Often you can find small screw-top jars sold for travel toiletries. (If your tradition has a blessing over the ashes, this should generally be done by a priest before anyone administers ashes check your tradition’s liturgical resources.)īring your ashes in a sealable container. This can be a powerful opportunity for individuals to minister to strangers and friends. Lay people may certainly engage people in prayer, and can administer ashes. This is a ministry that may appeal to local clergy groups, but don’t hesitate to invite participation from anyone in your congregation. Ashes to Go is about the church on the move, not the church stuck in one place! Of course, if some one asks you to move, be flexible. If you’d like to be on private property (shopping centers, coffee shops, etc., and some hospitals), or in a public office (the police station, other hospitals), it’s wise to talk ahead of time with the owner or manager, to be sure they are comfortable with what you’ll be doing.
You don’t generally need permission for public space like sidewalks. So might local fire and police departments, or any other places where people work long shifts and can’t get to church. A local hospital that doesn’t have a chaplaincy staff (and even some who do), might welcome a visit from an ashes team for staff as well as patients. Transit stops are great for this, but so are coffeehouses (think about places where political candidates go for informal handshaking!) Think about who you have relationships with near you. Look for a place with lots of pedestrian traffic, or a neighborhood hangout type of place – somewhere where people are comfortable being with strangers.
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