 The Ascension Community meets outside to begin Palm Sunday Service.
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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
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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Nancy Whipkey directs the Ascension Choirs during a rehearsal for Sunday services. Recently in the Gazette the Ascension Music Program was voted as the best in the Valley! Congratulations Nancy and musicians!
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Here is the 2012 Ascension Confirmation Class at our last Youth Blast. Left, Ivy Thompson, Erich Korth, Story Schwantes, Bishop Brian Prior, Lee Miller, Dan Allaire, Shyam Dorn & Christof Krumenacker. They will be confirmed by Bishop Brian on Thursday, May 17th, 7:00pm at Ascension.
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Thank you to all Ascension members that contributed to the March "Pack the Pews" food drive. We donated 179 pounds of food which will be matched 100%. We also collected $1,770 cash contributions that can purchase food at 6-9 times the normal buying power at Second Harvest Food Bank. This drive was a great success! In our ongoing commitment to assist out neighbors with basic living needs, Ascension Church is scheduled to staff the food shelf on: Monday, April 23 Wednesday, April 25 Friday, April 27 We need 6-8 volunteers for each shift Volunteers should intend to work from 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m, however we can accommodate shorter blocks of time. Thank you for your generous donation of time, food and money. Please contact Frank Langer at 651-439-5766 or fslanvel@hotmail.com
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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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 On Thursday, April 19th at 7 pm Ascension will launch an ongoing study, prayer and meditation group, centered on the life and teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. The group will meet in the parish hall. Much of the emphasis will be on developing a personal practice of mindfulness, a non-sectarian practice that was initially made popular by this world-famous monk.
Thich Naht Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who now lives in France. Thích Nhất Hạnh joined a Zen monastery at the age of 16, and studied Buddhism as a novitiate. He is often considered the most influential living figure in the lineage of Vietnamese Zen and perhaps also in Zen Buddhism as a whole. Nhất Hạnh has become an important influence in the development of Western Buddhism.His teachings and practices aim to appeal to people from various religious, spiritual, and political backgrounds, intending to offer mindfulness practices for more Western sensibilities. He is the author of many books, including the best seller and highly influential book, "Living Buddha, Living Christ." He lives in the Plum Village Monastery in the Dordogne region in the South of France, travelling internationally to give retreats and talks. He coined the term Engaged Buddhism in his book Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire. A long-term exile, he was given permission to make his first return trip to Vietnam in 2005 and has returned regularly since.
Our group will be led by church member Bill Alexander, who lived in Plum Village for three months in 1992 and who was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh as a member of the core community of the Order Of Interbeing in1995.
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April Sunday school Parent Letter
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 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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Frank Langer will offer CPR/AED training on Monday, April 23 from 7 - 9 pm in the parish hall. It is free. CPR is now done
with only chest compressions, no mouth-to-mouth. If you have questions or plan to attend, sing-up on the clipboard in the parish hall. Questions, contact Andrea Johnson, parish nurse,
651-439-3544, andrea@aechurch.org
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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. |
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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