Church of the Redeemer is having two services for Ash Wednesday in 2023. On February 22, the services begin at these times in the main church building:
- 12:00 noon—In-person only.
- 7:00 pm—In-person and online
The main church building is at 6210 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. To participate online, go to the parish website at redeemer-kenmore.org.
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
Welcome to Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world. 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. We are 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.
