Ash Wednesday
Worship
Lectionary Worship Workbook
Series II, Cycle B
After everyone leaves the sanctuary on Fat Tuesday, and before anyone enters the sanctuary on Ash Wednesday, cover the cross and communion table with the daily newspaper. (You may want to get permission from the worship committee, though I can assure you that you will create more excitement if you tell no one ahead of time.)
On Ash Wednesday, leave the sanctuary open all day, and all night, if possible.
Invite the people to come, to stay as long as they want, to sit in silence, and to write down their thoughts.
Encourage the people to read the Gospel slowly and deliberately. Print in the bulletin this question: What does this scripture say to you as you sit in the sanctuary? And what will it mean to you as you live your life this Lenten season?
Suggest that the people read the following hymns:
"Forty Days and Forty Nights," George Hunt Smyttan, 1856; alt.; attr. Martin Merbst, 1676.
"Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days," Claudia F. I. Hernaman, 1873; alt.; Day's Psalter, 1562.
"In the Cross of Christ I Glory," John Bowring, 1825; Ithamar Conkey, 1849.
"In the Glory of These Forty Days," Gregory the Great (540-604); trans. Maurice F. Bell, 1906; harm. J. S. Bach, 1752.
Again, invite the people to reread the Gospel, and to ask themselves the same questions as printed above.
Finally, invite them to consider carefully the cross and communion table covered with the newspaper. Ask them to write down their thoughts. Then, ask them to read John 3:16 through 21, with the emphasis on 3:16, a verse which most of us learned years ago. Invite them to write down any new insights they have about that verse.
Encourage them to stay as long as they want, and leave when they choose. You may want to provide ashes at the rear of the sanctuary, for those who choose to put them on their foreheads.
On Ash Wednesday, leave the sanctuary open all day, and all night, if possible.
Invite the people to come, to stay as long as they want, to sit in silence, and to write down their thoughts.
Encourage the people to read the Gospel slowly and deliberately. Print in the bulletin this question: What does this scripture say to you as you sit in the sanctuary? And what will it mean to you as you live your life this Lenten season?
Suggest that the people read the following hymns:
"Forty Days and Forty Nights," George Hunt Smyttan, 1856; alt.; attr. Martin Merbst, 1676.
"Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days," Claudia F. I. Hernaman, 1873; alt.; Day's Psalter, 1562.
"In the Cross of Christ I Glory," John Bowring, 1825; Ithamar Conkey, 1849.
"In the Glory of These Forty Days," Gregory the Great (540-604); trans. Maurice F. Bell, 1906; harm. J. S. Bach, 1752.
Again, invite the people to reread the Gospel, and to ask themselves the same questions as printed above.
Finally, invite them to consider carefully the cross and communion table covered with the newspaper. Ask them to write down their thoughts. Then, ask them to read John 3:16 through 21, with the emphasis on 3:16, a verse which most of us learned years ago. Invite them to write down any new insights they have about that verse.
Encourage them to stay as long as they want, and leave when they choose. You may want to provide ashes at the rear of the sanctuary, for those who choose to put them on their foreheads.
