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2021 Lenten Guide: Enough for All

February 9, 2021 by The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

How much is enough? Scripture has a treasure trove of advice for defining enough and even more advice on how to make sure everyone has enough. And not merely enough to survive; rather, enough to thrive. To thrive we need enough food, nutritious food. To thrive we need enough space to live, safe, warm, and dry space. To thrive we need enough warm clothes and good shoes. To thrive we need enough clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. Access to a sound education and access to healthcare help round out the list.

During this season of Lent we hope you will consider how much is enough and how we can all work together to make sure everyone has enough. No doubt, there will always be some who have more than others. Still, our faith compels us to create safety nets for those who don’t have enough—think Medicaid or SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Our faith implores us to enact legislation that allows those who don’t have enough the means to acquire more—think living wage or affordable housing. These are not partisan political matters, but matters of faith lived out in everyday experiences of having enough. Join us in this Lenten journey toward God’s abundance where everyone has enough. 

We hope this guide will provide an opportunity for prayerful reflection within your faith community, your family, and on your own.

Filed Under: Blog, Homepage Featured

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About The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

Jennifer is a native of South Carolina and an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church. She loves South Carolina, but has managed to spend all but ten years of her adult life in North Carolina. Those ten years were spent pastoring United Methodist churches across the Upstate. She attended Duke University several times and in the process earned a BA, double majoring in English and Religion, a Master of Divinity, a PhD in religion, and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies. Prior to coming to the Council, she spent 16 years as the United Methodist Chaplain at Duke University, where she also taught undergraduate and divinity school classes, served on committees and task forces, and attended lots of basketball games. She writes frequently for various publications when time permits and preaches regularly in congregations across North Carolina. Jennifer has two adult children, Nathan, who is a software developer in Durham, and Hannah, who is a digital marketing analyst in Charlotte. Jennifer is the overjoyed grandparent of Benjamin and Theodore.

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Comments

  1. David H Bland says

    February 12, 2021 at 1:37 pm

    Jennifer, I think the Lenten series which you introduced here really gets to the heart of what so many of us failed to grapple with either because we are shielded from the realities or we choose just not to be burdened with them. I would like to make a suggestion to the following sentence:
    (Still, our faith compels us to create safety nets for those who don’t have enough—think Medicaid or SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).) I would ask that every time you have a chance to makes such listings that you and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Our legislature abolished it in 2011 out of pure spite since North Carolina does not spend a penny on this. The legislature made North Carolina the only state in the United States to not accept the, EITC

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