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Dear Parish family,
Ascension has been my parish home for the past three years and I am honored to have been asked to serve as your Senior Warden. This community has so many incredible people involved in its liturgical programs - I can’t wait to learn more about them all! My goals for this time with you all are to support The Rev. SuEllen as she guides the parish into the future, as well as learning how best to honor the traditions this parish has held through the years.
There has been a lot of transition these past few years at Ascension. There has been loss - of friends, of leadership, of time together through physical separation. There have also been gains - new leadership, new membership, and new energy. We have an opportunity to look back at some of the traditions and celebrations that molded this place that have fallen away through time, as well as crafting new programs and traditions to better serve the congregation we have today. As we begin that journey together, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself:
Like many members of the Episcopal Church, I was not born into this tradition. I was raised Evangelical - what Oregonians often call “Non-Denominational,” (really just another name for Southern Baptists). Full-immersion baptism, rock concert worship services, and aggressive evangelizing were the hallmarks of my childhood. As I got older, I found these trappings of the church I grew up in rang hollow. The pastor would sometimes preach about the love of God, but we didn’t live it out in any meaningful way.
My first real exposure to the Episcopal Church came from teaching at OES from 2005-2014. I taught music in the Lower School and after-school programs. I was also a long-term Spanish substitute there for a few months!
After our daughters were born, my husband and I wanted to find a broader community in which to raise our children. Finding a place where their curiosity and wonder about the world they could see - as well as the one they couldn’t see - was now a priority. We began attending Christ Church in 2013, and I was confirmed by Bishop Hanley in 2016.
In fall of 2021, we followed The Rev. Jeremy Lucas to Ascension and attended the first two in-person services post-Covid. The third Sunday, the adults planned to sleep in, take it easy. My teen and tween daughters had other plans - they had found their new parish home. And we WERE attending! They were right.
In the past three years, I have met so many parishioners who are deeply intertwined with Ascension Parish, as well as those who are newcomers like myself. The welcome that I felt is one I see echoed with each new arrival. I know there are many of you I have yet to meet, and I’m looking forward to rectifying that as soon as possible!
Lynn
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