Easter has arrived and with it the end of the Lenten season. For this month, I would like to write about what Holy Week meant to me since my childhood, and how it has been changing through my life’s journey.
Holy Week for me in my childhood had only two important days. As you are reading this, I’m sure you are guessing that Easter Sunday is one of those two days, but let me tell you — no. The two days that were very important to me as a young Catholic boy in El Salvador were Palm Sunday and Good Friday. On Palm Sunday, attendance exceeded the capacity of the building. The capacity of the church was twice that of Ascension, but the worshippers that were last to arrive had to sit among the stones that were in the garden outside the church. On Good Friday, the streets filled with hundreds of parishioners accompanying the holy burial. For my family and most people that we knew, those were the only days we attended church throughout the year. Yes, yes, I know what you are thinking and you are wondering what about Easter? I can’t tell you what an Easter service was like in those days because no one I knew attended church on Easter.
When I started going to the Lutheran church in my country, the celebration of Holy Week was a little different. The celebration of Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday had the same level of energy as any Sunday of the year. There was nothing special about these days. I have not experienced Holy Week in El Salvador since 2017 and on that trip, our delegation returned home the day before Easter, so I don’t know if things have changed since moving to the U.S. ten years ago.
In my new life in the United States, the celebration of Holy Week is one of the things that impresses me in the Lutheran Church. Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, and Good Friday are all treated as high Holy Days, but the big difference occurs on Easter Sunday. On my first Easter Sunday, my wife told me, “This Sunday you should dress a little nicer than normal.” I was confused and asked her why. Her response was “Edwin, it is Easter.” My response, “So??” Finally, I listened to her and dressed a little nicer than most Sundays. To be honest, I thought that she was exaggerating. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the church, everyone was dressed in formal clothes for the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank goodness my in-laws had saved seats for us, because the congregation was nearly to the Hearth Room. I never expected a crowd on Easter Sunday. I was equally surprised after church ended, the conversations taking place in the narthex were about whose house people were going to be visiting for the day for their Easter dinner. I was so confused. I couldn’t understand why people were making such a big deal about this day. I didn’t understand why we were going to a dinner at my in-law’s house, but I enjoyed the party, even if I didn’t understand what ham was either.
Over the years, I began to see Holy Week in a new way. If we only gather for Good Friday to remember the suffering, but not on Easter to remember the resurrection, our Holy Week and our faith journey are incomplete.
This is true throughout the year, all of us will experience moments of anguish and pain, but in the end we have to remember that there is always new life. Our Lord, through his sufferings, death and resurrection has released you, me and all humanity. Joy is always coming. Easter Sunday is the most important holiday for Christians and should be celebrated in church, and with family and friends. Happy Easter!
If you are or someone you know is struggling with the complex and painful experience of grief after the death of a spouse, child, family member or friend, then we invite you to consider finding help and encouragement through Ascension’s grief support ministry, GriefShare.
GriefShare is a network of 12,000+ churches worldwide, equipped to offer grief support groups. Ascension’s grief recovery ministry offers GriefShare in a series of weekly support meetings designed to offer compassionate conversation along with helpful tools and resources to help you process your grief and rebuild your life after losing a loved one.
The current session of GriefShare is a 10-week program led by Pastor Tony and takes place on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m. from March 27 – May 30. Through the use of video teaching and small group conversation, we seek to provide a safe and supportive space to provide care and encouragement that can be crucial to a person in grief.
Participants are encouraged to attend all 10 sessions however you are also welcome to begin our GriefShare group at any point. Each session is “self-contained,” so you do not have to attend in sequence, and you will be able to pick up any session you missed in our 10-week cycle.
Please contact the church office to sign up or sign up online. Questions? Please contact Pastor Tony, 262-547-8518 or tony@ascensionelca.org.
Thursday will bring us to the upper room and the gathering of friends around the table with Jesus. Feet will be washed. Jesus will command us to love one another. Bread and wine will be offered.
In all the things we do as Christians, this holy week of worship, preparation, remembrance, ritual, grieving, and celebration brings us closest to the footsteps of our Savior. The week is filled with drama. The last week of the life of Jesus brings the promise of freedom; the promise of welcome; the promise of love; and the promise of life.
Palm Sunday shares the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem to shouts of “hosanna,” which means “save us” and palm branches waving in celebration of the arrival of the king. Even riding on a humble donkey, Jesus still gathers the hungry, the hopeless, and the hurting to a parade of hope that he would deliver God’s people from their oppression.
Friday we will follow Jesus to the cross. We will hear cries of “crucify” and words of forgiveness from our Savior. Even on the cross Jesus will welcome one of the criminals crucified beside him a place in the Kingdom of God. Darkness will cover the earth. An earthquake will shake the world. Our Savior will be placed in a freshly carved tomb. For a time, it will feel as if the light of the world has gone out forever.
But Sunday.
Sunday comes and the sun rises and the women who venture to the tomb under cover of darkness find the stone rolled away. Angels will question the women, “why are you crying?” And when the disciples run to tell the others, Mary will linger in the garden only to be questioned by one she believes to be the gardener — until he calls her by name, “Mary.”
When Mary hears her name, the tears that fall in grief become tears that weep in joy. In the light of resurrection joy, Mary names her Savior “Rabonni” (teacher). I expect that when we meet Jesus at the gates of heaven, we will know exactly how Mary felt when she realized that the one speaking to her was her risen Lord and Savior.
To mark the days of the journey of Jesus in life, in death, and in resurrection joy.
April 2, Palm Sunday, Domingo de Ramos
8:30a & 10:45a (English), 10:45a (en español)
“Hosanna in the highest!” will be our cry as we remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into the gates of the holy city. We will celebrate the beginning of this holy week with the reminder that our expectations and God’s expectations are not always exactly the same. Where the people want a powerful king, Jesus comes as a suffering servant riding a donkey. Through the events of day, we will be reminded of the coming of the promised Messiah – the chosen one of God. Worship is at 8:30am and 10:45am. Between services, BLAST students and families will share in the creation of the alfombras (sand carpets) for Holy Week.
April 6, Maundy Thursday,Jueves Santo
6:30p (English), 6:30p (en español)
Maundy Thursday Dinner 5:30p: Experience and learn about the foods of the Passover. A sampling of Passover food will be provided. Plan on bringing a dish to pass. Reservation only. Reserve your space online or by call to the church office, 262-547-8518.
Maundy Thursday Worship: We will gather in the upper room with Jesus and the disciples to celebrate the Last Supper. This year, we will hear words of confession and forgiveness and be reminded of the powerful image of the Savior washing the feet of the disciples. As is tradition, we will honor the memory of Jesus’ humiliation at the hands of those in power before he is led to the cross to be crucified by the stripping of the altar. Worship is at 6:30pm.
April 7, Good Friday, Viernes Santo
12p & 6:30p (English), 6:30p (en español)
The ancient title for this day is “the Triumph of the Cross.” A reminder for us that the church gathers not to mourn this day but to celebrate Christ’s life-giving passion and to find strength and hope in the cross as a symbol of new life. We will share in the unfolding drama as Jesus is led to the cross. We will hear the stories of the day and give witness to the closing of the tomb.
April 9, Easter Sunday, Domingo de Resurrección
8:30a & 10:45a (English), 10:45a (en español)
First we hear only hoped-for whispers on the wind. Resurrection? Are you sure? We gather to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus, the Christ. We will hear the story of that first Easter sunrise and be surrounded by the joyful sounds of songs that have been sung for generations and songs that new generations are singing. Worship is at 8:30am and 10:45am with a continental pot-luck breakfast reception in-between services. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Welcome to the season of Lent. Honestly, does it mean anything different in your daily life? I would guess the answer is “no” for most of us. In the church year, the season of Lent was often about sacrifice, spiritual discipline, and reflecting on your relationship with God. To be clear, I am still in favor of all these things. However, I am also a realist. The world we live in today is full of distraction. Finding moments to quiet the voices clamoring for our attention is a constant struggle.
I am a big believer in seeking out moments for reflection. Whether it is a walk, a quiet moment in the sanctuary, lingering over a cup of coffee, or soaking up a little sunshine standing at a window for a moment – how we find those moments is often about our intention to do so. I love to be in the midst of people. The more, the better. Yet, I know there are needed moments in my own life when I am out of balance and in need of some quiet time to even out. The same is true in our relationship with God.
Finding moments to center; to reconnect; to reconsider; to be reminded of our relationship with God can provide us with the opportunity to move ourselves into a deeper, more intimate experience of the presence of God. This is what the season of Lent offers to us.
In Lent, we are invited to step out of our normal routines and step into different routines.
Maybe look for a new devotional to use for reading and reflection through the days of Lent.
Consider adding Sunday worship to your weekly routine through the entire five weeks of the season of Lent.
Who are people who have inspired your life of faith? Commit to reaching out to thank them by phone or text message or, even, hand-written note during the season of Lent.
You can also consider joining us for Wednesday night soup suppers and midweek worship beginning with our first night soup supper on March 1, with soup at 6pm and worship from 6:45-7:15pm. Our Lenten soup suppers and midweek worship last year saw some of the strongest attendance we have ever seen in the last 12 years. Can you tell I am excited to return to soups suppers and midweek worship?
Dear friends, Lent is upon us. Find your center. Reconnect with God and people you love. Reconsider how you are spending your time. Be reminded that you are loved by God. All good things in these days of Lent.
Most of you are probably aware that I’m a huge fan of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament better known as March Madness – and I’m ecstatic that it’s almost here!
In just a few weeks millions of people, superfans and fair-weather ones alike, will be filling out and checking their brackets daily, if not hourly. Workplace production is sure to diminish. And for three straight weeks sports fans will be glued to their screens watching all the drama unfold.
For some, their enthusiasm looks almost religious in nature. All over the country, fans will clad themselves in their favorite team gear or team colors all while exhibiting a heightened sense of nervousness; desperate for their team to win and advance to the next round. They’ll be watching games while yelling “No, no, no!” and “Yes, yes, yes!” at their television, computer, tablet and cell phone screens. All the while kids will be running around the house dribbling and shooting basketballs while adults are running to the kitchen for more nachos. It’s chaotic. It’s madness. And I’m not ashamed to say that I can’t get enough of it and love every moment of it.
But as I’ve been preparing myself for this year’s tournament it occurred to me that there was a connection between our faith, the season of Lent, and The Big Dance and it makes me wonder, “What if we viewed our faith and the experience of Lent through a different lens”? What if we used the “madness” of the NCAA basketball tournament to gain important insights into our nature as humans created in the image of God?
I think our attraction to March Madness reveals several aspects of our life of faith and our journey through Lent that may be helpful in reorienting us and reenergizing us for the road ahead.
We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. March Madness allows us to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We may not be on the court, but filling out our brackets and cheering alongside countless others gives us some skin in the game. So too does our faith. Especially in the season of Lent as we stand alongside countless other Christians taking time to reflect on our lives, intensify our faith practices and turn back to God. Much like the discipline and focus necessary for teams in the tournament to be successful, we too must engage in this same discipline as we make our journey toward Easter.
Disappointment and heartache are lurking around every corner.Teams dream, plan, and prepare for a long and successful run deep into the tournament, however, anyone who has ever witnessed an upset knows that even the best laid plans are sometimes met with unexpected disappointment. Our lives are like that, aren’t they? We plan, save, try to eat healthy, live responsibly, pray and come to worship and yet we still encounter heartache, disappointment, sadness, pain, and grief. Although God never promises us a life absent of difficulties and pain, the more connected we are to God and one another, and the deeper we engage our faith and faith practices the more we open ourselves allowing God to comfort us and heal us in times of brokenness.
We crave hope.Every year in the tournament there are amazing comebacks and last second buzzer beaters. Underdog teams who can’t seem to miss a shot or a team that finds itself down as the final seconds tick away relying on a step back three pointer or an unbelievable half court prayer thrown up in desperation – Cinderella stories reminding us that David can beat Goliath. Personally, I just hope not to be in the bottom half of my family’s bracket pool this year. For people around the world, hope is wanting something to happen or be true and to think that it could happen or be true. For Christians, our hope rests not in our own abilities or a last second desperation attempt but rather in a sure thing. We trust that God’s promises will be fulfilled because he promised them. Our hope rests in the truth that Jesus’s death and resurrection secured victory over sin and death and sealed our relationship with God forever.
Victory is found in the most unexpected places.An unexpected player or team that surprises everyone by playing far beyond what anyone thought possible and ends up victorious. A superfan nun whose health isn’t the greatest but still manages to get herself to the sidelines to cheer on her team. The coach or player who overcomes a life-threatening illness or injury only to find themselves on one of the biggest stages of their lives. The unexpected surprises us but it also has the potential to enliven us, if we allow it to. But these stories merely echo the greatest story in all of history. Separated from God because of our sin, humans had no shot of making it back into God’s favor. But then came Jesus, in the form of a servant – living, teaching, and preaching about a different kind of kingdom. Jesus lived a perfect life while challenging the rules, assumptions, power structures, culture, and people’s beliefs and conquered sin and death by dying a sacrificial death and rising from the grave victorious for all. We love underdog and comeback stories, and this is the greatest one for all eternity.
As we step into Lent on our journey toward Easter, I’d like to invite you to join me on this sacred journey and allow God to draw us in and transform us so that we might more fully live into the abundant life that God has promised us. The Final Four may signify a nearing of the end of the tournament as we approach the championship game and prepare to crown a tournament champion. Similarly, our journey through Holy Week gets us one step closer to the championship culmination of Easter Sunday when we celebrate the victorious journey of Jesus and the fulfillment of all God’s promises.
So, for the next few weeks I hope you’ll enjoy some great basketball games and have fun rooting for your favorite teams. But while you do, I also invite you throughout the upcoming Lenten season to pay attention for the unexpected because you just might be surprised at what God has waiting for you.
Due to the weather, we are canceling the 6:30 p.m. Ash Wednesday worship services (both English and Spanish). We will still hold worship at 12 p.m. today. It will be livestreamed on YouTube. Please know that the weather forecast is increasingly bad throughout the morning and make the best choice for your safety. On Sunday morning, we will have Imposition of Ashes at all of our worship services.
The church office will be closed after 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
JOLT Families: The JOLT dinner tonight is also cancelled.
Lenten Wednesday Worship and Soup Suppers
REMEMBER LAST YEAR! Soup in the narthex/lobby because we were neck deep in the remodel of East and West Halls and had nothing in the kitchen but studs and floors. Look how far we have come! We are excited to host soup suppers in East Hall with a fully remodeled kitchen. We will be looking for soup and bread sign-ups on Sunday mornings and through the e-alerts and church office. If you are able to help with set-up of all the things, let Pastor Chris know.
Soup supper will start at 6 p.m. followed by worship at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesdays, March 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.
Ascension joins the Food Faith and Farming Network in offering this opportunity to support local farmers during the winter. Food Faith and Farming Network partners with Harvest of Hope Fund to support farmers in crisis. This market is a small way to uplift local farmers and raise awareness. The market is free and open to guests and will feature eggs, salsa, mushrooms, soaps, preserves, rustic breads, pastries, sweet breads, honey, apples, syrups, cider, oats, granola, wool products, and our own Meru coffee. Please bring reusable bags (or purchase an Ascension bag) and cash for shopping at the market.
In addition to the market, we will host a farm to table brunch made of locally sourced ingredients: cheesy egg bake, sausage, spinach salad with maple vinaigrette, apple oatmeal bake, cider and beverages. he market is free but there is a charge for the brunch. Tickets are available after services or online at https://tinyurl.com/DonateAscension. Tickets are available in the narthex the weeks leading up to the brunch with a limited number available at the door. Buying in advance guarantees your seat at the brunch. Tickets for the brunch are $12/adults, $8/senior, $5/kid (4-10, under 4 free). $30 maximum per family.
The Winter Farmer’s Market is a great opportunity to invite a friend to Ascension. Who can you invite to share in the market and experience Ascension’s welcoming atmosphere? Volunteers are needed for a variety of roles. Go to the Sign-Up Genius to see how you can help, https://tinyurl.com/ALCwmvol.
Serve/Mission Outreach continues to work toward our 2023 goals: Reach out, Invite in, Gather in. Our ongoing to commitment to accompaniment or to walk with our partners guides all that we do. Look for how these key words are used to guide our efforts this year. Our wing’s ministry leaders have committed 2023 to be a year of helping the members of Ascension to see that they all have a calling to serve others as though they were serving Jesus Himself. “What you have done for the least of these, you have done for Me.” (Matthew 25)
Watch for Serve opportunities and take the bold step forward to serve others as though you were serving Jesus. Serve with joy as a reflection of your love for Jesus.
Winter Farmer’s Market Save March 12 for this year’s market and brunch which is held in conjunction with the Food, Faith and Farming Network and the Harvest of Hope Farm Crisis Fund of the Madison Christian Community; both are non-profit organizations supporting Wisconsin family farmers since the 1980s. This event is part of the Mission Outreach effort to highlight the issue of hunger in our world and how Christians can respond not only to hunger but to the needs of farmers who grow our food. Coordinators Steve and Carol Spieker have put together a committee to plan another successful market including vendors, a brunch, BLAST activities and some special surprises. Market Products will include: eggs, meat, veggies, soaps, salsas, preserves, bakery, confections, apples, syrups, cider, oats and alpaca fiber products.
Winter Farmers Market 2019
The market is open to the community so we may have visitors at church on the day of the market. This is also a great opportunity for you to invite friends to Ascension to visit the market and get to know more about Ascension. Please help us in welcoming them. First impressions matter. As a part of the market, a brunch prepared with market goods will offer: cheesy egg bake, green salad, sausage, oatmeal-apple coffee cake, cider and coffee. Tickets will be sold after services starting Feb. 19. There will also be a chance to volunteer in a variety of ways. This event is a way to invite in by providing a space for a partnership agency and inviting community members to the event at Ascension and to gather in our members in service together. Keep your eyes out for ways to help or contact Carol and Steve directly at stevespieker88@gmail.com.
Creation Care Ministry As Christians, we are called to care for the Earth that God created and ensure that the environmental resources we rely on are also available to future generations. If you are interested in participating or getting more information, please contact Mary Ellen Comp or Lynn Parkhurst. Thank you to everyone who brought in used Christmas lights for disposal, keeping them from the landfills. This simple act makes a difference.
Limit Your Outdoor Salt: In Wisconsin, road salt is synonymous with winter. Unfortunately, road salts are toxic to children and pets. It damages vegetation, birds and wildlife, and destroys the organisms in soil. Just one teaspoon of salt can permanently pollute five gallons of water. Limit your use of road salt around your home and business. Try a natural alternative, such as sand. Shovel often and early and identify the critical areas that ice builds up.
Love Your Church, Love Your World – El Salvador Our sister parishes in El Salvador have become models for Lutheran churches throughout Latin America in their innovative efforts to become self-sufficient with economic projects intended to support the church as well as provide church members with employment.
San Jorge church has been hard at work in recent years resurrecting a baking project. They were able to get their hands on some old baking equipment that was donated by the German Lutheran church 20 years ago. A church member was trained as a baker during that time and he has been teaching many others how to bake. Since most Salvadorans cook on an open flame or on a camp stove, baked goods aren’t made at home. They have created the following list for us of needs to expand their business.
Ascension has been in partnership with the agricultural hardware store (agroferreteria) that supports El Buen Pastor in Usulután and its members since 2010. The covid lockdown was very difficult on the agroferreteria. Businesses were closed much longer in El Salvador than businesses were closed here, but without any rent or tax relief. As businesses slowly opened, people were only allowed to do business on dates based on their national id number. As a significant simplification, people with odd numbers were allowed to do business on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and people with even numbers were allowed to do business on Mondays and Wednesdays. On the days that agroferreterria was allowed to be open, business was booming. Unfortunately, the days they were allowed to do business was opposite of the days their vendors were allowed to do business. They were able to sell what they had, but they were not allowed to replenish their stock. As time went on, with less to sell, their income significantly decreased, but their overhead stayed the same. The workers ended up working for months without pay and Ascension was able to send money to allow them to catch up on back rent and back taxes. The next step is for us to send funds to allow them to replenish their inventory so they can once again become self-sufficient.
Christmas Food Packages: After receiving a financial gift from Ascension, the church council at San Jorge decided to make care packages of basic food supplies for all of the families at the church.
Land Crisis in Samaria Parish, Tanzania Hello Dear Friends,
I greet you in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. I am very happy to write to all of you this time although we do communicate and share a lot of things in our partnership committee group several times a month.
I and my family are doing very well and personally I am very thankful to God for my family. Samaria people are doing well and we thank the Lord for giving us rain so the weather condition is now good because our cattle health is not as bad as it was earlier.
The main aim of writing this short story for you is about the forced migration of some of the people in Samaria, particularly the Savana and Bondeni sub-villages.
The Tanzanian government is taking citizens’ land and giving it to investors and its main reason for this is to improve economic development, so we have been informed that we are not allowed to bury people and do any development in our personal land including building anything. Sadly according to the Tanzania constitution, they say our land is the property of the government, so we have been told that we will only be compensated for houses and other buildings and planted trees. People are very frustrated because we don’t know how much a person is going to be compensated. You can see my house which is among those being claimed by the government. Our church building and one other Pentecostal church is in the area have been claimed as well. In the Savana subvillage, 39 households are being evicted.
Kindly pray for us about this because people are in fear as they don’t know where they are going to live. Old people are very frustrated. We are waiting for the next steps now that they have identified those who have to move.
We love you our friends. God bless you all.
Yours in Christ,
Eliudi Mollel (Longishu M. Moleli), Samaria Sister Parish Committee Chair
A new year has begun with new experiences for the ministry and for my pastoral formation. At the beginning of January, we had the traditional celebration of the three wise men, and at the same time, I had the experience of visiting the Holy Land with the seminary. Both were very important experiences for the future of our ministry.
Edwin at the Sea of Galilee
The celebration of the three wise men was held without my presence. A group of leaders were in charge of the logistics for the organization of the event. We had our traditional rosca, exchange of gifts, piñatas, lunch, the visit of Baltazar, Melchor and Gaspar with their gifts for the Child Jesus and for the children, and for the second consecutive year the Puerto Rican group accompanied us, both leading the music at worship and entertaining us during our time of fellowship. While I was in the Holy Land looking at the photos of the celebration I asked myself, what did I learn from this activity? I believe that both the community and myself learned how important it is to promote leadership among the disciples for the well-being of our ministry because if for some reason the leader or pastor cannot be present, the activities of the community must continue for the well-being and the future of the church.
That brings me to my pilgrimage in the Holy Land. I am very grateful to God for allowing me to have such a wonderful experience today as I am about to finish my academic training process with the seminary. We had the opportunity to visit Bethlehem, the wall that divides Palestine with Israel, Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, the desert of Judea where our Lord spent 40 days and 40 nights after his baptism, the journey of the cross, the empty tomb, the tomb of the patriarchs, and many other places where our Lord walked, healed and fed many with words and food. We also had the privilege of learning about the practices of the Jewish and Muslim religion.
Probably many of you would like to know what was the best part of my pilgrimage. This would be a very difficult question to answer because all the places were wonderful and each one of them created a time for meditation and reflection in the visitor’s mind, however, if I had to choose, I would choose the time we were around the Sea of Galilee. We boarded a boat and toured the lake, looking at the mountains that our Lord had to walk for us to receive the message of hope. During that time, we had a devotional in which we listened to the Gospel of Mark 4.35-41 (Jesus calms the storm). At the end of our time on the boat, I went to the lake, and reflected on the storms that my family and I have faced. I know that we are not alone and many of you have faced or are facing storms in your own lives. Storms are inevitable in this life and very painful. As Christians, we have comfort in remembering that Jesus is the one who calms the storms and gives us hope as we continue to live our baptism. My time at the lake brought me a sense of peace being reminded that we do not face our storms alone.
Brothers and sisters, let us continue to let ourselves be guided by the presence of Jesus in our lives so that the storms that come our way do not make us perish in our hope of a new life. Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. (1 Corinthians 16.13).
