Church of the Ascension

Parish Events

Cultivating Grateful Hearts – Lent 2022

Lent is a season of turning our attention away from temptation and distraction and towards God and God’s will for our lives and the world. We make space to make our relationship with God a priority, taking stock of the ways in which we have failed to do that and the ways in which God nonetheless continues to be faithful to us.

This year, you are invited into a particular Lenten discipline of gratitude. Fast from complaining and grasping and focus instead on the good and growing things God has placed in your life. Find ways to see God at work even in the hard things. Let your gratefulness overflow in acts of love and generosity. 

Some specific practices to consider:

  • Keep a daily journal, in which you record not only the things for which you are grateful but the experience of discovering and naming them.
  • Say grace at every meal. (download a selection here)
  • Send a thank you note to at least one person each week.
  • Find ways to share those things for which you are thankful with people who may not have such easy access to them.
  • Use these weekly reflections and prayers, drawing on the Psalms appointed for use in Lent.
  • Join in an Evening Prayer service every Wednesday at 7:30 pm in Lent, March 9-April 13. Contact Karen McBride for the Zoom link.

Ash Wednesday Services

March 2nd at 12:00 and at 7:00

12pm – Holy Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes at the Church (no music or sermon)

7pm – Service of the Word with Self-imposition of Ashes on Zoom (with hymns and sermon)
download the booklet

Rising Up: Children, Art, and Community

a multi-arts program full of connection, play, and joy 
for children aged 5-9

Saturdays from 9:30-11:30

Registration for our first session of Rising Up is FULL! We are excited to announce that we will be running a second session from May 7 – June 18. Contact us if you’d like us to email you when registration for the second session opens.

Details and Registration

Church Cracked Open Book Study

Story at the (Zoom) Rectory Book Study

Join us to discuss this challenging and hopeful book:
Thursdays, 7:30-9pm

  • Jan. 20
  • Feb 3
  • Feb 17
  • Mar 3

Email Rhonda to sign up and get the Zoom link

The book ($21.50 plus tax) is available from Indigo, Amazon, and by special order from the independent bookstore near you!  If cost is an issue, please speak to Rhonda.

from the book jacket:

How does a denomination historically connected to establishment and empire become a church that loves Jesus, lives in solidarity with the oppressed, and seeks the flourishing of all God’s children?

Epiphany Home Blessing

The Feast of the Epiphany (January 6) has been, since the Middle Ages, the traditional occasion for blessing homes for the coming year. Perhaps it comes from the idea of hosting holy pilgrims such as the Magi or perhaps we are the Magi, seeking the new king, and the blessing reminds us that Jesus is to be found in our own homes.

We will mark the Feast as a church community on Sunday, January 2nd and have the opportunity to mark our doorframes during the service. We won’t be blessing chalk to use this year but, as a gift of God’s creation, chalk is already sacred anyway…and I know from experience that a tums tablet can be pressed into service in a pinch!

Download this short prayer (en français aussi) for us during the service or at a time that suits you!