“Autumn’s Lent”

October 4, 2005

As part of their ongoing response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, members of the Duke Divinity School community began a 40-day season of prayer, self-sacrifice and charitable giving, called “Autumn’s Lent,” during a special worship service Oct. 4 in the school’s Goodson Chapel. Organizers hope this consecrated time will allow students, faculty and staff to learn more about the devastation along the Gulf Coast and to respond to the needs of this region in both tangible and spiritual ways.

Autumn’s Lent will include on-campus lectures, presentations and special worship services. Plans also are underway for some students to travel to the hardest hit areas and to meet with congregational and judicatory leaders to learn more about the response and relief efforts there. These students will make informal presentations on what they have learned after they return to campus.

Members of the divinity school community are invited to give to those in need during this season, as well. During the Oct. 4. worship service, Assistant Professor of Historical Theology Warren Smith challenged worshippers to embrace the ancient discipline of fasting and to offer the money that they would have spent on meals to relief efforts. Offerings at divinity school chapel services will be collected to help fund salaries for church employees in the Gulf Coast region.

The 40-day event will conclude on Nov. 20, which is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday before the church begins the sacred season of Advent. A community-wide celebration will be held on that day, featuring a performance of the acclaimed musical “Cotton Patch Gospel.” The performance will be held in Reynolds Theater in the Bryan Center on West Campus.

“Autumn’s Lent” was suggested by two second-year divinity students who come from the Gulf Coast region. Ricky James from Mississippi and Matthew Rawle from Louisiana proposed the idea of allowing the traditional themes of Lent, the 40-day period of self-denial preceding the holy season of Easter, to shape the divinity school’s response to the storm.

During Oct. 4’s special service, worshippers encountered a crucial question from the Old Testament book of Micah, “What does the Lord require of you?” Organizers hope that by the end of these 40 days, Duke Divinity School students, faculty and staff will have a clearer picture of what that might be in the aftermath of Katrina.

For details, please contact Ricky James at george.james@duke.edu or Matthew Rawle at mbr12@duke.edu.