united methodist authorized imposition ashes

To face realities that we often seek to hide from. To make promises that we fear we will not keep. We come to say words that we know are hard to own – recognising our sin, our faults and failings.

Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice hear on high.” Jesus, railing against the hypocrites who flaunt their religiosity in public to parade how very pious they are, for then, says Jesus, “you will have no reward from your Father in heaven”.Īsh Wednesday is a hard day.

Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. A day for hard words: Isaiah railing against the people of Israel with biting satire, ending with the stark condemnation that “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers. Bradbury on 18th February 2015Īsh Wednesday is a hard day. Professor Elkins once served a West Virginia church that 'couldn't afford palm branches, so they ground up a coal lump and were marked with coal dust, which deepened the ritual by linking it with black lung,' the disease affecting many miners.A SERMON FOR ASH WEDNESDAY for the Cambridge Theological Federation. Day recalls getting ashes from nearby Episcopal churches the first year his church conducted the service.

Professor Elkins also says the Ash Wednesday rite is gaining popularity among Protestants because 'it is the one place in the liturgical year where people can gather to openly grieve together.'Īshes for the service are traditionally made by burning the palms used at the Palm Sunday celebration the previous year. Randy Day, says parishioners had indicated that the solemn and meditative character of the ritual was a welcome balance to the upbeat tone of most Sunday services. This will be the third year that ashes are offered at Jessie Lee Memorial United Methodist Church in Ridgefield, Conn. 'The marking of congregants with the cross, the accompanying words - 'Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return' - and the ashes themselves really draw people into the depths of the mystery of who Christ is for us.' 'We are discovering the importance of ritual action and its ability to draw us beyond the cerebral,' she says. McKinley, who handles questions of worship for the national office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), says the Ash Wednesday service was part of a two-decade effort by her church to 'recapture the Christian year,' the cycle of holy days and seasons.

United methodist authorized imposition ashes