On October 15, there will be a meeting between services for those interested in learning about membership at Ascension. New members will be welcomed to Ascension with a brunch on October 22. To indicate your interest in membership, sign-up online. If you know of someone interested in membership, invite them to the meeting or to discuss it with one of the pastors.
Join us on Sunday, Sept. 10, for one special, bilingual worship service combining all our worship communities. Invite your friends and family! Stay for fun, food and fellowship following worship! This is the kickoff for a busy fall schedule of worshiping, learning, serving, and caring for one another and our Waukesha community and across the globe. What a wonderful time to be welcomed back to Ascension!
We will welcome each other in a bilingual worship service and then in bi-culture fellowship. There will be activities for all ages and a chance to get to know each other better. This is the kickoff for a busy fall schedule of worshiping, learning, serving, and caring for one another and our Waukesha community and across the globe. What a wonderful time to be welcomed back to Ascension!
The Big Easy. Crescent City. N’Awlins. New Orleans is such a vibrant city that it has earned a number of nicknames. Ascension youth who are entering grades 8 through 12 have the opportunity to visit New Orleans and attend the life-changing 2024 Youth Gathering as we celebrate “Created to Be,” July 16 – 20, 2024.
Students and guardians are invited to attend our information meeting on Sunday, Aug. 27, at 11:15 a.m. following the conclusion of 10 a.m. services.
If you are interested in attending the gathering, but unable to attend the meeting, please contact Pastor Edwin.
Grief touches all of our lives. So does joy. If you would like to join others on their journey forward with grief and joy this group might be for you.
Contact Teri Quam or Pastor Tony with questions.
Ascension has long been an over-achiever when it comes to our partnerships, but we took things to a whole new level this summer when we hosted a delegation from El Salvador back-to-back with a large group going to Tanzania. These visits helped revitalize our partnerships after years of not seeing each other due to the pandemic. With renewed energy, stronger friendships, and an abundance of new information, our partnership committee is looking forward to resuming in-person meetings. The first one will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
Please note that as our partnerships deepen, our leadership and the pastors have made it a goal for future partnership visits to El Salvador and Tanzania that all travelers will have at least a year of regular (at least 75%) participation in our partnership committee prior to travel. If you are interested in traveling in the future or interested in joining the committee, but unable to attend the August 8 meeting, please contact Sarah Aparicio.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. (Psalm 100:1-2)
Come and sing or ring a new song with Ascension’s music ensembles! Rehearsals resume in September. Contact Vicki Taylor with questions or to sign up.
The Ascension Choir provides musical leadership in worship approximately three Sundays a month, primarily at the 8:30 service (occasionally at 10:45), and at special evening worship services throughout the church year.
Joining the Ascension Ringers does not call for previous experience with handbells, but does require the ability to read music. Reading music is an acquired skill and those interested in learning to read music with the goal of joining the handbell choir are encouraged to contact Vicki Taylor, Director of Music Ministries to arrange learning opportunities.
The handbell choir rings 5 octaves of Malmark handbells and 5 ½ octaves of Malmark handchimes. Ascension Ringers provide music in worship once per month, primarily at the 8:30 service (occasionally at 10:45), and at special services throughout the church year.
The Children’s Choir sings approximately every 4-6 weeks, rotating between the 8:30, 10:45, and Spanish Language worship services.
Love to sing but not sure about a year-long commitment? Sing with the Ascension Choir for the Advent/Christmas season (rehearsals begin in November).
Instrumentalists of all ages and stages are invited to offer their musical gifts in worship. Contact Vicki Taylor to indicate an interest.
Welcome home! The first words Amy and Tamie and Pastor Edwin spoke when the bus arrived from O’Hare with our Tanzania mission team. A hug from my wife and a wet nosed welcome from our Golden Retriever Baxter in the church parking lot and almost everything was right with the world once again.
Of course, our original mission team was split into three separate groups – Pastor Tony had flown home earlier from Ethiopia once Bob was out of the hospital; the Wards were beginning to explore Ethiopia as they waited for clearance for Bob to fly; and the seven members who went on to Tanzania after our original layover in Ethiopia arrived back at Ascension. Not exactly what I expected to happen as we loaded the bus for Tanzania on Thursday, June 29th. I should not be surprised; God has a way of allowing our journeys to unfold without us knowing fully the road before us.
Tanzania was everything I expected and more. The incredible heartfelt welcome of our sisters and brothers at the airport, every church, each school – so much joy and wonder and a little healthy skepticism. I wonder about the questions that probably ran through the heads of the members of our partner churches and students at the schools:
Who are these people from America?
What do people at Ascension think or know about us?
What does that white guy keep saying up front during worship?
Why does the whole school stop what it is doing when these people arrive?
What do you do with that frisbee thing?
In my own mind, there were other questions I was asking:
How can every tea offered to us be so much food?
How can we eat lunch after worship when just had tea an hour before?
Will there be Chapati (my favorite Tanzanian food)?
Will Pastor Nathan remember to translate for me at the front of the church?
What does the home life look like for each of these students?
Where does this overwhelming spirit of joy flow from for our friends in Tanzania?
The stories will continue to be told of our mission team visit. The prayers and concern for Bob offered from Pastor Nathan and our sister churches. The joy of being together after five years of being apart. Remembering faces that we met in 2018; renewing friendships, relationships, and making new connections. Hearing the stories of appreciation and gratitude for food for our partner school students and the gift of clean water. Remembering the looks on the faces of students for the presentation of soccer balls. No frisbees next time – just soccer balls…lots more soccer balls. Celebrating stories of success told with pride and joy for students success and their commitment to a well-rounded education including taking care of their needs for care and support. Every time we visit the schools, I want to spend twice as much time not only listening to reports but actually talking to teachers, sitting in on classes, actually playing soccer with the students. Every visit is simply the hook that makes me want to return to spend more time with them. Every church visit is a powerful reminder of the promise of God’s love across language barriers and customs. How the hospitality of a smile and a handshake can change our whole world.
It is always a humbling experience to travel to our sister parishes and be reminded that we are wholly dependent on them for our care and well-being. Always do our sisters and brothers reach far beyond what is expected to take care of us. Pastor Nathan, Eludi (our sister parish committee chair) and the partnership committee are one of the most beautiful gifts of grace I have ever experienced. God’s grace often comes to us in unexpected ways in this life. I am grateful for these glimpses of grace when I least expect them.
May these last days of summer offer you moments of God’s grace through the gifts of family, friends, sisters and brothers in Christ, moments of worship, times of reflection and rest, and the presence of the One who is the way, the truth, and the life…Jesus, the Christ. Amen.
Peace be with you and I hope to see you in church. And if not – well – Sunday, Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. is our Welcome Home Sunday. One service for the whole church. We will look for you then to once again tell you, Welcome Home!
Pastor Chris
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
~Philippians 4:4-7
On the 16-hour flight home from Ethiopia, I found myself spending a considerable amount of time reflecting on and processing the diverse experiences of that unexpected journey. And the more I reflected, the more a recurring theme surfaced – overwhelmed. Almost the entire journey from the get-go was a non-stop and unexpected roller coaster of events, feelings, expectations, and emotions., and certainly not the trip I had been looking forward to nor what the Ward family could have ever imagined in their wildest dreams.
There were profound moments of difficulty – from a beloved member of our community suffering a major medical emergency while traveling abroad, to being stuck in an airport for an uncertain amount of time with no easy to choose or clear-cut solutions. There were moments of deep sadness and guilt at the extreme poverty and hunger that surrounded us and yet simultaneously we were constantly surrounded by people whose welcome, and hospitality, and compassionate care were so selfless and filled with grace that I hardly knew how to receive it all.
And then there were unbelievable moments where the grace and love and mercy of God were so evident that I found myself overcome with emotion that it was impossible to hide or comprehend.
But as I shared in my sermon reflection on July 23, this was not a trip to elicit pity or sadness for the difficulties or things that were hard to see, hear, and experience. Instead, this unexpected journey was an opportunity to have our eyes, hearts, minds, and faith broken open wide in order to see what God deems as important while experiencing the absolutely unbelievable love and grace and wonder of God.
Thank you for the great honor to serve as one of your pastors and walk this journey of life and faith alongside you, and for your ongoing encouragement and support and care and love throughout all that we have and will experience together. My hope and prayer is that in the days to come we will continue to open ourselves to what God desires for us and trust God to follow wherever the Holy Spirit leads. And then my dear friends, together we can be overwhelmed by all that our amazing God has in store for us.
Pastor Tony
And my first month as an official pastor is over and what a way to start this new journey. As I mentioned in one of my sermons in July, my colleagues gave me the confidence to be in charge of the church just a few days after my ordination and installation. Not only did they leave me by myself for fourteen days, they also took my wife, my secretary, and my musician! Some of you have already heard parts of this story, but what I have not shared is how beneficial these days were for me as the sole pastor.
As the final months of planning for the Tanzania trip approached, questions about who would worship in English came up because I had to lead worship in Spanish. After a conversation, the three pastors concluded that it was not necessary to find a substitute for worship in English at 10 a.m. We decided to have the bilingual service at 10 a.m. both Sundays.
We have already had bilingual worship on multiple occasions. This was not new to any of us. What was new was the lack of multiple worship leaders. For previous bilingual worship service, it was easier to know when to listen: English-speakers knew to listen when Pastor Chris or Pastor Tony were speaking, Spanish-speakers knew to listen when I was speaking. But with only one pastor, the congregation had to listen all of the time because you never knew what language I was going to speak. As I was looking out while preaching, I could see that it was a greater mental effort than normal to follow, but I could also tell that everyone did the work. If it became too much and you tuned out, you did a great job covering it!
The different services had different challenges. Because Spanish worship is the same time as 10 a.m. English worship, the attendees at the 10 a.m. service aren’t as accustomed to my accent. But, they persisted and continued with an amazing effort to understand me!
For the 8:30 a.m. worship, we experienced a different linguistic complication. Those worshippers were the first ones to hear me preach that day’s sermon. Afterall, my wife was in Tanzania! At the end of the service, one of you approached me to help me with the pronunciation of the word “yoke.” It was the key concept and the word I said most frequently throughout the sermon. I found out I mispronounced the word. Every single time. Instead of preaching that Jesus came to lighten our yoke, I told everyone that Jesus came to lighten our joke. I guess the joke was on me! Thank you for your grace with what must have been a terribly confusing story about gathering water in El Salvador with a joke and the questionable theology that Jesus came to bring us lighter jokes.
This is the wonderful thing about our multicultural ministry. We will continue to walk and experience new things together as a community. I will of course continue to struggle with some words during my preaching, but also all of you will continue to develop your ears listening to the words of hope, peace, joy and love.
Pastor Edwin
My journey began first with the synod candidacy committee, then seminary, and then the call process with all of you at Ascension, but it is now official. Ordination and Installation are already behind us! On many occasions I have written many words of thanks to all of you and I will not tire of doing so. I am grateful for all your support and participation in this whole process and for having been present. On the Sunday of the celebration, I felt very overwhelmed. Although the worship was a bit long, almost everyone joined us for the dinner that my wife, Pastor Chris and Pastor Tony had planned.
Thank you with all my heart for having brought a delegation from the land of my birth. Amilcar, Claudia, Mayra and Pastor Rafael are people belonging to the communities where I began to serve God through the Church in my life. Having had a group of people from my country in the organization and installation was very important, but it was also a way of raising our ties of brotherhood again in a post-pandemic period. (Juntos nos levantamos … together we rise!!)
The first days when I started my classes at the seminary I reflected: I don’t know what is to come, I don’t know what I will face in these four years, but what I do know is that I have to do my part and God will do his. As I begin this new journey as an official pastor, God has reminded me that the same continues to hold true: I need to do my part, the people of Ascension need to do their part, and God will do the rest.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)
Pastor Edwin
