In Camborne we like to do things differently, writes Revd Mike Firbank.

Each month, our church schools, like many others, come to church. However, how does one make ‘ashing’ on Ash Wednesday work with 400 children and 40+ staff and how does one include the children in a meaningful manner?

Simple … make eight Year 6 pupils priests for the morning and teach them to do the ‘ashing’. And that’s what happens. For the second year, four boys and four girls came forward and were ‘ashed’ by me. They then took up their stations and ‘ashed’ up to 100 of their peers accompanying their actions with the words, “Jesus loves you”.

I stood back and watched, humbled by their willingness to engage in something so beautiful and yet so simple.