Ash Wednesday 2026

 Ash Wednesday 2026

Responder:

Presiders: Juanita,Nick, Penny, 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87935930592?pwd=qZlKA506MIS9okXQQxBkaKsyhsZJDV.1

Ashes to Ashes – Dan Schutte [Official Lyric Video]

https://youtu.be/NM1MYet8kNc?si=ibvsPW_IaO2hH1vr

Theme: “Return to the Heart of Love: From Ashes to Transformation”

Opening Welcome and Gathering:

Presider:Juanita

Penny: Today we gather at the threshold of Lent — a sacred season of reflection, renewal, and transformation.
Ash Wednesday invites us into holy honesty about our vulnerability, our brokenness, and our deep belonging to the Holy Mystery we call God.

The ashes we receive today do not condemn us.
They remind us:

• • That life is fragile
• • That love is eternal
• • That transformation is always possible

In this community of equals, all are welcome — seekers, believers, doubters, wounded hearts, and faithful companions on the journey.

Juanita: In the name of our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sanctifier.  Gracious God, as we  begin this holy season of Lent, we pray for a steadfast spirit and sincere heart to surrender ourselves to you more completely. Bless our thoughts, words and actions and the sentiments of our hearts that they may be a reflection of your presence in our lives.

Juanita: OPENING PRAYER

Gracious Creator of life and light,
as we enter this holy season of Lent, we return not in fear but in longing — longing to draw closer to You who formed us from stardust and breath. You call us again into the desert of quiet listening, where we rediscover who we are: beloved, created in Your image, and entrusted with the care of one another and of the Earth.

Nick: Awaken in us a deeper awareness of Your presence already alive within us. Clear our vision so we may see with compassion, act with justice, and walk gently upon this sacred earth. May this Lenten journey be a time of renewal — a turning toward love, toward healing, toward the sacred dignity in every being.

Penny: O Holy One, guide our steps these forty days. Transform our hearts with Your tenderness and wisdom, that we may live more fully as reflections of Your creative, sustaining love.
Amen.

Juanita: Join us in a prayer to begin the season of Lent together. 

In the moments of silence, receive the gift of quiet.

Spirit of Christ, we approach this Lenten season in various states of exhaustion,

imbalance, self-absorption, and distraction.

So, we focus our hearts and intentions upon something new and different: rest and reflection.

We are a people of many words written, texted, read,

shouted, tweeted, posted, and published.

Today, we quiet our words so you may be heard more clearly.

Silence

Pat: We are people who purchase products needed, unneeded,

wasteful, luxurious, flimsy, recyclable, and never used.

Today, we turn from consumption so our treasure may be found with you.

Silence

Lucia: We live imbalanced lives between work and rest,

family and friends, pleasure and discipline,

faith and folly, sacrifice and self-care.

Today, we stop, examine, reassess, and repent.

We turn from the imbalance into quiet obedience.

Silence

Dave: Despite your generosity and abundance,

we deprive ourselves of hope, peace, joy, and love.

We subsist on brief moments with you and with others—

on prolonged hours of labor and media.

Although the Season of Lent calls us to fasting,

we know there is no shortage, no limit, no scarcity

to your gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love.

We receive them today, just as we receive a call to confession and repentance.

Silence

Judy: As we make space in the noise to hear you more clearly,

to see you more vibrantly, and to serve you more adoringly,

you are faithful to meet us here in that space.

Amen.

In these days of Lenten journey by Ricky Manalo, CSP, (Beyond the days)

https://youtu.be/83eDJay4zI8?si=bIZliqWmbPdvSsck

John: PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Today, we gather in prayer for those who are suffering oppression, loss, and pain in this world, also knowing God calls us to be the hands and feet of Christ wherever we go. Holy God, your people are suffering. We lift them up in our community to ask for your mercy and to commit ourselves to the tangible work of compassion.

Jay Cee: We pray for those living without basic necessities of adequate food, water, shelter, clean air, and community. May we

partner with you to meet the needs of your precious children.

R: Lord, in your mercy...

All: ...hear our prayer.

Patti: We pray for those living with physical ailments, conditions, and diseases that cause frustration, pain, and suffering.

We especially pray for those without access to adequate medical care. May we partner with you to bring healing to

those in pain and discomfort.

R: Lord, in your mercy...

All: ...hear our prayer.

Kathy N: We pray for those living with mental illness, disordered thinking, suicidal thoughts, and post-traumatic stress. We

especially pray for children and adolescents who are feeling hopeless. May we partner with you to bring healing and

create healing spaces for those in anguish.

R: Lord, in your mercy...

All: ...hear our prayer.

Gerry: We pray for those oppressed, abused, isolated, marginalized, silenced, threatened, and unsafe in their homeland. We

pray for refugees, immigrants, and all who are forced to flee the horrors of home. May we partner with you to be a

sanctuary to those who suffer violence and oppression.

R Lord, in your mercy...

All: ...hear our prayer.

Kathy N: You are a good God, and you desire that all humanity thrive. May your spirit inspire us to bring relief to ourselves,

our communities, and our neighbors around the world. A

Amen.

Remembering we are dust doesn’t diminish our worth or cleanliness;

rather, it affirms our integral, connected place

in this beautiful work of God’s love.

We were made with love,

and when we die, God shall receive us with love.

May we pause to remember our mortality,

thank God for this precious life,

and reflect upon life’s end.

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

Linda: Ashes are a sign of creation: We acknowledge that we are creatures, wonderfully made. In receiving ashes, we honor our Earthly origins and our likeness to all other creatures; and we welcome God’s dominion over all that exits. 

Margaret: Ashes are a sign of repentance: We acknowledge that we are broken and that we are sinned-against.  We need forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation. In receiving ashes, we ask the Divine Spirit to change our hearts, to make us and others whole, and to help us offer reconciliation in this world.

Margaret: Ashes are fertile ground:  In courage we go to the Source, the refining fire of God’s love to be reborn remembering that new life comes again out of the ash left in the aftermath of a prairie or forest fire.  In receiving these ashes, we ask God to bless our souls that in this fertile soil new life may spring forth and become a source of reconciliation in the world.

Sobered by these things, but not alone, we will make our way through this season with truth and gratitude, until the light of resurrection breaks. Let us begin the journey with Jesus, with each other, and with the whole church everywhere by the receiving of the ashes.

Penny: IMPOSITION OF ASHES

Every life on this earth has a beginning, middle, and end. Although our faith teaches us about eternal love and life, our bodies remind us that each breath we take is precious because life in this form will end eventually. Our bodies will age, our stories will end, and we will return to the elements, to the dust. Even if we live one hundred years or more, the heart will stop beating, thoughts will cease, and breath will slow to silence.

But this is not bad news. This is a beautiful part of God’s good creation. Now, we take a moment to remember our mortality,

to thank God for this precious life, and to reflect upon this life’s end.

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

Juanita: By the reception of these ashes the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, because the Lord has anointed you; God is sending you to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim a season of God’s favor, to comfort all who mourn and proclaim gladness instead of sorrow.

Let us Pray:

Nick: Merciful and compassionate God, open our hearts so that we might recognize your son in each others faces, and in our own.  Make known to us the paths we must walk, and sustain us in our Lenten journey.

  

Please take out your ashes so they can be blessed.

Juanita: Loving God bless these ashes +  which we will use as a sign of our repentance and witness to the gospel.  May we journey during this lenten season in preparation for the joy of Easter. 

Please place your thumb into the blessed ashes and place the mark of the cross on your forehead as we all say together: 

Repent and believe in the gospel

With These Ashes (cover)- Ash Wednesday Special

https://youtu.be/-VADTaOetr0?si=XLsvGbA0WlxcpFle

John: Prayer of the Faithful: 

For a deeper coming of Christ in our world that we experience through the birthing of God anew in our lives, we bring to Jesus our prayers. 

We awaken to your call! For whom and for what shall we pray?

Judy: Closing: Divine Creator of All, you dwell in every creature. We know you hear our prayers and continually pour out your mercy and grace. Through our prayers

we are reminded that we are always enveloped in your love and compassion.

Strengthen our faith as you work through us to co-create your ever-expanding Kin-dom. Amen

Kathy N: Sign of Peace: 

As we prepare this sacred meal, we reaffirm that, just as Jesus was anointed, so is each of us. And so, we celebrate our Creator’s fruitful love as we extend our blessing to one another with joy. May the peace that our brother Jesus offers be always with us!  Please offer each other the sign of peace.

Closing Prayer: Julie

We come from the earth,

We are made from the same elements of the earth, stars, the rocks, trees, mountains, river, winds, fire, and water.

We are the earth and one day we will return to the earth just as all of life, plants, trees, mountains, animals, and humans.  

May we leave this place mindful that we belong to the earth
and to one another.
May our lives bring healing where there is woundedness,
peace where there is conflict,
and hope where there is despair.

And may the breath of the Holy One
that lives within all creation
guide us now and always.
Amen.

Final Blessing: Juanita

May the gentle breath of God be upon you this Ash Wednesday.
As these ashes remind us of life’s fragility, may they also awaken in us a deeper love that transforms our hearts.
May this Lenten journey lead us into peace where there is turmoil, hope where there is despair, and compassion where there is suffering.
Walk forward renewed in spirit, trusting that the Holy One journeys with you—guiding you into love, shaping you through grace, and drawing you into new life. Amen.

Bless the Lord (Taize)

https://youtu.be/vSwDU3M08Oc?si=1TDe0KTGkDexwPvl