Category: News

In this week’s newsletter, Mother Liz shares how a historian’s request about Pete and Toshi Seeger’s 1943 wedding led to a discovery: the couple married in Ascension’s All Saints Chapel. The marriage register also revealed the officiant, Edward George Harris, a former assistant priest here who later became a distinguished Episcopal leader. As we celebrate our bicentennial, the parish is collecting stories of its saints and its place in New York and Episcopal history, sharing these findings in the weekly newsletter.

In this week’s newsletter, the rector invites us to consider Ascension’s columbarium as a resting place for ashes, a dignified space where loved ones can be remembered and visited. Prices rise at the start of 2027, so current rates apply through the end of this year. She notes that planning ahead can bring peace to us and those who love us, and offers to talk through these decisions with those who may wish to.

In this week’s newsletter, Mother Liz reflects on the thin veil between worlds during Halloween, All Saints, and All Souls, when we remember our beloved dead and give thanks for the saints who inspire us. Drawing on 1 John, she reminds us that we are God’s children now, even as what we will become remains unrevealed, and invites us to open our hearts with thanksgiving on this journey together.

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.

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.