Pupils in Key Stage 2 at St Barnabas CE Primary School in Worcester took part in a special assembly on Ash Wednesday to learn about Lent, receive ashes and share communion together.
The service was led by the Revd Sarah Northall with support from members of the churches of St Barnabas with Christ Church, St Wulstan and St Nicholas. Children aged 7 – 11 were involved, joining in with the question and answer liturgy, prayers and songs, and choosing for themselves if they wished to receive ashes on their forehead. They also heard a reading from Micah, watched an animated film showing the temptation of Jesus and sang a Kyrie from Ukraine.
Sarah said: “I wanted to invite the children to step into something special. We make lots of space to do this in Advent and Christmas and I felt it was important to show the other side of the coin.”
Sarah developed the service and then the Assistant Head worked with the school’s Worship Group to get them involved. The service used the repetition of the phase ‘act justly, love mercy and walk humbly’, with the words also held up on road signs each time they were used. Many of the words and concepts during the service were explored in a question-and-answer format to help make them more understandable. During the service, members of local churches stood at the front to mark with ashes any children who wanted to receive them.
“The plan was to make it as everyday as possible,” continued Sarah. “Particularly as ashing is a very odd thing to happen!”
Headteacher Sarah Hanson said: “I absolutely loved this afternoon – it was a really purposeful, meaningful service and the children participated well. We have children from all faiths and none in school. Everyone was very respectful, and we all learned something. It was particularly great that the children had the confidence to either come up to receive ashes or not – it was completely their own choice.”
Josh in year 3 said: “I enjoyed getting a blessing and being able to show our love for Jesus in school.”
Georgina, also in year 3 said: “I liked getting the ashes on my head and receiving a blessing.”
Lillian and Dorothy in year 6 were part of the worship group.
Lillian said: “I became involved in worship group so I could explore Christianity further and I now believe in God and Jesus. I really enjoyed speaking in front of everyone and getting a thumb print.”
Dorothy said: “Being a Christian is the most important thing for me, and I really wanted to be involved. It was great to see the enthusiastic energy from the other children and being able to explain why Ash Wednesday is important to us.”
The Revd Rosie Moss was part of the team giving the ashes. She said: “It was very special to do ashing with the children and it was just as spirit filled as our service in church this morning.”
