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An Ash Wednesday Service of Repentance, Repair & Resistance
What if the ashes on our foreheads changed more than our appearance?
Ashes & Justice is a complete one-hour, leader-ready Ash Wednesday worship service centered on Isaiah 58 and one foundational idea:
Repentance isn't simply feeling sorry. Repentance means turning around.
This justice-centered liturgy retains the familiar Ash Wednesday themes of mortality, confession, fasting, repentance, and ashes while asking congregations to examine more than individual wrongdoing.
Where have we participated in injustice?
What suffering have we learned not to see?
Where has our silence protected our comfort?
And what would actual repair require?
The complete resource includes:
• Full 60-minute Ash Wednesday order of worship
• Opening liturgy centered on our shared mortality
• Isaiah 58:1–12 scripture focus
• “The Sins We Commit & the Systems We Permit” responsive confession
• Traditional/public-domain music suggestions
• Full sermon notes for “What Good Are Your Ashes?”
• Justice-centered examination of conscience
• Traditional and justice-centered words for the imposition of ashes
• “This Lent, I Will Turn Toward Justice By…” commitment practice
• Prayers and responses addressing racism, LGBTQ+ harm, immigration, poverty, Indigenous erasure, disability, creation, and animal justice
• Trauma-aware and accessibility guidance for administering ashes
• Leader notes for avoiding performative confession and shame
• Music and copyright guidance
• One-page worship-team service flow
Instead of asking only, “What will I give up for Lent?” this service asks a harder question:
What actually needs to change?
Give up indifference.
Give up silence.
Give up looking away.
Then take something up.
Take up repair.
Take up generosity.
Take up courage.
Take up solidarity.
The ashes become more than evidence that we attended a service.
They become a sign that we intend to turn around.
Designed with 12-point body text, clean white print-friendly pages, and simple Lenten purple and lavender accents for easy reading and economical printing.
Ideal for progressive Christian churches, justice-centered congregations, campus ministries, chaplaincies, small groups, and communities seeking to connect the traditional practices of Lent with the biblical call to justice.
Digital download. No physical product will be shipped.
An Ash Wednesday Service of Repentance, Repair & Resistance
What if the ashes on our foreheads changed more than our appearance?
Ashes & Justice is a complete one-hour, leader-ready Ash Wednesday worship service centered on Isaiah 58 and one foundational idea:
Repentance isn't simply feeling sorry. Repentance means turning around.
This justice-centered liturgy retains the familiar Ash Wednesday themes of mortality, confession, fasting, repentance, and ashes while asking congregations to examine more than individual wrongdoing.
Where have we participated in injustice?
What suffering have we learned not to see?
Where has our silence protected our comfort?
And what would actual repair require?
The complete resource includes:
• Full 60-minute Ash Wednesday order of worship
• Opening liturgy centered on our shared mortality
• Isaiah 58:1–12 scripture focus
• “The Sins We Commit & the Systems We Permit” responsive confession
• Traditional/public-domain music suggestions
• Full sermon notes for “What Good Are Your Ashes?”
• Justice-centered examination of conscience
• Traditional and justice-centered words for the imposition of ashes
• “This Lent, I Will Turn Toward Justice By…” commitment practice
• Prayers and responses addressing racism, LGBTQ+ harm, immigration, poverty, Indigenous erasure, disability, creation, and animal justice
• Trauma-aware and accessibility guidance for administering ashes
• Leader notes for avoiding performative confession and shame
• Music and copyright guidance
• One-page worship-team service flow
Instead of asking only, “What will I give up for Lent?” this service asks a harder question:
What actually needs to change?
Give up indifference.
Give up silence.
Give up looking away.
Then take something up.
Take up repair.
Take up generosity.
Take up courage.
Take up solidarity.
The ashes become more than evidence that we attended a service.
They become a sign that we intend to turn around.
Designed with 12-point body text, clean white print-friendly pages, and simple Lenten purple and lavender accents for easy reading and economical printing.
Ideal for progressive Christian churches, justice-centered congregations, campus ministries, chaplaincies, small groups, and communities seeking to connect the traditional practices of Lent with the biblical call to justice.
Digital download. No physical product will be shipped.