Updates from the UTO Formation and Development Committee

We are pleased to present our materials for Lent 2026 (you can read more about them and see all the materials here.) Our Lenten materials will focus on the themes presented in the book “The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Each week you’ll have a theme for reflection, gratitude, engagement, and self-care that helps ground your Lenten journey on giving thanks and giving back.  

Our Lenten materials are a bit different this year because we’ve heard from a lot of you that the materials we make for our families sometimes are more appealing than the daily reflection question. We get that! We are all busy, and sometimes doing something once a week is easier than once a day. This year the Lenten materials are formatted like a newsletter, with information about Lent on the front, the daily calendar in the middle, and the weekly activities on the back. Choose whichever process works best for you. Lenten kits will come with a faith formation lesson plan, bulletin insert, and digital kit for bulletins and newsletters…you get everything in one place. Materials are available in English and Spanish and you can download them using the link above. (We are no longer able to ship Lenten materials in time.)

This year we’re also bringing back some of our favorite traditions: UTO Book Group and Lenten text messages. (You can sign up for either or both here.) Our Lenten Book Group will focus on “The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The final week will feature a panel of Indigenous Episcopal leaders talking about the book from an Episcopal perspective as well as from their own life experiences, community teachings, histories, and beliefs. This is a panel discussion you won’t want to miss, so mark your calendars now for Tuesday, March 24, at noon Eastern time. Last year we found it helpful to record the presentations that we use to open book group so that folks can use it for small group discussions at their church. We’ll continue that tradition again this year—just be sure to register for book group to get access to those recordings as soon as they are available on Wednesday.