Pittsburgh Episcopal Diocese Offering 'Ashes To Go'
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The bishop and priests of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh were marking the beginning of Lent with "ashes to go" at several nontraditional locations, in hopes of reaching people who cannot, or would not feel comfortable, attending an Ash Wednesday service at church.
Bishop Dorsey McConnell will distribute ashes from about 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Market Square, an open-air gathering place popular with the city's downtown luncheon crowd. Other priests will distribute ashes outside a church in the city's Shadyside business district, and at a light-rail train station in the suburb of Mount Lebanon.
Some Protestants, and all Catholic churches, distribute ashes on the forehead as a sign of repentance and renewal as the 40-day season leading to Easter begins.
The ashes are available to people regardless of their denomination.
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