I really enjoyed writing my Advent-ure Blog in 2010 and so I’ve decided to do something similar for Lent in 2011 – I found it such a helpful spiritual discipline personally and I think others found it helpful too. 

This year is the 400th Anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible and there are a number of exciting initiatives going on. I am going to be taking part in the Big Read as groups around the country read Matthew’s Gospel together and use Tom Wright’s ‘Matthew for Lent’ book as a guide. You can join in yourself and find resources for your small group here at Big Bible: http://bigbible.org.uk/

I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you this Lent and seeing what other people have to say over at Big Bible and on Twitter and Facebook! 

Ideas for small groups

Fancy doing something fun for Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day?) The Methodist Church have got a great initiative called ‘Fair Feast’ linking Mardi Gras with Fairtrade Fortnight (which happens to fall just around the beginning of Lent). Here are some resources for running a Fair Feast yourself: http://www.mrdf.org.uk/smartweb/resources/fair-feast

Traidcraft also have some good materials for Fairtrade Fortnight for an initiative called the ‘Big Brew’: 

http://www.traidcraft.co.uk/news_and_events/events/fairtrade_fortnight/the_big_brew

And then for Lent, join in the Big Read. There are some excellent Small Group resources here: http://bigbible.org.uk/the-big-read-2011/housegroup-themes/