2026
Let Us Pray
Lenten Teaching Series
Wednesdays, Feb. 25-March 25
Join our guest speakers to hear about a wide range of topics related to our Lenten theme of prayer. Topics range from African American poetry to an exploration of The Lord's Prayer, Medieval Prayer, and more.
6:30-7:00 pm: Dinner
7:00-7:05 pm: Welcome and Prayer
7:05-7:50 pm: Lecture
7:50-8:00 pm: Discussion and concluding remarks
February 25: The Rev. Claude Atcho
A Bright Sadness: Learning Lament and Prayer from African American Poetry
Lent has been described as “a bright sadness”—a season where lament prepares the way for resurrection hope. Through African American poetry, we’ll explore how lament and hope are not oppositional but work together to guide us more prayerfully toward the joy of Easter and the living hope of Jesus.
Claude resides in Charlottesville, VA where he lives with his family and serves as a pastor of Church of the Resurrection. In addition to his preaching and pastoral work, Claude speaks and writes about literature, film, music, and culture from a theological perspective at churches, conferences, and universities. His writing has been featured in Christianity Today, The Witness: A Black Christian Collective, Think Christian, Christ and Pop Culture, Living Church, and The Gospel Coalition. His writing often lives at the intersection of theology, culture, and African American experience. He is the author of Reading Black Books: How African American Literature Can Make Our Faith More Whole and Just (Brazos 2022).
March 4: The Rev. Dr. Paul Sloane
Hallowed be thy Name: The Lord’s Prayer and Divine Promises
As repetition and familiarity can often mute significance, it is worth exploring some of the original resonances of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. By comparing the Lord’s prayer to hopes expressed in Israel’s Law and prophetic texts, we’ll explore what it means to pray that God’s name be sanctified and that we be delivered from the evil one, fostering renewed gratitude for the way that God has kept, and will keep, his many promises.
Paul T. Sloan is Associate Professor of Early Christianity at Houston Christian University and is the Teaching Pastor at Heights Church. He is the author of Jesus and the Law of Moses: The Gospels and the Restoration of Israel within First-Century Judaism, published by Baker Academic, which received Christianity Today’s 2025 book of the year award in Biblical Studies. He lives in Houston with his wife, Meg, and their three children, Elijah, Kate, and Elizabeth.
March 11: Dr. Grace Hamman
Praying with Medieval Friends
What can medieval people teach us about the life of prayer? Come learn from our brothers and sisters in Christ of the medieval church, like Julian of Norwich, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and medieval artists of the Passion.
Dr. Grace Hamman is an independent scholar of medieval literature and author of Ask of Old Paths: Medieval Virtues and Vices for a Whole and Holy Life, and Jesus through Medieval Eyes: Beholding Christ with the Artists, Mystics, and Theologians of the Middle Ages. She lives with her husband and three children in Denver, Colorado.
March 18: The Rev. Dr. Tim Jones
More Than Just Liked, but Beloved: Lent for the Broken and the Hopeful
Sometimes we don’t like ourselves, much less feel loved. At such times we may shrink from God. Such a pattern fuels the distance and disconnection so common in our lonely times. But Lent—and the glimpses of the Trinity we see in Christ—meets us in our estrangement and longing. The God of amazing grace draws near, convincing us that we are deeply cherished, and freeing us to love others in return.
Timothy Jones is a former Cathedral Dean and author known for helping people uncover greater warmth and depth in their relationship with God. His new book is Fully Beloved: Meeting God in Our Heartaches and Our Hopes. He is also the author of Awake My Soul: Practical Spirituality for Busy People; The Art of Prayer; and Celebration of Angels. Tim enjoys good stories and playing old-time banjo music. He served on staff with Leigh Spruill in Nashville at St. George’s Episcopal Church. He lives near Nashville with his wife, Jill.
March 25: Dr. Kristen Johnson
Prayer as Answering God: Receiving and Practicing the Gift of Prayer
When it comes to prayer, we often think in terms of what we do - a practice to which we commit, a discipline we undertake, the words we offer. In our time together, we'll explore the difference it can make to consider our lives of prayer as a response to the God who has already spoken to us and continues to be at work in our lives of prayer.
Kristen Deede Johnson is Principal and Helliwell Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Culture at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. Kristen's writing and teaching focus on theology, culture, discipleship, and Christian formation. Her publications include the award-winning The Justice Calling: Where Passion Meets Perseverance (Brazos Press, 2016) and Theology, Political Theory, and Pluralism: Beyond Tolerance and Difference (Cambridge University Press, 2007).