As we emerge from the pandemic, we wanted to highlight the creative ministry at Roxbury Presbyterian Church, where church leaders imparted ashes to congregants in their cars after their Zoom Ash Wednesday service. Read below to hear Elder Chase Grogan, Elder Kim Houston, and Rev. Dana Baker describe the significance of this practice, how it blessed the broader community, and what the Church should focus on moving forward.

How did you decide to impart ashes on the cars? What was the most meaningful moment of that day for you?

Chase: Throughout the pandemic, we have been going back and forth with how to create and foster a sense of community while existing in this space of isolation. We’ve done other creative events like this and we figured we would provide the best solution for a circumstance where we knew people would gather. Our creative worship team, along with our church administrator, put together the logistics and THE PEOPLE SHOWED UP!! 

Maybe the most meaningful aspect, however, was not just the members that drove from around the city – some even on the bus – but there were community members walking down the street that asked for ashes and prayer! They wanted to know what we were doing and so there was a sense of evangelism and outreach that also occurred that was the biggest blessing! 

Dana: One woman was on the phone as she walked by – she stopped right in front of us and told the person on the phone, “I’ve got to go, I’ve got something much more important to do right now.”  The fact that she recognized that what we were doing was something significant, and would stop a conversation in which she was in the middle, just said to me how much meaning these sacramental moments can have even when people aren’t directly connected with a local congregation.  We prayed for each person afterwards as they walked away.  Who knows what God will do through that moment.

Kim: Also, one of our congregants got off the bus with so much excitement, waving and shouting “I’m here!” All I could say to myself is: “Look at God!” 

For me the meaning of Lent has evolved as I have grown spiritually.  In the beginning it was just a time to give up something for 40 days, sugar or coffee or even TV, flat and one dimensional.  Now I see it as multidimensional, not just giving up something but adding on something to get closer to God, like prayer, journaling or more studying. The giving up of something is to remove the distractions so you can allow more of God in. 

What is significant about the mission and ministry of Roxbury Presbyterian Church? 

Chase: The significance about RPC is that we’ve existed for over 130 years as a place where the community can be ministered to. Social justice and community outreach have been central to the narrative of our church’s history and seem to be woven into the fabric of who we are. Our church has been used to house programs for the Black Panthers, Alcoholics Anonymous, educational and community programs and now our Social Impact Center where we open ourselves to the community through our trauma-informed programming. Even as we have entered a new season after our beloved pastor, Rev. Liz Walker, retired in December, the outreach and the impact of being involved in the community remain a vital part of what we do and why we exist. Rev. Liz impressed on our hearts the importance of being the love of Christ and the mission and ministry of RPC seeks to embed that in everything that we do. 

Is there anything you’d like to say to Christians in Boston?

Chase: We know everyone is excited about seeing “the light at the end of the tunnel.” Soon, our congregations may be back to “normal,” but we must reflect and put into practice what we’ve learned through the pandemic. As the world changes, and the needs of the community change, we as the Body of Christ also must evolve. We must be ready to incorporate technology into our services. We must be ready to speak to the growing mental health challenges in our communities. We must be creative and intuitive and willing to color outside of our traditional lines; and yes, it may be challenging but ministry must be intentional. The Bible reminds us that those that win souls are wise and we, at RPC, are praying for that wisdom so that we can continue to reflect the love and compassion of Christ as we minister to a broken world. 

Dana: These are some words and a prayer that I used to open the RPC Ash Wednesday Service.  May they continue to challenge us to reflect on these in the remaining days of Lent.

“Father God, I find myself tonight so thankful for the liturgical calendar.  For rhythms that remind us to pause and reflect.  For the invitation to stop numbing ourselves or busying ourselves so we don’t notice what really ails us: that the world is not as it should be. 

To remember the tension of being dust and beloved, living and dying, the here and not yet.  That although all of nature will soon remind us that winter and death does have an end – that You have also provided this space.  This muddy place.  This making room for the resurrection of new blooms.

So as we enter into this service, I want to commit to you Lord the words of a prayer, a poem that really captures the cries of my heart, and I hope the cries of others, of a place between dirt and divinity, between ashes and the hope of the resurrection.

“Art and Prayer by Jan Richardson”