they do.
“It is an opportunity … to examine one’s set of convictions, one’s Christian spiritual practices, one’s community of faith and deepens one’s understanding as to why their tradition follows Jesus in the way that they do,” Simpson said.
With the guidance of the Lenten Devotional series, Simpson hopes that all members of the faith will use this season as a time to grow in unity, despite differences in practice.
“For those who are part of any Christian tradition our hope is that … we would come to know Jesus better and come to know the love of the Father more deeply,” Simpson said.
