Here’s a
corporate confession and liturgy for the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday.
It is set for leader and congregation (divided into two voices).
Ash Wednesday Liturgy
Corporate Confession
Leader:
Creator God, you fashioned us out of dust,
breathing your Spirit into us,
so we might sing your praise.
One: But we have denounced your gift of life
in order to be our own gods,
clinging to death-dealing idols of
our own making.
Two: We have denied our creaturely status,
seeking to lord it over those we
label “less-than.”
One: We squelch all who are different
through ignoring, belittling,
murdering, and bombing.
Two: We believe survival-of-the-fittest lies,
discounting the weak,
and profiting by others’ pain.
Leader: Not trusting in your providence,
we stop our ears to cries of those
in need
because we’re afraid we won’t have
enough.
One: We have been unfaithful stewards, O
Lord.
Two: We live in a state of sin among a people of
sin.
One: Save for your grace, we perish.
Two: Remember our making, Creator God;
remember we are dust.
All: Have mercy on us according to your loving
kindness.
Breathe new life into us once more,
so we might be the people you
created us to be.
Restore unto us the joy of your
salvation
that we might do justice, love
kindness,
and walk humbly with the Lord Jesus
Christ,
in whose name we pray,
Amen.
Silent
confession of sin
Imposition of ashes
Leader: Those who so desire may come forward
to receive an imposition of ashes
as a sign of penitence not only for
our individual sin,
but also in recognition of our
complicity in the sin of the world.
Assurance of Pardon (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
Hear the
promise of God:
“I will sprinkle clean water upon
you, and you will be clean
from all your uncleanness, and from
all your idols I will cleanse you.
A new heart I will give you, and a
new spirit I will put within you;
and I will remove from your body the
heart of stone
and give you a heart of flesh.
I will put my spirit within you,
and make you follow my statutes
and be careful to observe my
ordinances.”
Friends,
the promises of God are true:
In Jesus
Christ we are forgiven.
He himself
bore our sins in his body on the cross
that we
might be dead to sin and alive to all that is good.
In the name
of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.
Live now as
new people, free to love God and neighbor.
~ posted on
the PCUSA website. http://www.pcusa.org/
