Week Ahead: Lent Begins Season of Reflection, Resources Online
Episcopal News Service. February 9, 2005 [020905-1-A]
Today, February 9, 2005, is Ash Wednesday, the first of the forty days of Lent, named for the custom of placing blessed ashes on the foreheads of worshipers at Ash Wednesday services. Ash Wednesday is observed as a fast in the church year of the Episcopal Church. The Ash Wednesday service is one of the Proper Liturgies for Special Days in the BCP (p. 264). Ashes are blessed for use on Ash Wednesday as a sign of penitence and a reminder of mortality. The OT frequently mentions the use of ashes as an expression of humiliation and sorrow. Ashes for use on Ash Wednesday are made from burned palms from previous Palm Sunday services. Ashes are imposed on the penitent's forehead with the words, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (BCP, p. 265). Imposition of ashes at the Ash Wednesday service is optional.
The season now known as Lent (from an Old English word meaning "spring," the time of lengthening days) has a long history. Early Christians observed "a season of penitence and fasting" in preparation for the Paschal feast, or Pascha (BCP, pp. 264-265). Originally, in places where Pascha was celebrated on a Sunday, the Paschal feast followed a fast of up to two days. In the third century this fast was lengthened to six days. Eventually this fast became attached to, or overlapped, another fast of forty days, in imitation of Christ's fasting in the wilderness. The forty-day fast was especially important for converts to the faith who were preparing for baptism, and for those guilty of notorious sins who were being restored to the Christian assembly. In the western church the forty days of Lent extend from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, omitting Sundays. The last three days of Lent are the sacred Triduum of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Today Lent has reacquired its significance as the final preparation of adult candidates for baptism. Joining with them, all Christians are invited "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" (BCP, p. 265). Many Anglican parishes use Lenten array instead of violet or purple for vestments and liturgical hangings during Lent. Lenten array usually refers to a rough or homespun fabric. It may have an off-white color or it may be made without any dye. Lenten array may be decorated with purple or dark orpheys and Lenten designs. Use of Lenten array follows the custom from the late middle ages of using dark or drab colors during penitential seasons.
Please check with your local Episcopal Church for details of services in your area. A full list of Episcopal Cathedrals, along with web links and contact details, is available online at: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_51512_ENG_HTM.htm.
Teaching resources for use in Lent or Eastertide were mailed to all congregations in the Episcopal Church early January 2005. Titled "Groundwork: Digging Deep for Change and Growth," the resources are also available on-line at www.episcopalchurch.org/groundwork.
Aimed to achieve membership growth, the 2005 Lenten study resources emphasize complete analysis of congregational systems at work in local ministry, the Rev. Dr. James B. Lemler, director of mission for the Episcopal Church, said in a recent interview.
"'Groundwork' is an educational offering for Lent 2005 that joins together reflection on the study and proclamation of the Lenten Sunday Scripture cycle and learning about evangelism, congregational invitation, and mission in the present changing context," Lemler said.
Coming up Friday, February 11, 2005...
AUSTIN, Texas - The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, an elected body representing the whole Church, will meet February 11-14 in Austin, Texas, to carry out programs and policies adopted by General Convention and to oversee the ministry and mission of the Church.
The Executive Council is composed of 20 members elected by General Convention (four bishops, four priests or deacons and 12 laypersons) and 18 members elected by provincial synods.
In the course of the three years between meetings of General Convention, known as the "triennium," the Executive Council will customarily meet once in each of the nine provinces of the Episcopal Church.
VICKSBURG, Mississippi - The Church of the Holy Trinity in Vicksburg, Mississippi, will host its eighth annual Lenten Fine Arts series with Gumbo Lunch, beginning Feb. 11 and concluding Mar 18. The series this year will feature artists from the major universities in the state.
The art showing on February 11 begins at 5:30 p.m. and will feature works of art by Vicksburg artist, Hobbs Freeman.
Church of the Holy Trinity, 900 S St., Vicksburg, MS 39180. Tel: 601.636.0542.
Coming up Sunday, February 13, 2005...
BALTIMORE, Maryland - The combined choirs of the Cathedral of the Incarnation and Memorial Church in Baltimore, Maryland, will be accompanied by Dei Liedersänger and Orchestra to perform the John Rutter's Requiem Mass on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 5 p.m. at the Cathedral.
The Mass is in memory of the children of Baltimore who have died by violence and in thanksgiving for the lives of Elaine and Lane Taylor. The service will be followed by a ground breaking for the Children's Peace Memorial outside the Cathedral and an offering will be taken to support teaching peace with the children of Baltimore and with the children of Johannesburg, South Africa. Further information: office@thecathedral.ang-md..org or 410.467.3750.
Cathedral of the Incarnation, 4 E University Parkway, Baltimore, Maryland. http://thecathedral.ang-md.org.
BOSTON - This week's Sunday Night Forum, "A Library You Can Hold in Your Hand," will be held from 4:30-5:45 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13, in the Commons of Trinity Church, Boston.
The Sunday Night Forum series during Lent, "Dust Off Your Bibles: Basic Bible Literacy," will be conducted by parishioner H. Mark Smith, who promises these sessions will be "less about dumping data, and more about unlocking mysteries."
Trinity Church, 206 Clarendon Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116. Tel: 617.536.0944. http://www.trinityboston.org/default.asp.
CHICAGO - The Rev. Dr. Fulton Porter, assistant at St. Edmund's, Chicago, will be the keynote speaker at the annual Absalom Jones Day Celebration at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Chicago, on Sunday, Feb. 13, from 3 - 5 p.m. Sponsored by the Chicago Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians, the observance honors the Rev. Absalom Jones, the first African American ordained priest in the Episcopal Church (1802) and co-founder with Richard Allen of the Free African Society, the first Afro-American organization in the United States.
St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 3801 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60653. Tel: 773.268.1900.
NEW YORK - St. Bartholomew's Church, 109 East 50th St. (at Park Avenue), New York, will hold a Jewish Evensong at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13.
In the 1950s, Park Avenue Synagogue (New York City) commissioned Jewish composers (including Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Weill and Lukas Foss) to write new synagogue music, which will be performed in this "Salute to our Jewish Heritage." A lecture by Professor Samuel Adler of the Juilliard School will follow.
St. Bartholomew's Church, 109 East 50th St. (at Park Avenue), New York, NY 10022; Tel: 212.378.0200; www.stbarts.org.
SAN FRANCISCO, California - The Forum at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, will feature spiritual director and author Sarah Stockton, from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13, at Gresham Hall, on the Crypt Level of the Cathedral.
Stockton, author of "A Pen and A Path," will help you explore your relationship with God through spiritual writing. A spiritual director and writing teacher, Stockton focuses more on the discoveries made while writing -- about one's self and about God -- through meditation and creative journaling.
Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St. (at Taylor St.), San Francisco, California 94108. Tel: 415.749.6300. http://www.gracecathedral.org.
TOPEKA, Kansas - The Cathedral Choir of Grace Cathedral will offer Choral Evensong at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 13 to mark the first Sunday in Lent. Service music (Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis) will be by 16th century British composer Thomas Morley and Morten Lauridsen's "O Nata Lux" ("O Born Light of Light") as the anthem. The choir is under the direction of Steve Burk, director of music at the cathedral, and Sylvia Hamilton, assistant organist.
Grace Cathedral, 701 SW 8th Avenue. Tel: 785.235.3457. http://www.gracecathedraltopeka.org.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - State Day prayers this Sunday will remember Minnesota in liturgies at Washington National Cathedral, Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues Northwest (Mount St. Alban), Washington, D.C., 20016; 202.537.6200; http://www.cathedral.org. The Rev. Canon Preston Hannibal will be the preacher at the 11 a.m. service. Next Sunday, Feb. 20: State Day prayers will remember Oregon.
ANGLICAN COMMUNION - Following the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, this Sunday (Lent I) will give thanks for the Diocese of Maine -- Province I, USA -- and the Rt. Rev. Chilton Abbie Richardson Knudsen, bishop. The Anglican Cycle of Prayer can be accessed online at: www.anglicancommunion.org/acp/main.cfm.
Looking ahead...
RICHMOND, Virginia - The Lenten 2005 series at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia, will welcome Bishop Suffragan Carol Gallagher of the Diocese of Southern Virginia as a guest speaker February 14-18.
Gallagher is the first American Indian (Cherokee) female bishop in the Episcopal Church, the first indigenous female bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the first female bishop in the three Episcopal Dioceses of Virginia.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 815 E. Grace Street, Richmond, VA 23219. Tel: 804.643.3589. stpauls@stpauls-episcopal.org.