When Lent Feels Heavy, Easter Still Comes

a reflection from Treena Duncan, Executive Minister, Pacific Mountain & Chinook Winds Regions

~ from an email dated April 2, 2026

Dear Friends,

Easter meets us not in perfect moments, but in the midst of real life, with all its uncertainty, grief, and change.

I have found myself saying more than once this year that this has been the ‘lentiest” Lent I can remember, a season that has felt especially heavy, reflective, and real. And perhaps that is why the promise of Easter feels all the more needed. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:5)

In her Easter message, our Moderator, Right Rev. Dr. Kimberly Heath, reminds us that hope is not about ignoring what is hard but trusting that God is still at work within it. Our work leading up to Easter Sunday is to face the pain and grief with grace and courage. We do not need to know the way out of the darkness- that is God’s work. And when the resurrection comes, it does not erase the wounds, but it does tell us that they are not the end of the story. Even in the hardest seasons, something new is being born, like green shoots pushing up through still-cold ground.

As a church, we are thinking about our future, imagining, and dreaming about the church in 2035. And yet, this dreaming is shaped not only by hope, but by what we have loved and lost. We carry the ache of what has changed, and like Lent, we are invited not to turn from that grief, but to trust that God meets us within it and ultimately guides us through to new possibilities. God is not finished with us yet. Even now, new life is emerging: in our communities of faith, in fresh expressions of ministry, in the courage to imagine a different future together. And perhaps part of our calling this Easter is not only to notice new life, but to nurture it.

And so, we look for the signs of resurrection:
in small acts of faith,
in renewed relationships,
in the quiet ways people continue to show up for one another.

Christ is risen
And hope is alive.

May you know that hope this Easter, and may it guide us as we step faithfully into the future God is unfolding.

Treena Duncan
Executive Minister
Pacific Mountain & Chinook Winds Regions