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May 9, 2013 Mission and Feature
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 Confirmation
 Celebrate Our Confirmands: Confirmation at Ascension
Tonight at 7:00 pm, The Right Reverend Brian Prior will confirm members of Ascension Church and preside at the Holy Eucharist. Everyone is invited to this festive service in which participants in our youth confirmation program and our adult inquirers' class will be confirmed in the Episcopal Church. Adults who have been confirmed previously in other denominations will be confirmed by the laying on of hands and will be received into the Episcopal Church. A festive reception will follow the service in the Parish Hall. Please plan on witnessing this beautiful Rite of Passage. The nursery will be open.
May 9th is 'Ascension Day' when we celebrate Christ ascending
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Ascension's Vestry Mission Team has created a yearly mission calendar that identifies the people, programs, and projects that represent the Church's overall goal to "eat, pray, love, serve". Our church community is active in these service areas and we wanted to quantify the activities that occur throughout the year.
Matthew writes how Jesus acknowledges the righteous people based on their works of compassion stating " I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me drink: I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me." These actions are realized today by our efforts to serve in local, regional and global mission activities.
Our yearly mission calendar designates a Mission focus for each month. The Mission focus is represented by a speaker who will explain, advocate and promote the mission. Space in the Parish Hall may be used by the group to share information and answer questions. Additional information is provided in the Font. A fundraising component is included for the mission. Some of the monthly Mission projects will include a fundraising breakfast.
Numerous outreach activities are undertaken by our parishioners and this results in overlapping Mission focus activities. We identified these as secondary mission activities and generally, they will have 2 weeks in a month to raise awareness and funds.
The white Mission envelopes located in the pews, were designed to accommodate the overlapping nature of our activities. Parishioners interested in supporting a specific Mission focus can mark the purpose on the envelope designation line. If there is no indication on the envelope or the check memo line, the donation will go to the Mission focus designated for the month.
We invite your suggestions of other mission activities by submitting a mission request form . The form will be reviewed by the Mission team to determine if the request can be accommodated in this year 's time frame.
Thank you for your continued support
of Mission outreach events!
2013 Mission Calendar
March -Valley Outreach food drive- Breakfast fundraiser March 10th
April- Books for Africa, Food shelf volunteer staffing week April 22,24,26
May- Our Community Kitchen- Breakfast fundraiser May 19th
June- Mission trips- Guatemala and White Earth Reservation. Rummage sale June 1st,
Breakfast fundraiser June 9th
July- Mission trips focus, St Croix Chaplain Association
August- School readiness backpack drive, Headstart Blankets, Food shelf volunteer staffing week Aug 5,7,9
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Invite Your Family, Friends and Neighbors
To the first annual
Healthy & Delicious
Fundraising Breakfast
Sunday, May 19
8:30 am - noon
IN THE PARISH HALL
$10 Suggested Donation
Enjoy OCK favorites including
Steel Cut Oats with Assorted Toppings
Sweet Potato Pancakes with Cranberry-Apple Compote
And The Best Banana Bread...ever!
We couldn't have done it without you! Our Community Kitchen is immensely grateful for Ascension's generous support and
commitment to bringing our vision to life. Two and a half years after our inception, OCK is indeed a place where everyone is
welcome and everyone is fed.
By offering a healthy variety of chemical-free, locally produced fresh fruits and vegetables, bringing volunteers
into the kitchen, introducing people to nutritious foods, teaching children and adults how to prepare healthy
menus, Our Community Kitchen is creating a community of friends that make sure no one in our neighborhood goes hungry.
Please help us continue this important work in the community by contributing to our Wish List:
$10 will buy 2 pounds of organic butter or 5 pounds of organic oats
$24 will buy 3 pounds of locally roasted, sustainably sourced coffee from The Bikery
$46 will buy one case of local eggs from River Market (this will last one week)
$75 will buy one case of organic fruit from River Market
$100 will buy 40 meals for hungry people
$200 will provide food and programming for the Head Start children for one month
$475 will buy a CSA share from the Backyard Grocery (lots of fresh produce)
$1000 will provide supplies to start a garden for OCK
$5000 will pay for an intern to create and run a garden program
Please make checks payable to Our Community Kitchen and drop off at or mail to the church office. THANK YOU!
For more information about OCK, please call 439-2609.
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Healing Touch on Saturday, May 11th 9-11 am in the Parish Hall |
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Important Dates to remember:
No Thich Nhat Hanh meeting on May 9th.
Youth Choir sings on Mother's Day, May 12th.
Last Adult Choir on May 15th.
Gospel Sunday, Quilt Sunday and OCK Breakfast on Sunday, May 19th.
Office will be closed on Memorial Day.
Outdoor Worship Service in Washington Park
on June 16th.
Guatemala Trip is July 10-20th.
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Bantfwana Phambili fundraiser
Bantfwana Phambili means "Children first" in siSwati (a language primarily spoken in Swaziland and eastern South Africa). We are a US non-profit and our mission is to assist qualified, selected, students in South Africa further their education. Please explore our website to learn about our organization and the students we support.
On Tuesday, May 14th from 5:30 -8:30 at the Life Bridge Brewery we'll be featuring the "Thrift Store Sonata" band as a fundraiser for our organization: Bantfwana Phambili.
This will help keep our South African learners in school!
The Lift Bridge Brewery is at 1900 Tower Drive across the street from the north side of Herberger's department store and immediately east of the Arrow Building Center.
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Exhibitions by Ascension's Mike Kramer
and other members of the group are on view.
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 Harmony Greenhouse has Seedlings to Sell!
This is a perfect opportunity for people to purchase transplants for their garden at an affordable price, while helping the community at the same time! All proceeds from the sale of the seedlings will go toward the Harmony  Greenhouse, which was developed to provide food management skills, business development learning, English Language Skills and community building for immigrant students and other students at Harmony Learning Center.
*There is also a flyer about this project in the Parish Hallway.
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 Ascension Vacation Bible School
Growing In Friendship with Jesus
June 10th ~ 13th, 2013
9:00 a.m.-12 noon
Vacation Bible School is for all children pre-Kindergarten thru 5th grade, with older youth helping with play and teaching. There will be childcare for small friends and no registration fee. If you would like to sponsor a snack, please let us know.
Looking for lots of help, so contact Kari Mattson, Connie Kurtz or Mindy if you are available, 439-2609 ext. 13
 To view registration formPlease print off the Ascension website
and send to Mindy at:
Ascension Episcopal Office
Mindy Boynton VBS
215 North Fourth Street
Stillwater, MN 55082
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Paper Bags Needed!
Valley Outreach needs to restock
our supply of paper grocery bags.
Paper bags with or without handles
(but no plastic please)
Bags can be dropped off inside our office
M, W & F 9-1
T & Th 11-7
Or placed in food drop box at the rear of building anytime
Our address is:
1911 Curve Crest Blvd W
Stillwater, MN
Please call us at 651-430-2739 with any questions
and our sincere thanks for your support!
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Mission Team
Saturday, June 1st
9 - 3 pm at Manwaring
Clean out your basement, garage and bedrooms
and donate to the Ascension Mission Sale!
We are raising money to go to Guatemala and
do mission in this world.
Drop off your items anytime up at Manwaring in May.
Questions, please call Mindy at 439-2609
Please, No Clothing, computers, beds, mattresses, microwaves or T.V. Thanks!
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Pastoral Care - It's Not Just For Clergy Anymore What is Pastoral Care? Why do we do it, and who can do it? What does it involve?
As Christians, we are all members of Jesus' flock, and through our Baptism, we are called to care for one another as the Shepherd cares for us. While clergy are responsible for the care of souls, much of what we think of as pastoral care does not need clergy, but someone who is spiritually grounded, called to help others, and can listen well. There are various needs for various people - some, just to be a companion, and for others, to coordinate others during a challenging time. (Think of this as "in-reach," to our own members and their connections.)
If this sounds like you, please come and be part of an informal meeting on
Sunday, June 9 after the 10:00 Holy Eucharist.
A mission fundraising breakfast is planned for 11:30 that day, so take part in that and join us in the church Library at Noon.
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Summer time activities
Please think about some of your favorite free or low cost summer days, activities and events. Make a list and e-mail them to me at c.parsons@aechurch.org. If you have a favorite website for family activities, please share. Soon, I will have a bulletin board in the hallway of the church for our Family Resource Center and I will post our summer list for Ascension families as well. I have a few requests for donations for some of our families:
Kitchen table and chairs
Full or Queen-size beds
Dressers
A sewing machine and fabric for a 14 year old girl that wants to do a lot of sewing this summer!
For donations of time, talent and treasures to the Family Resource Center, please call Cindy at 439-2641.
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Last Sunday Supper April 28, 2013
Sunshine and warm temps graced our 32 guests, which included two children, for April's late afternoon supper. Our friends from First Presbyterian Church served a meal which included sloppy joe's, cheesy potatoes, baked beans, fruit salad of apples/strawberries/pineapple and brownies for dessert. We were pleased to greet several new faces and welcome our "regulars" who no longer had to deal with winter's white stuff!
Our Vestry will be preparing the May 26 meal.
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Greening of Ascension Report
Rogation Sunday, May 5, 2013
The Greening of Ascension, an environmental awareness campaign held during the month of April, 2013 among members of the parish, was successful in several areas.
It engaged attention through a sermon on 3/17, followed by collecting ideas and suggestions written on "shamrocks" that were displayed on a bulletin board in the parish hall.
It identified areas of concern among parishioners, the number one of which was the volume of paper and recycling of the Sunday Service Bulletins.
It showed that not everyone knew the extent of the recycling already being done.
Some Ascension members offered to develop a composting unit on church grounds.
A Spread sheet of all responses was reviewed by the Environmental Awareness Committee, with a report prepared for the Vestry.
As an immediate response, the Sunday service bulletins have been modified to reflect the reduced in volume, and use of the BCP has increased to compensate for the reduction in the size of the bulletins.
Parishioners undertook additional activities that included hang drying laundry, repair/reusing broken appliances, buying organic, local foods, opting for a fuel efficient car.
Ascension members attended Earth Day at the Capitol in St. Paul April 22nd.
Sixteen households recorded their activities on the Tally Sheets posted on the parish hallway bulletin board that reflected carbon footprint reduction, for a total of 478 individual activities. This will serve as a benchmark for evaluation and followup..
The Environmental Committee generated interest in its membership and will continue to determine feasibility of suggestions made.
To thank the parishioners, individual pansy plants which signify friendship and devotion In the Victorian tradition, are being given out May 5th and May 12th in the Parish Hall. Please plant them to memorialize our collective devotion to environmental efforts here at Ascension!
Websites for Calculating Carbon Footprint:
www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx |
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Come and enjoy A Delicious Breakfast prepared and served by Our Community Kitchen on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8-10 am.
Meet new friends and join the Community!
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Dame Julian of Norwich  Contemplative (8 MAY 1417)
The Lady Juliana was born about 1342, and when she was thirty years old, she became gravely ill and was expected to die. Then, on the seventh day, the medical crisis passed, and she had a series of fifteen visions, or "showings," in which she was led to contemplate the Passion of Christ. These brought her great peace and joy. She became an anchoress, living in a small hut near to the church in Norwich, where she devoted the rest of her life to prayer and contemplation of the meaning of her visions. The results of her meditations she wrote in a book called Revelations of Divine Love, available in modern English in a Penguin Paperback edition. During her lifetime, she became known as a counselor, whose advice combined spiritual insight with common sense, and many persons came to speak with her. Since her death, many more have found help in her writings.
The precise date of her death is uncertain.
Her book is a tender meditation on God's eternal and all-embracing love, as expressed to us in the Passion of Christ.
She describes seeing God holding a tiny thing in his hand, like a small brown nut, which seemed so fragile and insignificant that she wondered why it did not crumble before her eyes. She understood that the thing was the entire created universe, which is as nothing compared to its Creator, and she was told, "God made it, God loves it, God keeps it."
She was concerned that sometimes when we are faced with a difficult moral decision, it seems that no matter which way we decide, we will have acted from motives that are less then completely pure, so that neither decision is defensible. She finally wrote: "It is enough to be sure of the deed. Our courteous Lord will deign to redeem the motive."
A matter that greatly troubled her was the fate of those who through no fault of their own had never heard the Gospel. She never received a direct answer to her questions about them, except to be told that whatever God does is done in Love, and therefore "that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."
Read more about this fascinating woman and read about the order of St. Julian within the Episcopal Church.
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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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