This week, Vin Knight and Derek Baker of the 200th Anniversary Committee invite us to remember the Ascension faithful who have gone before us. As part of our bicentennial celebration, the committee is gathering remembrances of parishioners and friends buried from our parish over the past 25 years, to be shared throughout the year. Read this week’s newsletter to learn how you can contribute a remembrance of someone you knew and loved.
For 200 years the Church of the Ascension has served our community with inspiring worship, spiritual nourishment, social engagement, and world-class music. In this celebratory Bicentennial Year, please join us in supporting Ascension with your annual pledge that will help us plan for tomorrow and perpetuate this beautiful gift for current and future generations.
Listen to the sermon preached by the Rev. Elizabeth Maxwell on the Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, October 18, 2026.
This week, the rector introduces this Sunday’s opening hymn, Geoffrey Studdert-Kennedy’s celebration of the common and wondrous things of earth, as we commission our fall stewardship canvass callers. Written by a chaplain who knew war’s cost, the hymn calls us to join the stars, the lark, and the dew in praising God’s generosity, and to give and give again as God has given to us.
Listen to the sermon preached by Yunjeong McSeol on the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, October 11, 2026.
In this week’s newsletter, Mother Liz reflects on Paul’s call to rejoice in God and think on what is true, honorable, and just—a spiritual discipline that counters our negativity bias. And as Dr. Clay Williams begins a three-part Sunday Forum series on “Being Human in an Age of AI,” the rector invites us to practice joy by noticing wonders of human care and grace.
Listen to the sermon preached by the Rev. Ed Chinery on the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, October 4, 2026.
For St. Francis Day, Mother Liz shares Galway Kinnell’s poem about St. Francis blessing a sow, reminding us of the sacred work of “reteaching a thing its loveliness.” Through tenderness and touch, we honor the intricate beauty in all creatures. May we see and bless the loveliness in all God’s creation, including ourselves.
Listen to the sermon preached by the Rev. Liz Maxwell on the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 27, 2026.
In this week’s newsletter, Mother Liz reflects on the Israelites’ wilderness journey, questioning where God is amid fear and scarcity. She explores how we recognize God’s presence—in beauty and answered prayers, but also in our loneliest seasons of loss and injustice. Drawing on the miracle of water from stone, she invites us to notice the hidden, unexpected grace that sustains us through all our journeys and seasons.