[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs press release] A new global movement – #washday15 – provides a means for participating in a worldwide Lenten discipline through social media postings on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Facebook.

Initiated by the Diocese of Oxford in England, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society is joining with the Church of England and other provinces throughout the Anglican Communion in #washday15.

The effort was inspired by the video Laundry Love, in which an Episcopal congregation in Santa Monica, CA (Diocese of Los Angeles)  meets at a laundromat once a month to do laundry with the homeless. The goal of #washday15 is to engage people in a Lenten practice, culminating on Holy Thursday, the traditional day for foot washing.

“#Washday15 is all about loving service to others, an ancient Lenten discipline like fasting and prayer that could not be more relevant to the soul of the Church today,” noted Alexander D. Baumgarten, Director of Public Engagement and Mission Communication for the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society.   “In loving service to others, we experience a kind of repentance and conversion — a pivot to a new manner of being — that prepares us to walk in the abundant life of Easter.”

According to the website: “#washday15 is a way of encouraging people to make a difference to their communities this Lent through some kind of washing-related activity. The washing element is a way of re-enacting Jesus’s washing of the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper.”

“Wash something with someone and make a difference in their day-to-day life or in your community. Then share your photos, tweets and posts.” noted Anne Rudig, Director of Communication. “#washday15, like Laundry Love, is modern-day foot washing.”

For more info contact Rudig at arudig@episcopalchurch.org

Links

#washday15 website – www.washday.org

#washday15 school resources here http://washday.org/resources/schools-resources.pdf

Twitter – #washday15

Laundry Love http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/video-programming