Ash Wednesday - Observing Denominations

Observing Denominations

These Christian denominations are among those that mark Ash Wednesday with a particular liturgy or church service.

• African Methodist Episcopal Church
• African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
• Anglican Communion
• Traditional Anglican Communion
• Individual Baptist churches may hold a service
• Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
• Some congregations of the Church of the Nazarene
• Church of God (Anderson)
• Church of North India
• Church of South India
• Some congregations of Community of Christ
• Ecclesia Gnostica
• Some congregations of the Evangelical Covenant Church
• Some Free Churches (e.g., Free Methodist Church)
• Liberal Catholic Church
• Lutheran Church
• Some congregations of Mennonite Church USA
• Methodist Church in India
• Moravian Church
• Old Catholic Church
• Reformed churches (Presbyterian, United Church of Christ, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), etc.)
• Roman Catholic Church
• United Methodist Church
• Wesleyan Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church does not, in general, observe Ash Wednesday; instead, Orthodox Great Lent begins on Clean Monday. There are, however, a relatively small number of Orthodox Christians who follow the Western Rite; these do observe Ash Wednesday, although often on a different day from the previously mentioned denominations, as its date is determined from the Orthodox calculation of Pascha, which may be as much as a month later than the Western observance of Easter.