Join us to talk about topics such as friendship and intimacy, caring for creation, interfaith relations, work, and nonviolence. All high school students and recent graduates welcome!
This film series from workofthepeople.com is hosted on Zoom by Church of the Ascension. We meet monthly on the third Sunday at 2pm.
Email Rhonda to register or with questions.
The weirdness of the year has disrupted more than our pageant, making this a harder Christmas than many – and Christmas is already hard for a lot of people.
This quiet prayer service offers a chance to escape the Christmas cheer and lay our struggles, sorrows, and fears before God.
Join us on-site by registering here. Please read our on-site service precautions before coming.
A modified version of this service, suitable for personal use, will also be available as a recording on Dec 22nd. You will find it on our Youtube channel and Facebook page.
Unfortunately, our on-site Christmas Eve services have been cancelled in order to support the efforts to protect our community during the pandemic. Read details about that decision here.
Join us in Zoom church on Christmas Eve:
And we’re back in Zoom church on Christmas Day at 9am for a kid-friendly service of Christmas stories, carols, and showing off our Christmas pyjamas! This service will not be recorded.
To follow along with the service, download worship booklets here.
This December, we won’t have the usual round of parties, concerts, fundraisers, and feasts but we can still mark Advent as a time of holy, hopeful anticipation. Here are some suggestions.
Fill your home with Advent music. This Spotify playlist comes from Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary and includes music from a variety of genres. It is one of many available.
Light Advent Candles. Whether you have the Ascension Advent Kit candles, your own well-loved wreath, or simply an assortment of candles, mark the passing of Advent with candlelight and prayer. You might want to use this set of prayers and prompts which go along with our Defiant Hope theme for 2020.
Train Your Eye with Advent Word. Download this image or sign up to receive a daily email prompt. Then, each day, look for an image that reflects that day’s word. Take a picture and post it to your social media with #adventword #[word of the day] #ascensionottawa.
Take some time to encounter Jesus in the Gospel according to Mark with this self-directed Advent Quiet Time.
Spend a little extra time in prayer. The Daily Prayer services have been updated for Advent or you may like to try this video examen from Work of the People.
This winter is going to be particularly hard for people who do not have stable homes – and we expect their number of grow. The Diocese of Ottawa Community Ministry Day Programs (Centre 454, St. Luke’s Table, and the Well) offer critical emotional and physical support to hundreds of people in our city. Join in this ministry by offering a small gift to brighten someone’s day.
Fill a zippered pouch (like a pencil case) with items such as:
Drop your pouches off at the church during any on-site service or on Monday, December 14th from 12-7pm. They will be delivered to the Day Programs on Tuesday, Dec. 15th.
We are also happy to accept donations of new socks to be distributed by the Day Programs.
Advent marks the beginning of a new liturgical year and, this year, our Sunday Gospel readings will be read from Mark’s account. Begin the year by taking in the whole story.
Take your Bible and a cup of tea or coffee to a comfortable spot. Have paper and pencil handy so that you can make notes or draw.
You may want to watch the Bible Project video to give yourself an overview.
Begin with a prayer, offering this time to God and asking for ears to hear the Word of God anew.
Read Mark 1 -10.
Take 20-30 minutes to reflect on what you read. Use these questions and whatever means of capturing your thoughts you prefer:
Read Mark 11-16
Again, take 20-30 minutes to reflect on what you read. Use these questions and whatever means of capturing your thoughts you prefer:
Close in prayer, giving thanks for the gift of the Gospel according to Mark and for Jesus, whom God gave to the world out of the depths of perfect love.