Churches plan return to more normal Lenten season
Courtesy of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Canonsburg
Christians begin the penitential season of Lent with the Imposition of Ashes on Wednesday. Members of the altar guild at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Canonsburg prepared the sanctuary for Lent by arranging purple banners and altar cloths. Purple represents humility and penance during this contemplative 40 days before Easter. St. Thomas will welcome worshippers for Ash Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Courtesy of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Canonsburg
Christians begin the penitential season of Lent with the Imposition of Ashes on Wednesday. Members of the altar guild at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Canonsburg prepared the sanctuary for Lent by arranging purple banners and altar cloths. Purple represents humility and penance during this contemplative 40 days before Easter. St. Thomas’ will welcome worshippers for Ash Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Christians in Southwestern Pennsylvania will mark the 40-day period of Lent tomorrow, as Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Methodist congregations, among others, observe Ash Wednesday.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced churches to alter Ash Wednesday and Lenten services for the past two years, but houses of worship plan – to varying degrees – to return to a more normal Lenten season.
At Catholic churches, priests will again have the option of marking parishioners’ foreheads with ashes.
“The ashes will be imposed on the forehead again,” said Nancy Blake, a pastoral assistant at the Roman Catholic Churches of Uniontown, Fayette County, which is comprised of St. Joseph, St. Therese, St. John the Evangelist, and St. Mary Nativity Catholic Churches. “We’re starting to move back (to pre-pandemic services). We’re on the road to getting back to normal.”
The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh on Feb. 26 began to ease COVID-19 restrictions in parishes. Among the changes: priests, deacons and liturgical ministers in the sanctuary, along with ushers and greeters, won’t be required to wear masks at Mass; parishioners can share the sign of peace; and laity can present the gifts of bread and wine used for consecration. The distribution of precious blood from the cup remains suspended, however.
Presbyterian churches do not have a uniform policy for the imposition of ashes, so churches can individually decide how to approach Ash Wednesday.
At First Presbyterian Church in Waynesburg, the distribution of ashes is suspended this year, and instead, members of the congregation and those who choose to observe Ash Wednesday at the church will receive cross necklaces carved from olive wood from Jerusalem.
Masks are optional for Ash Wednesday’s service.
The Rev. Mike Haddox, pastor of discipleship and pastoral care at First Presbyterian, said Lent is a time of repentance and reflection, but First Presbyterian is asking its congregation to “lift up, not give up.”
“I do know that we as a community and as families have given up a lot over the past two years during the pandemic, and during Lent people ask, ‘What are you giving up?’ For me, as a pastor, I thinks that’s an unfair question this year. So for us this year, it’s not about giving up, it’s about lifting up,” said Haddox.
He suggested, for example, that people who plan to spend $10 on a specialty coffee still get a coffee, but offer to take someone with them and treat them, or offer to take a coffee to someone who isn’t able to get out, and visit with them.
Other churches are opting to provide small containers of ashes, along with a blessing card that can be used at home.
The United Methodist Church, too, permits congregations to determine their Ash Wednesday practice.
Jackie Campbell, director of communications for the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church, said some churches are distributing cross-shaped ashes on a cloth, while others are opting not to distribute ashes at all.
“We don’t have a uniform recommendation at this point,” said Campbell, a member of Trinity United Methodist Church in McMurray, noting churches can hold Ash Wednesday services reflective of what their congregations are comfortable with.
She noted several churches will offer live-streaming, which will enable those who are unable or uncomfortable attending in-person to participate.