A Traditional Ash Wednesday Service

The service below draws on many traditional Ash Wednesday texts and is designed for use in liturgical and traditional churches that do not already have a prescribed liturgy for Ash Wednesday. It also provides a model for planning worship in other styles and traditions.

ENTRANCE Commentary: The visual setting for Ash Wednesday should be stark and solemn. As the first day of Lent, this occasion is an appropriate time for the introduction of the colors and symbols that will be used throughout the season by a congregation. The color purple is most commonly used, suggesting the penitential nature of the season. Common Lenten symbols include the cross, a person on a journey, or images of the desert. Use of dark gray and various earth tones is also appropriate for Ash Wednesday, recalling the ashes as an image of human mortality. Gathering in Silence Commentary: Silence is essential to capturing the solemn nature of the occasion and may be interspersed at appropriate places throughout the service. Greeting Pastor: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. People: And also with you. Opening Prayer People: Almighty and everlasting God, you breathed into dust the breath of life, creating us for fellowship with you. You brought about our redemption through Jesus Christ to restore us to fellowship with you. Today we acknowledge you as our Creator and Redeemer. We acknowledge the frailty of our lives, the pain of our sinfulness, and even the weakness of our faith. Work in us, we pray, a spirit of true humility and fervor, as we join now to offer our prayers to you. Amen. Commentary: This prayer could also be spoken by a single voice from the back of the worship space, perhaps quite slowly and reflectively. Silence Hymn: "Lord, Who throughout These Forty Days" Commentary: Many churches choose to avoid any instrumental (including organ and piano) accompaniment to hymns and service music used at this service. This contributes to the stark ambiance of this service. Rehearsing any congregational music with a few strong singers or a choir prior to the service can allow for the singing to remain strong. Old Testament Readings: Joel 2:1–2, 12–17a New Testament Readings: Matthew 6:1–6, 16–21; 2 Corinthians 5:20b–6:2 Response Leader: The Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God. Commentary: This response to the reading of Scripture is appropriate for every service in the Christian year. Sermon RESPONSE OF PENITENCE AND DEDICATION Bidding to Lenten Penitence and Dedication Leader: People of God, each year we remember and celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which he overcame death and provided for us redemption from sin. Lent is a season of preparation for this celebration, a time for personal and communal renewal and penitence. I invite you then to self-examination, prayer, meditation upon God's Word, giving of alms, and fasting during this season of Lent. May God bless us as we strive to walk in the way our Lord. Commentary: The imposition of ashes is certainly an optional part of worship on Ash Wednesday for nonliturgical Protestant churches. For some worshipers it may create an unnecessary barrier to the penitence appropriate for the day. Yet there is no more powerful symbol of our mortality than ashes, and no more powerful way to remind the worshiper of his or her need for renewal, reasons which commend the continuation of this tradition. Imposition of Ashes Leader: We begin our Lenten observance by using the centuries-old symbol of ashes. By this we are reminded of our own frailty and mortality and called to humility and penitence. People: Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth. May these ashes be to us a sign of our mortality, that we may remember that it is only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life. Amen. Leader: (to the People, as the ashes are placed on the forehead of each worshiper) Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Commentary: The imposition of ashes reminds the worshiper of his or her own mortality and need for repentance. After the printed prayer, worshipers should be invited to the front of the worship space, where the officiating clergy and other assistants will places the ashes on the forehead of each worshiper. They may be imposed in the shape of a cross. The ashes are traditionally created by the burning of the palm branches that were used by the local parish during the previous year. Prayer of Confession (Leader and people read Psalm 51 responsively.) Commentary: The psalm should be read by the entire congregation as a prayer of confession. The psalm may be broken into several sections, each of which could be followed by a refrain or antiphon sung by a solo voice or choir. An appropriate refrain text would be, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Music for the refrain and other antiphons may be found in The Presbyterian Hymnal (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1990), The Celebration Psalter (St. Louis: Cathedral Music Press, 1991), Psalm Refrains and Tones (Carol Stream, Ill.: Hope Publishing, 1988), Lead Me, Guide Me (Chicago: GIA Publications, 1987), Psalms for the Church Year, vols. 1–4 (GIA Publications), United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: UMC Publishing House, 1979), and several other hymnals and church music collections. Silence Leader: Almighty and everlasting God, People: We enter this season of Lent in penitence and humility, aware of our own mortality and sinfulness. Encourage us with your presence, we pray, that we may empty ourselves of whatever separates us from you and one another. Teach us to rely on no strength but yours, as we journey with your Son toward your kingdom through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Commentary: In some traditions, any declaration of pardon is omitted throughout the Lenten season. This reinforces the penitential nature of the season, but unnecessarily separates the worshiper from the announcement of the gospel, which never fails to accompany God's people. A helpful balance can be achieved by including a declaration of pardon that acknowledges the significance of Christ's sacrifice on our behalf. Declaration of Pardon Pastor: (reads Psalm 103:8–12) Prayer of Dedication Leader: (reads Psalm 116) Commentary: This may be read by a single voice from the back of the worship space. It should be read slowly and reflectively. Silence Leader: Lord, our God, People: Make of us pilgrims throughout these forty days. We pledge to walk in the light of your Word and by the power of your Spirit. Strengthen us in our commitment, we pray, that we may serve you and each other in the love of Christ, our Lord. Amen. Offertory Leader: We present now our gifts to God. Offertory Hymn: "May the Mind of Christ, My Savior" Commentary: This or another hymn of dedication may be sung as the gifts are received and as the table is prepared for the sacrament. HOLY COMMUNION Commentary: The following liturgy for the Lord's Supper is intentionally simple and stark. Each of the essential components of the liturgy are present, but only with the fewest possible words. Worship leaders may wish to reinforce this solemnity by leaving a time of silence after each component of the liturgy. The somber tone of the service should remain constant throughout, but should not obscure the message of God's grace which is proclaimed each time the sacrament is observed. The invitation to the Table and the concluding benediction are points where the tone of the worship leader should noticeably reflect the joy of the gospel, even in the context of the starkness of this service. Prayer of Thanksgiving Leader: Let us lift our hearts to God. People: We praise you, O God, for creating this world, for creating us in your image, for remaking us after the image of Jesus. We acknowledge our sin before you, trusting in your gracious love toward us. Accept now our praise to you: People: Holy, Holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Commentary: While this text is most often sung, it is appropriate for Ash Wednesday to speak the text. Leader: We praise you, Lord Christ, for your pilgrimage on this earth for your obedience even to death, and for your victory over death. Teach us, we pray, to walk in your ways. Institution Pastor: The Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Memorial Pastor: What is your proclamation in this feast? People: Our Lord has died, is risen, and will reign forever. Prayer of Consecration Pastor: Holy Spirit of God, come upon us now, we pray, teach us true penitence in the way of Jesus. By this feast, remind us of our union with him. Amen. Invitation to the Table Pastor: Come now, the Lord offers this feast for you, his people. The Sacrament Pastor: (as the people take the bread) The body of Christ for you. Pastor: (as the people take the cup) The blood of Christ for you. Thanksgiving People: We bless you, O God, for showering upon us these gifts of your love. May your presence go with us from this feast as we walk in the way of our Lord. Benediction Pastor: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. or Pastor: Almighty God, give to your people pardon and peace. Go with them as they walk in the way of Christ in this season, that they may come to know you more fully. Amen. Commentary: The first option is appropriate as a very simple, direct statement of God's blessing. The second is presented as an option for churches who replace the benediction during Lent with a prayer for God's guidance. This latter option may be chosen as gesture of humility appropriate for the season, but should not reflect any lack of confidence of God's continuing presence with his people. Dispersal of the Congregation [in silence]