Albany Episcopal churches to offer Ashes-to-Go on Ash Wednesday

Covid-19 changes way Albany's Episcopal churches observe Holy Day

ALBANY, Ga. – When Albany’s three Episcopal churches conducted Ashes-to-Go drive-throughs last year to reach out to those unable to attend one of the traditional Ash Wednesday services held at each church, organizers did not realize they were testing a way to make the imposition of ashes available to their church members and the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, the Episcopal Church of St. John and St. Mark and St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 17) will offer special Ashes-to-Go activities at the respective churches and at the fountain at Gortatowski Park, located in front of the Albany-Dougherty Government Center at 222 Pine Ave.

A video of the Ash Wednesday service with all three Albany Episcopal churches participating will be available online beginning at 7 a.m. that day.

“This is the second year that the three Albany Episcopal churches have observed this important date jointly,” said the Very Rev. Galen A. Mirate, Dean of the Albany Convocation of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and the Priest-in-Charge at the Episcopal Church of St. John and St. Mark.

“On Ash Wednesday of 2020, the pandemic was barely a speck on the horizon for many of us in Albany,” the Very Rev. Mirate said, “so comparing Ash Wednesday of 2021 with Ash Wednesday of 2020 is a striking reminder of the challenges that the residents of our city have faced in the past year.”

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the six-week period leading to Easter and gets its name from the placing, or imposing, of repentance ashes in the shape of a cross on the foreheads of participants to the words “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” or “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

From 7-8:30 a.m., St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, 4800 Old Dawson Road, and the Episcopal Church of St. John and St. Mark, 2425 Cherry Laurel Lane, will conduct Ashes-to-Go drive-throughs at the respective churches. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church will offer an Ashes-to-Go walk-up at the downtown Government Center fountain.

An Ashes-to-Go walk-up also will be offered at the Government Center fountain from noon-1 p.m.

All three churches will offer Ashes-to-Go drive-throughs at their respective churches from 5-6 p.m. St. Paul’s, at 212 N. Jefferson St., will conduct its Ashes-to-Go at the portico at the back of the church, followed by a 6 p.m. in-person service in the St. Paul’s Sanctuary.

“It’s a special day in the church year because it is the start of Lent,” the Rev. Walter Hobgood, Rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, said. “It’s a time of reflection and repentance, and asking for forgiveness and walking the walk with Jesus.”

In ancient times, ashes were used as a symbol of grief. Christians have long used ashes as a symbol of repentance. Palm leaves from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration are used to prepare the ashes. Lent—the 40 days (not counting Sundays) during the six weeks leading to Easter—is an allusion to the period that Jesus spent alone in the desert to fast and pray.

“The observation of Ash Wednesday is an ancient Christian practice and invites us to a Lenten season of self-examination and repentance in preparation for the joy of Easter Sunday,” the Very Rev. Mirate said. “My colleagues and I are hoping that our offering of this brief, easy, yet deeply moving, spiritual practice will provide an easy way to enter into this important season.”

The Rev. Hobgood said offering the imposition of ashes at the central Albany fountain area is an effort to make it more convenient for those going to work or doing business in the downtown district in which St. Paul’s is located.

“We thought, let’s try to reach out to the people in the city who may not be members,” he said, noting that about half of those who came to St. Paul’s initial Ashes-to-Go last year were not members of St. Paul’s. “We’re reaching out to all of God’s children by meeting them where they are.”

The Rev. Hobgood says the imposition of ashes will be done safely, and that communion will not be offered at the downtown walk-up. “As people walk by, we’ll offer the ashes to go,” he said. “The person who says, ‘Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return’ will stand back a way and another person will put the ashes on the forehead with a small disposable make-up sponge or a Q-tip. You use it once and then throw it away.”

The videoed service will feature the three Albany Episcopal rectors—the Very Rev. Mirate, the Rev. Hobgood and the Rev. Nick Roosevelt, Rector of St. Patrick’s, as well as Deacon Ri Lamb of St. John and St. Mark, and Deacon Joy Davis of St. Patrick’s. All three churches will broadcast the service on their social media pages.

Those watching the video online will impose the ashes on their foreheads at the appropriate point in the service. St. Patrick’s is mailing its members a bulletin for the service, along with ashes in a sealed packet. St. Paul’s is asking its members to contact the church office at 229.439.0196, and ashes will be delivered by Tuesday, Feb. 16.

The churches’ Facebook pages are www.facebook.com/StPaulsAlbany, www.facebook.com/stpatsaby and www.facebook.com/stjohnandstmark. The churches’ websites are https://stpaulsalbany.org, https://stpatricksalbany.org and https://stjohnandstmark.wordpress.com.

“I think it’s bringing the three Episcopal church closer together, and I can’t help but believe that’s a good thing,” the Rev. Hobgood said. “We become the Episcopal church in Albany, and not three separate churches.”

“It is certainly my hope that this unprecedented year, while bringing much pain and struggle to so many in our community, has also motivated many more of us to seek our spiritual moorings, and has reminded us that our spiritual lives are vital in times of crisis,” the Very Rev. Mirate concluded.