Much as instant coffee doesn’t bear much resemblance to brewed coffee or McDonald’s hamburgers to real beef, so fast-favillous Christianity doesn’t have much in common with the real thing.

Although I think taking the church outside the buildings is generally a good idea, the Ashes to go fad seems to be yet another example of a church clinging desperately to rituals which, over the years, it has worked strenuously to drain of meaning. Having nothing left but the empty husk and their fancy dress, the bishop and her tribe of clerics parade themselves in public, a charade where the bystanders have to guess whether, perhaps, the church is smearing carbon on people as yet another protest against global warming.

From here:

In 2010, the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton joined the international “Ashes to Go” initiative to share God’s love and mercy in informal settings such as train stops, shopping malls and neighbourhood streets.

In the heart of downtown, Bishop Jane Alexander, Dean Neil Gordon, Archdeacon Chris Pappas and Lutheran Pastor Ingrid Dörschel greeted commuters at the Churchill LRT Station.