Ash Wednesday Worship

Please join us on Wednesday, March 5, for our Ash Wednesday service, which will include communion, a meditative reflection using paper labyrinths, and the imposition of ashes. On Ash Wednesday we mark the beginning of the season of Lent. During this season, we are all invited to reflect on the things in our lives that may be causing us to be distant from God and distant from others.

Beginning around the 11th century, the Ash Wednesday service became a way for Christians to mark and remember the season’s beginning physically. Historically, during the service, ashes are prepared from the palm fronds used during the Palm Sunday of the prior year to point toward the Gospel message of the upcoming Easter. The ashes are mixed with oil and placed with the sign of the cross on the foreheads of the service participants, and the words, “From dust you have come, and to dust you shall return,” are shared with each person. This can be a startling statement to hear. However, the purpose is not to alarm but to remind us that God has created us and holds us in life and in death.

Perhaps because of our increasingly virtual world, Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent become powerful opportunities to reconnect with our families, friends, faith communities, and most importantly, our Creator. The scent of the oil, the scratch of the ashes, and the sound of song and scripture all give us different ways to feel and understand the season’s significance.