Forty days of Lent: A time to receive the new life poured out for us through the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

It’s a time of reflection that some people find aided by giving up something for forty days but this year we want to suggest something else: Praying for the neighborhood for 40 days. It may be counter-intuitive but we have a hunch that as we pray for the neighborhood, looking at it with the eyes of Jesus, we will draw closer to Christ just as we find life when we give ourselves away.

So today we are launching 40 for the Neighborhood by asking God two questions:

1. Who does God wants us to be in our neighborhood? (Both the neighborhood we dwell in and the one we live in together here in South Lake Union.)

2. How could our land be best be a part of who we are to be in the neighborhood?

On the website and the Union mobile app (if you need to download search for Union Church Seattle at your device's app store) we will have daily scripture, facts about the neighborhood and prompts for prayer or you can refer to this letter and the one we will send each week.

Please mark your calendars for April 13 and 14 when we will have 40 hours of Prayer for the Neighborhood at 415 Westlake. Choose a time to pray with others or by yourself at different stations created to provide a variety of prayer expressions. You may also want to set a time with your Community Dinner Groups, small group or any other grouping you wish. For those who would like to take on praying late night or early morning but do not want to drive at those hours we will have a sleep over at 415.

Then, after Easter, as an expression of living into the New Creation that Jesus’ resurrection kicked off, we will have a day to hear from one another what we felt we discerned during 40 for the Neighborhood.