“I want to be authentic!” my friend said.

“What does that mean?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well,” he replied, “I want to say what I think. I never want to walk away from a conversation having been a fake. I want to be real all the time. You know… the authentic me!”

I appreciate my friend’s desire to be real. Still, I left scratching my head.

Is giving voice to whatever thought is bouncing through a person’s skull the highest of goals? Is that all there is to authenticity? What are we trying to achieve?

What does it mean to be truly authentic?

This year, throughout the seven weeks of Lent, the pastors of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church are going to consider the things that make for an authentic life. Each time we gather for worship, we will start with basic, but crucially important questions. Questions like, “Who am I?” “Where am I going?” and “What sort of story am I in?”

We will hear these fundamentally human questions posed by philosophers and psychologists, by poets and musicians, and by the face that stares back at us from the bathroom mirror. Then, ultimately, we will turn to the wisdom of faith. Yes—it’s got something to say!

Humans have been worrying about who we are and where we are going for a long, long time. Our faith offers resources for anyone who wants to go deep.

Join us this Lent. Journey with Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church—a rooted place for exploring life’s biggest questions.

The Lenten sermon series begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 26, and continues through Easter, April 12. Find complete details on our worship calendar.