AscensionNYC

Blankets and Coats Needed for Homeless LGBTQ Youth

2009-10-26T17:56:00.001-04:00

Ascension's Social Concerns and Action Committee is collecting donations of blankets (new) and coats (clean) in adult sizes ranging from small to large for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) homeless youth served by the Streetworks drop-in centers on the Lower East Side and Harlem. Streetwork clients (children, teens and young adults up to age 24) are often victims of violence and abuse. At Streetworks they can feel safe, empowered, cared for and encouraged as they move from crisis to confidence. Please drop off blankets and coats at the basket in the Nave on Sundays, or at the Parish House during regular office hours.

Observe the Observer

2009-10-19T11:01:00.002-04:00

Join us for a presentation and discussion in the Parish Hall (12 W. 11th St.) on Thursday, October 22nd from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with Helen Grace Wangusa, the Anglican Communion Observer at the U.N.

According to the Web site for the office of the U.N. Anglican Observer:

A lay woman from Uganda, Hellen Grace Wangusa holds a BA (Hons), Diploma Ed (Hons) and an MA in Modern Letters. Her undergraduate studies were taken at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, where she worked as a teaching assistant and later as a lecturer for the Literature Department. After leaving this post, Wangusa worked as the National Women's coordinator for the Anglican Church of Uganda and was responsible for developing national programs, fundraising and managing a staff of 27 women. She was also the national link person for the global Mothers' Union movement and the Anglican Communion.

From 1997-2004, Wangusa worked as coordinator of African Women's Economic Policy Network (AWEPON), a faith based women's organization in Africa that also co-ordinates the UN's Millennium Campaign for Eastern Africa. In this role, she advocated for policies that meet the needs of women, children and those from marginalized groups, and ensured that those most affected were central in influencing economic decision making.

Wangusa is one of the founding members of AWEPON, as well as Gender and Economic Research in Africa (GERA), and the Council for Economic Empowerment of Women in Africa (CEEWA). She successfully reactivated two organizations that had been closed: The Joint Mothers' Union and Women's office in the Province of the Church of Uganda and AWEPON.

With her experience as a representative to the United Nations for the World Council of Churches (WCC), Wangusa said she will be able to deepen her contribution to the Anglican Communion as a key player in promoting International Relations at the UN through Peace, Dialogue and Diplomacy.

Open House New York, Oct 10-11

2009-09-19T20:15:00.002-04:00

openhousenewyork hosts year-round educational programs celebrating New York City’s built environment, culminating in America’s largest architecture and design event, the Annual openhousenewyork Weekend. And this year, October 10-11, the Church of the Ascension, as one of New York's pre-eminent sites of sacred architecture, will be hosting OHNY tours each afternoon, from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. OHNY volunteers — as well as volunteers from the parish — will be on hand to point out some of Ascension's architectural treasures. For more information about openhousenewyork, visit their Web site. For more information about Ascension's architectural and artistic history, you've come to the right place.

Word up! Bishops and Deputies are in the House!

2009-07-07T13:31:00.004-04:00

The 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church convenes today, Tuesday, July 7, in Anaheim, California. (Ascension parishioners Michael Macdonald and Sarah Johnson will be attending the General Convention.) Both the Episcopal News Service and the Church Pension Fund Web sites will provide more authoritative information about the various deliberations and decisions made during the Convention. Visit these sites for more information about this triennial gathering of Episcopalians: bishops in the House of Bishops, and clergy and laypeople in the House of Deputies.

Jazz Benefit, Thursday, June 11, 7pm

2009-06-09T10:29:00.002-04:00

Ascension Outreach Presents: The Russell Branca Quintet, a fundraiser to benefit the Ascension Outreach Food Pantry, 7 p.m. in the Parish Hall, $25 suggested donation, all donations go directly to the purchase of food.

Join us!

Professional Network Group: upcoming events

2009-05-18T16:55:00.004-04:00

Upcoming Meetings: Save the dates and spread the word!

June 4 Thursday evening Special Guest Speaker, Ascension Parish Hall
Career Resilience: Planning for Success

Guest speaker Jim Borland, PhD, a distinguished career counselor, shares his perspective on what it takes to succeed today, based on his extensive experience working with individuals and corporations, not-for-profits and public service
organizations. Ascension Professional Network Group is pleased to welcome him, so mark your calendar, invite your friends and spread the word! Learn more about Jim at http://www.drborland.com. 6:30-8:30 pm, Parish Hall.

June 14 Sunday
Dealing with the Psychological Challenges of Career Transition

Fellow Ascension parishioner Stanley Weinberg, a highly experienced psychologist, leads the discussion. Come with your questions and bring a friend who’s thinking about career transition. 1:00pm in the ground floor of the rectory, 7 West 10th Street.

July 12 Sunday
Am I called to ordination?

If you think that you may have a call to the ordained life as a priest or a deacon, or simply want to find out more, then join us for an informal discussion about the process of ordination at 1:00pm in the ground floor of the rectory, 7 West 10th Street. Thanks to Fr. Mark Hummel, who will lead the discussion.

Daily online Bible study, led by Ascension parishioner

2009-04-18T17:43:00.003-04:00

Ascension parishioner Janine Economides is blogging her reflections on the scripture lessons of the Daily Office, the daily devotional practice of Morning and/or Evening Prayer in the Episcopal Church (and other Anglican churches) for individuals and groups.

We've added a link to her blog on the navigation bar that appears everywhere else on this site (EXCEPT here on the blog; a technical limitation of the blog publishing tool) under "Links > Scripture > Daily Bible Study." Or you can bookmark it directly: http://dailyexegesis.blogspot.com/.

In the comments section, add your reflections to Janine's regarding the lesson chosen from that day's lectionary. Such online discussions can help each of us who pray the Daily Office connect with fellow pilgrims engaging in this same prayer discipline.

Ascension Professional Networking Group

2009-04-15T02:31:00.003-04:00

Sunday, March 8, April 5, May 3

A social network focused on career enhancement and career transition, through the exchange of information, ideas and contacts, among members and with occasional guest speakers. The group kicked off January 5 with guest speaker Brad Agry; the next meetings are scheduled Sundays at 12:45 p.m.: Feb 8, Mar 8, Apr 5 and May 3, in the ground floor conference room. All are welcome to attend. For more information, please contact Mary Kay Rafferty: 212-691-9018, or mkrafferty@yahoo.com

Discovery & Initiation classes: March - May

2009-04-15T02:26:00.002-04:00

Do you want to explore issues of faith, or a spiritual life, or relationship with God?

I want to find out more about baptism.
Although already baptized, I want to become a part of Ascension’s life.
I have been baptized and confirmed in another tradition, but want to become an Episcopalian.
I have always been an Episcopalian, but I want to deepen my understanding of what it means to be an Episcopalian.

The conversations about each evening's topic begin over a light supper, followed by a presentation by the clergy. Each evening ends with the prayers for the close of the day. The first four "Discovery Classes" are open to all. The final four "Initiation Classes" are intended for those seeking Baptism, Confirmation, Reception or Reaffirmation on Ascension Sunday, May 17th at the 11:00 a.m. Eucharist. Please sign up in the Parish Hall.

Classes:
March 24 - Where did the Episcopal Church come from, and how is it organized?

March 31 - How is the Bible the living word of God?

April 07 - What do Episcopalians do in Church?

April 14 - What do we have to believe in order to be a Christian?

Initiation Classes

April 21 - How did God become important in your life?

April 28 - Where does Ascension fit into the New York church scene?

May 5 - How do you make your spiritual life real?

May 12 -How do you get ready to join the Episcopal Church?

Bible study blog

2009-04-14T04:01:00.002-04:00

Ascension parishioner (and national Episcopal Church employee) Sarah Johnson started a blog a few months ago to generate a discussion among Episcopalians about the lessons they're going to hear the next Sunday in church. Take a look and give next Sunday's lessons a thought ahead of time. You may hear them very differently and with new-found apreciation after you've reflected on them and discussed on the Revised Common Lectionary Bible Study blog.

Web site redesign in progress

2009-04-13T03:07:00.002-04:00

Please bear with us as we complete a redesign of the Ascension Web site. Some links don't yet work, others need to be added, and some pages are still in the process of being redesigned. But come back soon to see us once the dust settles!

Easter

2009-04-12T01:30:00.000-04:00

Easter Wings

Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,
Though foolishly he lost the same,
Decaying more and more
Till he became
Most poore:

With thee
O let me rise
As larks harmoniously,
And sing this day thy victories:
Then shall the fall further the flight in me.

My tender age in sorrow did beginne:
And still with sicknesses and shame
Thou didst so punish sinne,
That I became
Most thinne.

With thee
Let me combine,
And feel this day thy victorie:
For, if I imp my wing on thine,
Affliction shall advance the flight in me.

— George Herbert (1593-1633)

Holy Saturday, April 11

2009-04-11T01:28:00.001-04:00

Psalm 27 / Hebrews 4:1-16 / Romans 8:1-11

When without teares I looke on Christ, I see
only a story of some passion
Which any common eye may wonder on
butt if I look through tears Christ smiles on mee
yea there I see my selfe: and from that tree
he bendeth downe to my devotione
And from his side the blood doth spinn, whereon
My hart, my mouth, mine eyes, still sucking bee.
Like as in Optick workes,* one thing appears
In open gaze, in Closer otherwise:
Then since tears see the best I aske in teares
Lord either thaw mine eyes to tears, or freeze
my teares to eyes, or lett my hart tears bleede
or bringe, where eyes, nor tears, nor blood shall neede.

— William Alabaster (1568-1640)

*Optick workes: drawings or constructions designed according to theories of optics or perspective.

Good Friday, April 10

2009-04-10T01:25:00.000-04:00

Psalm 22 / 1 Peter 1:10-20 / John 13:36-38

The Agonie

    Philosophers have measur'd mountains,
Fathom'd the depths of seas, of states, of kings,
Walk'd with a staffe to heav'n, and traced fountains:
    But there are two vast, spacious things,
The which to measure it doth more behove:
Yet few there are that sound them; Sinne and Love.

    Who would know Sinne, let him repair
Unto mount Olivet; there shall he see
A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,
    His skinne, his garments bloudie be.
Sinne is that presse and vice*, which forceth pain
To hunt his cruell food through ev'ry vein.

    Who knows not Love, let him assay
And taste that juice, which on the crosse a pike
Did set again abroach;** then let him say
    If ever he did taste the like.
Love is that liquour sweet and most divine,
Which my God feels as bloud; but I, as wine.

— George Herbert (1593-1633)

*vice: vise, the tool.
**abroach: to pierce (a cask, etc.) so as to let a liquor flow out

Maundy Thursday, April 9

2009-04-09T01:25:00.000-04:00

Psalm 102 / 1 Corinthians 10:14-17, 11:27-32 / John 17:1-11

Hunger and thirst, O Christ, for sight of thee,
Came between me and all the feasts of earth.
Give thou thyself the Bread, thyself the Wine,
Thou, sole provision for the unknown way.
Long hunger wasted the world wanderer,
With sight of thee may he be satisfied.

— Radbod, Bishop of Utrecht (d. 917)

(tr. Helen Waddell, from Mediaeval Latin Lyrics, Penguin, 1968)

Wednesday in Holy Week, April 8

2009-04-08T01:23:00.000-04:00

Psalm 55 / Philippians 4:1-13 / John 12:27-36

Look on thy God, Christ hidden in our flesh,
A bitter word, the cross, and bitter sight:
Hard rind without, to hold the heart of heaven.
Yet sweet it is; for God upon that tree
Did offer up his life: upon that rood
My Life hung, that my life might stand in God.
Christ, what am I to give Thee for my life?
Unless take from Thy hands the cup they hold,
To cleanse me with the precious draught of death.
What shall I do? My body to be burned?
Make myself vile? The debt's not paid out yet.
What'er I do, it is but I and Thou,
And still do come short, still must Thou pay
My debts, O Christ; for debts Thyself hadst none.
What love may balance Thine? My Lord was found
In fashion like a slave, so that His slave
Might find himself in fashion like his Lord.
Think you the bargain's hard, to have exchanged
The transient for the eternal, to have sold
Earth to buy Heaven? More dearly God bought me.

— Paulinus, Bishop of Nola (353-431)

(tr. Helen Waddell, from Mediaeval Latin Lyrics, Penguin, 1968)

Tuesday in Holy Week, April 7

2009-04-07T01:23:00.000-04:00

Psalm 6 / Philippians 3:15-21 / John 12:20-26

Grief

I tell you, hopeless grief is passionless;
That only men incredulous of despair,
Half-taught in anguish, through the midnight air
Beat upward to God's throne in loud access
Of shrieking and reproach. Full desertness,
In souls as countries, lieth silent-bare
Under the blanching, vertical eye-glare
Of the absolute Heavens. Deep-hearted man, express
Grief for thy Dead in silence like to death —
Most like a monumental statue set
In everlasting watch and moveless woe
Till itself crumble to the dust beneath.
Touch it; the marble eyelids are not wet.
If it could weep, it would arise and go.

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

Monday in Holy Week, April 6

2009-04-06T01:21:00.000-04:00

Psalm 51:1-18 / Philippians 3:1-4 / John 12:9-19

I wake and feel the fell* of dark, not day,
    What hours, O what black hours we have spent
    This night! what sights you, heart, saw; ways you went!
And more must, in yet longer light's delay.
With witness I speak this. But where I say
    Hours I mean years, mean life. And my lament
    Is cries countless, cries like dead letters sent
To dearest him that lives alas! away.

I am gall, I am heartburn. God's most deep decree
Bitter would have me taste: my taste was me;
    Bones built in me, flesh filled, blood brimmed the curse.
Selfyeast of spirit a dull dough sours. I see
The lost are like this, and their scourge to be
    As I am mine, their sweating selves; but worse.

— Gerard Manley Hopkins (1884-1889)

*fell: pelt, an animal's skin; also gall, bitterness.

Saturday, April 4

2009-04-04T01:19:00.000-04:00

Psalm 144 / Romans 11:25-36 / John 11:28-44

Sonnet of Black Beauty

Black beauty, which above that common light,
    Whose power can no colors here renew
    But those which darkness can again subdue,
Dost still remain unvaried to the sight,
And like an object equal to the view
    Art neither changed with day nor hid with night;
    When all those colors which the world calls bright,
And which old poetry doth so pursue,
Are with the night so perishèd and gone
    That of their being there remains no mark,
Thou still abidest so entirely one.
    That we may know thy blackness is a spark
Of light inaccessible, and alone
    Our darkness which can make us think it dark.

— Lord Herbert of Cherbury (1582-1648)

Friday, April 3

2009-04-03T01:17:00.000-04:00

Psalm 143 / Romans 11:13-24 / John 11:1-27

Unprofitableness

How rich, O Lord! How fresh thy visits are!
'Twas but just now my bleak leaves hopeles hung
    Sullyed with dust and mud;
Each snarling blast shot through me, and did share*
Their Youth, and beauty, Cold showres nipt, and wrung
    Their spiciness, and bloud;
But since thou didst in one sweet glance survey
Their sad decays, I flourish, and once more
    Breath all perfumes, and spice;
I smell a dew like myrrh, and all the day
Wear in my bosome a full Sun; such store
    Hath one beame from thy Eys.
But, ah, my God! What fruit hast thou of this?
What one poor leaf did ever I yet fall
    To wait upon thy wreath?
Thus thou all day a thankless weed doest dress,
And when th'hast done, a stench, or fog is all
    The odour I bequeath.

— Henry Vaughan (1621?-1695)

*shear

Thursday, April 2

2009-04-02T01:16:00.000-04:00

Psalm 142 / Romans 11:1-12 / John 10:19-42

The mystery of God, of the Divine Redemption and of his infinite mercy is generally nebulous and unreal even to men of faith. Hence we do not have the courage or strength to respond to our vocation in its depth. We unconsciously falsify it, distort its true perspectives, and reduce our Christian life to a kind of genteel and social propriety. In such an event Christian perfection no longer consists in the arduous and strange fidelity of the spirit in the darkness of the night of faith. It becomes, in practice, a respectable conformity to what is commonly accepted as good in the society in which we live. The stress is then placed on exterior signs of respectability.

— Thomas Merton, "Life and Holiness." Image, August, 1969.

(contributed by Janine Economides; see March 16)

Wednesday, April 1

2009-04-01T01:14:00.000-04:00

Psalm 130 / Romans 10:14-21 / John 10:1-18

"Out of the depths... ." We have all been there. From the depths of our being we cry out in the depth of suffering — whether caused by health, finances, human relations, intellectual, psychological or spiritual crisis, or some vague and indefinable angst, we cry out. And often we feel that God does not hear us, or, if He does, He does not choose to answer. And, to make things worse, we have all received bad advice about suffering. We have been told not to be selfish, to stiffen the upper lip, to think of others. "Why do you complain? Think of poor so-and-so, who... ." And, worst of all, we have been told that suffering is punishment for our sins.

But the Psalmist reassures us. Although no one can stand in the face of divine judgment, God forgives us. Having noted that, the poet turns to his anticipation of divine presence, waiting more eagerly for God than "those who watch for the morning." We expect a very special encounter, even from the very depths.

Our Lord states that he has come to give us life "more abundantly." The Greek term "perisson" denotes more than a cornucopia. It means "extraordinarily," "remarkably," "uncommonly," "in a far superior manner." It is more about "how" than "much." Perhaps our suffering is a part of this "abundant" life. And so we "wait" for the Lord.

— Liz Hill

Tuesday, March 31

2009-03-31T01:13:00.000-04:00

Psalm 126 / Romans 10:1-13 / John 9:18-41

In trying times like these, our faith offers solace, comfort and a promise that all will be well.

"For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved" (Romans 10:10). It is doubly trying to believe today; the world seems to be working against us.

We are offered solace and also the promise of delivery from a time of trial. "He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him" (Psalm 126:6). We all have those "seeds" in our talents and skills. We must remember to make ourselves go out and plant those seeds.

"When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.' The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad" (Psalm 126:1-5). The Lord has indeed done great things for us Ascensionites, and we must remember this to survive times of trial.

We must persevere. "The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, ‘Is this your son who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?'"

— Frank Mackey

Monday, March 30

2009-03-30T01:11:00.000-04:00

Psalm 35 / Romans 9:19-33 / John 9:1-17

At the end of today's Gospel reading the Pharisees disagree with each other about the nature of Jesus' power after he gave a blind man sight. To resolve the disagreement they ask the blind man, "What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?" The blind man replies, "He is a prophet."

It seems to me the Pharisees want to ground prophecy in experience. They assume that the beggar will know whether Jesus is righteous because he has personally experienced Jesus' miraculous power. However, as we read on, we learn that the Pharisees are not persuaded by the blind man's testimony about Jesus. They refuse to accept what he can teach them.

Like the Pharisees, we are confronted with the choice between the evidence of faith and the evidence of the world; and like the Pharisees, we must choose which we believe.

For me, this reading brings to mind the words of "Amazing Grace": "I was lost and now I am found, was blind and now I see." The price for true sight — grace — is high: you may be cast out. But the reward is greater: the gift of revelatory, redemptive vision.

— Martha Mitchell

Saturday, March 28

2009-03-28T01:10:00.001-04:00

Psalm 107:33-43 / Jeremiah 23:9-15 / John 6:60-71

What a crazy world the Lord has made. Who has the wisdom to understand it? A mentor of mine loves to call it the plane for the spiritually retarded.

In Psalm 107, David speaks of the inevitable vacillations of the physical world and says "by observing these things, we will understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." Jeremiah, a prophet himself, vehemently warns us not to listen to the prophets and priests. And finally, in the book of John, even Jesus seems to be intentionally trying to push us away with divisive, confusing and frightening parables filled with "hard sayings." He seems to say in verse 65 that we are predestined for heaven or hell.

I sat with these sayings for days waiting for some comfort and solace and only two things came to me.

When everything in Job's life had been destroyed or taken from him and he is sitting, literally on a dung heap, a passerby asks him what he thinks about God now. "The Lord God giveth and the Lord God taketh away" he says and continues, "blessed be the name of the Lord." Now there's a spiritual goal.

And when Jesus was asked, slyly, which is the greatest commandment, he responds unhesitatingly, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind and with all thy strength. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these things two hang all the law and the prophets."

So I guess the goal of life isn't to acquire and hold on to things...nor is it to seek wisdom, particularly from outside oneself. And even, finally, if I'm not chosen by God, and end in hell, I will still love. Love, love, love. Easy? No. Possible? Intermittently.

— Lewis White