Ash Wednesday

Join us as we celebrate the Ash Wednesday. The service will be live via Zoom and live streamed to YouTube. It will be available to watch on demand on the event page and YouTube at the end of the service.

Celebrant: Bless the Lord who forgiveth all our sins.

People: His mercy endureth for ever.

Let us pray.

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.

Old Testament Reading Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come. Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;  rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain-offering and a drink-offering for the Lord, your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, “Where is their God?” ’ 

Psalm 103, 8-14

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 

He will not always accuse,

nor will he keep his anger for ever. 

He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities. 

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him; 

as far as the east is from the west,

so far he removes our transgressions from us. 

As a father has compassion for his children,

so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him. 

For he knows how we were made;

he remembers that we are dust. 

New Testament Reading                               2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10

So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, ‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’ See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honour and dishonour, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Reader: The Word of the Lord.    

People: Thanks be to God

Sequence Hymn “O day of God, draw nigh” Hymnal 601 vs. 1 & 2

1 O day of God, draw nigh in beauty and in power,

come with thy timeless judment now to match our present hour.

2 Bring to our troubled minds, uncertain and afraid,

the quiet of a steadfast faith, calm of a call obeyed.

The Gospel         Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Deacon: The Holy Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ, according to Matthew

People: Glory be to Thee O Lord

‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Deacon: The Gospel of the Lord

People: Praise be to thee, O Christ.

Reflection       The Rev. Elizabeth Ewing

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great
devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and
it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a

season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided
a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy
Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of
notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful
were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to
the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation
was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set
forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all
Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the
observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and
meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning
of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now
kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the
earth: Grant that these ashes may be to us a sign of our
mortality and penitence, that we may remember that it is
only by your gracious gift that we are given everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

  The ashes are imposed with the following words

  Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Music interlude during imposition of ashes

“Jesus, I Live to Thee”  — Welsh Hymn, Penpark

Jesus I live to Thee, the loveliest and best;

My life in Thee, Thy life in me,

In Thy blest love is rest.

Jesus, I die to Thee, whenever death shall come;

To die in Thee is life to me,

In my eternal home.

Living or dying Lord, I ask but to be Thine;

My life in Thee, Thy life in me,

Makes heaven forever mine.

Psalm 51    

Miserere mei, Deus

  1     Have mercy on me, O God, according to your
        loving-kindness; *
         in your great compassion blot out my offenses.

  2     Wash me through and through from my wickedness *
         and cleanse me from my sin.

  3     For I know my transgressions, *
         and my sin is ever before me.

  4     Against you only have I sinned *
         and done what is evil in your sight.

  5     And so you are justified when you speak *
         and upright in your judgment

  6     Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, *
         a sinner from my mother’s womb.

  7     For behold, you look for truth deep within me, *
         and will make me understand wisdom secretly.

  8     Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; *
         wash me, and I shall be clean indeed.

  9     Make me hear of joy and gladness, *
          that the body you have broken may rejoice.

10     Hide your face from my sins *
         and blot out all my iniquities.

11     Create in me a clean heart, O God, *
         and renew a right spirit within me.

12     Cast me not away from your presence *
         and take not your holy Spirit from me.

13     Give me the joy of your saving help again *
         and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit. 

14     I shall teach your ways to the wicked, *
         and sinners shall return to you.

15     Deliver me from death, O God, *
         and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness,
         O God of my salvation.

16     Open my lips, O Lord, *
         and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

17     Had you desired it, I would have offered sacrifice; *
         but you take no delight in burnt-offerings.

18     The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; *
         a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Litany of Penitence

The Celebrant and People together, all kneeling

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

The Celebrant continues

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and
strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We
have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.

Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us.
We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved
your Holy Spirit.

Have mercy on us, Lord. 

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the
pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation
of other people,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those
more fortunate than ourselves,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and
our dishonesty in daily life and work,

We confess to you, Lord.

Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to
commend the faith that is in us,

We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done:
for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our
indifference to injustice and cruelty,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our
neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those
who differ from us,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of
concern for those who come after us,

Accept our repentance, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;

Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,

That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,
Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

Priest: 

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
desires not the death of sinners, but rather that they may turn
from their wickedness and live, has given power and
commandment to his ministers to declare and pronounce to
his people, being penitent, the absolution and remission of
their sins. He pardons and absolves all those who truly
repent, and with sincere hearts believe his holy Gospel.

Therefore we beseech him to grant us true repentance and his
Holy Spirit, that those things may please him which we do on
this day, and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure
and holy, so that at the last we may come to his eternal joy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Peace

Celebrant: The Peace of the Lord be always with you

People: And also with you

Blessing

Recessional Hymn  “Eternal Lord of Love” Hymnal 149

1 Eternal Lord of love, behold your Church

walking once more the pilgrim way of Lent,

led by your cloud by day, by night your fire,

moved by your love and toward your presence bent:

far off yet here the goal of all desire.

2 So daily dying to the way of self,

so daily living to your way of love,

we walk the road, Lord Jesus, that you trod,

knowing ourselves baptized into your death:

so we are dead and live with you in God.

3 If dead in you, so in you we arise,

you the firstborn of all the faithful dead;

and as through stony ground the green shoots break,

glorious in springtime dress of leaf and flower,

so in the Father’s glory shall we wake.