Resource guides for Lent and Easter / Hot Cross Buns (Loren Wilkinson)

Two resource guides featuring poetry, songs, reflections and more have been produced by Regent Exchange for both Lent and Easter.

Conor Wilkerson of Regent College’s Alumni Office wrote:

As we move through Lent, it once again feels quite poignant to be leaning into the delicate balance between looking forward to Easter and walking with Jesus through the wilderness.

Lent welcomes us into the mysterious tension between the fact that we are made of dust yet also hold to the hope of resurrection life.

You might be entering this season with an invigorated devotion and rootedness in God’s story. You might be entering this season with sorrow and questions. You might be entering this season with a mix of hope and lament as news feeds remind us of the complex brokenness in our world.

However you may be entering this season, and whatever you may be walking through, it’s my prayer that you would experience the presence of Jesus and God’s immense love.

Below Loren Wilkinson’s two linked poems are the Tables of Contents for both the Lent and Easter resource guides.

Hot Cross Buns / Hot Cross Buns 2020

‘Hot Cross Buns’ is a poem from the Easter guide by Regent College Professor Emeritus Loren Wilkinson; following it is ‘Hot Cross Buns 2020.’

Loren wrote me: “The two together sort of frame my writing and my thinking for the book, Circles and the Cross. (The two poems together were also my contribution to the Festschrift [Kingdom Come] for Jonathan Wilson.) It takes the ideas and image of the first poem further.”

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Lent 2024 Resource Guide

• Poetry

Desert of Desire (Luke 4:1-3) —— 2
      Drew Jackson
Stones Into Bread —— 3
      Malcolm Guite
Our Prayers Break on God —— 3
      Luci Shaw
All Grief is Solitary —— 4
      Sean Edward Kinsella
A prayer of Longing and Lament —— 5
      Aubrianna Pennington
A Liturgy for a Time of Widespread Suffering —— 6
      Douglas McKelvey
Litany of Repentance —— 7
      Patmos Abbey

• Reflections

The Drama of Lent —— 8
      Walter Brueggemann
Jeremiah 7:1-20 —— 9<
      Lucy Winkett
Second Sunday in Lent —— 10
      Henri Nouwen
Lent (Preaching Ideas) ——> 11
      Laura Kelly Fanucci

• Music —— 12

• Art

Christ in the Desert —— 13
      Ivan Kramskoi
Temptation of Christ —— 13
      Ilya Repin
Cuaresma/Lent —— 13
      Daniela Amestegui

• Embodied Practices

Ash Wednesday —— 14

• Sample Liturgy —— 18

Easter 2024 Resource Guide

• Poetry and Prayers

Seven Stanzas at Easter —— 3
      John Updike
Hot Cross Buns —— 4
      Loren Wilkinson
Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front —— 5
      Wendell Berry
Emmaus Road Remembered —— 6
      Luci Shaw

• Reflections

Intro to Holy Week —— 7
      Steve Bell
Good Friday —— 8
      Angela Tilby
Easter Vigil  —— 8
      Paula Gooder
Easter Sunday (Psalm 98) —— 9
      Robert Shannon
Easter —— 10
      Steve Bell
Grey Gum: A Jazz Story for Resurrection Sunday —— 11
      Mark Glanville

• Art

The Triumph of Calvary —— 12
      George Inness
The Works of He Qi  —— 12
      James He Qi

• Music

Erbarme Dich (St. Matthew Passion) —— 13
      Johann Sebastian Bach
We Will Feast in the House of Zion —— 13
      Sandra McCracken
Passover Song —— 13
      Urban Doxology
Easter Dawn —— 13
      David Gungor & John Arndt

• Service Ideas —— 14

• Sample Liturgy —— 17

Seven Words, composed and performed by Jonathan Saunders, will take place in Regent College’s Atrium next Thursday (March 28): “Join Jonathan Saunders and the Mark Glanville Trio as they bring us the world premiere of seven words, a seven-part jazz interpretation of Jesus Christ’s seven last words from the cross.”