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Ashes to Go

Christ Episcopal Church, South Amboy and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Perth Amboy take Ash Wednesday to their local train stations as well as the park and ride bus stop on Rte. 9!

Press Release

On Ash Wednesday, February 14, 2018, Christ Episcopal Church, South Amboy and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Perth Amboy, will once again be offering “Ashes to Go,” which brings a centuries-old Christian tradition outside the church walls at both the Perth Amboy (6:15 am to 8:30 am) and South Amboy (6:00 am to 8:00 am) Train Stations as well as the Park and Ride bus stop on Rte. 9 (6:00 am to 8:30 am). “Ashes to Go” is an effort that has clergy and lay people visiting transit stops, street corners, coffee shops, and college campuses to mark the foreheads of interested passers-by with ashes and invite them to repent of past wrongdoing and seek forgiveness and renewal.

Ashes are an ancient sign of penitence. From the Middle Ages it became the custom to begin Lent by being marked in ash with the sign of the cross. The reminder that we are dust turns our attention to God’s ability to heal the brokenness in our lives. We take ashes to the streets because that reminder of need, humility, and healing shouldn’t be confined to a church building.  We probably need it more when we are in the middle of our daily business! The ashes we receive are to remind us throughout the day of our need for God, and of God’s call to us.

“Ashes to Go” provides the opportunity to participate in that tradition for people who have been away from church, who have never practiced the receiving of ashes or who are not able to get to church on Ash Wednesday. We are in a time where our church looks to be present in our communities in new and non-traditional ways.  This giving of ashes is a reminder of the power of forgiveness and reconciliation which is so needed in these times.

Contact Rev. Anne-Marie Jeffery/ ajeffery@stpetersepiscopal.com/ 732 826 1594 for more information about this event.  More information about the Ashes to Go movement can be found at www.AshesToGo.org

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