Churchgoers mark Ash Wednesday with service outside ICE office

When members of All Saints Church of Syracuse arrived in a parish van at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Mattydale Wednesday morning, a mantra of inclusivity lined the side of their vehicle.

 “All are welcome,” was written in blue and paired with a rainbow pride flag on the back side of the van. 

About 50 churchgoers and community members participated in a prayer service outside the federal law enforcement offices to mark Ash Wednesday, the traditional start to the Lenten season. 

“Listen to your conscience,” All Saints Church member Leslie Noble said. “I think there are probably a fair number of people who feel really awful about what they’re doing, and so this is an appeal to them too, to remember their humanity.”

Once parked along the road near the ICE field office, participants followed The Rev. Canon Megan Castellan of Episcopal Diocese of Central New York toward the ICE field office parking lot singing “This Little Light of Mine” as hail fell.

Cars with tinted windows entered and exited a smaller gated lot throughout the service, which was surrounded by fences covered in sheer black cloth. 

There were no ICE agents present. Two Department of Homeland Security police officers arrived midway through the event and stood off to the side of the lots. The officers said they did not work for the ICE field office and were present to ensure work at the office was not impeded by the prayer service. 

Adam Eichelberger, the communications director for the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York, said the prayer service was a peaceful gathering and added that he was in contact with the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department before the event. He requested that no participants bring signs to the gathering and said it was not a protest or rally. 

Around 9:30 a.m., about 50 people formed a semi-circle around DeDe Duncan-Probe, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of CNY, the church responsible for organizing the gathering of various local church congregants. 

Duncan-Probe was dressed in a bright red, sleeveless chimere and a striped scarf from Guatemala with pro-LGBTQ+ pins on each side. She addressed the crowd, calling on them to “change our mind” in order to repent for one’s sins. 

Copies of Lenten prayer were passed around to participants that included a Biblical reading from Isaiah and “The Imposition of Ashes,” underlined by the quote, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 

Father Fred Daley, the pastor of All Saints Catholic Church, read aloud an Isaiah reading to discuss the oppression of workers, disdain towards discourse and justice for all. 

“Given the crisis our nation is in, I can’t think of a more meaningful way to begin Lent than to face the ICE containment headquarters here in Syracuse and cry out as people of faith repent, turn around, stop the cruelty and be faithful to the gospel,” Daley said. 

Prior to the start of prayer, Duncan-Probe led the crowd in a moment of silence “to remember those who have been taken.” 

She acknowledged those who have been “harmed” and who struggle with being isolated, alone and afraid. She identified that the silence was for “people of color, the elderly, for ICE agents and their families, for the people that we need to offer repentance to and repentance from.”

Rev. Castellan finalized the prayer reading to the crowd. The crowd formed three lines behind Duncan-Probe, Castellan and the Rev. Canon Deacon David Stickley, who applied ash of palm branches on people’s foreheads in the shape of a cross. 

Following the service the field office, several of the religious leaders relocated to the courtyard of the Federal Building in downtown Syracuse along Clinton Street. There, they offered the imposition of ashes for anyone passing by. They held small glass bowls of ashes next to a sign that read, “Ashes to go.” 

“That’s the cool thing, we can just be out here in the open, and if you’re Christian, not a Christian, whatever – you want ashes we’re going to give them to you, we’ll talk to you and pray with you, and that’s it,” Eichelberger said.