A BISHOP took a new approach to a centuries-old tradition today (Wednesday, February 18).

The Right Reverend Paul Butler, the Bishop of Durham, joined the new international movement Ashes to Go, which sees churchgoers visit public locations to mark people’s foreheads with ashes and invite them to turn from past wrongs and seek forgiveness from Jesus.

Bishop Butler took the idea to the streets of Houghton-le-Spring to mark Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Christian season of Lent – the period before Easter.

The tradition of Christians marking their forehead with ashes on Ash Wednesday goes back centuries.

The bishop said: “People are perhaps losing the sense of Lent and doing this reminds people about Ash Wednesday and gives them the opportunity to think about their mortality and the forgiveness of Christ.

“It’s a conversation starter and some of the conversations that have been created through this have been very interesting.”

Canon Sue Pinnington, rector of Houghton-le-Spring, said: “Ashes to Go is about bringing the important traditions of our faith out from behind church doors and into the places we need them every day.

“It allows people to see the church on the streets, where they are, and dealing with issues that they may have, through prayer, putting ashes on the head or through conversations.”