Ashes to Go: taking church to the streets

Members of the St Paul’s community fanned out this morning to provide “Ashes to Go”. This movement has
been gaining momentum across the Episcopal Church over the last few years, where clergy or lay people take to the streets on Ash Wednesday, to provide an opportunity to busy commuters who might otherwise be unable to get to church for ashes. St Paul’s teams spread out over downtown, Hillcrest, and the UTC transit center.

Several news sources picked up on this including NBC-San Diego, and a photo-essay in the Union Tribune. One grateful recipient commented to the U/T,

“I needed a blessing so bad, I’ve been looking for work and I’m homeless and I just needed a blessing and anytime I can get a blessing and feel the father’s presence, I’m okay, it just makes me feel better that somebody cares, you know?”

That alone makes it sound like a huge success!