Drive-thru ashes at St. John’s
in kingston (above) and many
other Hudson Valley churches
KINGSTON – For the second year, the Episcopal Churches in the Mid-Hudson Valley will be bringing Ash Wednesday to the people.
This year, Ash Wednesday is celebrated on Valentine’s Day, February 14, and church clergy will be at various locations in Kingston, Stone Ridge, Rhinebeck and Hyde Park where they will offer ashes to whoever requests them.
Last year, over 200 were reached and the Rev. Michelle Meech, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Kingston, said while success is not necessarily measured by the number of people, it is rather based on if they reached someone’s soul and helped them to rekindle something they have been missing in their life.
“We had a lot of people who expressed authentic gratitude with us when we were standing on the curb with them,” Meech said. “Some people had tears in their eyes and some people joyful, so I think it was successful from that perspective.”
Rev. Chuck Kramer, rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Hyde Park, said that offering ashes-to-go last year provided “some good conversations about why we have ashes, what Lent is, and who Jesus is.”
This Wednesday clergy will be at the Amtrak station in Rhinecliff from 5:30 a.m. to 7:45 a.m.; at Cranberry’s at Tilly Hall Coffee Shop in Hyde Park from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.; in Stone Ridge at Emmanuel’s Market Plaza from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and in Kingston in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church from 6:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
