Clergy are available for confession and counsel around services on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Confession is an invitation to encounter God’s extraordinary grace and forgiveness, in a confidential, face-to-face conversation with a priest. You may make an appointment for a confession at any time by contacting the pastoral staff; or simply come to the Chapel of Grace at open hours between services on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday.

In The Episcopal Church, we often approach confession with the refrain “all may, none must, some should.” Confession may be a spiritual discipline you feel called to undertake during the penitential season, or a response to an event that weighs on your conscience. In preparation, it is helpful to set aside time to reflect on our lives in light of God’s presence and call to us, traditionally called “the examination of conscience.” Resources such as the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the first portion of the Great Litany, or The Seven Social Sins, can be helpful optics through which to view your life. The idea is not to make an exhaustive list of shortcomings, but to have a sense of when you are working in concert with the divine, and when you are willingly turning from God. One or two representative sins are sufficient.

The priest will guide you through the rite of reconciliation. and may recommend a prayer or spiritual practice, text to meditate on, or movement toward reconciliation with another person.

God’s love is always stronger than our fear; God’s forgiveness always greater than our sin. There is nothing you can do to remove God’s goodness, but confession offers a pathway of inward transformation that makes us more receptive to God and more free to live in communion with God, our neighbor, and ourselves.