Celebrating Ash Wednesday outside of Starbucks
[Ed. Note: Innovative idea, or Just Nuts? You tell me. Ashes to Go website is at www.ashestogo.org. Cheryl M. Wetzel]
http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Celebrating-Ash-Wednesday-outside-of-Starbucks-3339909.php
TRUMBULL (CT)– Would you like your tall latte with one pump of sugar-free vanilla syrup and a sacramental blessing? People getting their coffee fix at the Starbucks in Trumbull Center (CT) can do just that on the first day of Lent this Wednesday.
Priests from two local churches, Grace Church on Main Street and Christ Church in Tashua, will stand at the bus stop outside of the national coffee chain from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and dab ashes on the foreheads and deliver a quick prayer to any passer-by interested in participating in the Christian tradition of Ash Wednesday.
The event, called “Ashes to Go,” is an attempt to reach out to people who may not have time to come into church for the traditional Ash Wednesday sermon, Grace Church rector Elsa Worth said.
“Christian churches are all about following in the path of Jesus and he was always moving, going place to place and bringing healing,” Worth said. “If we never go out of our doors, we’re not following his footsteps.”
Ashes to Go started at an Episcopal church in St. Louis, according to the event’s website. In 2007, the church’s rector organized a “drive thru” for ashes on a busy intersection outside of a popular coffeehouse in one of St. Louis’ business districts. They marked more than 100 people, the website said. The event has spread to clergies in Chicago, parts of California, and New York City.
Worth said she wanted to try it in Trumbull after hearing of similar events in Stamford and Norwalk last year.
“What started as somewhat of a joke among a few of us clergy has become a meaningful, ecumenical, neighborhood event every Ash Wednesday,” the Ashes to Go website said.
Worth said they chose the bus stop outside of Starbucks because it is one of the busiest places in town. She already holds unofficial office hours at Starbucks every Wednesday afternoon. Sometimes congregation members come to chat with her about regular religious business. Other times, regular customers notice her collar and strike up conversations about their own churches.
“We’re excited just to offer it and see what happens,” Worth said. “It feels experimental and it feels welcoming.”
vsingh@ctpost.com; 203-330-6285; http://twitter.com/VintiSingh.
http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Celebrating-Ash-Wednesday-outside-of-Starbucks-3339909.php
Vinti Singh
Updated 12:18 a.m., Saturday, February 18, 2012
TRUMBULL (CT)– Would you like your tall latte with one pump of sugar-free vanilla syrup and a sacramental blessing? People getting their coffee fix at the Starbucks in Trumbull Center (CT) can do just that on the first day of Lent this Wednesday.
Priests from two local churches, Grace Church on Main Street and Christ Church in Tashua, will stand at the bus stop outside of the national coffee chain from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and dab ashes on the foreheads and deliver a quick prayer to any passer-by interested in participating in the Christian tradition of Ash Wednesday.
The event, called “Ashes to Go,” is an attempt to reach out to people who may not have time to come into church for the traditional Ash Wednesday sermon, Grace Church rector Elsa Worth said.
“Christian churches are all about following in the path of Jesus and he was always moving, going place to place and bringing healing,” Worth said. “If we never go out of our doors, we’re not following his footsteps.”
Ashes to Go started at an Episcopal church in St. Louis, according to the event’s website. In 2007, the church’s rector organized a “drive thru” for ashes on a busy intersection outside of a popular coffeehouse in one of St. Louis’ business districts. They marked more than 100 people, the website said. The event has spread to clergies in Chicago, parts of California, and New York City.
Worth said she wanted to try it in Trumbull after hearing of similar events in Stamford and Norwalk last year.
“What started as somewhat of a joke among a few of us clergy has become a meaningful, ecumenical, neighborhood event every Ash Wednesday,” the Ashes to Go website said.
Worth said they chose the bus stop outside of Starbucks because it is one of the busiest places in town. She already holds unofficial office hours at Starbucks every Wednesday afternoon. Sometimes congregation members come to chat with her about regular religious business. Other times, regular customers notice her collar and strike up conversations about their own churches.
“We’re excited just to offer it and see what happens,” Worth said. “It feels experimental and it feels welcoming.”
vsingh@ctpost.com; 203-330-6285; http://twitter.com/VintiSingh.
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