Spires APRIL 2016 Church of the Ascension 13216 Detroit Avenue Lakewood, OH 44107 www.ascension-lakewood.org From Rev. Vincent Black May is here and with power and great movement! It is the month of the Holy Spirit as we celebrate the feast of Pentecost, that glorious day that the Holy Spirit was given to the followers of Jesus. The coming of the holy Spirit changed everything. It empowered the fearful and hesitant disciples to go out and preach the good news announcing that the reign of God has come near. It continues to change everything as God the Holy Spirit empowers us to share the good news, to join in that kingdom building movement that Jesus began and continues to lead. On Thursday May 5th we celebrate our names day, Ascension. Ascension Day is always celebrated on Thursday, forty days after Easter. We remember the day Jesus returned to God carrying with him the wounds of being human transformed and redeemed in his resurrected body. We celebrate with a parish meal in Ascension Hall at 6:30pm followed by Holy Eucharist in the church at 7:30pm. It is a day for us to gather to eat and worship thanking God for bringing us together as a parish and asking for prayers to evermore live into our calling. On Sunday May 10th we will baptize an adult into the Body of Christ as part of our 10:30am Eucharist. What a joy it is to grow in faith and numbers, just as the Church did in the Acts of the Apostles, one of the books we have been reading in our Sunday services over the past several weeks. With growth comes new challenges and opportunities and so we will gather as a parish after the 10:30 service on Sunday May 22 to brainstorm about our future. The hope is to gather all ages to explore what kinds of things we would like to do both socially and spiritually. It is a time to reflect, examine, and dream. Please come with your hopes and visions. We will also have our book club at 6:00pm followed by Taize at 7:30 on Tuesday May 31st. What a blessing it is for me to serve as your priest. Inside this Issue Message from Fr. Vincent... 1 Message from Sr. Warden... 2 Note from Editor... 2 Spires Spotlight... 3 Feast of the Ascension... 4 Yard & Garden Clean-Up... 4 Ascension Night Out... 4 Afternoon Guild... 5 Community Meal... 5 Adult Formation... 6 Community Spaghetti Meal... 6 Book Club... 7 Taizé... 7 Indian's Game... 7 Frankfurter Fridays... 7 Stations of the Terrain... 8 Summer Lunch Program... 9 Hospitality Roster... 9 May Celebrations... 9 Calendar... 10 Photo Gallery... 11 Want to tell a friend about that terrific sermon you heard Sunday? Or did you miss one? Just go to our web site! Sermons delivered at the Church of the Ascension are available for listening or download from the web site: http://ascension-lakewood.org. Please submit all news by May 25th to Allie! allisonjeanvansau@gmail.com 1
From Gil Newlands, Senior Warden Spring is here! I m sure most of you have either noticed or commented on all the beautiful tulips in front of the church this year. Ascension is alive and not only in color! A couple of months ago I mentioned some of the plans for the immediate future. Well, the time has come for putting some of those plans into action. Thursday, May 5th, will be the name day of our parish Ascension Day. We plan to observe this day with our annual parish picnic/potluck at 6:00, followed by a service of Holy Communion at 7:30. Please let me know if you are able to bring a dish to share for the potluck. Starting in June, we will resume our Frankfurter Fridays on the front lawn every other Friday through mid-september. We need volunteers to help set-up and clean-up, as some of the people who previously assisted will not be available this year. Please let me know if you can help! Also, starting sometime in June, we will again be resuming our Summer Lunch Program, with free lunches for neighborhood children (under 18). Margie will be posting a sign-up sheet in Ascension Hall; we need to have at least two volunteers every day. The lunches will be in the Undercroft, so will we can use the stairs on the east side of the building. Then later on in the summer, Lakewood Montessori School will begin using space in the Undercroft for their classes, contingent upon the space passing state inspection. LMS has already signed a letter of intent, and published locally that they will be located at Church of the Ascension. Finally, sometime in May, Carol Culp will be holding training sessions for new Acolytes, and I will be working with new Readers. (Two people have already indicated they would like to be Acolytes, and one has agreed to be a Reader.) If you are interested in either of these positions, please let me know. See you in church! From Allie Thompson, Spires Editor It's MAY! May is my favorite month... Partly because it is my birthday month, but also because May evokes feelings of hope and happiness to me: it truly (and finally!) feels like Spring to me - flowers bloom, the sun peeks out more, and the temperatures are perfect. May reminds me of Ascension as well - a blosoming and thriving congregation! With the feelings of progress and fun, it is only appropriate that I present the first "Spires Spotlight!" For the first "Spires Spotlight", I interviewd Jenny Christ. Jenny is seriously one of the nicest, smartest, and most humble human beings I have ever met. We both started attending Church of the Ascension around the same time and it has been so fun to talk with her aftter the 10:30 am service every Sunday. Jenny always brightens my day with her wonderful stories, interesting facts, and wisdom. Did you know that she speaks Japanese? Or that she attended law school at John Marshall University? Learn more about Jenny on the following page! 2
Spires Spotlight JENNY CHRIST HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A MEMBER AT ASCENSION? 3 years. WHERE DID YOU GROW UP? A couple of far-east side suburbs. WHAT CHURCH DID YOU ATTEND WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD? Born and raised at St. Luke'S Episcopal in Chardon... Yup, I'm a cradle Episcopalian. In fact, my great-grandfather Rev. Edmund Mapes was the rector of Christ Church, Shaker Heights DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE CHILDHOOD CHURCH MEMORY? Our children's choir did a retreat weekend at St. Barnabas in Erie and we had to be quiet from the end of evening prayers until morning prayers the next day... Not so easy when you're 7 years old and your roommate and best friend was super chatty! WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ACTIVITY OR EVENT YOU PARTICIPATE(D) IN AT ASCENSION? I love to sing, so choir is my favorite. WHAT DO YOU DO DURING THE DAY? (I.E. WHAT'S YOUR JOB?) Economic analyst. WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT THE FUTURE AT ASCENSION? There are so many wonderful people coming to offer their gifts & also finding something they need in this community WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? Depends on the day - everyone who asks is so disappointed that I've had no particular baby cravings! HAVE YOU READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? I'm reading Rainn Wilson's "The Bassoon King" right now. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE WORD? Ototoi - it's Japanese for "day before yesterday"... it's not only really fun to say, but I also love that there is a single word for that phrase. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? Two cats... Scrappy (a gray tabby) and Robin (a dark calico). FAVORITE PLACE YOU'VE EVER VISITED? Tough one... but I'm thinking of summer, so I'll say Lakeside, OH... we've been having family gatherings there since long before I was born so it's a sentimental favorite. FAVORITE COLOR(S)? Grass green & lemon yellow. 3
Feast of the Ascension Please help us celebrate the day of our church! Z Thursday, May 5th 6:00 PM: BBQ Dinner 7:00 PM: Worship Yard and Garden Clean-Up G On the first Saturday of each month during the spring and summer, there will be a yard and garden clean-up. Contact Joyce Knapp with any questions. Next Yard and Garden Cleanup: May 7th at 9:00 am Ascension Night Out This month s Dinner-Out-Group will be meeting on Monday, May 9th at 6 pm. We will be meeting at Hooley House 24940 Sperry Road, Westlake OH Please sign the sheet in the office to let us know if you can be with us. 4
You are invited to the Afternoon Guild Lunch and Tour at The Hildebrandt The ladies of the Afternoon Guild will be having our Wednesday, May 11th meeting at the Hildebrandt Building. We will meet at the church at 12:00 pm and carpool to the building. The boxed lunches will be catered by Lakewoodite, Rachel Kingsbury for $10.00 each (payable in cash). Following our meal, we can visit any of the businesses that will be open before we leave. At the building there are the following businesses: 5 Star Meats Ring Star Coffee (roast beans/ sell coffee) Storehouse Tea Wake Robin Fermented Foods (sauerkraut, pickles) Hildebrandt Artists Collective (10 different artists) Soulcraft Woodworking Several potters A tile designers A glassblower A baker in the commercial kitchen And MANY more! If you would like to see a preview of the building, visit: www.hildebrandtco.com We hope you can join us for this fun afternoon! Margie will need a count by the beginning of the month, so she can order the lunches. The reservation signup will be in the office. Feel free to invite a friend!!! Community Meal The community meal this month will be on Thursday, May 12th. Our dessert will be Chocolate Cake with White Icing 4 pm: Set Up 5 pm: Doors Open 5:30 pm: Serve Meal There will be a sign in sheet for helpers so we have a record of the numbers of helpers. Please let Margie know if you can bake or help! bach2schol@hotmail.com 5
Adult Formation We resume Christian Formation for Adults on May 22 at 9:15 am. We will continue using the book Episcopal Questions, Episcopal Answers. Please join us as we explore and discuss our relationship with God and what that means. Community Spaghetti Meal Church of the Ascension is now hosting another Community Meal, coordinated by Jonathan Gray, on the 4th Monday of the month. This month's meal will be on May 23rd; all helpers should come at 4 pm. There will be a sign in sheet for helpers so we have a record of the numbers of helpers. BOOK CLUB Our monthly book club which will meet on May 31st from 6-7pm. We will be reading Immortal Diamond by Richard Rohr. Come prepared to discuss the book, having read it of course. Light refreshments will be served. As a reminder, there is a Taizé service at 7:30 on the same evening so you might plan to attend both as your schedule permits. 6
Taizé Prayer Join us for a new prayer service at 7:30 pm on the last Tuesday of every month! Next : May 31st Church of the Ascension Indians Game Wednesday, June 1st at 6pm Cost is $18; payable to Rob Theibert We need a minimum of 20 people! Sign up sheet in office FRANKFURTER FRIDAYS Will begin in June and will continue every other Friday. More information to follow... 7
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Summer Lunch Program The Summer Lunch program will hopefully be confirmed soon. Once we are confirmed as a site, Margie will be calling a meeting/training for those who want to help, as is required by the Foodbank. Margie would like to have a leader for each day - who would be the liason between me and the clients who eat. We would also love to have special things to do on each day - like a story, art projects, etc. If you have an idea to share and would like to take charge of that activity for a one time event or a weekly event, please let her know know. Look for the signup sheet in the office! Hospitality Roster ³ May: Ascension House June: Afternoon Guild July: Vestry August: Music May Celebrations BIRTHDAYS May 2nd: Robert Mattoon May 7th: Joshua Gillies May 10th: Ann Beyer May 13th: Brenda Killey May 18th: Jeffrey Welfley May 18th: Marilyn Little May 22nd: Allison Thompson May 23rd: Kathleen Jones May 24th: Joyce Knapp ANNIVERSARIES May 9th: Jeff Sommer & Corky Thacker May 19th: Stephanie & Joshua Gillies May 24th: Codi & Joe Hildebrandt 9
May 2016 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6:30 pm- Buildings & Grounds Meeting 9:30 am- Shawl Ministry (Guild Room) Feast of the Ascension 6:00 pm - Feast of the Ascension BBQ 7:00 pm - 9:00 am- Yard & Garden Cleanup Mother's Day 8 am- 10:30 am- 8 9 6:00 pm- Ascension Night House (Hooley House) 10 11 12:00 pm- Afternoon Guild Lunch & Tour at the Hildebrandt 12 5 pm- Community Meal 13 14 8 am- 10:30 am- 15 16 17 18 9:30 am- Shawl Ministry (Guild Room) 19 7:00 pm- Vestry Meeting 20 21 8 am- 9:15 am- Adult Formation 22 5 pm- Community Meal 23 24 25 26 27 28 10:30 am- 8 am- 9:15 am- Adult Formation 10:30 am- 29 30 Memorial Day 6-7 pm- Monthly Book Club 7:30 pm- Taizé Prayer 31 10
Photo Gallery Baptism on April 10, 2016 Bowling April 17, 2016 11