Landscapes of Africa
Theme: Truth-Telling, Liberation, and Reconciliation as the Work of Hope
Core Gospel: John 8:1–11
Total Length: 75 minutes (1 hour 15 minutes)
Welcome & Gathering (5 minutes)
Atmosphere: gentle African instrumental music or drumming if appropriate; map of Africa visible; candle unlit.
Opening Prayer
God of life and liberation,
of dust and rain,
of memory and hope,
be with us as we listen, share, and pray.
Give us courage to face the truth,
and grace to walk the long road of reconciliation.
Amen.
Wondering
(held, not answered):
- I wonder what truths this land invites us to face together.
Setting the Scene:
Landscapes of Africa
(5 minutes)
We travel in imagination across the landscapes of Africa — deserts and savannahs, villages and cities, places shaped by colonial violence, enslavement, apartheid, genocide, and economic exploitation, and also by extraordinary resilience, creativity, and faith.
African liberation theology insists that God is not neutral in the face of suffering. God stands with those whose dignity has been denied and whose voices have been silenced. Truth-telling is never abstract; it is about restoring life to people and communities. Reconciliation is not forgetting the past, but telling it truthfully so that a different future becomes possible.
Wondering:
- I wonder what stories of Africa I carry — and which ones I have never been taught.
Gospel Listening: John 8:1–11
(15 minutes)
First Reading
Read the passage slowly and clearly.
- A word, gesture, or silence that stays with them.
Second Reading
A different voice reads the same passage.
Brief sharing (keep light and short):
- What stayed with you?
- Where do you find yourself — with the woman, the crowd, or Jesus?
Voices from Africa: Liberation and Reconciliation
(15 minutes)
You may read fuller extracts from the Lent landscape book if available.
Truth as the Path to Life
African liberation voices insist that truth must be spoken because silence protects injustice. Truth-telling is a form of penance — not to induce shame, but to interrupt denial. It names how power has been abused, how bodies and land have been wounded, and how God’s image has been diminished. Truth is spoken so that life together may continue.
Ubuntu — Restoring Broken Humanity
Ubuntu expresses a deeply African understanding of humanity: “I am because we are.” Sin fractures relationship; injustice wounds the whole community. Healing must therefore also be communal. Reconciliation is not cheap forgiveness, but the patient rebuilding of trust, dignity, and belonging. There is no future without forgiveness — and no forgiveness without truth.
Liberation as Transformation
Reconciliation is not only personal or spiritual. It must reshape social, economic, and political life. God’s liberation is revealed where communities resist despair, refuse revenge, and imagine new ways of living together beyond domination and fear.
Silence
Wondering:
- I wonder which of these voices challenges my own assumptions about justice or forgiveness.
Conversations
(15 minutes)
Form pairs or groups of three.
Truth Without Stones
- In John 8, how does Jesus change the meaning of judgement?
- Where do we see truth used to shame or exclude rather than to heal?
Ubuntu and Belonging
- Where is belonging fractured in our churches, communities, or nations?
- What would it mean to live more deeply into “I am because we are”?
Reconciliation as Liberation
- Where are we tempted to rush reconciliation without truth?
- What might liberation-shaped reconciliation look like where we live?
Return to the whole group.
Invite one short phrase or insight from each group.
Contemplative Action: Putting Down Stones
(10 minutes)
Give each person a small stone.
Hold this stone. Let it represent a judgement, certainty, or resentment you carry — towards yourself, another person, or a community.
You do not need to name it aloud.
Silence
(1 minute).
Invite people, when ready, to place their stone near the candle as a sign of choosing restoration over condemnation.
Prayer:
God of mercy and justice,
teach us to loosen what hardens us,
so that dignity and life may be restored.
Amen.
Closing Prayer & Sending
(10 minutes)
Whole-group check-in:
In one word or sentence, what are you taking with you from this gathering?
Closing Prayer
God of liberation and love,
you bend down into the dust with those the world condemns.
You see our wounds and refuse to abandon us to them.
Teach us the wisdom of Ubuntu —
to live as people bound together,
to speak truth with courage,
and to practise reconciliation as a way of life.
May we leave behind our stones
and walk more gently with one another
and upon the earth.
Through Christ,
who restores dignity and calls us into peace.
Amen.
Action for the Days Ahead
- Truth with Care: Notice one place where truth needs courage and compassion.
Belonging Practice:
Take one small step that strengthens community or restores dignity
