February 17: All Ashes are Not the Same

On Ash Wednesday, we remember our shared humanity and frailty, our common beginning and ending- from dust to dust. We will all die, but all deaths are not equal. The cries of Black Lives Matter and the coronavirus pandemic have made this ever more abundantly clear. What might this mean for us as we are marked with the cross, with or without ashes, this year?

Join pastor and writer Heidi Neumark for this Collegeville Connections virtual event.

Wednesday, February 17, 2021
12 – 1 PM, CST

Did you miss this event? Watch a recording below or on Facebook:

Resources mentioned:

• Sanctuary: Being Christian in the Wake of Trump by Heidi Neumark
• Trinity Place Shelter
• October 2015 article in the Christian Century by Heidi Neumark about her visit to Lbeck
• Hans Holbein’s Dance of Death (1523–5) painting
• Stained glass Mahlaus version of Dance of Death

Heidi Neumark is an author, speaker and Lutheran pastor who has served congregations in the South Bronx and presently in Manhattan. Her experiences in congregational and community organizing in the Bronx led to her first book, Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx. In her present position, Heidi serves as a congregational pastor and the co-founder and executive director of Trinity Place Shelter for LGBTQIA+ youth who are homeless. Her most recent book, Sanctuary: Being Christian in the Wake of Trump, includes many stories from ministry in her very diverse setting. Heidi’s journey of uncovering and reflecting upon her late-life discovery of Jewish roots is chronicled in Hidden Inheritance: Family Secrets, Memory and Faith. Heidi is married to Gregorio Orellano and they are the parents of two adult children, one grandchild and two on the way.