We are the Church of England in Worcestershire and Dudley.  
Welcome to the Diocese of Worcester.

Ashing at St Bartholomew Primary School

Last year on Ash Wednesday, pupils in Key Stage 2 at St Barnabas CE Primary
School in Worcester took part in a special assembly to learn about Lent.
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 a question and answer liturgy,
prayers and songs, and choosing for themselves if they wished to receive ashes
on their forehead.

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.”

Headteacher Sarah Hanson said: “I absolutely loved this afternoon – it was a
really purposeful, meaningful service. We have children from all faiths and none
in school and everyone was very respectful. 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.”

Please pray for all those parishes who are finding ways to share the story of Easter with their local school throughout Lent and that those children and their families will take new steps into developing their faith.