From Ashes to Action: Pasadena Churches Transform Lenten Traditions

As Pasadena prepares for Ash Wednesday on March 5, the traditional symbol of ashes carries deeper significance for a community rebuilding after devastating fires. Three local congregations are transforming ancient penitential rituals into platforms for grief recovery, victim support, and communal renewal, with several church leaders and congregants themselves having lost homes in the recent Eaton and Altadena fires.

“Many families at Knox Presbyterian Church, including the pastor and his family, had their homes burn down in the Eaton fire. Ash will be featured as a painful reminder that often change and transition entails deep loss,” said Rev. Dr. Matthew S. Colwell, Senior Pastor at Knox Presbyterian Church.

The liturgical symbolism of ashes—representing both mortality and the promise of renewal—resonates profoundly in Pasadena, where at least 17 lives were lost and thousands of homes and businesses destroyed in January wildfires. For affected congregations, this year’s observances transcend traditional religious practices, becoming meaningful moments for community healing.

Knox Presbyterian, First Baptist Church, and St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church are among local churches offering multiple service times on March 5 to accommodate their congregations.

Knox Presbyterian will host a dinner at 6 p.m. followed by a contemplative service at 6:45 p.m., performed a cappella with a vocal ensemble directed by Jill Colwell that incorporates contemporary songs, traditional hymns, and contemplative refrains, along with times of silence. First Baptist Church will hold a service at 6:00 p.m., while St. Philip offers six services throughout the day: 7:00 a.m., 8:05 a.m. (school mass), 12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m. (bilingual), and 7:00 p.m. (Spanish).

Each church has developed specialized approaches to address community trauma. First Baptist is focusing on grief recovery through a special Lenten Sunday school class.

“We’re doing a grief recovery class. One of our members, his name is John Rinkus, he’s an ordained chaplain in the American Baptist Church. And so he’s leading a Lenten Sunday school class on what we call embodied grief and learning how to move through grief or to support someone who’s going through the grief process with different kinds of practices,” explained Chip Barabas, Community Pastor at First Baptist Church.

The church also offers in-home imposition of ashes for homebound members.

St. Philip is integrating their Ash Wednesday observance into a broader response to the fire crisis, creating new interfaith initiatives.

“This year we’re also going to start the Pasadena connection of in adoration with all the other Catholic churches in Pasadena, especially for all our victims, our fire victims… coming up towards the end of Lent, we’re going to do a procession from each Catholic church to each Catholic church,” said Deacon Mario A. Guerra of St. Philip. This procession, planned for May 17, will be open to all denominations.

The impact of the fires has been substantial across all three congregations.

“We had in our parish, we had six teachers that lost their homes in our school, and we also had six parishioners that lost their homes completely. But of course we had so many more that were impacted and other damages and everything else, including a couple of business owners that belonged our parish,” reported Deacon Guerra.

At First Baptist, several family members lost homes in the Altadena fires, while at Knox Presbyterian, Rev. Colwell and his family lost their home in the Eaton fire.

Despite material losses, faith leaders report that congregants are finding spiritual resilience.

“What those folks are sharing with us is that even though they’ve lost possessions, the beliefs that surround those possessions, love, hope for the future, being connected to others, security of an eternity with Jesus, all of those things are not affected through the loss of tangible items,” said Pastor Barabas.

Rev. Colwell emphasized how the ashes symbolize both destruction and new beginnings: “Even as ashes represent dust, mortality, and loss, in the prophet Daniel’s symbolic action also speaks of hope for a new day emerging out of the ashes — one of faithfulness, concern for the common good, and commitment to the city and its thriving.”

The churches are also providing support for congregants’ Lenten disciplines.

Knox Presbyterian encourages practices such as fasting and sacred reading, offering Kate Bowler’s daily devotional “The Hardest Part: Hurt We Carry, Hope We Find” as a recommended resource. St. Philip follows Catholic traditions of fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstaining from meat on Fridays, complemented by Friday evening Stations of the Cross followed by meatless soup dinners. Deacon Guerra emphasized the three-part Lenten practice of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

All three churches have made accommodations for families and children.

Knox Presbyterian will provide childcare for children under three and a special Ash Wednesday program for children in fifth grade and younger, who will join adults in the sanctuary at the end of the service for the imposition of ashes if they wish. First Baptist offers a nursery for children five and under, while St. Philip includes a dedicated school mass for students and teachers.

The ashes used in the services, typically made from burned palm fronds from the previous year’s Palm Sunday, are marked on worshippers’ foreheads in the shape of a cross. This act inaugurates Lent, a 40-day period mirroring Jesus’ wilderness fast.

Through these collaborative efforts, including interfaith processions and specialized grief support programs, Pasadena’s faith communities are serving as anchors of hope and renewal in a time of crisis, demonstrating how religious traditions can provide both spiritual solace and practical community support.

St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church is located at 151 S. Hill Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106, and can be reached at (626) 793-0693. http://www.stphiliptheapostle.org

First Baptist Church Pasadena is situated at 75 N. Marengo Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101, has a phone number of (626) 793-7164. http://www.fbcpasadena.com.

Knox Presbyterian Church stands at 225 S. Hill Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106, can be contacted at (626) 449-2144.   www.knoxpasadena.org.