As it has done for the last several years, St. Hugh of Lincoln Episcopal Church in Elgin offered Christians a unique way to start the Lenten season by dispensing ashes via a drive-thru lane rather than during a church service.
The Rev. Marion Phipps provides the Ash Wednesday services and offers each recipient a prayer.
It was something she went into with some skepticism when the idea initially came up five years ago, she admits.
“I wasn’t sure if it was meaningful to just come to a church, get your ashes and leave,” said Phipps, who has been a pastor at the 36W957 Highland Ave. church for 15 years.
A seminary friend convinced her to try it, she said.
“He was going to a train (station) to give people ashes and asking people if he could pray for them,” Phipps said. “He found it very meaningful. I thought it was worth giving it a shot.”
Thirty-six people participated in the first year, and it’s grown steadily since then. Last year, 56 people chose to receive their ashes that way, Phipps said.
“People were really appreciative,” she said. “I was surprised how well it went over. I became a believer.”
The practice of placing ashes on the forehead in the shape of a cross is a symbolic reminder that Christians need to repent their sins and remember that “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The ashes typically come from burned palm branches used in the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebrations.
St. Hugh’s mission is “to know God, to share God and to glorify God,” Phipps said. By offering drive-thru ashes, “it’s a way of sharing God with our neighborhood.”
A few members of St. Hugh’s congregation choose the option if they can’t attend the Ash Wednesday service, she said, but most people aren’t part of the church. She has no idea what denomination they are or church they attend, she said.
“I don’t ask. I offer ashes and ask if there is anything else I can pray for for them and go on to the next car,” Phipps said. “I’m aware these are holy moments with people.”
St. Hugh’s also provides recipients with a prayer card and a pamphlet about the church, including its service times.
Lent — the 40-day period leading up to Easter — is observed with fasting and prayer. There’s no right or wrong way to do Lent, Phipps said.
“It’s an opportunity to renew our relationship with God,” she said. “I look at Lent as a season we can be renewed and grow with our Father.”
In the Bible’s New Testament, a passage in the book of James says, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you,” she said. The message is especially relevant today, she said.
“I always say the world is a mess. It feels messier than usual (right now),” Phipps said. “We are so divided because we are looking at each other and being judgmental. (But) we are all made in the image of God. … I can still have love for (someone with whom I disagree) because they are God’s beloved.”
Sharing her faith, even if it means dispensing ashes outside in cold, rainy weather, is important, she said.
“I will spend my life sharing Jesus with anyone who wants to,” Phipps said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.