Local church holds drive-thru Ash Wednesday

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, leads to six weeks of penitence before Easter. Like many traditions, the pandemic has forced changes in how it will be observed.

In Leland, the Bridge Presbyterian Church adapted to make Ash Wednesday safe and creative.

Instead of holding an in-person service, they held a drive thru. Pastor Doug Cushing offered blessings through car windows, marking men and women with ash their foreheads or hands. Cushing and congregants would recite this prayer with each new cross:

“As an act of repentance, and hope for our new life in Christ, I impose these ashes on you. Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Oh Lord, accomplish in me the work or your salvation. Amen.”

More than 100 worshippers were welcomed from noon to 1 pm, and second drive-thru was held from 5 pm to 6:30.