SOUTHINGTON, Conn. — The lunch hour rush on the Southington Town Green wasn’t for any food items – it was for ashes.
For the second year in a row, Saint Paul's Episcopal Church and the First Congregational Church in Southington teamed up to provide prayers and the ritual of ashes on the forehead for Ash Wednesday.
“We’ve been doing it a long time inside of our building and I think it’s really important that we figure out how to get outside of our buildings,” Rev. Helena Martin from Saint Paul’s said.
Ash Wednesday ushers in Lent, and there was a line of both cars and pedestrians to receive prayers and ashes from Martin.
“This is the second year we’ve done this,” said Martin, "And last year when we did this, we had no idea anyone would come and they did.”
Also performing the ritual of the ashes was
“I think there is a need for this," said Saint Paul’s Church worship leader Quinton Johansen, who was also performing the ritual of the ashes. "With the COVID pandemic and everything else, [this is] thinking outside the box. The church is the people, not the building.”
After placing ashes on the foreheads of a couple who came to the town green, Martin added, “this is tapping into a need – people want to be close to God, even on a busy Wednesday morning.”
Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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