Because: Embracing Lent: Finding Your Place in the Parish and Soul
Overview
In this short but meaningful “Because” episode, Phil Amerson invites listeners to reflect on the start of the Lenten season, centering the conversation on what it truly means to be in community, both within a local church and in our personal spiritual journeys. With heartfelt honesty, he shares his personal practices and previews engaging voices for upcoming episodes who will help deepen our understanding of parish life, preaching, and global missions.
Three Takeaways
1. Reimagining Lent and Parish Involvement
Phil Amerson opens up about the temptation many face to simply "watch church" at home and challenges us to engage more deeply with a local congregation or parish. He gently nudges listeners to consider their place within a faith community—not just as observers, but as participants actively involved in ministry and mutual support. This focus sets the tone for the Lenten season as an opportunity to return to foundational experiences of worship, preaching, and collective renewal.
2. Lent as a Time for Spiritual Reflection and Letting Go
A major theme of this episode is intentional reflection and the practice of letting go. Phil Amerson shares his own decision to step away from social media—deactivating his Facebook account—as an act of making space for prayer, reading, and rest. He encourages listeners to consider what they might “put down” during Lent, suggesting that the season is less about arbitrary self-denial and more about carving out time for what matters most: spiritual growth, a renewed relationship with God, and focusing on truly important things.
3. Embracing Grace and Moving Away from Performance-Based Theology
A powerful segment in the episode is Phil Amerson’s call to set aside “lousy theology” that centers on the idea of earning salvation. He reminds listeners that the core of Christian faith is recognizing that God’s love and acceptance are already present—not something to be achieved through our efforts. The real invitation, as Phil puts it, is to “live as if God loves us,” trusting in grace and turning toward renewal and transformation, both individually and as faith communities.
Coming Up Next:
Stay tuned for conversations with future guests, including Dr. Bob Hill (Dean, Marsh Chapel at Boston University), Philip Wengai Ruo (global missions author), Rachel Matheny (pastor at Meridian Street UMC), and Tim Sorens (Executive Director, Parish Collective). Their insights will deepen our exploration of what it means to be and do in faith, ministry, and beyond.
Thanks for listening to “To Be snd Do.” May this Lenten season inspire you to find your place—in church, community, and soul.
Phil Amerson [00:00:01]:
Hello everyone again. This is Phil Amerson with a because episode, a short episode, and I want today to encourage you to be thinking about the Lenten season and your place, uh, in a local church or in a parish. Um, lots of people— and I confess I sometimes stay home and just watch, uh, worship service on TV. Well, I watch 2 or 3 services, but As we begin the Lenten season, I want us to focus on congregations and parishes and preaching and the acts of ministry. Uh, I know for some of you that's not, uh, why you listen, but bear with us. I think you'll enjoy it. Some of the upcoming people that will be, uh, on the next episodes are Dr. Bob Hill.
Phil Amerson [00:00:52]:
Robert Hill is the dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University School of Theology, and I think you'll appreciate his a conversation about preaching. Uh, we also are going to be, uh, sharing with you conversation about global missions with, uh, Philip Wengai Ruo, and Phil, uh, has just finished a book about the uniqueness of missions, especially in the United Methodist world but beyond. And we're going to be talking with Rachel Matheny, the pastor at Meridian Street United Methodist Church. And then a person I know you'll want to, uh, hear is Tim Sorens. Tim is, uh, the executive director of something called the Parish Collective that helps churches across the ecumenical specter think about what it means to be in ministry in a local parish. So we queue it up for the Lenten season And what is that passage from Matthew 6, uh, when you pray, don't put on fancy robes and walk around, but go into your closet? And I want to encourage you this Lenten season to think not only about your place in a parish, but the place in your own soul. What will you put down? Yeah, some people used to talk about giving things up for Lent. I've decided to give up, uh, some of the work that I've been doing, or the— I guess the pleasure I've been getting from being on social media.
Phil Amerson [00:02:35]:
And I actually deactivated my Facebook account so that I can give myself more time to prayer, and reading and thinking. So as you enter this Lenten season, maybe you'll want to read those verses in Matthew 6, or maybe you'll just want to think anew about where your place is in this world and how much time are you giving to things that aren't so important and staying away from doing the very important things of learning about your relationship anew with a God who transforms all things, who already has accepted you, by the way. Uh, we need to get away from this lousy theology that we're somehow in charge, and it really turns into us thinking we're the God and we get to decide whether we're saved or not. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, that work's been done. Now the question is, will we live as if God loves us? So this is Phil Amerson with "Because." I encourage you during this Lenten season to listen in, to think about the church, but to think about your own spirit and the way God can bring renewal. Bye-bye.
