Ash Wednesday & Guidance for Gathering

Dear Synod Leaders,

The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

This Ash Wednesday, eleven months into the global pandemic, we hardly need to be reminded that our lives are fleeting, that our mortal nature is frail, that we were taken from the dust of the earth and shall return to it. More than four hundred eighty-five thousand deaths from COVID-19 have been reported in our country alone. The number is staggering. The collateral damage to our families and to our communities and to our emotional wellbeing is immeasurable. Where is the value this year in asking the faithful to take time out of their day to come and be reminded of their mortality by having ashes applied to their foreheads?

It is in the shape of the cross, the sign of hope for all who are frail, mortal, overcome, exhausted. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the place where Jesus’ most passionate commitment to self-giving for the sake of others met the most desperate expression of self-interest at the expense of others. As Martin Luther observed so arrestingly in his hymn, Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands, “It was a strange and dreadful strife when life and death contended; the victory remained with life, the reign of death was ended.” (LBW #134, v. 2) To substitute the phrases “self-giving” and “self-interest” for the words “life” and “death” in Luther’s hymn is revelatory!

The message of the cross gives us the freedom and the courage to follow Jesus in self-giving love for others in every aspect of our lives. That can be manifest in taking time to learn about another person’s perspective on matters that you also care deeply about but see differently. It can also be seen in our decisions around gathering for worship during the pandemic as we make plans as much to care for others as to care for ourselves. Let me say a word about that for those who are looking for guidance about gathering for in-person worship these next few weeks.

The data published by the Pennsylvania Department of Health indicate that new infections in our state have declined now to about where they were the beginning of November, only 1/8th of what they were at their highest in mid-December! And yet this low number is still three times higher than what we experienced last summer. [1]

To date 421,000 Pennsylvanians have received full vaccination against the virus, which is heartening, so we are certainly moving in the right direction. But that total is only a little over 3% of our state’s population, so we still have a long way to go.

I interpret this data to indicate that we can begin again, with caution, to gather in person, as some congregations in our synod have done. And that by waiting a few more weeks for the number of new infections to drop further and the number of vaccinations to increase, as some congregations are choosing to do, will make it more likely that our gatherings will be safe. The decision about exactly when to move toward in-person worship is rightly made by the local congregation’s leadership in the spirit of self-giving for the sake of the other. It must also be accompanied by a clear plan that communicates expectations to those who would gather, to ensure that the practices that have been proven to restrict the spread of the virus are observed: wearing a mask when not at home, maintaining six feet of physical distance from others when outside the home, and avoiding large groups that share the same inside space for a long period of time.

As important as these practical considerations are, the example of Jesus’ self-giving love for others leads me to believe that our best plans also include the conscious effort to listen to and care for other members of the congregation. Without this relational element added to all the practical safety precautions, our plans may fall short of our intended goals.

The faith communities to which we belong have as their heart the pattern of self-giving which leads to abundant life for others. As your congregation or ministry site heads into Lent and Easter still fully in COVID-time, I pray that you will find both the freedom and the courage to practice the self-giving gift of life that our Lord Jesus has given to each of us.


With you in Christ,

Bishop Kurt F. Kusserow