Ash Wednesday & Lent: Two Ways to Enter a New Season

Though it's called "Contemporary" Worship at FCC, modern isn't all we do in the room! In fact, one service we've come to be known for, and love sharing, is a traditional Ash Wednesday observance. Our next one is Feb 18 at 6 pm.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of the church season that leads us to Easter, and is labelled Lent. (That's a lot of church lingo at once, if you don't come from a mainline background.... But the basics, we bet you know!) Many churches spend several weeks leading up to Easter, by talking about the things Jesus did on earth and the themes Jesus preached here, namely returning to God, and the call to change one's heart and mind. That time of preparation has an official start in the universal church calendar, and it begins on the morning after a traditional feast and revel, called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday.

Ash Wednesday around FCC is marked in 2 ways — as a short moment during the day, and as a half-hour service early in the evening. You’re invited into either or both.

• Drop by FCC’s Sanctuary during the lunch hour, between noon – 1, for a moment of contemplation, candle lighting and ashes. Expect this to take about 5 minutes, come and go.

Enter through the Broadway-facing doors, turn right, and come inside.

• Gather at our Ash Wednesday service, 6 pm in Contemporary Worship. Expect live music, Scripture reading, Communion and the imposition of ashes, all in 30 minutes.

However you can, we urge you to engage in the changing church season. Do something new to you. Read something you wouldn't otherwise read. Participate in the age-old tradition of ashes and the acknowledgement that we are all, only human — and that our shared humanity calls us back to God and neighbor, both.