Recreating the tradition of penitential self-reflection
Background information
This service aims to recreate the tradition of penitential self-reflection that was at the heart of the Ash Wednesday service. It seeks to mark the beginning of Lent, and to introduce people of all ages to the ideas of repentance and forgiveness.
Prepare the space
Your space should encourage the reflective nature of Ash Wednesday.
Play quiet music, maybe Taizé chants, and use candles to create a meditative atmosphere.
If you have the ability to display on a screen, display words linked to Ash Wednesday such as ‘Sorry’, ‘Without’, ‘Stop’, ‘Pause’, etc. (large white text on a black background would be particularly powerful).
Songs
Suitable songs to use in this service would include:
‘Christ’s is the world in which we move’
‘Come take my hand and be my friend’
‘Forty days and forty nights’
‘God of freedom, God of justice’
‘How urgent is the summons’
‘Judge eternal throned in splendour’
‘Oft in danger, oft in woe’
‘Power that stalks the earth’
Gather
Gathering words
Begin the service with the Trisagion - an ancient Christian prayer, used throughout history throughout the world, as a call to worship. Let us pray:
Sanctus Deus,
Sanctus Fortis,
Sanctus Immortális,
Miserére nobis.
Holy God,
Holy Strong,
Holy Immortal,
Have mercy on us.
Gathering activity
Encourage people to turn to the people around them and talk about how they celebrated pancake day – what they had on their pancakes, who they ate them with, where and when they ate them, how many they ate. Talk about the significance of Shrove Tuesday in advance of Ash Wednesday. Explain the idea and tradition of Ash Wednesday as the first day of Lent – a period of fasting and Shrove Tuesday as a day for eating up all the food that would not be used during Lent.
Open the Word
Present the reading - Matthew 6.16-18
In advance, ask two people to help read you present today’s reading. Invite them to stand at the front of the church, one on either side.
Voice 1: When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do,
Voice 2: for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting.
Voice 1: Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
Voice 2: But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
Voice 1: so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting,
Voice 2: but only to your Father, who is unseen;
Voice 1: and your Father, who sees what is done in secret,
Voice 2: will reward you.
Explore the reading
Explain that Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, and was traditionally a day of fasting. This is giving up something we want as a reminder that there is nothing that is more important than God.
Today’s reading reminds us that this is something that is between us and God – it needn’t be broadcast to all, but it should be a heartfelt act to show how much we value our relationship with God.
What is it that we should stop today, that is getting in the way of our relationship with God? Give each person a thin strip of paper and ask them to write on the paper one thing that gets in the way of their relationship with God and that they could give up for Lent. Encourage them to be honest, reassuring them that other people won’t read what they write. If there are lots of younger children, get them to draw a picture of a person doing the thing they think they could stop. Encourage people to fold their paper and hold onto them until later in the service.
Respond to the Word
Prayer of confession
Show the congregation how to turn their strip of paper into a cross – the instructions can be found here. Play some quiet music, or ask your music group or choir to sing something quietly as people fold their strips into crosses. Have them come up to the front, and place their cross into a metal or ceramic bowl. This could be placed on the communion table if appropriate. Encourage them to pause as they add their cross to the bowl, and ask God to forgive them for letting anything get in the way of their relationship with him.
Once all the crosses have been collated you could use a taper to set fire to the paper. You will need to take precautions – use a suitable bowl or container and have a blanket, water or fire extinguisher ready just in case, or you could burn a few symbolically while someone else burns the rest outside. As they burn, the service leader should say a prayer asking for God’s forgiveness.
Making a fuss?
Today’s reading highlights the difference between the people who make a big thing out of their piety, and those who just get on with it, quietly and privately. It’s also very clear about which approach God favours. There will be lots of people in our churches who give up their time and do those jobs that are necessary for a church to function, quietly and without many people knowing. Use this service as a chance to thank those people – either publically, or by writing them a thank you note. You could hand out paper and pens, and get everyone to write a short note thanking someone in the church. They could either be thanked by name or addressed to the role ‘Dear person who does the flowers’. Collect the letters in and make sure they get to the right person as an encouragement.
Secret Pledge
Today’s reading reminds us that God sees what is done in secret – the good things we do that no one else knows about. Use today as the opportunity to pledge to do something good that no-one will congratulate you for. Maybe it’s a mundane or thankless task that you don’t really want to do, or maybe it’s something that you’ve been putting off for ages. Or it could be something that you have noticed needs doing, but hasn’t been done yet. Give each person a piece of paper and an envelope – ask them to write or draw their secret pledge on the piece of paper and seal it. Sign over the seal to make sure it’s secure, and ask people to write their name on the front. Collect and display these somewhere in the church. You could maybe ask people to come and take theirs down when they have done what they promised to do.
Send out
Explain to the congregation that it is traditional for people to be ‘imposed’ with ash, as a sign that they are penitential – they are sorry that things have obscured their relationship with God. You could use the ash from burning the crosses in the prayer of confession or collect palm crosses from the previous year and burn these in advance. The ash needs to be mixed with a small amount of oil to make it easier to apply, or you could use face paints. Invite people to come to the front to have their forehead or hand marked with a cross, made with ash. Once all those who wish to have been ‘ashed’, ask the congregation to stand and use the traditional words to dismiss the congregation:
‘Repent, and believe in the Gospel’.