This Week at Ascension + June 1, 2022
"Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." - Psalm 96
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Tonight, June 1, 2022
Commemoration of
Justin, Martyr at Rome
In-person and Live-streamed Said Mass at 6:30 p.m.
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Sunday, June 5, 2022
The Day of Pentecost
9:00 a.m. In-person Sung Mass
with Organ and Hymns
11:00 a.m. In-person & Live-streamed
Solemn High Mass
Image: Pentecost from Book of Hours, 15th C. Morgan Library Collection
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In the Afternoon
at 3:30 p.m. Organ recital
David Schrader, Organist Emeritus
works by Jehan Titelouze, Nicolas DeGrigny & Johann Sebastian Bach.
at 4 p.m. Choral Evensong and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
Gabriel Jackson (b. 1962) Truro Service (2001)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Veni sancte spiritus, K. 47.
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Why Confirmation?
On Saturday, 11 June, Bishop Knudsen will be confirming and receiving new Episcopalians at Saint James Cathedral. There will be folks from Church of the Ascension there.
Under the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and the Canons at the time, one had to have been confirmed or received by a bishop before being admitted to Holy Communion. One would think it had always been that way, but that wouldn’t be quite right.
The earliest documents that concern membership in the church are from the second century. There we learn about a three-year catechumenate before baptism and immediate admission to communion. The catechumens didn’t know what their baptism would entail, and they had no idea about communion. After their baptism, they started a new program of learning. All this was going on at the time that persecutions were becoming more frequent and deadly. It was a matter of personal safety for the early church: they needed to know and trust their members.
In the Eastern tradition and older Western tradition, Chrismation—the sealing of the Holy Spirit with consecrated oil—was part of the baptism rite and considered to be confirmation. When Constantine the Great legitimized the church in the fourth century, these practices continued. It wasn’t until the 13th century that a new idea of confirmation surfaced. The canons required members to receive communion twice per year and support the church.
Beginning in about the seventh century, attendance at mass began to decline in the Western church. At the same time, the practice of baptizing infants began to be widely observed. (It is amazing what happens when there’s a pandemic.) I’ll be less than charitable here: This caused a real problem for the church; its income was diminishing. Under the guise of drawing the people closer to their bishop, continued membership (read: salvation) was contingent upon making a profession of faith before the bishop. That is, one was confirming what had been done as an infant by the parents of that individual. Confirmation was now the ticket to Holy Communion.
Those who worked to form the 1979 Book of Common Prayer followed in the wake of the Liturgical Renewal Movement of the 1960s. Vatican II was a significant contributor, as were liturgical scholars from every denomination. In the Episcopal Church, the focus was on returning to the practices of the early church. Our Holy Week liturgies come from what was happening in Jerusalem during the episcopate of Cyril in the early fourth century. One of the seminal ideas of our prayer book is that Holy Baptism is full and complete initiation as a Christian—nothing more needs to be done.
So, why do we still have confirmation? A cynical perspective might suggest that it was kept so bishops would have something to do. I think that’s too extreme. Given that most of us were baptized as infants or small children, I think confirmation is the opportunity for us to make an informed profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I grew up as a Presbyterian and we had no "rite of confirmation." Instead, there was an examination by the Ruling Elders (think: vestry) of the congregation. If they approved, we could receive communion. When I came to the Episcopal Church, I was a full member because I had already been baptized. For both Cheryl and me, however, our Confirmation Class study and fellowship brought us closer to God and fired us up to be active in our parish as we had never been before.
So what about reception? Confirmation is considered, like baptism, to be a one-and-done sacramental act. We don’t get to do it over. If one has been confirmed in another denomination, then that person would be received into our community.
—Fr. Heard
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From the Rector Search Committee |
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The CAT survey is well under way. Thank you to everyone that has taken it. To those of you who have not yet taken it, please make it a high priority to do so as soon as you can.
We’ve had a good response so far, but we would like even more participants. Be one of them. You will be able to take the survey until June 13, but don’t wait. Do it now!
It bears repeating yet again, the future of Ascension depends on all of us.
Blessings,
The Rector Search Committee
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Food Pantry This Saturday, June 4 |
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Come help fill grocery bags for our neighbors in need this Saturday, June 4, at 9:30 a.m. We distribute bags until about noon, but we need the most help filling them between 9:30 and 11 a.m.
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Pastoral Listening Sessions to begin This Sunday, June 5
Join Fr. Petite in St. Michael Hall at 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 5 for the first of a planned 4-part series on learning pastoral listening skills. The first session will be called Creating Sacred Space: The Importance of Hearing and Responding to the Story. The following sessions are below with planned dates.
- Session Two (June 19): Moving from a Friendly Visit to a Pastoral Conversation: Who does the talking and what to talk about
- Session Three (June 26:) Feelings as Messengers: The Suffering is not your Problem to Solve.
- Session Four (July 10): Prayer: Entering the Canopy of Vulnerability
Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP so we know how many sandwiches to order.
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Confirmations and Receptions June 11
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This spring, Bishop Chilton Knudsen will preside at four diocesan confirmation and reception services open to candidates from all congregations in the Diocese of Chicago. At least one member of Ascension will be received into the Episcopal Church on June 11 at St. James Cathedral. If you are interested in being confirmed or received or have questions about what this might look like for you in the future, please reach out to Meghan Murphy-Gill via email or by calling the church.
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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.
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Contribute to This Week at Ascension
If you would like to include an announcement in our weekly newsletter, please email your contribution to office@ascensionchicago.org by Monday at noon. Include a photo if you can!
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Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has set September 17 as the day he will ordain and consecrate the Rev. Paula E. Clark as the Thirteenth Bishop of Chicago. The service will take place at the Westin Chicago Lombard in Lombard, Illinois.
Read more about the Consecration here.
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Organ and Choral Repertoire for June 5, 2022 |
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ORGAN
Choral varié sur le thème du Veni Creator,
op. 4 [1930]
Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
At the Solemn Procession
504 VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS
The Pentecost Sequence
226 VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS
At the Offertory
509 NUN DANKET ALL (9 a.m.)
NAPHILL (desc. David White) (11 a.m.)
At the Communion
508 NOVA VITA (9 a.m.)
229 CORNISH (11 a.m.)
At the Retiring Procession
516 DOWN AMPNEY (desc. David White)
ORGAN
Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist à 5 BWV 671
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
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Mass Setting
Jonathan Dove (b. 1959)
Missa brevis (2009)
Offertory Motet
Ned Rorem (b. 1923)
Today the Holy Spirit appeared (1986)
Communion Motet
William Byrd (c. 1540-1623) Factus est repente à5
Chanted Mass Propers from the 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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Meeting ID:
792 031 7452
Password: 1133
Join-by-Phone Option: (312) 626-6799
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Weekly Ascension Schedule
For connections:
SUNDAYS
9:00 a.m. In-person Sung Mass
11:00 a.m. In-person and Live-Streamed Solemn High Mass
MONDAY-FRIDAY
WEDNESDAYS
6:30 p.m. Said Mass
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For our prayers: Ted Saunders, August 'Augie' Alonzo, Taffy Wehe, Beth Hall, Sue Lenz, Ben, David D. Jones, Gina, Tom Baer, Edward Minieka, Brenda Martins, Claire Green, Marion Cantore, Lee Gould, Gertrude Isaac, Ken Kelling, Marty Stenson, Daniel Martins (Bishop),
Paula Clark (Bishop-elect)
Birthdays: LaVerne Saunders, 5/30; Kelly Colomberti, 6/1; Jim Wilson, 6/2; Pedro Illás, 6/4; Judith Cook, 6/4
Anniversaries: The Rev. Dr. Carol Norén, UMC Diaconal Ordination, 6/4/1974;
Meghan Murphy-Gill and Andrew Gill, marriage, 6/3
Requiescat in pace: Paul James Wilbur, 5/31/1979; William Brewster Stoskopf, priest, 11th rector, 6/2/1951; Donald C. Rubino, 6/4/1992
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.
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The Rev. Thomas Heard, Interim Rector
The Rev. Meghan Murphy-Gill, Curate
Susan Schlough, Treasurer
Br. Nathanael Deward Rahm BSG, Parish Office
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Vestry of Church of the Ascension
Ian Barillas-McEntee, Jim Lo Bello, Ken Cozette, Marlea Edinger, Sean Hansen, George Pineda, Joshua Simpson, Sam Sommers, Enrique Vilaseco, Vestry
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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