This Week at Ascension + April 19, 2023

"Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." - Psalm 96

Wednesday, April 19

St. Alphege,

Archbishop of Canterbury,

and Martyr, 1012

Evening Prayer at 6:00 p.m. via ZOOM

In-person and Live-streamed Said Mass

at 6:30 p.m.

Unction will be available for those who wish it.

VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE

The Third Sunday of Easter

April 23, 2023

7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer via ZOOM

9 a.m. Sung Mass

11 a.m. Solemn Mass -

In-person & Live-streamed

The 11 a.m. Order of Worship may be found here.

Image: Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio, 1601, National Gallery, London

Click to join us VIA YOUTUBE

or VIA FACEBOOK LIVE

Photos for the new Ascension Pictorial Directory will be taken this Sunday, April 23rd, After the 9 a.m. Mass and

Before and After the 11 a.m. Mass.

From the Curate

Reach out to encounter your neighbor

When I first started at Ascension more than two years ago, coordinating outreach opportunities was rather complicated. For a while, we had to limit how many could help with the food pantry. When I had someone from RefugeeOne come talk to us, we had to do it on Zoom. Even they had suspended some of their volunteer programming because of the limits on in-person interactions. So, we gathered winter coats and calendars and household items for our newly arrived neighbors, and I made trips to RefugeeOne’s to drop them off. For our short-lived bagged lunch ministry, a group of young adults prepared meals here, and I lugged boxes of bagged lunches down the street to Chicago Help Initiative every Wednesday morning. 

Outside of the food pantry, much of our outreach ministry has allowed us to remain fairly removed from our encountering our neighbors and siblings in Christ. I sense a change in the air, however. At the end of this month, a group will spend time preparing a meal together and then sharing it with formerly incarcerated residents at St. Leonard’s. We have Ellie Simpson and Clarissa Galaviz to thank for coordinating that group. (More info from them below.) 

We also have provided some support to an asylum-seeking family that joins us to help pack grocery bags at our monthly food pantry. Here’s an update on that ministry: First, thanks to everyone who donated kitchen items and gift cards so that they can prepare food in their hotel. Currently, I’m working with the Sanctuary Diocese Task Force on finding housing for this family, as they will be evicted from the hotel that the city is providing them in June. Because they are asylum seekers and not refugees, getting them connected with RefugeeOne has been more complicated, not to mention that there are more and more asylum seekers from many different countries right now thanks to political turmoil across the globe. I would gladly receive assistance if you or anyone you know has housing to offer or is more skilled in seeking and finding it. Seminary doesn’t teach you how to navigate the fraying social safety net for those in need! 

RefugeeOne has re-opened their parish sponsorship program to support newly arriving refugee families, which involves financial support, yes, but also the kind of help that requires hands and feet (such as meeting families at the airport, setting up their new home before they arrive, regular visits to help them learn English). The newly formed Outreach Committee has expressed interest in learning more about this opportunity and we were working on getting a date for an information session with RefugeeOne. (If you are interested in joining the Outreach Committee, please contact committee co-chairs Seán Hansen or Ian Barillas-McEntee).

Outreach requires exactly that, reaching outward, beyond our comfort zones and outside of our selves. It is here where we can truly encounter one other and know the loving, liberating work of Jesus Christ. 

—Mtr. Murphy-Gill

Details for St. Leonard’s House Visit on Sunday, April 30

Many thanks to everyone who has volunteered to assist with cooking and serving dinner at St. Leonard’s on Sunday, April 30! We are very grateful to see such an enthusiastic response from Ascension members to serve our Chicago neighbors on this visit! 

We have decided on a menu for dinner. The volunteer coordinator at St. Leonard’s requested that we cook and bring enough food for 40 people. We are preparing a main dish, a side dish, a salad, and a dessert. We’ve decided to do Shepherd's Pie, Pasta Salad, Greek Salad, and a Trifle. 

We are happy to have as many helping hands as possible to help in the kitchen on April 30. We’ll divide folks into teams on the cooking day to tackle the different recipes (Kitchen Nightmares style , not really, we promise). Unfortunately, they’ve requested to keep the volunteer group on-site at St. Leonard’s to 12 people maximum. 

If you plan to help prepare the meal, please bring your own lunch to church on April 30. Following the Mass, the volunteers will eat together in St. Michael Hall at 12:30 p.m. and begin cooking at 1 p.m. By 3:15 p.m. we’ll pack all the food up, and those going to St. Leonard’s must sign a volunteer form which will be here at the church the day we’re cooking.

We’ll be taking cars and Ubers to and from St. Leonard’s. If you’ve signed up to volunteer already, you will receive an email by the end of the week from Clarissa confirming whether you can come with us to St. Leonard’s or if you are on a waitlist for it. A calendar invite will follow as well. If you have questions or need to update your RSVP, please email Ellie and Clarissa.

We are looking for someone with a car to assist with shopping for food on Saturday, April 29. If you’re available and don’t mind a bit of grocery shopping, we’d love the assistance! 

You can email (elizabeth.robertssdg@gmail.com and clarissa@nlaw.northwestern.edu) or text/call 773-691-2020.

Forward Day by Day

The May-June-July 2023 edition of Forward Day by Day will be available in the narthex on Sunday, April 23. Regular and Large print editions are both available while supplies last.

Each Forward Day by Day features daily inspirational meditations reflecting on specific scripture passages, chosen from the daily lectionary readings as listed in the Revised Common Lectionary or the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer. The meditations, written by a different author each month, are rich in substance and offer a wide range of witness and experiences.

Enquirer's Class

Continuing on 30 April, we have an Enquirer’s Class meeting at 12:45 p.m. in the Library This is an opportunity for anyone exploring joining Church of the Ascension and The Episcopal Church to learn more about us, our history, polity, and liturgy. It is also an opportunity for others who would like to reaffirm their commitment to the church. The culmination of the class will be Confirmation, Reception, or Reaffirmation by our bishop at her visitation on 18 May, the Feast of the Ascension. Please speak to either Fr. Heard or Mtr. Murphy-Gill if you are interested.

Prayer Requests

Do you have a need for special prayer in your life? Whether your prayer needs are because you have an upcoming surgery, an ill family member, or you’re just feeling particularly lonely lately, Fr. Heard and Mtr. Murphy-Gill would like to know.

We’ve created a way for letting us know about your requests for prayers in a way we hope makes it easy for you to reach out, though you can always call the church or reach out to one of the priests personally. 

Share your prayer requests here.

For our prayers: Cynthia Perrizo, James Christiansen, Nikki Shaw, Lee Gould, John Schram, Gertrude Isaac, Thomas Wikman, MB Hwang, Luis & Rocio Hernandez, Juanita Malone, Oksana, Eric Magnuson, Mary W., Tyler, David S. Jones, Richard Francis Tracz, Thom Racina,

Robert Browning, Natalia & Victor, Dorothy, Victor Fernandez, Claire Green,

Beth Hall, Sue Lenz, Brenda Martins

Birthdays: Shelley Hedley, 4/17; DiAnne Walsh, 4/20; Bill Wilson, 4/20;

Sean Hansen, 4/20; David R. White, 4/21

Requiescat in pace: J. Mark Baker, 4/5/2023; Bob West, 4/4/2023;

George Whitman, 4/15/1993; Carl Thomas Ginwright, 4/18/1990; James W. Faber, 4/22/2007

Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them;

May their souls and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Prayer for the Rector Search Committee

Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for this parish family. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent. Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a rector for The Church of the Ascension that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.



Organ and Choral Repertoire for April 23, 2023

Between Masses, please don’t forget that The Choir of the Ascension has recorded upwards of 60 tracks that you can listen to anywhere you have an internet connection. They can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/choir-of-the-ascension

Weekly Ascension Schedule

For connections:

via Zoom (click here)

SUNDAYS

7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer via Zoom

9:00 a.m. In-person Sung Mass

11:00 a.m. In-person and Live-Streamed Solemn High Mass

VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE

MONDAY-FRIDAY

7:30 A.M. Morning Prayer via FACEBOOK LIVE

6:00 p.m. Evening Prayer via Zoom

WEDNESDAYS

6:30 p.m. Said Mass

VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE

Wardens and Vestry of Church of the Ascension

LaVerne Rollé Saunders, Sr. Warden;

SeniorWarden@AscensionChicago.org

David Reeves, Jr. Warden;

JuniorWarden@AscensionChicago.org

Ian Barillas-McEntee, Jim Lo Bello, Ken Cozette, Marlea Edinger, Sean Hansen,

David A. Robertson, Elizabeth Simpson, Joshua Simpson, Samuel Sommers, Clerk



Susan Schlough, Treasurer

Finance@ascensionchicago.org

Br. Nathanael Deward Rahm BSG, Parish Office

Office@ascensionchicago.org

Approved minutes of Vestry meetings are always available online to parishioners who request the link. If you would like Internet access to these Vestry Minutes, please email the Parish Office and request the link. Once you access the web page, you can read all recent Vestry meeting minutes.

The link remains live indefinitely. Any parishioner who has the link will not need to request a new link from month to month.