Ashes to Go!

By: Father Chris Harris

Ash Wednesday invites us to come face to face with our mortality, to examine our lives, the things we’ve done and the things we’ve left undone — and to recommit ourselves to God’s way of love. But what if this sacred tradition could extend beyond the church walls? What if we were to take Ash Wednesday to the streets and create space for prayer and spiritual connection in the most unexpected places?

Introducing:  Ashes to Go!

This past Sunday Fr. Bill mentioned some of the unexpected spiritual encounters he had had as a result of wearing his clerical collar to places like grocery stores and coffee houses.  Some of these spontaneous conversations are prayerful, and occasionally deeply moving.  Ashes to Go  is an opportunity to invite similar, spontaneous encounters as clergy and lay people offer ashes to passersby on sidewalks in front of coffee shops and courthouses.

I started doing Ashes to Go before I was even ordained because it’s not every day that you can have a lot of fun while inviting spontaneous prayer with total strangers! I haven’t done it out here in Michigan because of the weather quite frankly, but this year it’s supposed to be 54 degrees!  

Want to join?

If you are interested in joining me we are going to develop three or four teams of folks who will take a sign, set up a sign in front of a coffee shop and offer ashes to anybody interested. And trust me, you will have some of the most intimate spiritual encounters in these fleeting, spontaneous moments. It’s an important opportunity to remind us all that while most people are not in church on Sundays, they nevertheless carry with them the same spiritual longings as we all do. Ashes to Go is just one way to try to share God’s unconditional love with someone needing to hear it.

If you’re feeling called to participate this week, shoot me an email at charris@christchurchcranbrook.org! I will offer a short training at Christ Church Cranbrook  following the 7am  service this Ash Wednesday (March 5, 2025) we’ll divide into teams and head out to Birmingham, Royal Oak, Ferndale and possibly other  locations and stay out until 10am or so.

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