Gathering of the Community for Lent
The Book of Alternative Services (and Evangelical Lutheran Worship) provide different forms for the beginning of the Holy Eucharist (BAS, pages 185, 216; see also ELW, peoples’ book, pages 94 to 102). The forms provided in “Becoming the Story We Tell” are suggested specifically for the seasons of Lent and Easter.
By using this penitential form of Gathering during Lent, followed in the Easter Season with a form of Gathering based on thanksgiving for baptism, the customary order of Confession and Absolution may be seasonally replicated: a season of penitence, followed by a season of rejoicing in the peace and absolution of the risen Christ.