Author: The Rev. Melanie Hardison

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). All of us carry heavy burdens from time to time. Even though we feel these burdens internally, we are not meant to carry them alone.

This year’s Caring Ministries Spring Symposium, this Saturday, March 7, from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, explores how grief shapes our inner lives, our relationships, and our shared world. In addition to viewing the documentary Voices of Grief as a group, a panel of clinicians and faith leaders will explore various types of grief: personal, societal, ambiguous, and anticipatory. Panelists include:

Emilee Duckworth, MSW, LCSW, has a private therapy practice in West Chester specializing in grief and loss, chronic pain and illnesses, anxiety, and life transitions
Carla Levins, LCSW, FT, serves as a bereavement specialist and therapist with both children and adults at Peter’s Place in Radnor
Rev. Beth Toler, Th.D., M.Div., LMFT, an ordained Baptist minister, has a private practice and serves in our Middleton Counseling Center
Rev. Melanie Hardison, M.Div., MAMFT, serves as Associate Pastor for Congregational Care at BMPC

Following the panel, there will be a chance to gather in small groups, with the panelists rotating among the groups. We will conclude at 12:00 noon with a group blessing.

For those who need a break or a quiet place to process at any point in the morning, space will be set aside in the Converse House Parlor. Additionally, the BMPC Chapel will be available for prayer and reflection after the Symposium and throughout the season of Lent.

Our Caring Ministries team looks forward to shining a light of hope on the universal experience of loss and grief. Registration is encouraged, and walk-ins are always welcome.

Each year on Ash Wednesday, these familiar and grounding words land in my soul in the softest of places. A reminder of my mortality, these words can be at once discomforting as well as soothing: discomforting because we humans do not like to think of death, and soothing because they remind me that I have a place of belonging in the natural order of things: to God as God’s precious child, to the earth from which we all came, and to the human family. As we gather together as a body of faith, we proclaim and bring into our hearts once again the ancient words from Genesis 3:19: From dust you come, and to dust you shall return.  

This coming Wednesday, February 18, we will mark ourselves with ashes and these words during two worship services: a child-friendly service at 5:30 p.m. in the Chapel, and a traditional service at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary.

Of course, Ash Wednesday also marks the beginning of Lent. Historically, the focus has been on confession and expressing our reliance on God’s grace. As The Rev. David Gambrell writes in the Book of Common Worship of the PC(USA), “Ashes are an ancient symbol of repentance, sorrow, and sacrifice. Traditionally, the ashes for this service are made from the palm branches of the previous year; thus, the ashes and psalm together frame the season of Lent.”

While many churches today simply order ashes online, our practice at BMPC is to engage the age-old practice of burning last year’s dried-up palms on the Sunday prior to Ash Wednesday, and then to mark our foreheads (or hands for those who prefer) with the ashes.

As you receive the ashes on Wednesday, I invite you to remember last year’s Palm Sunday celebration and to reflect on God’s promise of love throughout the cycle of life. Similarly to the way that palm fronds were once vibrant forms of life, which then died and became something new in the form of ashes, we ourselves live vibrant lives, and then die, and then are resurrected to new life. On Ash Wednesday, there is a sense, too, that even as we are living, we “die to our old selves” and have the opportunity to be renewed in the presence of God and the community of faith.

Information about the 5:30 p.m. service can be found here. The 7:00 p.m. service will feature the artwork and poetry of Jan Richardson, an artist, writer, and ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. I invite you to visit her website The Painted Prayerbook and search for “Ash Wednesday” in order to peruse her artwork and poetry as a way of preparing your heart and mind for worship on Wednesday. I also invite you to read and contemplate the scriptures for Wednesday in advance: the 5:30 p.m. service will focus on Micah 6:6-9 and John 1:35-50, and the 7:00 p.m. service will focus on John 3:16-17 and Psalm 51:1-15.

Friends, it is from dust that you come, and it will be to dust that you return. I look forward to worshiping with you on Wednesday.

Many, many thanks to you, BMPC, for all the ways that you have so warmly welcomed me into the life and ministry of this congregation. Since arriving on October 5, it has been an absolute delight to meet so many of you at worship on Sunday mornings as well as other spaces in the life of the church. I am grateful for every interaction and connection made so far. Thank you.

In addition to the joy of getting to know you, I feel I have stepped into life at BMPC at a very rich time. Even though we are in the midst of some transition (which always means the Holy Spirit is breathing new life among us), the church is in a strong position in many ways. And while we do not yet know what the future holds, we trust in God to see us through.

As we are reminded in Isaiah 41 and 43
​​”Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand…

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

Personally, I feel excited and energized about this new chapter of ministry, not only for myself, as your new Associate Pastor for Congregational Care, but for what God through the Holy Spirit will yet do in our midst as all of us work together toward God’s promised new day. In this season of gratitude for which we have so much to be thankful, I give thanks that God saw fit to call me here, in this time and place, to live and serve among you. Thanks be to God.