A report from Julie about Ash Wednesday at Dupont Circle

From Julie Bringman, Director of Sunday Night at Foundry ministries --

Some people are calling it Ashes-to-Go; some people say it is a national movement; on a whim, I called it an Ashes-Flash-Mob. Whatever the catch-phrase, a group of people in DC received the imposition of Ashes on their foreheads and heard the words “You come from dust, and you will return to dust, beloved child of God,” without planning for or entering a church.

Peter Dull, Ty Trapps, Sam Hedlund and I got up early Wednesday morning and made our way to the Dupont Metro station for this religious social experiment. We had ashes and hand-made signs reading, “Got Ashes?” We sought to offer this ancient church ritual to anyone interested.

In the 8-9am hour that we were there, countless people filed into and out of the metro. Many with earbuds and newspapers paid no attention; some with ashes already on their forehead smiled in recognition; some asked, “What is this all about?” And some welcomed the invitation and received the ashes.

PBS Religion and Ethics Blog and CNN Belief Blog were curious about this as well. Watch their take on the experience below.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/ashes-to-ashes/10374/

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/22/for-the-rushed-on-ash-wednesday-ashes-on-the-go/

I don’t know what the impact of this social experiment will be; I don’t know if this will become a regular occurrence for Foundry. But I do know we are a church that seeks to have an impact beyond the walls of our building. This was a new expression of this deeply-held Foundry value.

I do know when we are open to the Spirit’s leading, when we are creative with tradition, we make room for God to show up in new ways in our own lives and in the lives of others.

--Julie