Throughout the Season of Lent, the Church intentionally walks with Jesus through experiences of suffering and death. However, ultimately, this annual journey of descent culminates in resurrection, which encourages our lenten pilgrimage to see what gifts and lessons may be found in the darkness.

This year, rather than exploring experiences of suffering and death that culminate in resurrection, we’re considering violence in religious story-telling, which finds its end, not in resurrection, but in the perpetuation of increased violence. The past few years our country has been witness to a president whose stories have harmed—more than anyone else—the marginalized among us, and these stories have found residence in the hearts of Christians, evangelicals in particular. This sermon series will deconstruct religious stories that give rise to bad news, misogyny, bigotry, and tribalism in Jesus’ name. But rather than concluding in deconstruction, this series intends to reimagine these same stories so that they more thoughtfully and reasonably cohere with Jesus who declares, “The favor of the Lord upon you.”