Join us at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Kenmore, Washington, to mark the start of Lent. This is on Ash Wednesday, February 14, 2024. We invite those with questions to ask them. All events are free. You do not need reservations.

All are welcome at Redeemer:

• All races.
• All religions.
• All countries of origin.
• All sexual orientations.
• All genders.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. 

Shrove Tuesday

Before we start Lent, we need Fat Tuesday!

The Shrove Tuesday Community Dinner in 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm on February 13, 2024. The dinner is free for everyone. Anyone reading this can come, whether you’ve ever been to Church of the Redeemer or not.

Meet others in the community by gathering around a meal of pancakes, breakfast meats, fruit salad, and syrup in the Parish Hall. This is the lower floor of the building.

For more information, contact Susan Switzer, sswitzer@redeemer-kenmore.org.

What is Shrove Tuesday?

Celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday (also called “Pancake Tuesday” or “Pancake Day”) is the final day before the 40-day period of Lent begins.

Its name comes from the Germanic-Old English word “shrive,” meaning absolve. Because it comes directly before Lent, a season of fasting and penitence, this was the day that Christians would go to be “shriven” by their confessor.

Shrove Tuesday also became a day for pre-fasting indulgence. In particular, the need to use up rich ingredients such as butter, milk, sugar and eggs before Lent gave rise to the tradition of eating pancakes on this day.

Ash Wednesday

Church of the Redeemer will observe Ash Wednesday in these ways:

• 12:00 noon to 12:30 pm. Church of the Redeemer offers the Holy Eucharist with the optional imposition of Ashes. This is in the church building at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington.
• 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. If you can’t make it to a full service at Redeemer, maybe you can stop by the Hangar at Kenmore Town Center for Ashes to Go? This is at 6728 NE 181st Street, about a half mile east of the church building in Kenmore, Washington. Stop by anytime during the two-hour period.
• 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. Church of the Redeemer offers the Holy Eucharist with the optional imposition of Ashes. This is in the church building at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington.

I am new to all this

Here are some definitions to explain some things you may not be familiar with.

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. The ashes are a sign of penitence and a reminder of mortality, and may be imposed with the sign of the cross. 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 Book of Common Prayer (p. 264). Imposition of ashes at the Ash Wednesday service is optional.

(Content taken from Ash Wednesday.)

Blessed Ashes

Ashes blessed for use on Ash Wednesday as a sign of penitence and a reminder of mortality. The Hebrew Scriptures frequently mentions the use of ashes as an expression of humiliation and sorrow. Ashes are imposed on the penitent’s forehead with the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 265). The imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday is optional.

(Content edited from Ashes, Blessed.)

Lent

Early Christians observed “a season of penitence and fasting” in preparation for the Paschal feast, or Pascha (Book of Common Prayer, pp. 264-265). The season now known as Lent (from an Old English word meaning “spring,” the time of lengthening days) has a long history.

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” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 265).

(Content taken from Lent.)

Church of the Redeemer

Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world around us. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.

Church of the Redeemer is at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.