Spring is Coming: Resources for Lent
With the beginning of Lent approaching, now is the perfect time to spice up your congregation’s plans for outreach, engagement, and spiritual formation — and digital, printable, and film resources are more practical than ever.
Here’s a quick overview of SALT’s Customizable Short Films and Printable/Digital Resources for Lent (click here to find out more about what a Customizable Short Film is, and how it can enhance your church’s website, worship, and social media engagement).
Lent’s “40 days” evoke the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness being “tested by the devil” – and “The Screwtape Letters,” C.S. Lewis turned a satirical, insightful eye on the idea of such “testing.” So this year, deepen your experience of Lent with C.S. Lewis as your guide, leaning into the power of literature, humor, and imagination to provoke thought and inspire action.
Climate + Faith: How We Can Help Meet the Greatest Challenge in Human History
In 40-day devotional, biblical texts, accessible science, and practical wisdom combine to help each of us (individuals, families, and congregations) create a custom-made, solution-oriented action plan for participating in the Spirit’s movement for a clean, healthy climate.
Bless This Mess: DIY Lenten Calendar
Lent is a journey of transformation — and transformations are messy. This printable calendar (40 cards in all) will help you and your household focus on God’s inspiring love and justice, “blessing this mess” as we walk with Jesus through the shadows of death into newness of life.
The Poetry of Lent: A Lenten Companion to Mary Oliver’s “Devotions”
Imagine a six-week journey with Mary Oliver at your side, illuminating ancient passages of scripture; provoking bite-sized meditations on key Lenten themes; and pointing toward everyday practices for individuals, families, and congregations. All you need is this printable devotional, a Bible, and a copy of Oliver’s wonderful collection, Devotions (all the poems can also be found online).
Emily Dickinson and the Poetry of Lent
Lent is a change of seasons — and Dickinson was an avid gardener. In this Lenten devotional, biblical texts and accessible practices weave together with Dickinson’s poetic vision (all the poems in the devotional can be found online). Week by week, we’ll walk through the garden together toward Easter morning.
Into the Wild: A Family-Friendly Devotional on Henri Matisse and the Season of Lent
The Season of Lent is a walk into the wild, a 40-day adventure filled with wild beasts, wild love, challenges, visions – and bold, bright colors. In this family-friendly Lenten devotional full of Scripture, art, and activities, we take this adventure with Henri Matisse, the artist who declared his “masterpiece” to be the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence, France.
Henri Matisse and the Colors of Lent: A Lenten Devotional
SALT’s Matisse devotional for grown-ups (the family-oriented one is above), a deeper dive into Lent’s big ideas, Matisse’s astonishing art, and engaging weekly practices. From the gray of Ash Wednesday to the dawn of Easter Sunday, Lent is a journey through color — so what better guides than Scripture and Matisse?
This Customizable Short Film that evokes Lent’s journey into the wilderness with the beautiful art of Henri Matisse, creating an invitation into the mysteries of vulnerability, adventure, and joy. And it comes with a full suite of Matisse clip art for Lent, perfect for bulletins, screens, and social media.
Wendell Berry and the Sabbath Poetry of Lent
In this Lenten devotional, biblical texts and simple practices walk hand-in-hand with Berry’s vision of sabbath and the natural world. All you’ll need is your favorite Bible and Berry’s This Day: Collected and New Sabbath Poems. Journey through the season with Wendell Berry as your guide! And here’s a lovely ”Lent Wendell Berry Collection” of clip art for bulletins, screens, and social media (drawn from the same art that appears in the devotional).
Vincent van Gogh and the Beauty of Lent: A Lenten Devotional
The son of a Christian pastor, Vincent van Gogh devoted his life to light — making him a perfect companion on this pilgrimage of “lengthening light” (that’s how “Lent” gets its name!). In this devotional, the words of Scripture and the paintings and letters of Van Gogh will be our guides, pointing toward simple, powerful practices you can try each week. Sunflowers and starry nights await!
Floriography: A Lenten “Flower Power” Calendar
At its heart, Lent is a pathway from fallow ground into flowers — and this printable, flexible, interactive calendar (44 cards in all) can help you and your family anticipate and celebrate the blooms along the way. A wonderful blend of art, science, and delight known as “floriography,” the secret language of flowers.
This Customizable Short Film focuses on the season’s changes, God’s blessings, and the wonder of a simple cup of tea. Common types of tea bring beautiful colors to Easter eggs (and yes, you can try this at home!). And each film purchase includes SALT’s “Bless This Mess: DIY Lenten Calendar.”
Holy Week Tenebrae: A Home-Based Devotional
"Holy Week Tenebrae" is a fresh, familiar way to explore the deeper meanings of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday. Candles are lit with the "hosannas" of Palm Sunday; extinguished, one by one, as the week unfolds; and finally restored to a new splendor on Easter morning. Each day includes a simple, evocative order of service.
40-Day “Love Builds Up” Family Challenge
The perfect way for families of all shapes and sizes to strengthen spiritual muscles and emotional health during Lent. We could all use a little training — and a little practice!
This Customizable Short Film is a beautiful, stirring portrait of the season as a time of training and repair. It can stand alone as a visual invitation — or pair it with SALT’s Lenten devotionals, including “40-Day “Love Builds Up” Lenten Family Challenge,” and/or “Wendell Berry and the Sabbath Poetry of Lent: A Lenten Devotional.”
This Customizable Short Film frames Lent as a time of longing and making ourselves ready for God’s season of resurrection. Pair it with SALT’s Lenten downloadable devotional, “The Poetry of Lent: A Lenten Companion to Mary Oliver’s ‘Devotions’” and/or our "Lent Mary Oliver Collection" clip art for bulletins and screens (drawn from the same art that appears in the film and devotional). Combine these resources and — voila! — you’ve got yourself an affordable, appealing, holistic approach to the Lenten season.
Breaking the Chains: A Family-Friendly Lenten Devotional
Everything you need to build a 40-link paper chain, with each link an invitation to let words of Scripture and daily practices of liberation inspire us along the way. Each day, break a link in the chain (purple links for the 40 days of Lent, and white links for the 7 Sundays) and take part in God's chain-breaking, art-making, world-changing grace — all the way to the joyful freedom of Easter morning!
This accessible, modern devotional might just be the perfect companion to your family’s (or congregation’s) Lenten journey. Thoughtful, tenderly written, and provocative, each week will challenge you and your community to see the hope and light all around, even as you stay present and awake to the injustices of the world.
This lovely, earthy, free-range Customizable Short Film presents Lent as a time of creativity and reconnecting with the natural world. Featuring a fresh twist on the time-honored tradition of dying Easter eggs, this film lifts up the technicolored beauty of God’s promises, God's resurrection, and all God’s creatures, great and small.
Lent is 40 days of walking together through the great mysteries of faith: creation, redemption, and the sweet renewal of the Holy Spirit. This Customizable Short Film is blooming with radiant theological ideas, as simple and evocative as one, two, three!
This Customizable Short Film emphasizes how the 40 days of Lent can function as a life-changing invitation to fasting and feasting, to confession and praise, and ultimately to a community journeying together in love and hope. Inspiring, whimsical, and poignant photographs and portraits punctuate the central message: You are invited!
And last but not least, check out SALT’s clip art for Lent!
Well, there you have it — a one-stop overview of some of the resources available from SALT for Lent and Easter. Even and especially in these difficult times, the Lenten journey can be an encouraging, enlightening path to hope, resilience, and new life.
Peace,
The SALT Team