In September, we celebrated our 75th anniversary. It was a wonderful weekend celebration. On Friday, I had a lot of fun cooking carne asada and dancing with many of you. I like to dance! On Sunday, we had a beautiful bilingual worship where everyone sang in Spanish and English. You also had three sermons from your three pastors. I shared my sermon in Spanish and it was in English on the screen. I know it was a challenge to follow. For that reason, I decided to include my entire sermon in my article for this month.

In 1949, twenty-four disciples guided by the Holy Spirit took a leap of faith and decided to begin a new church. Seventy-five years later, I spend most of my Sunday morning at 8:30 worship with a couple hundred members. But then at 10:45, I move to the Spanish sanctuary where we are still in double digits for attendance. As we planned for today’s event, I have been inspired by imagining those original twenty-four  Ascension members meeting the Spanish-speaking members of our congregation. New Lutherans who were willing to take a risk by becoming part of a new church. History is repeating itself. 

I wonder if among the dreams of those 24 disciples was that this church would cross borders in its journey of hearing the call of God through our companions in faith. I wonder if any of them imagined that 60 some years in the future, a member of Ascension would travel to El Salvador on a synod trip and two years later, that member and I would be married and I would be moving to Waukesha and joining Ascension, eventually becoming a pastor and leading Spanish language worship. I left behind everything, including my home church. But God found me and many of you and led us to this new home of Spanish worship. I wonder if they could imagine that by 2024, Ascension would have sent multiple delegations to El Salvador.

I wonder if any of them would have been able to imagine the technology that would allow a group of Ascension members to gather at church to have breakfast while praying together over a tv screen with our brothers and sisters from Tanzania. Time spent connecting with friends Ascension has built in Tanzania over the past nine years.  

I wonder if they could imagine our high school crossing state lines to travel to other states for service trips and youth gatherings and that they would return to help lead worship and children’s sermons.

I am sure that they never imagined that the place where they met to worship God in one language, is now a Holy place where the message of love, joy, peace and above all hope is proclaimed in two languages ​​at the same time, in their own sanctuaries and with a blend of traditions. Traditions that help us see our own faith in a new way: the celebration of Las Posadas in which we meet to remember the journey of the Holy Family, the making of the alfombras for Holy Week, remembering our loved ones on the Day of the Dead, celebrating the gift of the Jesus, the light of the world on Three Kings’ Day. If they could imagine a Lutheran potluck where posole and jello molds sat side by side on the serving table.

Ascension’s founding members had no idea about the future of the church they started, but God knew the fruits that this community of faith would have over the years. God knew that this community of faith over the years would become a multicultural community, where children, youth, and adults celebrate, learn, and walk in this ongoing journey of learning about God’s calling, here at home and afar.

Brothers and sisters, Jeremiah 29:11 says, For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Together we rise, Juntos nos levantamos!

Pastor Edwin