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This Week at Ascension + January 15, 2025
"Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." - Psalm 96
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Weekday Mass Schedule
12 p.m. on Monday & Friday
8 a.m. on Tuesday & Thursday
6:30 p.m. on Wednesday
View the Wednesday 6:30 p.m. Live-stream Mass here
VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE
Weekday Offices
7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer via Zoom
6:00 p.m. Evening Prayer via Zoom
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From the Rector
“Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.” John 2:10-11
The Wedding at Cana is one of the great miracle stories in the New Testament. Yet, it is not “just” a miracle story, but a window into our Lord’s true identity and purpose. The specific details of this great miracle story: the timing that is named (the third day and the hour), the elements used in the miracle (water and wine), and the characters in the story (Jesus, Mary, and the servants) reveals more than what appears at first glance.
What is being revealed at the Wedding at Cana is not only our Lord’s divinity, but his overflowing generosity. A generosity we see repeated over and over again throughout the New Testament: in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, in our Lord’s continuous care and concern for the poor, the sick, and destitute, and in many more events. A generosity which is fully manifested and put on display on Calvary for the whole world to see. Because the miracle at the Wedding at Cana is an event in anticipation of the "hour" when not only water is turned into wine, but wine into blood and bread into flesh, and we are invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb. All that’s left for us to do is to join our Lord at the wedding banquet on Sunday: the third day, the day of Resurrection.
Fr. de la Torre
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From the Choirmaster
Palestrina 2025
The Choir of the Church of the Ascension sings music of our time as well as music stretching back to Gregorian chant, which we sing every week. Every season features plenty of Renaissance polyphony, as it wonderfully complements our liturgies — especially our Masses. So it follows that we would celebrate the 500th anniversary (quincentenary) of Palestrina's birth with an especial focus. I'll be programming at least one work by Palestrina every week during the full choir's residency (in other words, excluding the summer when we have small groups). That means that, instead of the usual 10 or so Palestrina works I schedule per year, it will be more like 40! Of course, that still leaves plenty of room for other choral music, so we'll have our cake (SO MUCH CAKE) and eat it too! Join us!
Benjamin Rivera
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2024 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 January 26, 2025. There will be one Mass at 10 a.m. on this day. The in-person only business meeting will follow in the church, continuing with a lunch in Wheeler Hall.
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Vestry Nominee Information | |
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Vicki Dvonch – Warden: Two-Year Term
Employment/Profession:
I am a retired physician, high school teacher and university professor.
Number of years at Church of the Ascension:
I was a member during the 1980s and was married here in 1983. I returned in March 2022. My husband is interred in the columbarium.
Present and past activities at Church of the Ascension:
During the 80s I was a coffee hour host. Currently I am a member of the vestry, an acolyte, a coffee hour host, and a volunteer for the food pantry. I serve on the Outreach Committee and on a Discernment Committee.
Present and past Diocesan activities or community/volunteer leadership:
I volunteer for a reading program in the Chicago Public schools, Friends in Need and the Greater Chicago Food Bank.
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Jim Drury – Vestry: Three-Year Term
James Drury was born in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, in 1944. He went to grade and high school, taught by Catholic nuns, in this historic French settlement. After high school, he attended St. Benedict's College, (now the somewhat notorious Benedictine College), in Atchison, Kansas, taught by Benedictine monks, where he got a BA in English. He was awarded a teaching fellowship to the University of Arizona in Tucson to work on a PhD, but after a few years, he was drafted into the Army where he was trained as a medic and sent to Vietnam as a medic with an infantry unit within the 25th Infantry Division.
After time in the service, he returned to the US and changed course, getting a Master's in Health Administration from the University of Missouri in Colombia. He took his first job, in Chicago, for the American College of Healthcare Executives, the professional society for hospital administrators, where he worked for about 20 years, mostly organizing conferences and seminars around the country. He became a Fellow of the College and can use FACHE behind his name.
After this, he was selected to be the Assistant Director of the Health Industry Management Program at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, developing and organizing Executive Education programs for a wide variety of clients in the broader healthcare industry. After nearly 20 years at Kellogg, he retired.
His partner of 45 years, Jim Berger, introduced him to Church of the Ascension in 1975 and it was an immediate connection. Jim B. had first started attending occasionally under Father Orrick, but they really became active under Father Norris. Since 1975, Jim Drury has attended rather faithfully, and served on the Vestry several times, among numerous other activities.
Jim is also a strong supporter of the arts in Chicago. He is a frequent patron of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the Goodman Theater, and other organizations. Music has always been a partner to liturgy at Ascension, and it is his hope to continue to be supportive of those efforts.
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Alexis H. Sarkisian – Vestry: Three-Year Term
Alexis H. Sarkisian is an award winning documentarian who has spent her career in many different disciplines utilizing her extensive marketing communication skills for the purpose of helping others.
During her years as an on air programming talent and manager, Alexis managed a large staff whose charge was to help community based organizations obtain visibility, learn how to manage, and establish fund raising strategies. In addition Alexis served on over 10 boards where she was active in all. Her most fulfilling advocacy role was to raise awareness and funding throughout Illinois for literacy.
Having her own consulting business allowed Alexis to work with libraries across the nation to market themselves. In addition Alexis has produced corporate videos and delivered workshops on marketing, public speaking, management and leadership for non-profit organizations.
Currently, Alexis is an adjunct instructor at Columbia College and Loyola University teaching undergraduate public speaking and writing.
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Andrew Smith – Vestry: Three-Year Term
Employment/Profession:
I work as a software engineer for a Chicago-based quantitative trading firm.
Number of years at Church of the Ascension:
I have been a member of Church of the Ascension for three years, having been confirmed in the Episcopal Church under the auspices of this parish.
Present and past activities at Church of the Ascension:
In the liturgical realm, I serve on the acolyte corps for both Sunday and weekday Masses, as well as a regular complement of occasional services; additionally, I serve as the chair of the Altar Guild, working in a number of extra-liturgical capacities to ensure the proper maintenance and preparation of our liturgical space and implements. I am an officiant for the Daily Office — principally for Morning Prayer — and have served as a lector for exceptional liturgies such as Stations of the Cross. I also serve in the Technology Ministry. Outside of the sacramental life of the Church, I volunteer monthly with Pantry @ Ascension, serve in outreach ministries such as Open House Chicago and the Chicago Marathon hospitality corps, assist in the running of Coffee Hour and parish receptions, and have organised and administered events for the cadre of younger parishioners, among them the annual Festival of Carols.
Present and past Diocesan activities or community/volunteer leadership:
I have served in various liturgical capacities for services in the wider Diocese of Chicago. Previously, I worked as a volunteer director of educational programming for a local Parks and Recreation department; additionally, I regularly organised and delivered student-run computer science lectures during my time in university.
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Jay H. Peterson – Vestry: Two-Year Term
Employment/Profession:
After a thirty-five-year career in higher education, my wife Cheryl and I relocated to Chicago and Church of the Ascension. For almost fourteen years, I enjoyed serving as the organist for a notable choir and large Episcopal parish in Winnetka: Christ Church.
Number of years at Church of the Ascension:
I have been a committed Church of the Ascension communicant for seventeen years.
Present and past activities at Church of the Ascension:
At Ascension, I have been active in the Flower Guild with my wife, have occasionally assisted with ushering, have often happily helped with receptions and dinners, have been an occasional lector, and was instrumental in securing our current gifted music staff. I have served the past year as a Vestry Member and have assisted with plans for the expanded columbarium. I also enjoy the recent Formations after our 11a.m. Mass.
Present or past Diocesan activities and/or community/volunteer activities:
I have enjoyed my 2024 Ascension Vestry membership. I do believe that there are quite a few very important decisions which will need to be made in the coming months. I am particularly interested in a proposed Strategic Planning process.
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February Faith Formation
Glorious Companions in the Catholic Faith
February 9, 16 & 23 at 12:45 p.m.
“There is one body and one Spirit... one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” With these words, Saint Paul evokes the spiritual unity of the Church and the spiritual union between the faithful. Our February formation series will introduce us to lesser-known spiritual companions who have influenced our presenters' own spiritual journeys and the Church at large, renewing its Catholic faith, identity, and practice. A hearty lunch will be provided.
February 9 - Vida Dutton Scudder
Anglo-Catholic Theologian, Social Activist, and English Professor at Wellesley College
Presentation by Fr. Christopher Poore
February 16 - Marguerite Porete
French Mystic and Author of The Mirror of Simple Souls
Presentation by Ms. Natalie Nitsch
February 23 - Charles Gore and Walter Frere
Founders of The Community of the Resurrection, Mirfield and Bishops in the
Church of England
Presentation by Dr. Nicholas Groves
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2025 Stewardship Campaign
We invite you to prayerfully consider how you might share your gifts at Ascension, supporting the church that is our shared spiritual home. If you have not yet received a pledge card, you may contact the parish office or complete an online pledge card. We kindly ask that you return your pledge card before the end of the year. Please remember that your pledge assists us in properly budgeting for the coming year.
With gratitude and hope,
The Stewardship Committee of the Church of the Ascension
stewardship@ascension.org
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Donate Flowers in the Coming Year
2025 flower sign-up sheets are now available on the table in the narthex. Donations may be given in memory of departed loved ones or in thanksgiving for a birthday, anniversary, or an important milestone. Flowers may be donated at the High Altar, the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Shrine of Saint Michael the Archangel, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. If you’re interested in donating flowers, please see the sign-up sheet on the table in the back of the church.
You can also make a flower donation online by visiting Ascension's PayPal page. Once you’ve made your donation, please email the parish office any personal dedications. As of January 1, 2025, the donation amount to cover the cost of flowers on the High Altar is $65 and on any one of the Shrines the amount is $35.
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Consider being a Coffee Hour host
There are spots available for hosting Coffee Hour after either Sunday Mass!
If you are leary of what hosting a Coffee Hour might entail, speak to Hospitality Committee members Josh or Ellie Simpson, David Reeves, LaVerne Saunders or Carol Noren. They will be glad to help.
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The Prayers of the People
As part of our Sunday offering of the Mass, we bring to God our petitions and thanksgivings. As a community, we do this by bidding the parish’s intentions in the Prayers of the People. If you wish to have someone added to the Prayers of the People, please email Father de la Torre. You can also fill out the prayer request form in the link below. Names will remain on the prayer list for three weeks, unless otherwise requested.
Lord, hear the prayers of thy people; and what we have asked faithfully, grant that we may obtain effectually, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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For our prayers
Bonnie Joseph, Michael Juskiewicz, Kelly Callahan Turcy, Kristin Harrison,
Rocio & Rolando Soria, Bertha Castañeda, Lois Peterson, Tim Kowalski, Fredo Caliva,
Ruby Woods, Grace Ellen Rivera, Malcolm Wood, Carolyn Wiggins, Marlea Edinger,
Elizabeth McLaughlin, Lee Gould, Florence Jones Clanton, MB Hwang, Juanita Malone,
Richard Francis Tracz, Victor Fernandez, Claire Green, Beth Hall, Brenda Martins
Birthdays: Robert Devens, 1/13; Jay Jacot, 1/18
Anniversaries: Bob Sheridan & Jana Holt, Marriage, 1/18/1999
Requiescat in pace: Walter Favorite, 12/24/2024; Robert Warren Rohland, 1/12/2006; Quintin Ebenezer Primo, Bishop, 1/15/1998; Harry R. Carstensen, 1/15/2002;
Betty J. Marse, 1/15/2015; John Martensen, 1/15/2018
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them;
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
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Organ and Choral Repertoire for
January 19, 2025
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ORGAN
Deuxième dimanche après l'Epiphanie
Prélude à l'Introït; Offertoire; Elévation; Communion
Charles Tournemire (1870-1939)
Opening Hymn
339 SCHMÜCKE DICH,
O LIEBE SEELE
At the Offertory
135 SALZBURG
At the Communion
126 DUNDEE (9 a.m.)
125 PERRY (11 a.m.)
Closing Hymn
542 ST. JOAN
ORGAN
Deuxième dimanche après l'Epiphanie
Pièce terminale: Fantaisie-Paraphrase
Charles Tournemire
[Continuing the 2022-2025 series of the Organist’s offering the complete L’Orgue Mystique of Tournemire]
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Mass Setting
Noël Goemanne
(1926-2010)
Missa Hosanna (1972)
Offertory Motet
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525-1594)
Surge illuminare Jerusalem à8
Communion Motet
Lodovico Grossi da Viadana
(c. 1560-1627)
Ave verum corpus
The Gregorian Chant Propers from Graduale Romanum
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Between Masses, please don’t forget that The Choir of the Ascension has recorded upwards of 60 tracks that you can listen to anywhere you have an internet connection. They can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/choir-of-the-ascension
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Ascension Connections
(with your click and God's help)
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Weekly Ascension Schedule
For connections:
via Zoom (click here)
SUNDAYS
7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer via Zoom
9 a.m. Sung Mass
11 a.m. Solemn High Mass
VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE
MONDAY-FRIDAY
7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer via Zoom
6 p.m. Evening Prayer via Zoom
Weekday Low Mass Schedule
12 p.m. on Monday & Friday
8 a.m. on Tuesday & Thursday
6:30 p.m. on Wednesday
View the Wednesday Mass here
VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE
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The Rev. Carlos de la Torre, Rector
cdelatorre@ascensionchicago.org
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Wardens
David Reeves, Sr. Warden
David Reeves, Sr. Warden
David A. Robertson, Jr. Warden
David A. Robertson Jr. Warden
Vestry
Ian Barillas-McEntee, Jay Peterson, Joshua Simpson
Ken Cozette, Elizabeth Simpson, Samuel Sommers (Clerk)
Vicki Dvonch, Nancy Pardee, DiAnne Walsh
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.
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