Dear Redeemer Family,
As we’re all trying to make wise decisions about exposure during this season, I thought it might be worth specifically addressing some FAQs about the Ash Wednesday services tomorrow:
Q: How important is it for me to come to this service?
A: Given that we are (still) in the midst of a global pandemic, I can’t think of a time when the prayers and message of Ash Wednesday have ever been more important. In the past year, if you’ve ever found yourself asking the question, “How do Christians respond to all of the suffering and death caused by the coronavirus?” The answer is found in Ash Wednesday - where we are reminded of our mortality and offered only one source of hope - the Cross of Jesus.
Q: Can I contract the coronavirus through receiving ashes on my forehead?
A: No, ashes placed by someone’s hand on your forehead would not transmit the virus. However, there is the concern of respiratory transmission (breathing towards each other in close quarters). Therefore, those imposing ashes will be wearing a face shield in addition to a mask. This is the same level of protection that a doctor or nurse would use in a hospital setting.
Q: Why are there three services: morning, noon, and evening?
A: Ash Wednesday is one of the few days of the year when many Christians bear a visible marker of their faith in public. Therefore, you are encouraged (if possible) to attend one of the earlier services so that you might wear the ashes throughout the day. Not only does this identify you publicly as a Christian, but it will also serve as a reminder to you throughout the day whenever you catch a glimpse of yourself in a mirror.
Q: Is there an online option?
A: Unfortunately we are not able to offer an online option. Some aspects of worship, prayer, and preaching can be transferred to the internet, but other practices are uniquely embodied and there’s just no way to transfer the practice online. Receiving ashes is an embodied practice that requires your physical presence. If you are physically unable to to come to one of the services (say, you are receiving treatment for a prior medical condition and are quarantined at home under strict doctor’s orders) then someone from the parish would be glad to visit you at your home to impose ashes.
Q: Can I put ashes on my own forehead at home?
A: No, that would not be appropriate. The ashes are a sign of our mortality and our personal and corporate repentance. Therefore, they are to be received along with your brothers and sisters in the church in the midst of a service of repentance. The ashes and the corporate confession of sin go together and should not be separated.
Q: But I know of other churches that are offering an online option and self-imposed ashes at home. Why is Redeemer being so unhelpfully strict?
A: In recent years, many churches of many denominations have begun to appropriate certain aspects of liturgy and the ancient church calendar. While this is mostly to be celebrated, it does reveal the danger in embracing a practice while rejecting the theology and philosophy that accompanies it. So, while we are thrilled that many churches are taking up the practice of imposing ashes on foreheads at the beginning of Lent, we (as a church in the Anglican Communion) desire to remain consistent and integrated in both our practices and in the theology that undergirds them.
Q: Is there anything else I can do to prepare for Lent?
A: Our staff has put together a guidebook with resources for how to practice Lent. You can download a PDF or pick up a hard copy at the Ash Wednesday service or the following Sunday morning.
Q: Is there anything else I should know about the Ash Wednesday service tomorrow?
A: The service will be very brief (approx. 30 min). Historically, many Christians have fasted on Ash Wednesday, worn the colors black or grey as a sign of their penitence and mortality, and arrived at the service a bit early in order to sit or kneel in silence before the prayers begins.
Church family, as we enter the season of Lent together, we will spend much of our time focusing on aspects of our lives that we usually try to avoid! We will focus our attention on discipline, self-denial, repentance, humility, sin and our own future deaths. While these are not exactly fun topics, they are absolutely necessary for cultivating a heart of resilient joy. My hope for us is that not that we will be a gloomy bunch for the next five weeks; but rather that we will mysteriously be strengthened and emerge as more cheerful, more joyful people than ever before.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
In the Father’s love,
