ICYMI: Week of 3/5

Welcome back to the latest In Case You Missed It, a.k.a. ICYMI, our weekly blog roundup of the latest stories around the @fwd_mvt and #Episcopal world.

We began our Lenten journey this week—but before we did, we asked:

We saw some tasty responses to this one. A few favorite answers:

  • “Definitely pancakes, and ham, and lemon curd, and real maple syrup at Epiphany’s annual Pancake Supper….I’ve been working at it for the past 35 years!”
  • “I gorge on whatever my fast will be in any given year. Tomorrow I will be feasting on “appetizers”–mozzarella sticks, onion rings, potato skins.”
  • “Paczki! Detroit is all about paczki.”
  • “Homemade potato salad and fried chicken on the parade route.”
  • “A truly decadent desert: Charlotte Malakoff a la Russe, for instance.”
  • And this photo response from Trinity Episcopal Church’s dinner in West Pittston, PA:

We hope you had a fun feast on Tuesday.

What’s your family’s Ash Wednesday tradition? Do you receive ashes to go? We saw some cool pictures—from around the world—on the #ashestogo hashtag.

A favorite, from our friend Fr. Albert Cutie:

Do you take your kids to church on Ash Wednesday? What sorts of questions have they asked about the service, or the ashes? Nurya Love Parish wrote a terrific post on the subject for Grow Christians this week. We heard from a lot of readers on our Twitter feed who said they absolutely take their kids. Some responses:

  • “I took mine! The little one had to go outside for parts, but my oldest (6) asked questions like why we cover the cross. Good conversations!”
  • “Why on earth would you cheat children out of Ash Wednesday??”
  • “Pro-tip: When kids are little, make sure they know the ashes are from palms. Not bodies! (True story.)”

 
On “Ash Thursday” this week, Lent Madness started. You can listen to Scott and Tim discuss this season on the excellent Priest Pulse podcast, and cast your votes at lentmadness.org.

And at Forward Movement, we began A Season of Prayer: 40 Days in the Desert. We’ll be sharing daily prayers and readings as images on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and you can download weekly bulletin inserts (and browse many other resources, including videos) at forwardmovement.org/seasonofprayer. The project focuses particularly on themes of exile, hospitality and migration. We’ll close with today’s image:

Have a great week.