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March 29, 2012 Palm Sunday
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The Rite of Reconciliation
Side Chapel
Wednesday, April 4, 2:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Or by Appointment
The Rite of Reconciliation is a time of prayerful conversation with a priest. In complete confidence, a person can release regrets and be renewed in Christ's forgiveness and love. The priest is a companion, not a counselor. Wednesday 2:30 to 6:30 or, to schedule an appointment, contact Buff+ (rectorbuff@aechurch.org, 651-323-3167).
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 Preparing for Holy Week? You can review the sermons for the season of Lent here.
Looking for the readings for a Sunday? Here is an easy to use reference page. |
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Holy Week Schedule: Nursery Open for all services
Tuesday April 3,
Healing Service, 7 -8 pm
Wednesday April 4,
Tenebrae, 7 - 8 pm
Thursday April 5,
Maundy Thursday, 7 - 8 pm
All Night Vigil in the Chapel
Friday April 6,
Children's Stations of the Cross, 10 am
Good Friday service, 12 noon
Stations of the Cross, 6 - 7 pm
Good Friday service, 7 - 8 pm
Saturday April 7,
Easter Vigil, 8 - 9 pm
Sunday April 8,
Easter Sunday,
Services at 9 and 11 am.
Children's Easter Egg Hunt at 10 am
There is No Sunday school on Easter Sunday.
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The Community at Ascension had an amazing response to the Food shelf food drive. The March food drive totals are: $1,695 Cash donations which translates to $11,000 buying power from the food banks and a dozen + bags of groceries collected which will be matched pound for pound!
Thank you to all who participated in our "Pack the Pews" food drive!
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 Kitchen Update and Spring Cleaning Scheduled
There are exciting things happening in the Ascension Kitchen. In addition to Our Community Kitchen using the space on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, we have several micro businesses that are cooking in the kitchen in order to get their businesses off the ground.
As part of our effort to keep the kitchen as up to date as possible, we will be doing some spring cleaning, starting April 4th, to purge some unused items in order to make way for new supplies and equipment. The refrigerator and freezer will also be cleaned out.
If there is anything in the kitchen that you own and would like to claim, please do so before April 4th. If you store food in the refrigerator or freezer and would like to keep it, please note that and put the date on your items so they don't get thrown away.
All items cleaned out of the kitchen (except for food of course) will be donated to the Ascension garage sale to raise money for the mission trip.
Thanks! We're all looking forward to seeing the great outcomes of so much activity in our kitchen!
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Final Youth Blast for the Year!
Are final youth blast is coming up next Sunday, April 1st in at St. John's the Evangelist in St. Paul. The hosts for this Blast is Bishop Prior, St. Mary's Episcopal Church and Ascension. It begins at 1:00 and will go until 5:00 pm. The topic for this final Blast is You, the church, Your Life and how is all comes together. Bishop Prior will be teaching some Gifts Discernment, Rev. LeeAnne will be teaching church leadership and I will be tying up everything that we have done this year. It also will be run by the youth from Ascension, St. Mary's and St. John's and if you were there at the last one, you won't want to miss this one.
I am looking for adults to help with food for this Blast. If you are interested in helping with that, please email me at mindy@aechurch.org
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Special Easter
author presentation
Life after Death
Featuring David Francis,
father of Jon Francis and
co-founder of the
Jon Francis Foundation
Tuesday, April 10
7 - 8:30 pm
Garden Room
at Trinity Lutheran Church
in Stillwater
David will talk about his journey into the darkness of grief and hopelessness and his discovery of life after death. David will read sections of Bringing Jon Home, an award winning, inspirational memoir about his son, Jon, to vividly describe his unique yet universal experience. |
 Walking with Thich Nhat Hanh -
A talk and discussion with Bill Alexander
Born in Viet Nam in 1926 and ordained as a Zen monk at the age of 16, Thich Nhat is now known around the world for his work as a peace activist, the author of countless books, including the ground-breaking Living Buddha, Living Christ, and for his social activism, which has become known as "engaged Buddhism". He is also credited with originating the current worldwide enthusiasm for mindfulness meditation with his books back when mindfulness was unknown to the general public. Thây (the affectionate nickname for Thich Nhat Hanh) has influenced many generations of Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike with his gentle and incisive teachings.
Thây ordained our friend, the author and storyteller Bill Alexander, in 1995, after Bill spent an entire summer with him at his home, Plum Village, in the Dordogne region of France. Bill considers Thây to be his root teacher.
Please join Bill for stories and discussion about this remarkable Vietnamese Zen Monk after church on Sunday, April 15th.
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April Sunday school Parent Letter
We have finished our rotation called "This is your Body". All of the children learned a lot about Eucharist, baking bread for communion and The Last Supper. Thank you to Lynn Raarup, Alan Lavalier, Susie & Eric & Buff for their help.
April 1st: All children will meet up in Children's Chapel and move around to different Sunday school rooms together. They will start by experiencing Maundy Thursday with foot washing, Last Supper and moving to The Garden of Gethsemane. Following that they will move into Good Friday, light some candles, hear some storied from the Old Testament and prepare for Easter.
Holy Week Schedule
- Tues. 4/3, Healing Service, 7:00-8:00
- Wed. 4/4, Tenebrae Service, 7:00-8:00
- Thurs. 4/5, Maundy Thursday Service, 7:00-8:00
- Fri. 4/6, Children's Stations of the Cross, 10:00-11:00 (will be outside so dress for the weather)
- Fri. 4/6, Good Friday services, 12 noon & 7:00pm
- Fri. 4/6, Stations of the Cross, 6:00-7:00pm
- Sat. 4/7, Easter Vigil, 8:00-9:00pm with reception following
- Sun. 4/8, Easter, 9:00 & 11:00am
- Sun. 4/8, Easter Egg Hunt for the young children, 10:00am
Nursery will be open for all services
April 8th: Easter Sunday services are at 9:00 & 11:00 and there will be no Sunday school. There will be an Easter Egg Hunt starting at 10:00 for all small Sunday school age children. I struggle with giving young children more chocolate than I think they need so if you are interested in donating small type toys, I will keep them all in a bag and children can turn in their eggs for a prize.
April 15th: We will be making Resurrection Rolls on this day and I will need some volunteers. Mary Duke will be making the rolls but I will be at T.E.C. (Teens Encounter Christ) all weekend so I need to have some adults available. If you are interested in helping with this, let me know.
April 21: Bishop Family Day in at St. Marks and is from 10:00-3:00pm. You can register for this fun event on line and I will enclose a registration. Come in and meet Bishop Prior and walk the liturgical calendar with me and many of my colleagues.
April 22nd: Our final rotation of the year begins this Sunday and is called, "The Good Shepherds". We will learn about "The Parable of the Good shepherd" and the 23rd Psalm. I am looking for many volunteers to help with art, cooking and running an outside obstacle course.
April 29th & May 6th: Rotation called "The Good Shepherd", 9:00-9:50am
May 13th: This is our Final Sunday school class and we will have snacks and make Mother's Day Gifts.
V.B.S will be June 11th thru 14th at Ascension. We will be using the children's book called "The Tale of Despereaux". Buff and I have started talking about planning for this but know that it will have betrayal, forgiveness, loyalty, lightness, darkness and all following the Gospel of John. More information will be available following Easter.
Happy Spring! Questions, contact Mindy
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Home visits available for Seniors
Pastoral care visitors Anne Gerber and Ann Martens and parish nurse Andrea Johnson are offering home visits for fall risk assessment in the remainder of March and through April. The names of those who participate in having a home risk assessment will be put into a drawing and one person will win a gift certificate from Schuler Shoes. If you would like a home risk assessment for fall prevention, please call Andrea Johnson, 651-439-3544. |
Mind-Body Skills Group: An eight week group program to learn tools to decrease stress through self-awareness, deep breathing, meditation, guided imagery, biofeedback, and movement. Thursdays, April 12-May 31 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Olson Acupuncture Group in Stillwater. $250 for 8 week session (limited partial scholarships are available). Register by April 9: contact Selena Freimark, MA at 612-298-0679 or smfreimark@yahoo.com for more details.
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Family Game Night! Ascension will host a Family Game Night on Saturday, May 5 at 6 pm in the Parish Hall. Please bring snacks, dessert and beverages to share. Contact Bob Florence at bobflorence@juno.com or Heidi Lottsfeldt at Lottsfeldt@thementornetwork.com for more information.
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 I was homeless...
More than 13,000 Minnesotans are homeless on any given night, including nearly 4.000 children. (Source: Wilder Foundation)
Half of homeless children are 5 years old or younger. (Source: Wilder Foundation)
... and you built me a house.
Volunteers across Minnesota will work with ECS' EpiscoBuilders to build two houses - one in Brooklyn Park and the other in White Earth. This ambitious goal will require many individuals to donate their time, talents, and to help raise the funds it takes - around $125,000.
Youth volunteers 14 yrs and up from Ascension in Stillwater and St. Mark's Cathedral in Minneapolis will work together with ECS' EpiscoBuilders to help build a house in White Earth, MN June 24 - June 28, 2012.
If you would like to participate in this mission experience please fill out the sign up form and return to Mindy by Sunday, April 16 with a $40 deposit. Trip includes transportation, gas, food, lodging, hard work and community. Total cost is $80.
Additional donations to Mission 2012 for the building of the house are needed and appreciated.
Please see Mindy for a sign up form.
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Ascension youth group rummage sale
Saturday, June 2nd
9 am- 5 pm at Manwaring House
Clean out your basement, garage and bedrooms, and donate to the Ascension Youth Group. We are raising money to go up to the White Earth Indian Reservation in June to build a house.
Drop off your items anytime up at Manwaring.
Questions? call Mindy 651-439-2609.
** No computers, beds, mattresses,
microwaves or TV's please. Thanks! ** |
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Senior Health and Faith Day takes place on Tuesday, April 17, from 8:00 am - 12:30 pm at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Stillwater. This year's theme is "Heart and Soul" featuring keynote speaker Dr. Brandi Witt, Lakeview cardiologist. As in other years, there will be community resource tables to visit and complimentary continental breakfast and lunch. Please call Andrea Johnson if you plan to attend: 651-439-3544.
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Vacation Bible School and Mission Trip Dates
To see all the fun trips Mindy has planned for the youth this summer, please click here.
Email Mindy with any questions, mindy@aechurch.org
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 We now have a Twitter account, @aechurchmn. If you would like to keep visitors to our website informed on what you are doing at Church, use hashtag #aechurchmn and your tweet will show on the new homepage. |
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Second Annual Bishop's Family Day
"Walking the Liturgical Calendar"
Saturday, April 21
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
This day of fun and learning will: - offer an intergenerational experience, building community among the Episcopal Church in Minnesota
- connect church and home lives in new ways
- provide Bishop Brian and our families a chance to spend time together
- include opportunities for Grandparents, Godparents and all interested adults
Throughout the day there will be a time for families together to "walk the liturgical calendar", and there will be time for adults and children to have individual experiences, coming back together for a closing Eucharist. The opportunities this day will be most appropriate for children 5th grade and younger; children 6th grade and older are welcomed and encouraged to register as program assistants. Childcare will be available for children ages 3 and younger. Bishop Brian will lead off the first workshop at 10:30 a.m., and will send us out into the world with Eucharist at 2:15 p.m. Registration is online at www.episcopalmn.org with a fee of $5 per person or $15 per family. Please contact Mindy Boynton with any questions. |
Health Insurance Consults
My name is Ann Martens. My husband and I joined Ascension in August of 2011. Our daughters Anne Gerber (husband Dan, children Ada and Hazel) and Alena Tardiff (husband Chris) are active members in the church.
I am offering my assistance to those in need of understanding their health care benefits and coverage. Terminology and processes with health insurance can be very confusing and hard to navigate. I have several years' experience in the health insurance industry. Many people believe they have an understanding of their policy and then the unexpected bills arrive.
Please see the sign-up sheet in the church library or call parish nurse Andrea Johnson (651-439-3544) or parish administrator Nance Anders (651-439-2609) if interested in consulting with me.
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Altar Flowers
If you are interested in sponsoring altar flowers for 2012, please contact Barb Smolik at 651-275-3533 or the office at 651-439-2609 for sign-up. Get your names on the dates you wish before they fill up.
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 by Fra Angelico The Annunciation
Of Our Lord Jesus Christ
To The Blessed Virgin Mary (25 MAR NT) In the first chapter of Luke we read how the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Christ, and how Mary answered, "Here I am, the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be to me as you have said." It is reasonable to suppose that Our Lord was conceived immediately after this. Accordingly, since we celebrate His birth on 25 December, we celebrate the Annunciation nine months earlier, on 25 March. For many centuries most European countries took 25 March, not 1 January, as the day when the number of the year changed, so that 24 March 1201 was followed by 25 March 1202. If you had asked a Christian of that time why the calendar year changed so awkwardly partway through a month, he would have answered: "Today we begin a new year of the Christian era, the era which began X years ago today when God was made man, when He took upon Himself a fleshly body and human nature in the womb of the Virgin."
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Ongoing Events
 Our Community KitchenTuesday and Thursday mornings 7 - 10 am @ Ascension's Kitchen and Fellowship Hall.
Come and meet your community and have a delicious breakfast!
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Ascension Episcopal Church
E-Newsletter CommunicationsLynn Raarup To submit an article or question please e-mail me at: enews@aechurch.org 651-439-2609 |
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