For the first time, three of Trumbull's Episcopalian churches combined to move Ash Wednesday outside of the church.
Marking the first day of Lent, about 100 people received ashes on their forehead while standing outside of Starbucks. Easter follows 40 days after Lent.
But it doesn't replace mass, said the Rev. Elsa Worth, priest in charge of Grace Church.
The Rev. Ellen Kennedy, of Trinity Church and the Rev. Louise Kalemkerian of Christ Episcopal Church Tashua joined Worth applying the ashes as traffic whooshed by on White Plains Road.
"Why didn't anybody think of this 40 years ago?" asked Joseph Whyte of Bridgeport.
Charlotte Ready, 17, of Trumbull, received the ashes after dropping a friend off at work. She is a senior at Lauralton Hall in Milford.
