This Week at Ascension + September 20, 2023

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

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Commemoration of John Coleridge Patteson,

Bp. of Melanesia and his Companions, Martyrs

Evening Prayer

at 6:00 p.m. via ZOOM



In-person and Live-streamed

Said Mass at 6:30 p.m.

Unction available for those who wish it.

VIA YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK LIVE

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Said Mass at 12:00 p.m.

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 20)

Sunday, September 24, 2023

7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer via ZOOM

9 a.m. Sung Mass

11 a.m. Solemn Mass -

In-person & Live-streamed

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

Image: Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, ca. 1880, Lawrence W. Ladd,

watercolor and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Washington, DC 

Click to join us VIA YOUTUBE

or VIA FACEBOOK LIVE

From the Rector

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” These sobering words conclude our Gospel reading this Sunday. I have heard Christians share these words to encourage and support fellow members of the Church after personal plans or goals did not pan out. I have also heard it used in more lighthearted situations as a form of acknowledging a person’s commitment and labor to the Church. Just this past Sunday, as James Baran was wiping down the table in Wheeler Hall after coffee hour, I went up to him and uttered these very words. Not realizing at the time that we would hear these words during Sunday’s Gospel. 

Like many other passages and phrases from Holy Scripture, these words have entered our day to day Christian lexicon. However, it’s important to remember their larger context. Thankfully to grasp the full weight of our Lord’s words we need not look any further than his preceding remarks: “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”

In this parable, the vineyard owner claims the right to pay his workers not on the basis of their merits but on the basis of his compassion. Likewise, our Lord is compassionate towards us. Offering us the blessings of this life not based on our merits but on the basis of his compassion. And those of us who worship and adore this compassionate God must imitate his generosity, not resent it. Offering the same grace, mercy, and love we receive from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to both the first and the last.

—Fr. de la Torre



Requesting dessert for Sep 29th reception

The hospitality committee would like to invite you to bring a dessert to share for the reception following Fr. de la Torre's institution as Ascension's rector on St. Michael and All Angels, Sep 29th. Some recommendations include brownies, cookies, and pies. A cake will be supplied.

If you are willing please fill out this simple form so we have an idea what everyone is bringing. 

Please Consider Being a Coffee Hour Host

If you are standing in the wings waiting for your invitation to host Coffee Hour,

your wait is over. There are spots available! Look for the sign-up sheet in Wheeler Hall. 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.

Stewarding Our Skills

“I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” - JRR Tolken (Lord of the Rings)

This week the stewardship committee would like to invite you to reflect on a few question regarding how you and we as a community can steward our skills. Each of us is made uniquely and our unique community has much to offer. We’d love to hear what you think those skills are! 

Weekly Question:

• What is one way you steward your skills? What is something you could do to steward your skills more effectively?
• What are some skills our congregation has to offer our neighborhood, community, diocese? How could Ascension’s community better steward our collective skills? 

We invite you to submit your answers to this weeks stewardship questions via this google form.

“Stewardship isn’t a subcategory of the Christian life. Stewardship is the Christian life. After all, what is stewardship except that God has entrusted to us life, time, talents, money, possessions, family, and his grace? In each case, he evaluates how we regard what he has entrusted to us and what we do with it.” - Randy Alcorn

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, 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.

For our prayers

Florance Jones Clanton, Michael Curry, Clarissa Galaviz, David Schrader,

Sty Peabody, Robert, DeDe Frank,Leslie Smebak Gormley, Pam and Hap Hopper, Mike Vales, Jim Drury, Russell Staufenbiel, Patricia Spencer, Rachel Smolinski,

Sarah Reece Glanman, Sgt. Manuel Arroyo, The Quevedo family, Suzanne Dines,

Lee Gould, John Schram, Gertrude Isaac, Thomas Wikman, MB Hwang,

Juanita Malone, Oksana, Tyler, David S. Jones, Richard Francis Tracz, Natalia & Victor, Dorothy, Victor Fernandez, Claire Green, Beth Hall, Sue Lenz, Brenda Martins 

Birthdays: Marjorie Lofgreen, 9/20; Thomas Patrick Johnston, 9/20;

Michael Paul Clark, Jr. 9/20; J. Patrick Donnell, 9/20; George Dante Pineda, 9/22

Requiescat in pace:

John J. Kobus, Priest, 9/17/2011; William Johnson, Priest, 9/19/2018;

Sarah Emily Susman, 9/20/2021

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.



Organ and Choral Repertoire for September 24, 2023

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

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

8:00 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

Wardens and Vestry of Church of the Ascension

LaVerne Rollé Saunders, Sr. Warden;

SeniorWarden@AscensionChicago.org

David Reeves, Jr. Warden;

JuniorWarden@AscensionChicago.org

Ian Barillas-McEntee, Jim Lo Bello, Ken Cozette, Marlea Edinger, Sean Hansen,

David A. Robertson, Elizabeth Simpson, Joshua Simpson, Samuel Sommers, Clerk



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.