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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
For Welcome Back Sunday, Mother Liz explores the parable of workers hired throughout the day but paid the same wage, provoking questions about abundance and what we fear in sharing generously. She welcomes back summer travelers and the returning choir, inviting us to trust in God’s abundance and practice generosity as we gather to do the urgent work we’re called to together.
On the 25th anniversary of September 11, Mother Liz invites us to remember those lost, the first responders’ sacrifice, and the courage and compassion that arose amid devastation. Ascension will be open for prayer and reflection from 8 am to 5 pm, with bells tolling at 8:46. She shares a prayer from Bishop Allen Shin, calling us to confront hatred, resist violence, and make peace.
This week, Mother Liz reflects on a season of profound loss—iconic global, national, and parish figures, as well as global crises—and offers Wendell Berry’s poem “The Wild Geese” as solace. The poem speaks to summer’s end, remembrance of those gone before, and the quiet faith that what we need is already here. “And we pray,” wrote Berry, “not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye clear.”
Father Ed explores René Girard’s mimetic theory—how we unconsciously learn what to desire through imitation. Drawing on gospel examples like John the Baptist’s death and Pilate, he suggests Jesus repeatedly helps listeners recognize their unwitting participation in violence. This Sunday’s gospel shows Peter spectacularly illustrating this mimetic contagion. Father Ed invites us to examine how we’re unknowingly directed toward violence, subtle or overt.
This week our associate rector, Father Ed, reflects on late summer’s quieter rhythm in the city and the subtle shifts in energy he observes while making pastoral calls. He contrasts the effects of anxiety-inducing news cycles with the neurological benefits of worship and faith community—the oxytocin and endorphins that come from fellowship. He encourages us to keep returning to church, trusting that our shared spiritual practice sustains hope.