Thanksgiving Day

Morning Prayer, 9:30 a.m.
Sung Mass, 10:00 a.m.


Detail, Ghent Altarpiece, Jan van Eyck, completed 1432
 

Sunday, November 25
Feast of Christ the King

7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer  
8:00 a.m. Said Mass (Rite I)
9:00 a.m. Sung Mass 
11:00 a.m. Solemn High Mass 

Missa Brevis  (1966)
William Walton (1902-1983)


His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed . - Daniel 7:14








This Week at Ascension + November 21 , 2018

 
IN THIS NEWSLETTER

From the Rector & Company
Also from the Rector
Community Thanksgiving Meal
Stewardship Reminder
Last Sunday's Sermon
Recently found at Ascension
This Sunday at Ascension
The Parish Prayer List
2019 Holy Land Pilgrimage, anyone?
Approved Vestry Minutes Online
The Last Word

FROM THE RECTOR & COMPANY

Convention Snapshots

Dear people of Ascension,

Please join me in thanking our parish delegates to the 181st annual Convention of the Diocese of Chicago, this past Friday and Saturday. And thanks as well to Father Bob Petite for joining us there on Friday, and to Ascension newcomer Christopher Poore, with whom we shared lunch there on Saturday. Their words below convey a few facets of our experiences of the convention. 






* Marilyn Evans - "... cautionary and yet hopeful ..." Ray Suarez was the Keynote Speaker for the convention and his perspective as a journalist and life-long Episcopalian was both enlightening and entertaining.  His thoughts and observations about the church in this 21st century were cautionary and yet hopeful as we go forward to do Christ's work in today's world.  He was an excellent choice to speak to our very diverse congregations.

Ken Kelling * Ken Kelling - "... a very positive experience ..." Several factors made this year's Diocesan Convention a very positive experience for me: ● Marilyn and I benefited from the well-attended workshop titled Disaster and Safety Preparedness, where we learned about the Diocesan Asset Map, essential in the event of a natural disaster, and about how to handle crisis situations that may develop in the church in the event of an undesirable intruder. ● I had the chance to meet and chat with keynote speaker Ray Suarez. ● I had the honor of being a chalice bearer for the Convention Eucharist. ● I got to spend some time with a number of familiar friends from churches all over the Diocese and made some new ones also. 
 
* James Baran - "...challenging concepts ..."  It was meaningful to hear compassionate debate on several topics during the 2018 Convention. Transgender and nonbinary are challenging concepts today. When injustice is committed by our government with malice toward a group of people, it is our Christian duty to speak out in opposition. Resolution G-181, "Affirmation of the Inherent Dignity of Transgender and Nonbinary Persons as Beloved by God" passed with unanimous support. How fitting that the last stanza of the last hymn sung at the Convention (to Nettleton) included these words: "Draw together at one table all the human family; shape a circle ever wider and a people ever free." 
Background on the resolution is partly described in a now-well-known October 2018 New York Times feature that may be read here . An article on related positions taken in June 2017 by The American Medical Association may be read here . The Diocese of Chicago Convention resolution G-181 may be read here.

* Christopher Poore - "... signs of the times ..."  Thanks to donors and parishes around Chicago, I attended my first Diocesan Convention, along with nine other members of the Brent House UChicago campus ministry. The Convention partly focused on asking how we can minister to young adults. Brent House Chaplain, Rev. Stacy Alan, believes in the power of showing young adults how the Episcopal Church "works" during convention. It's transformative for many to see attendees discern "the signs of the times" by creating a more inclusive, more loving church. Witnessing our participatory decision-making process has even led some young adults to become official Episcopalians! So a big thank you to all who support-or are thinking of supporting!-Brent House, especially as we celebrate Stacy's twentieth year of ordained ministry. 

* Patrick Raymond - "... esprit de corps ..." One feature that made this convention positive for me was the esprit de corps shared by those who offered their impressions above and Father Petite (who joined us Friday). I noticed three things about them, collectively: 1) they had previewed the materials and arrived well-prepared; 2) even though the worship and music (in the hotel ballroom) were so different from ours at Ascension, they took part with open hearts rather than disdain; 3) by their actions, comments and questions, individually and collectively, they demonstrated their faith in Christ and their care for the Church.


ALSO FROM THE RECTOR
 
Thanks to all who contributed to a
Tha nks giv ing Community Meal
on Sunday the 18ththat was ...
Good - spirited  ● Safe ● Sumptuous ● Gratefully-received

Special thanks to Carol Noren, Bob Rarick and DiAnne Walsh
for the organizing that made the whole operation run smoothly.
The preliminary report indicates we served over 125 meals and
provided an additional 75 'take out' turkey dinners.
Our volunteers included a great mix of parishioners and neighbor-volunteers.
and see the added thanks from Carol Noren and Bob Rarick below!

Please join me in thanking parishioner John Lawler for lately officiating at Morning Prayer on Mondays and also St. James' Cathedral member Preston Winstead for agreeing to officiate one morning a week through the end of the year . John is not often able to take part in weekend worship due to his commitments as a musician but frequently takes part in weekday offices and masses. We presently have some other opportunities to officiate at weekday Morning Prayer. Training is available. Please see me or Jim Lo Bello if interested.
Cathedral Curate and Deacon Anna Broadbent is finalizing plans for her ordination to the priesthood at St. James' on Sunday, December 23, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, 10:00 a.m. You may view the formal invitation here. In coming weeks, I'll share some additional information about the prospect of soon-to-be Mother Broadbent presiding at some of our masses, likely starting with the weekly Wednesday evening mass.
The Venerable Elaine Bellis, Archdeacon-Emeritus of the Diocese of Chicago, who, in Bishop Lee's words, "shaped a generation of deacons among us," died unexpectedly of natural causes last Thursday, November 15. Though retired from her ministry as Archdeacon, she remained active in ministry as Deacon-in-Charge of Holy Cross Church, Chicago. The Mass of the Resurrection will take place this Saturday, November 24, 11:00 a.m., at St. James' Cathedral.

Rest eternal grant unto her, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon her. May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
 
COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING MEAL

THANK YOU --  to the (almost) 'cast of thousands' who came on Saturday and/or Sunday to make our annual community Thanksgiving meal go so smoothly.  Your hard work, team spirit, and initiative made it possible for us to serve over 200 guests, including take-out meals.   Not only that, we have some leftovers that we will package up, freeze, and distribute at our December food pantry.   We appreciate the many different roles you took willingly to make the event a success. God bless you and those you love this Thanksgiving.

Carol Noren and Bob Rarick




STEWARDSHIP REMINDER

If you have responded to the 2019 stewardship appeal, thank you.

LAST SUNDAY'S SERMON


Fr. Petite's sermon from Sunday, November 18, 2018 may be read here.
RECENTLY FOUND AT ASCENSION


Call if this neck warmer is yours.
THIS SUNDAY AT ASCENSION

The  Sunday Lectionary readings ,  Schedules of Acolytes, Lectors & Ushers as well as Hymnody, Motets and Organ Voluntaries for  Sunday, November 18, 2018 may be found by clicking  here . 

The Lector's Pronunciation Guide may be found here .

THE PARISH PRAYER LIST

Please remember these people in your daily prayers
Geoffrey Wainwright, Fr. John Graham, Dorothy Murray, Mary Lou Devens, Michael Milano, Thomas Holden, Brenton Boitse, Charley Taylor, Marlea Edinger, David Belding, Jr., August 'Augie' Alonzo, Ann Halikas, Emily Cole, Fr. Richard Daly, Kenvert Samuel, Carnola Malone, David Reeves.

Prayers for the departed
Prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of The Venerable Elaine Bellis, Archdeacon- emeritus of the Diocese of Chicago.

For those who die from gun violence in our nation, especially Dr. Tamara O'Neal, Dayna Less, Officer Samuel Jimenez and Juan Lopez who died in the Mercy Hospital shootings.

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. Amen.
 
2019 HOLY LAND PILGRIMAGE, ANYONE?

We have been asked to share an upcoming opportunity for pilgrimage to the Holy Land with our Bishop, the Right Reverend Jeffrey Lee and our Cathedral Dean, the Very Reverend Dominic Barrington. Our own Father Petite took part in the same (or very similar) pilgrimage in May 2017. He has describe it as a profoundly meaningful trip, and he would no doubt be pleased to speak with anyone interested in the upcoming pilgrimage. You may view the full length booklet, with detailed information by clicking here. 

APPROVED VESTRY MINUTES ONLINE

The Approved Minutes of Vestry meetings are now available online to parishioners who request the link.  If you would like Internet access to the Approved Vestry Minutes, please email the  Church Office and request the link. 
 
Once you access the web page, you can read all recent Approved Vestry Minutes.  In addition, if you click on the subscribe button at the top right, you will be given email notice whenever a new set of Approved Minutes is added. 

THE LAST WORD

Monet Refuses The Operation
                             by Lisel Mueller

 Doctor, you say there are no haloes
around the streetlights in Paris
and what I see is an aberration
caused by old age, an affliction
I tell you it has taken me all my life
to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels, 
to soften and blur and finally banish 
the edges you regret I don't see, 
to learn that the line I called the horizon 
does not exist and sky and water,
so long apart, are the same state of being.
Fifty-four years before I could see 
Rouen cathedral is built 
of parallel shafts of sun, 
and now you want to restore 
my youthful errors: fixed
notions of top and bottom,
the illusion of three-dimensional space,
wisteria separate
from the bridge it covers.
What can I say to convince you
the Houses of Parliament dissolves
night after night to become
the fluid dream of the Thames?
I will not return to a universe 
of objects that don't know each other,
as if islands were not the lost children
of one great continent. The world 
is flux, and light becomes what it touches,
becomes water, lilies on water,
above and below water,
becomes lilac and mauve and yellow
and white and cerulean lamps,
small fists passing sunlight 
so quickly to one another 
that it would take long, streaming hair
inside my brush to catch it.
To paint the speed of light!
Our weighted shapes, these verticals, 
burn to mix with air
and change our bones, skin, clothes
to gases. Doctor,
if only you could see
how heaven pulls earth into its arms
and how infinitely the heart expands 
to claim this world, blue vapor without end.
- from Alive Together, Louisiana State University Press, 1996

Autumn Effect at Argenteuil, Claude Monet, 1873, Courtauld Institute of Art, London


Fr. Patrick Raymond,         [email protected]
Rector

Susan Schlough,                [email protected]
Treasurer

Parish Office                      [email protected]