January 26 Annual Meeting Announcement Issue
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Sunday, January 12
First Sunday after the Epiphany:
The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ
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Baptism of Jesus
, one of 64 images from the
'Stein Quadriptych' Bruges, ca. 1525-30,
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
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7:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
8:00 a.m. Said Mass (Rite I)
Nursery available 8:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
11:00 a.m. Solemn High Mass
Join us for fellowship
in Wheeler Hall after every Mass.
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This Week at Ascension + January 8, 2020
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
From the Rector
Please help with Directory Updates
Mike Milano Requiem this Saturday
Also from the Rector
This Sunday at Ascension
The Parish Prayer List
Approved Vestry Minutes Online
The Last Word
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Want to elect the next bishop?
The saying is sure:
whoever aspires to the office of bishop
desires a noble task.
- I Timothy 3:1
Dear people of Ascension,
This is your invitation to be considered as a lay delegate from Ascension to elect the Thirteenth Bishop of the Diocese of Chicago. The election will be held at a special convention at St. James' Cathedral, Chicago, on June 20, 2020.
G
uidance from Bishop Lee and the Bishop Search Committee gives congregations latitude in choosing lay delegates for the electing convention. The Vestry considered this matter at its December meeting. We were of one mind that we should both invite self-nominations and ask the congregation to elect the delegates at our upcoming Annual Meeting, January 26.
By way of a plurality vote at that meeting, we will choose three electing delegates and an alternate. Any Voting Member of Ascension is qualified to be considered. Delegates should be familiar with the recently completed diocesan profile, which may be read by clicking here
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Delegates will also be asked to take part in one of the Bishop candidates' 'walkabout' sessions in the weeks prior to the electing convention, followed by an all-Ascension-delegate caucus prior to June 20.
 If you wish to be included on this ballot, please provide your name, a photo, and a statement of no more than 150 words describing a) what qualities you hope to see in our next bishop and b) why you feel you are well-qualified to be an electing delegate. Send this information to me by email with a copy, also by email, to the parish office no later than Friday, January 17. Please include 'Bishop election delegate' in your email subject.
More information about our January 26 annual meeting may be found below. I'll be grateful for your intention to take part, for your preparation, and for your prayers.
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PLEASE HELP WITH DIRECTORY UPDATES
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We hope to have a new parish directory ready in time for the Annual meeting, with your help. The directory may include not only voting and baptized members but spouses or partners, children or other household members, newcomers and long-distance friends of Ascension. Please take part and share your current information with Br. Nathanael in the parish office by Sunday, January 19.
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MIKE MILANO REQUIEM THIS SATURDAY
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Ascension members wanting to share in the lunch
following the requiem
please contact the Ascension office no later than 3:00 p.m. tomorrow, Thursday, January 9.
For January 11 only: The anointing and prayers for healing
normally offered at our 10:00 a.m. Saturday mass will be offered instead in conjunction with Morning Prayer, at 10:30 a.m.
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More Annual Meeting Preparation
* The Sunday morning schedule for January 26 includes:
Solemn High Mass at 10am
Annual Meeting at Noon in St. Michael Hall
 * The meeting is a public meeting, open to all. Voting Members are especially encouraged to participate. I will ask Vestry members to circulate with a Voting Member list over the next few Sundays to make sure we have correct information.
* The nomination period for Warden and Vestry Members is now closed,
per provisions of our bylaws. In December the Vestry approved a single slate of candidates that includes Cheryl Peterson for a two-year Warden term, and Kelly Colomberti, George Pineda and Enrique Vilaseco, each for three year Vestry Member terms. The bylaws provide for additional nominations from the floor at the Annual Meeting.
* The Vestry is considering some modest changes to the meeting format this year-eliminating the PowerPoint presentation and sharing some table-talk at intervals, as examples.Anything substantive will be shared before the meeting takes place. As has been the case in my time at Ascension, we will do our best to keep the meeting to no more than 90 minutes.
* Please let me know if you're willing and able to help with hospitality - serving a simple meal that can be eaten as the meeting gets underway.
* Those wishing to submit reports may still do so. Please try to limit your report to 150 words. Email your submission to office@ascensionchicago.org. The submission deadline is Friday, January 10.
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My letter above makes no mention of clergy delegates
to the bishop's election because all clergy are by church canon required to participate. An election takes place, sometimes only after several ballots, when there is a concurrence between the ballots of both laity and clergy.
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Fr. Shawn Evelyn will say this evening's 6:30 p.m. mass
, his first here at Ascension since his December 14 ordination to the priesthood at St. James' Cathedral. He's shown here with his parents, Pamela and Vibert, Bishop Lee, the Rev. Dr. Glenn Libby and wife, Mother Anna Broadbent. My thanks to Fr. Evelyn and other clergy who have stepped in as I've been recovering in the past few days from what now seems to be a flu.
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A young adults gathering tentatively scheduled for this coming Sunday, the 12th, has not been finalized, mainly due to my own poor health and quarantine over the past few days. I'll send an update by email on Friday or
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 Marijuana: Part II, and beyond?
I tucked a feature about marijuana use and the church at the bottom of an unscheduled newsletter last Friday, January 3 ... and received more responses to that piece than anything else I've written in my four years at Ascension. Go figure. All of the responses were thoughtful, a number expressing gratitude for my addressing the topic, some adding additional perspectives. The volume of responses led me to wonder if there may be enough interest to schedule some related conversations, forums, series ... I welcome your thoughts. If you missed the feature last week and want to read it, click here.
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Please join me in praying for peace in our world at this time of gravity and uncertainty.
Many good prayers may be found in the 'Prayers and Thanksgivings' section of the Book of Common Prayer, found beginning on page 814. A good starting point may be the Collect for our Enemies found on p. 816 ...
O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love
 our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth:
deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in
your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Note as well the following:
Collect for the Human Family, p. 815
Collect for Peace, p. 815
Collect for Peace Among Nations, p. 816
The Prayers for National Life, including the Collect for our Country, p. 820, the Collect for the President of the United States and all in Civil Authority, p. 821, the Litany for Sound Government, pp. 821-822, and the Collect for Those in the Armed Services of Our Country, p. 822.
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The Diocese of Chicago Men's Retreat that I'll lead Feb. 7-8
at the DeKoven Center in Racine still has a few available spaces, I've been told. Parishioner Jim Lenz has been a longtime participant and would be pleased, I imagine, to share his experiences. The flyer and registration form may be viewed here.
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Please remember these people in your daily prayers
Geoffrey Wainwright, Fr. John Graham, Mary Lou Devens, Michael Milano, Charley Taylor, August 'Augie' Alonzo, Ted Long, Jim Berger, Ethel Martin, Yuka Asai, Dean Pineda, Bazelais Suy, Carnola Malone, Charlene MacDougal, Doreen Finn, Monica, Jim Lo Bello, Jack Johnston, Patricia Johnston, Andy, Stewart Marks, Char Yurema, Ronn Garton, Vanessa Rogers, Bob Sparacio, Jonathan Jacobs, Canon Edgar Wells, Nicholas Carl
Prayers are requested for the repose of the soul of
Michael Milano.
Rest eternal grant unto him, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
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APPROVED VESTRY MINUTES ONLINE
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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.
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Anybody else out there prone to feeling this way around the New Year
? - pr+
Looking
by W.D. Snodgrass
What was I looking for today?
All that poking under the rugs,
Peering under the lamps and chairs,
Or going from room to room that way,
Forever up and down the stairs
Like someone stupid with sleep or drugs.
Everywhere I was, was wrong.
I started turning the drawers out, then
I was staring in at the icebox door
Wondering if I'd been there long
Wondering what I was looking for.
Later on, I think I went back again.
Where did the rest of the time go?
Was I down cellar? I can't recall
Finding the light switch, or the last
Place I've had it, or how I'd know
I didn't look at it and go past.
Or whether it's what I want, at all.
From
Selected Poems: 1957-1987
, Soho Press
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Relativity, lithograph, 1953, by M.C. Escher
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Stay Connected
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Regarding the Bishop Search and Election, this Friday, January 10, is the deadline for those who have been nominated to submit bishop candidate applications. A slate of candidates will not be announced until April.
