• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Building Faith

Building Faith

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Who We Are
    • Our Writers
    • Author Guidelines
    • FAQs
    • Subscribe
    • Contact Us
  • ARTICLES
    • Articles by Topic
    • Most Recent Articles
  • EN ESPAÑOL
  • RESOURCES
    • Curriculum Center
    • Intergenerational Resources
    • Vacation Bible School
    • Webinars
    • Episcopal Teacher
  • SUPPORT US
  • Show Search
Hide Search
Home/Children & Family/Ash Wednesday for Families

Ash Wednesday for Families

Use this simple liturgy to make Ash Wednesday accessible to people of all ages. 

We wanted to make Ash Wednesday, a day that in many places is observed largely by adults, more approachable for families, so I carefully adapted this service from the Book of Common Prayer, using clear, accessible language, and chose beautiful, simple music that can be taught in the moment. We receive the cross of ashes in the same place as the cross of oil we receive at baptism, for the same reason: to remind us that we were created in love, we belong to God, and we will return to God. 

Click here to download the service. Music is from Wonder, Love and Praise and the scripture reading comes from The Bible for Children, retold by Murray Watts. This service is freely shared, please note the original author when doing so.

In the decade since I first adapted the service, it’s been used widely across the Episcopal Church and in many Episcopal schools. My favorite memory is of the year two American Girl dolls left the service offered in a large, midtown Manhattan church with ashes on their foreheads! Even their “mothers” wanted to remind them that we belong to God.


Wendy Claire Barrie is the author of Faith at Home: A Handbook for Cautiously Christian Families  and is at work on her next book, about intergenerational ministry, The Church Post-Sunday School, coming in Spring 2021 from Church Publishing. She works and worships at Trinity Church Wall Street where she is responsible for Children and Family Faith Formation and Education.



About the Author

  • Wendy Claire Barrie (she/her/hers)

    Wendy Claire Barrie is the author of "Faith at Home: A Handbook for Cautiously Christian Parents" and is finishing up her second book, "The Church Post-Sunday School: How to Be Intergenerational and Why it Matters." A writer, editor, speaker, and Christian educator, Wendy has served eight Episcopal congregations on both coasts over the last 30-plus years, including All Saints Church in Pasadena, California and Trinity Church New York City. She has a son, Peter, and a husband, Phil, whom she and Peter met at St. Lydia’s, a dinner church in Brooklyn, New York. A resident of Seattle, Washington, Wendy is Canon for Intergenerational Ministries at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral.

    View all posts
Print PDF

January 8, 2020 By Wendy Claire Barrie (she/her/hers)

Filed Under: Children & Family, Holy Week, Lent, Lent Formation, Worship & Liturgy Tagged With: Ash Wednesday, ashes, Book of Common Prayer, children, intergenerational

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS

Subscribe to Building Faith

You’ll get new articles, plus free weekly updates in your inbox.

We respect your privacy. View our privacy policy here.

Search Our Site

New Articles

"Visually Safe Disability Pride Flag" with red, yellow, white, light blue, and green diagonal stripes from upper left to lower right on a dark gray background

New and Recent Resources for Disability Pride Month

July is Disability Pride Month in the U.S. As Lizzie Cox explains in her article "Disability Pride …

Continue Reading about New and Recent Resources for Disability Pride Month

Two hands of a person with dark skin tone shaping bronze-colored clay on a pottery wheel in front of a blurred blue background with brown spots

“Nobody’s Perfect”: A Resource for Talking to Youth about Sin

Content warning: This article mentions sexual assault and racial violence. In November of 2018, …

Continue Reading about “Nobody’s Perfect”: A Resource for Talking to Youth about Sin

Circular dots of various colors aligned in rows and columns on a gold surface

Intergenerational Insights: What Is Intergenerational Ministry?

This article is part of a series on Intergenerational Formation Insights written after a literature …

Continue Reading about Intergenerational Insights: What Is Intergenerational Ministry?

Footer

Keep in Touch

  • Email
  • Facebook

Building Faith

Lifelong Learning, Virginia Theological Seminary
3737 Seminary Rd.
Alexandria, VA 22304

Copyright © 2025 · Building Faith · A Ministry of Virginia Theological Seminary

Design by Blue+Pine Creative, Inc.

Subscribe to Building Faith

Get articles and resources by email

Privacy Policy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website.
If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.