As a matter of practice, many Lutheran churches do not schedule weddings or baptisms during the season of Lent. Woven within this practice are some practical reasons, some tradition, and some adherence to the seasons of the church.

Let’s begin with the practical reasons. Lent is a time of transition in the church season. Coming off the season of Epiphany, we move into the season of Lent, which brings with it extra services, including Wednesday noon meals and services and Wednesday evening services and dinners, along with other practices that highlight the season. As such, as I talk to my colleagues during the season of Lent, most of them are very busy with the added services and other responsibilities. Therefore, to throw into the mix the idea of scheduling and preparing for a wedding just seems to be adding fuel to the fire of the business of the season. So just speaking from the “trying to keep our sanity” perspective, most pastors would not want to add a wedding into the mix of the Lenten schedule. And, as Lent is a season of penitence, to have a celebration like a wedding just seems to be giving the wrong message. There are plenty of other months to celebrate weddings.

Next comes tradition. Lent was traditionally a time where new converts to the Christian church would be concluding a three-year process of education preparing for their baptism at Easter. Since we think of Lent as a time of preparation, preparation for baptism, preparation for Good Friday and the other days of the Triduum, the church would not schedule baptisms until after the season of Lent. In this day and age each church decides how long the process is for preparing new members for joining the church, and as such new members are taken into the church throughout the year. The same is true for confirmation – some churches confirm during Pentecost, others wait until Reformation. However, the tradition holds that Lent is not a time to hold baptisms.

There are many traditions and many practices in the Lutheran Church that have been passed along through many generations of the church – and new traditions are always being considered as times and practices change. As such, some traditions are maintained and others abolished over time. This simply reminds us that the church is a reflection of the very body of Christ – the living, breathing, active presence of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Pastor Dave

The practice of a forty-day preparation period began in the Christian church during the third and fourth centuries. The number forty carries biblical significance based on the forty years Israel spent in the wilderness, the forty days Moses spent on the mountain, the 40 days it rained upon Noah and the ark, and Jesus’ forty-day fast in the wilderness. The forty days of Lent begin on Ash Wednesday and continue through holy week, not counting Sundays (which are reserved for celebratory worship). As such, since Sunday’s are not included in the forty-day count, many congregations choose to focus Sunday worship on the themes of repentance and renewal.

As a period of preparation, Lent has historically included the instruction of persons for baptism, and many churches include a baptism in the service on Easter Saturday (the Easter Vigil). In years past, Lent would be a time of calling back those who have become estranged from the church. And in current times, Lent is the time when Christians look to deepen their piety, devotion, and readiness to mark the death and resurrection of Jesus. As such, the primary focus of the season should be to weave together our efforts of denial, repentance, penitence, and reflection as well as to explore and deepen a “baptismal identity”. 

The forty-day Lent journey begins on Ash Wednesday and ends when the church begins the Triduum, the great three-day journey of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Saturday (the Easter Vigil). Lent is a time we should take very seriously, for we do not get enough seasons in the church year where we can purposely focus on our sinfulness and our hope in the cross of Jesus.

Pastor Dave