As area churches head into the Lenten season, local clergy are making some changes to traditional services.
Ash Wednesday is Feb. 17 this year. It is a day of repentance marking the beginning of Lent, the 40-day period, leading up to Easter, according to the Rev. Mark Van Alstine, the pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church. During the mass or religious service, the congregants receive ashes to symbolize death and repentance.
“The traditional way is to dip the thumb in the ashes and make a cross on the forehead,” he said.
Also, the priest says something such as, “Repent and believe in the Gospel” or, “Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return” with each cross he places on the congregant’s forehead.
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With COVID-19, Ash Wednesday will look a little different.
Van Alstine said Bishop Stephen Parkes of the Diocese of Savannah has issued some guidelines for area Catholic churches.
First, Ash Wednesday is not a holy day of obligation in the Catholic church, said Van Alstine, so Catholics don’t need to worry if they feel it’s safer not to attend service this year. But for those who will be going to mass, safety measures will be implemented, including the addition of masses to provide more opportunities for social distancing.
Also, when it comes to the dispensation of the ashes themselves, there are a few options to keep the priest from touching the parishioner. Parkes suggestion is for priests to use a cotton swab or to sprinkle the ashes over the person’s head.
Van Alstine said he prefers the sprinkle method and that will be used at St. Joseph.
Also, Van Alstine said he won’t be speaking as he administers the ashes. The phrase will be spoken once before the ashes are dispensed.
At St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church in Grovetown, the Rev. Mike Ingram said they will be placing ashes on foreheads of their parishioners using the cotton swab method, and they’ve also added extra masses.
Catholics aren’t the only denominations to observe Ash Wednesday. Episcopalians, Lutherans and Methodists are among those who mark the Lenten season with Ash Wednesday.
The South Augusta Pastors Alliance (SAPA) brings together several churches in south Augusta and the organization will have a community service, featuring hymns, scripture readings, sermons and a blessing and imposition of ashes at 12:30 p.m., Wednesday at St. Joseph Catholic Church.
Bob Garrett, SAPA coordinator, said the ashes will be sprinkled over the heads of those attending.
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Other area churches are taking a more do-it-yourself type of approach.
Dr. Jody Alderman, senior minister at St. John United Methodist Church, said they have prepared items for the congregation to follow a recorded Ash Wednesday service.
“We have continued to be cautious when it comes to the pandemic,” he said.
Members picked up their Ash Wednesday kits containing items such as ashes, a Lenten devotional booklet called “Holy Vessels: A Lenten Season of Recovery” and sea glass.
The devotion booklet will allow them to follow the service, and they can place the ashes on their own foreheads or on the foreheads of loved ones when the appropriate time in the service comes.
The devotion booklet and sea glass go together.
Alderman said they’ve focused on a study on brokenness.
All people go through brokenness in their lives, he said. Many times, some of the most broken people have been able to help others through what they’ve learned in those periods.
The glass is a reminder of what happens to glass when it’s tossed in the sea. It becomes polished and beautiful, he said.
The Church of the Good Shepherd has also been refraining from in-person services, and their members will be able to drive to the church between 1 and 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. to receive ashes.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
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