Grace Church Offers ‘Ashes to Go’

From Illinois-

Grace Episcopal Church of Freeport is excited to offer a 21st-century twist on the ancient holy day of Ash Wednesday.

On Feb.22, between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., people of all faiths are invited to stop on the sidewalk, or drive up at curbside, for a traditional blessing of ashes without even entering the church. Grace is known fondly as “the church with the red doors” at 10 S. Cherry Ave., and the sidewalk corner at Stephenson and Cherry will be the place to visit.

Copying a similar practice pioneered by Episcopal churches in urban districts of Chicago, Grace is calling the new ministry “Ashes to Go.” According to Father Eldred George, rector at Grace, “Ashes to Go is a relatively new concept for us, but considering that most of Jesus’ ministry was done in open places where he met the people, maybe we’re returning to our very roots.”

For centuries of Ash Wednesdays, Christians have observed what is called the “imposition of ashes,” in which a pastor draws the sign of the cross, using ashes, on the foreheads of the faithful. Curiously, in a way of bringing the church year full-circle, the source of these ashes is the burning of palm branches saved from the previous year’s Palm Sunday.

More here-

http://www.journalstandard.com/lifestyle/faith/x1847528788/Grace-Church-Offers-Ashes-to-Go