It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.
—from “Keeping Quiet,” by Pablo Neruda
Please join us for worship Sunday, July 24, at 11 a.m. via Zoom.
“As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.”
Please join us for worship Sunday, July 18, at 11 a.m. via Zoom.
Please join us for worship Sunday, July 11, at 11 a.m. via Zoom.
In this week’s newsletter, the rector shares a prayer poem by Barbara Deming for our spiritual practice “as we ponder heatwaves and hurricanes, habitat destruction and hatred, as we seek to love and care for each other and the more than human world.”
(The image shown above is “Salome with the Head of the Baptist,” 1761, by Mariano Salvador Maella. It, like many other works of art and literature, was inspired by this week’s Gospel lesson.)
Please join us for worship Sunday, July 4, at 11 a.m. via Zoom.
The rector writes: “As Christians, we pray for our country, but we must not make an idol of it. We may love our nation as we love our families, but we must not ignore its failings. We seek to learn and tell the truth about our history and our present. We are called to contribute to our common life, care for the poor, do justice and love mercy, welcome the stranger and love our enemies.”
We are delighted to welcome The Rt. Rev. Mary Glasspool!
Join us Sunday, June 27, at 11:00 a.m. on Zoom for our Pride Sunday worship as we welcome the Rt. Rev. Mary Glasspool, Assisting Bishop of the Diocese of New York, as our guest preacher at Ascension. Bishop Glasspool will also lead a discussion about Pride and her experience as the first openly lesbian Bishop in the Episcopal Church. Don’t miss it!
On Sunday, June 20, the first Sunday in-person worship in more than 15 months will take place at the church at 9 a.m., albeit with some safety precautions, such as continuing to wear masks and maintaining social distance. (While we celebrate the recent news that 70% of adults in New York State have been vaccinated, we recognize that the actual rate varies widely between unique geographic, demographic, economic, and racial groups, and that some people with compromised immune systems are less likely to form an effective immune response even when vaccinated.) You can reserve a pew for a 9 a.m. Sunday service here.
Online at 11 a.m. on Sunday, we’ll continue to gather via Zoom to hear the Word of God, sing hymns, and pray. Please join us!
Join us Sunday, June 13, online via Zoom as we celebrate the Third Sunday of Pentecost. The anthem will be the beautiful Eucaristica by Pablo Casals, and our preacher that day will be our own seminarian Stacey Carpenter. Stacey is sponsored for ordination to the priesthood by Ascension, and has just finished her second year at the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Welcome home, Stacey!
From the rector: “I would welcome your thoughts about how we at Ascension can be part of healing and transformation in our city. What are the needs you see, from where you sit? What are your dreams for New York’s healing and thriving? What should our priorities be as a community of faith, here on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 10th Street, witnessing to God’s love for all?”
On Sunday, June 6, join us via Zoom for online worship at 11 a.m. as seek to “think those things that are right” and by God’s merciful guiding may do them.
News from the rector: “Starting Sunday, June 20, we will offer a 9 am Eucharist in the church. Our initial capacity for that service will be 50 — more than we usually have for our early service on Sunday. As on Wednesdays, we will ask that all wear masks and practice distancing whether you are vaccinated or not. We will not have any socializing indoors for now, but the garden provides a lovely space to connect with each other after the service.”
This Sunday, May 30, we will worship online 11 a.m. via Zoom, observing the one feast of the Christian year not commemorating an event but an underlying tenet of the faith, “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.” Please join us! Holy, holy, holy!
The rector writes: “In the Pentecost story from Acts, the Holy Spirit opens up dreams and visions — new possibilities for being and knowing, acting and serving — to the old and the young, to women and men, to people of every background, faith and status. New truths — both profoundly wonderful and deeply disturbing — are revealed. The Spirit shakes things up, quickening our desire for God’s dream of love and communion, and also showing us how we fall short of that dream, and the ways that we must travel, the amends we must make, and the community we need to respond fully to the divine vision of a renewed and thriving creation.”
Join us Sunday at 11 a.m. online, via Zoom, as we celebrate the birthday of Christ’s church, the Holy Spirit come among us to wake us up and show us what is ours to do in God’s world.