Some LGBT-inclusive churches might be adding some sparkle to Ash Wednesday this year, USA Today reports.
New York-based LGBT Christian group Parity has started an initiative for churches to use glitter ashes. The ashes, typically made from the ashes of palm branches, would be mixed with professional makeup-grade purple glitter.
“This is a way for queer Christians and queer-positive persons of faith to say ‘We are here,’” Marian Edmonds-Allen, Parity’s executive director, told USA Today. “It is also a way for other people to be a witness to that and be in solidarity with them.”
Parity’s website says the glitter ashes would serve as a “sign of hope” and “signals our promise to repent, to show up, to witness, to work.”
Parity has already received requests from California, Missouri, Massachusetts, Alabama and Georgia for glitter ashes and is accepting requests from other churches.
