This Week at Ascension + January 11, 2023

"Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." - Psalm 96

Wednesday, January 11

Feria Mass - Octave of the Epiphany

Evening Prayer at 6:00 p.m. via ZOOM

In-person and Live-streamed Said Mass at 6:30 p.m.

Unction will be available for those who wish it.

VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE

The 2nd Sunday after

the Epiphany

January 15, 2023

8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer via ZOOM

9:00 a.m. In-person Sung Mass

with Organ and Hymns

11:00 a.m. In-person & Live-streamed

Solemn High Mass

The 11 a.m. Order of Worship may be found here.

Image: John the Baptizer from the Isenheim Altarpiece, Matthias Grunewald (1512-1516)

Unterlinden Museum at Colmar, Alsace, France

Click to join us VIA YOUTUBE or VIA FACEBOOK LIVE

From the Curate

What are you looking for? 

“What are you looking for?” In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus turns around and asks this question of the two men who are following him. It is the day after his baptism, the day after he has been revealed as the Son of God in whom God the Father is well pleased. The men deflect: “Where are you staying?” they ask him. Jesus, knowing that these two men seek more than just the answer to where he will lodge for the night, invites them to “Come and see.”

What are you looking for?  Why are you here? What do you need? Why are you here, specifically at Ascension? What are you looking for when you arrive at church on a frigid January morning?

Jesus invites us all to search our hearts and minds for what we need, and then to bring all of it to him. Are you lonely? Tell Jesus. Do you need strength? Tell Jesus. Are you afraid? Tell Jesus. Are you filled with joy and thanksgiving? Tell Jesus. Are you broken? Tell Jesus. 

Tell Jesus what you need from him. Tell Jesus what you’re looking for. Because Jesus wants to encounter you in all your needs and thanksgivings. Jesus wants to encounter you just as you are. Jesus wants you to find what you’re looking for. Come and see, he beckons. Come and see. And be prepared for answers you never thought possible.

—Mtr. Meghan Murphy-Gill

Annual Meeting Notice

The Rector, Wardens, and Vestry of The Church of the Ascension have called for the Annual Meeting of the Parish to be held on 29 January 2023. There will be one service at 10:00 a.m. on this day and the meeting will follow in Saint Michael Hall. This year, the meeting will be in-person only.

This meeting is for the express purpose of receiving reports concerning the financial state and the activities of the parish, and to elect a warden and vestry members. A light lunch will be provided, so registering your intention to attend will help to ensure that there will be a lunch for you! Please use the sign-up sheets in the narthex and Wheeler Hall to let us know.

Mental Health 101

and De-escalation Techniques

On January 14, 2023, St. Peter's - Belmont will host a Deanery-wide training in mental health 101 and crisis de-escalation techniques. Taking this training is one very practical way for us to become more skilled at loving all our neighbors, including those dealing with mental health disturbances when they join us in worship or come by the church. This will also give us skills for helping people we meet in our daily lives. I think these would be great skills for our ushers.

If you think you’d be interested please speak with Fr. Heard.

January Young Adults Gathering Sunday, Jan 15 

This Sunday, Mtr. Murphy-Gill will lead the young adults in a conversation about Anglican/Episcopal temperament and spirituality. If you are new to the Episcopal Church and wondering about baptism, confirmation, or reception, this is an excellent first step to getting to know the culture of Anglicanism. 

We’ll start with lunch and fellowship around 1 pm, following the coffee hour after Solemn High Mass. There will be an opportunity for you to reflect on what draws you to a place like Ascension and wonder about what the Episcopal Church has to offer the world. No need to RSVP!

From the Organist

This Sunday we hear music of the spectacular Dutch composer and organist Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, (1562-1621) who began as the Organist of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam at the age of just 15, and remained in that position for the rest of his life, a tenure of 44 years. He was the pivot of that great city’s artistic scene; young organists from all over Europe came to learn from him, and he exerted a great influence on his contemporaries and on succeeding generations of composers.

Sweelinck played the Oude Kerk organ in public nearly every day, offering among the first concerts open to public – people could and did walk into the church daily and hear a free concert.

Sunday’s voluntary before Mass, his keyboard masterpiece, is the so-called “Hexachord” Fantasy, composed in 1612, when Sweelinck was the height of his powers. Its material is the first six notes of the scale – ascending, then descending – and he puts them through their paces in no fewer than 19 permutations, from ½-note per beat, then 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 per beat, in no fewer than six different rhythmic groupings, all the while maintaining stunning counterpoint in four voices and pedal.

A keyboardist’s tightrope-walk, but a hearer’s delight. Enjoy!

Requiescat in pace

Burton Nelson

Longtime Ascension member Burton Nelson died on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at Bella Terra, a nursing and rehabilitation facility in LaGrange. As of today arrangements are still being made, but we will alert the parish once we know any definite plans. Please join in praying for the repose of his soul and for all who knew and cared for him.

Rest eternal grant unto him, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon him; May his soul and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Thanks to Ken Kelling for providing this excellent photo.

Prayer Requests

Do you have a need for special prayer in your life? Whether your prayer needs are because you have an upcoming surgery, an ill family member, or you’re just feeling particularly lonely lately, Fr. Heard and Mtr. Murphy-Gill would like to know.

We’ve created a way for letting us know about your requests for prayers in a way we hope makes it easy for you to reach out, though you can always call the church or reach out to one of the priests personally. 

Share your prayer requests here.

Organ and Choral Repertoire for January 15, 2023

Weekly Ascension Schedule

For connections:

via Zoom (click here)

SUNDAYS

7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer via Zoom

9:00 a.m. In-person Sung Mass

11:00 a.m. In-person and Live-Streamed Solemn High Mass

VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE

MONDAY-FRIDAY

7:30 A.M. Morning Prayer via FACEBOOK LIVE

6:00 p.m. Evening Prayer via Zoom

WEDNESDAYS

6:30 p.m. Said Mass

VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE

For our prayers: David S. Jones, The Hall family, George Panice, Sheri Panice,

Elsa Pineda, Richard Francis Tracz, Carol Eichorn, Thom Racina, Robert Browning, Natalia & Victor, Dorothy, David Schrader, Victor Fernandez, Claire Green, Beth Hall, Sue Lenz, Brenda Martins, Lee Gould, Gertrude Isaac, Marty Stenson, Steve Dionne

Birthdays: Elizabeth Weber, 1/8; Betty Smith, 1/10; Robert Devens, 1/13

Departed: Betty Hall, 1/10/2023; Elmer Lucas, 1/5/2023;

Betty Reeves, Charlene MacDougal, Norman Campbell Robertson,

DeWayne Williams, Robert Warren Rohland

Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them;

May their souls and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.



Vestry of Church of the Ascension

Ken Kelling, Sr. Warden; LaVerne Rollé Saunders, Jr. Warden;

Ian Barillas-McEntee, Jim Lo Bello, Ken Cozette, Marlea Edinger, Sean Hansen, George Pineda, Joshua Simpson, Sam Sommers, Clerk, Enrique Vilaseco

Susan Schlough, Treasurer

Finance@ascensionchicago.org

Br. Nathanael Deward Rahm BSG, Parish Office

Office@ascensionchicago.org

Approved minutes of Vestry meetings are always available online to parishioners who request the link. If you would like Internet access to these Vestry Minutes, please email the Parish Office and request the link. Once you access the web page, you can read all recent Vestry meeting minutes.

The link remains live indefinitely. Any parishioner who has the link will not need to request a new link from month to month.