This year, the United Methodist Church is recommending that persons conduct an alcohol-free Lent.
This practice would bring about spiritual benefits as persons think about the sacrifice of Jesus in his crucifixion, consider how much importance the use of beverage alcohol has in their lives, and free up money that would have been spent on beverage alcohol to be used for the relief of human suffering. This is in keeping with the historic stance of the Methodist movement, and offers to people an opportunity to consider how the way they live their lives impacts the world around them in positive or negative ways.
In our local congregation in Bath, we support the church’s position in several ways. We support and affirm several of our members in recovery from alcohol addiction, both in our congregational gatherings as well as in small groups; our facilities are always available at no cost for recovery groups to meet; and like all other Methodist churches, our communion services are conducted using unfermented grape juice, so that all persons can participate.
This is commendable though not original: Eastern Christians have given up alcohol during Great Lent for centuries, as I note here: http://easternchristianbooks.blogspot.com/2011/02/feasting-and-fasting.html
Thank you for the compliment of reprinting my article here.