O Come, All Ye Faithful and Shine

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. (Isaiah 9:2)

As Christians, we are on a mission in the world. Just as the star over Bethlehem shone to help the three magi find the baby Jesus, we have been placed in our cities, jobs and with our families at this moment and for a specific purpose. The joy and peace God gives us, especially in the midst of difficulties, shine brightly into a world groaning with despair.

I feel this most during Advent, and most especially this year. The angel said that Christmas would bring “great joy…. for all the people.” Really? For many Christmas is a source of stress. They feel pressure, not pleasure when it comes to Christmas. They endure it rather than enjoy it. There are many possible reasons for this. Maybe their financial resources are strained and there is only enough money for basic necessities. Maybe relationships are strained in their family. Christmas may remind them of losses or hurts or how things have changed. And during a pandemic the angst of “to gather or not to gather” weighs heavy. Perhaps for some, it’s just hard to find the light in all of the darkness.

And yet, Christmas is not just the Good News, it’s the best news we can get! We may use the tree, lights, cookies, presents and music to celebrate this news, but none of it is necessary. Beneath all the visible sights and sounds of Christmas are some simple but profound truths. God’s love and his gift to us in Jesus is priceless. Jesus paid for it with his life, and it’s the only gift that will last forever. It’s the only gift we need; it’s the only gift we need to share.
When we are faithful in this knowledge, giving thanks and praise to God even in the midst of challenges or pandemics, the light of His love shines through us for all to see, particularly for those that need it most. O come all ye faithful and shine with me!

Prayer:

Dear Lord, you are the mighty God. You sent your Son and performed the final sacrifice, and you deserve all of my praise. As I feel the weight of this life and my circumstances, please show me what the birth of Jesus means to me and to the world in this moment. Make me a light to shine for those who don’t know the freedom He gives, or the love He has for them. Thank you for loving me, always. In your Son’s precious name, I pray. Amen.

Chris Holloway
Council Member

A Way Forward

A member of our congregation has the gifted ability of repairing old clocks. And guess who happens to have an old clock in need of repair. The clock in question is old enough to remember World War II. The clock belonged to the woman who took care of me as a baby. Her name was Sigrid and she lived next door to my parents in the apartment complex when I was born. As a young child I can remember visiting Grandma Sigrid’s apartment and hearing the clock chime each quarter hour regardless of where I happened to be in the house. This adopted grandmother outlived all her family and her only daughter while I was in my mid-twenties and my parents became her guardians. Even after she moved out of her apartment and into an assisted living community, the mantle clock went with her – even though there was no mantle present to place the clock. It was a treasured old friend to Sigrid – reminding her of the passing of time with each chime every fifteen minutes. When Grandma Sigrid died, the mantle clock moved to my parent’s house for a time. And then the clock found a place in our house. On the mantle for a time – until we decided hearing the quarter hour – all night long – was a little more than we could handle. After a few months I went to wind the clock with the old brass key and set the pendulum to swing. And on the first quarter hour – the clock chimed but not like it used to. It turned out that after not using the chimes for a time – one of the chimes became stuck. So I brought it to church in order to have our gifted member take a look. On the way to church – after one bump in the street too many – the pendulum began to swing, and the clock began to tick/tock – which I did not notice until out of the blue at a stoplight – the chimes went off. And in a flash of memory, I remembered the title of the poem by the Rev. John Donne. Forgive the entirely masculine language. “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Each man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know, for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”

From Matthew: “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’”

Now you understand the power of the chimes of the mantle clock from the backseat. It does feel as if we have been living in the drowsy sleep of these long pandemic days. Yes, we have muddled through. Some have walked, some have run, some have had food delivered. Some have gone back to work – some work from home. Some of us have never left the house. I was reflecting on where we have come from. At the end of February we had an incredible leadership event here at Ascension. Almost 60 leaders gathered for a Saturday morning together of reflection and vision casting. It was full of life and energy and excitement. And then March 14th brought to a close everything we were doing, had planned, were hopeful to accomplish. Fast forward to Nov. 8th. We are worshipping together again – in my wildest dreams – I would never have imagined I would have had to stay that to all of you during my lifetime. Who would believe, we would neglect physically worshipping together for a time. And there are some who are ready to “get back to the ways things were.” And others who wonder if we will ever “get back to the way things were.” Honestly, I am in the first category. The sooner the better – my oil lamp is full – or at least I like to pretend it is full. And selfishly – I want to gather together – sing songs of praise to our God – and forget this pandemic ever happened.

And then I am reminded of those chimes in the back seat. For whom the bell tolls. No one is an island, entire of themselves – every one of us is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Funny how those words so easily translate into the words of our Savior:

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”

“On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

As if to say, we cannot do this life without each other. Though we like to pretend that we can. And sometimes, we act as if we are able to do it all by ourselves. Though I hardly ever see anyone truly happy for their lone ranger, go it alone, do it all by themselves attitude. So where does that leave us this day. Some of us have oil lamps filled and are ready to run. Some of us are on the last precious drops of oil. None of us were prepared for this moment and yet God has seen us through this moment – this far by faith. And my friends we have far to go. An election (as of this recording) is incomplete. And even when the results are in, we will have a long way to go – as the body of Christ alive in the world to bring our nation together. It is up to us, who stake our claim in our identity as disciples of Jesus, to take the first steps. A reminder of earlier days in this county, when Abraham Lincoln spoke these words:

If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Lincoln borrowed those words directly from Jesus, “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” If we are only able to lift up winners and put down losers – we diminish this nation. And, frankly, we betray the body of Christ and our calling as Christians. What did Jesus say, If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

I am hungry for a way forward. In our nation; in our politics; in this pandemic; and at Ascension. And yet, I am reminded that I am not an island unto myself and neither are any of you. We walk this road together so that we all may greet the promised bridegroom – the savior of the world. Dear friends – what is next?

Well, let me offer you some words of hope this day – some good news to carry with you – so that your oil lamp may shine brighter in a world overshadowed by virus and greed and selfish want. Let me offer you the opportunity to chase away such shadows with the hope that comes from the very heart of our God in the face of our Savior Jesus.

  • I pray that God will enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see the hope this call holds for you-the promised glories that God’s holy ones will inherit. (Ephesians 1:18)
  • May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
  • Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for the One who has promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)
  • I alone know my purpose for you, says the Lord, my purpose for your prosperity and my purpose not to harm you, my purpose to give you hope with a future in it. (Jeremiah 29:11)
  • In hope we were saved. (Romans 8:24)

Did you catch that last one? Now will be saved. Not shall be saved. But – In hope we were saved. God’s promise of eternal life is already yours. Now what to do with our left-over time before the bell tolls – before the oil in our lamps runs out. Let me offer a suggestion.

Invite, greet, listen, welcome, engage, pray, laugh, love, give, appreciate, celebrate and live your life in these days with the joyful expectation that God has set a place for you at the table in the Kingdom. Hallelujah!

Thanks be to God! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

Pastor Chris

(Reprinted from sermon Nov. 8, 2020.)

What’s Next?

The kindergarten students received their bibles.
The third grade students received their bibles.
The first communion candidates from last spring have been communed.
The confirmation students have been confirmed.
The Word of God has been preached.
The sacraments have been shared.
The dead have been buried.
The engaged have been married.
Worship of our God continues virtually and in-person.
The world continues to turn.
Life goes on.

It is November 1st in the year of our Lord 2020. And somehow dear friends we have survived. In the midst of polarizing politics that lead us to believe we must choose one side or the other, we have survived. In the hearing of painful stories of isolation and desperation, we have survived. In the moments of remembering what was and hoping for what will be, we have kept our sanity, even as we have been asked to help others keep theirs. We have lived through quarantines and rearranged schedules. As one mom emailed Pastor Tony and me, “Thank you for making special accommodations.” To which Pastor Tony and I replied, “Everything is a special accommodation right now.”

So the question I keep hearing is: What’s next?

Well, I have a few answers. We are currently planning to host outdoor worship on Nov. 1st and Nov. 8th at 9:30 a.m. – though Mother Nature has had a mind of her own in late October. And beginning Nov. 2, we will host an indoor worship service every Monday in November at 6 p.m. Thirty minutes with communion, sermon, and music and a hard cap of 60 in attendance. Then again, on Tuesdays in November at 12 p.m. noon, we will host another worship service of 30 minutes with communion, sermon, and music and a hard cap of 60 in attendance. We wanted to offer something more consistent than an every-other-Wednesday experience. You will need to pre-register and if we hit the cap and you walk-in – we will politely and graciously invite you to return home. Ben, Vicki, Pastor Tony and I have been talking, planning, and praying about how to move forward after outdoor worship has ended for the winter. Of course, we will continue our virtual worship service every Sunday morning at 8am. We believe it is a responsible, balanced, and faithful approach as we do our best to tend both the needs of our community and the health and safety of those who would choose to attend and those who are unable to attend. I know it is difficult to be away from Sunday worship with singing – many of us miss the opportunity to worship God as we did before the pandemic began. I know there are other churches who are offering full worship with singing outside the ELCA fold – I can only offer to you who are hungry for that experience – I am hungry too. I am also conscious of loving my neighbor in a way that both provides and protects to the best of my ability as Lead Pastor at Ascension. Believe me, it is a continuous topic of conversation in the hallways and offices and meetings we attend.

And in the effort of full transparency – December will not look much different from November. We have planned an outside Christmas Eve experience with candlelight and the Christmas Story and the singing of Silent Night (distanced at 10 feet apart) but that will be the entirety of what Christmas Eve will look like for an in-person worship experience. There will be virtual experiences for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but we simply cannot provide a safe way to offer Christmas Eve worship at three services in a sanctuary that does not exchange the air quickly enough in-between the services.

So what’s next?

A vaccine, I pray. Every day that is my prayer. I miss your voices lifted together in song in praise of our God. I miss the beauty of your smiles and the joy of children running up for Children’s Time during worship. I miss hearing about your lives – celebrations with family members and gatherings that renew your spirits. I miss people asking me to turn off the ceiling fans before worship begins. I miss running around before worship getting the acolytes dressed and ready to serve. Most especially, I miss you – my sisters and brothers in Christ. The Monday and Tuesday worship services and a few more outdoor worship services are a gift as you choose to attend as you are able – yet, we can all agree, it is simply not the same. Like I said, my prayer is for a vaccine. My other prayer is for patience and for a vision of hope to see the coming light at the end of the tunnel. Dear friends the light is coming. The light that will shine at the end of this pandemic. The light that shines in the eyes of seeing friends and family again for the first time. The light that shines from a manger filled with hay in the stable at Bethlehem. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. God’s promise is that the light still shines.

We have an annual meeting scheduled for Nov. 8. Even if we cancel outdoor worship for weather, we will meet in the sanctuary for the annual meeting to vote on a slate of council members and a 2021 budget. As I write this letter to you, the council has approved a proposed budget with a 4% decrease for 2021. We plan to advertise for a new Director of Youth Ministries in the winter months of the new year – but will invite a chosen candidate to begin June 1st – unless the pandemic comes to an end sooner.

Ministry continues. Mission continues. The message of God’s love and light and promise and hope continues. We are the ones that continue that message. We bring words of hope in phone calls and text messages and hand-written letters. We tend neighbors and those in need as we are able. We remind each other that our present moment will not last forever. As the Psalmist writes in Psalm 30, “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Many of us have known that weeping at other moments in this life. For now we all stand together to weep over the loss of life and departure of what we have known in our routines and expected in our living, namely the freedom to do as we choose with our days. That freedom still exists, but certainly, we are learning new ways of living. My prayer is for the light to shine in your life – so that you may reflect that light to others. Deep peace be with you.

See you in church.
Pastor Chris

Knit Wits Red White & Blue

The Bereavement Coordinator at Luther Manor Hospice started a “We Honor Veterans” program in 2020. They found our Ascension Lutheran Knit Wits on the internet, and noticed that we volunteer our time to knit and crochet a variety of charity items. In July they asked if we could provide their hospice patients who are veterans some kind of red, white, and blue blanket to honor their service to our country. The blanket would be used as a comfort mechanism to the veteran at the end of life. When the veteran dies, the lapghan would be given to his/her family.

So, the Knit Wits started working on this. Donna Savin and Nancy Link got a grant from Thrivent to buy red, white and blue yarn. And we started crocheting and knitting! By August 15 we had created and delivered 21 lapghans and/or prayer shawls. Ladies participating include: Pam Grambow, Linda Elder, Maddie Goetter, Becky Pepper, Elaine Kilgore, Linda Knutson, Toni Anspach, Pat Ludwig, Corrine Newicki, Sandy Poliak, Beth Hoffman, Pat Kruck, Cindy Orth, Diane Pavletich, Premu Advani and Jean Kelso. Not all the Knit Wits are Ascension members, but we all work on our community charity projects.

As of Sept. 16, 2020, 48 lapghans or shawls have been made, and we still have enough red, white and blue yarn for at least another 50. This will be an on-going project to honor our military veterans.

After that first delivery to Luther Manor we received a note from Brittany Penoske, the bereavement Coordinator. She said: “The items you gave me were beautiful! The veterans adored them, and they were very appreciative. We are always admitting new patients, so this next batch of lapghans/shawls will be perfect to have on hand when we get those admissions. Thanks again!”

This has been a fun project. The finished projects have been varied and creative, few of them alike. Most of the lapghans and shawls were made at home. We also enjoyed meeting in the pavilion behind church to work on projects, being together, and still remaining safe during the Covid restrictions. Thanks, Ascension, for allowing us to use this space!

We also wish to thank Thrivent for their grant which directly contributed to the success of this project.

Ascension Knit Wits
Maddie Goetter, coordinator
Susan Koeferl, treasurer

(Reprinted from the November 2020 newsletter.)

Truth Telling

I recently preached a sermon about truth telling, and I did this not only because it was the topic of that week’s lectionary text, but more so because speaking truth has been on my mind a lot lately. Partly because of all the dialogue surrounding the current presidential election, partly because of what’s happening around the Covid-19 pandemic, and partly because I think we’ve become far too comfortable with our trivialized interactions.

It has always bothered me that too often the authenticity and depth of our daily interactions stops at surface level. We all know the basic conversation starters, “How are you?” or “What’s new?” The breakdown I think comes in the stock, singular answers, “Good,” “Fine,” or “Nothing” that we offer in return to quickly move us beyond the current “distraction.” And then we follow it with the obligatory, “How about you?” which essentially brings us to the end of this tired cycle of meaninglessness. Now, I don’t think it’s realistic that we will always have time for these more meaningful connections, but I do think in general we’ve become far too content with not engaging one another in more significant ways.

Brothers and sisters, amidst all the challenges that surround us, I would like to invite all of us to consider pausing a few moments to dwell on our daily interactions and consider all the missed opportunities for connection, especially in these days when so many are struggling with disconnection. How might our relationships be different if we afforded ourselves the chance to be more available, more vulnerable, and more connected to each other? God created us to be in relationship with one another, and when we take advantage of these opportunities then we live our lives far more truthful to who we are and who we were created to be.

I believe that God offers every relationship as a gift to remind us of God’s great love for all God’s children. Maybe instead of digging our heels in the sand, hiding our vulnerabilities, or rushing past every opportunity to get to something “better” or something we “must get to,” maybe we could try to stay in these precious moments a little longer rather than letting them pass us by. And maybe we could view “how are you” as more of an invitation rather than a distraction – because these invitations are how God works to both draw us closer to one another and also to God. They are also invitations for truth-telling because they tell us the truth about who God is, how God loves, and how much God loves.

My friends I hope that you will take the time to listen to this life-giving truth – the truth that God is with us and for us every moment of this journey. And if we allow this to guide our daily lives, then I think we will come to recognize and better experience the abundant blessings God has promised to us.

Pastor Tony

(Reprinted from the November 2020 newsletter)

October Hope

Last week, I received an email from a colleague – a pastor of another ELCA congregation. The pastor asked what Ascension was planning for Christmas. I replied, “Christmas? We are wondering what we are doing next week.” There is a little bit of sarcasm and a whole lotta truth in my reply to my colleague. Of course, Ascension staff and leadership are already talking about November and December and January. We have had more conversations that I can count around the topics of All Saints Day, the season of Advent, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. What a journey we continue to walk. As a person of faith, I have decided that these pandemic days are more marathon than sprint, more pilgrimage than destination. And so here we are.

It is October. And as we move into the fall, I am reminded that for those of us who live in the northern hemisphere, nature is beginning to share with us that the end of another growing season is upon us. Gardens are ending their life cycle, flowers that bloomed in the spring and summer are turning to seed and preparing for winter. Slowly nature is preparing us for death – for the end of another cycle of birth and growth and life as winter slowly begins to creep into the overnight temperatures. The colors of the trees burst with one last breath of vibrant joy before they let go of their leaves and turn inward for their survival. I wonder if you can find similarities in your own lives. The pandemic has been a pilgrimage of faith. Like Jesus pushed into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, we have found ourselves pushed into a pandemic. Unexpected, unanticipated, unwelcome – we have found ourselves living new lives and learning new ways of literal survival. And so here we are.

Last year at this time, we were welcoming a delegation of visitors from our sister parish of Samaria in Usa River, Tanzania. Pastor Nathan Makenge spent time among us, preached in worship, learned about the Milwaukee Brewers, and celebrated the continued building of relationships between our two faith communities. This year, we have already missed out on the gift of a delegation from El Salvador. We left JOLT Adventure Camp and CRASH Mission Trips in the dust of the category of “TBD due to the pandemic.” Many of you have canceled vacations, celebrations, and anniversaries. We have struggled to find meaningful moments of support and community in the midst of loss and celebration. One of the most striking losses for me has been the loss of communal song. I have missed the words of “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” and “I Know that My Redeemer Lives.” And I was heartbroken to not hear the sounds of voices surround me in a moment of grief, where the words to “Lift High the Cross” and “Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds” would bring promise of resurrection joy from the hearts and voices of those gathered to my own weary soul. I miss watching all of you walk to the altar for communion. I miss children’s sermons. I miss the smiles that are hidden behind masks. There is so much that I miss as this pilgrimage continues. And yet I have hope.

I have hope that singing “I Love to Tell the Story” sometime in mid-September on the worship recording brought someone a moment of joy. I have hope that the celebration of Pastor Tony’s ordination will carry the community of Ascension long into the pilgrimage ahead. I have hope that our continued wandering through many opportunities and new things, if only once or twice, will inspire and engage and reveal the promise of God’s resurrection hope and joy to weary hearts as this pilgrimage continues. And continue it will. We have a lengthy journey ahead. Politics and elections aside, I believe the science will only discover as it will – through the rigorous methods that have proven the truth of nature time and time again. Yes, we could get lucky – and a miracle may come. We might be so lucky as to enjoy a scientific discovery that surprises everyone just as penicillin entered the world. In the late 1920s, bacteriology professor Alexander Fleming returned to his messy laboratory after a 2-week vacation. He began sorting through petri dishes containing colonies of Staphylococcus. On one of the dishes with colonies, he noticed a mold growing with the zone around it being completely clear. The mold was determined to be Penicillium notatum, which excreted a substance later isolated and used therapeutically as penicillin. We could only hope and pray for such a discovery. Regardless this pandemic will be more pilgrimage for awhile longer. And yet I have hope.

I have hope in your strength. Your emails, your letters, your phone calls, your text messages, your generosity of gifts to the church. There is strength in community – in our worship and in our communion. In our shared faith and our communal care for our neighbor. Yes, we will be on this pilgrimage for awhile still and God will continue to be with us because that is what God promises to us. God promises us to be present when we are in community and when we are alone. God promises us life even in the midst of death. So even as we enter into the fall and end of the season of growth and life, in death we will find promise – the promise of resurrection hope – the promise of new life – the promise of resurrection joy. My friends – the days are surely coming says the Lord…but for now: wash your hands, wear your mask, and add your prayers to my own for the days ahead. You are missed. You are loved. You are not alone.

Thanks be to God!

Pastor Chris

Reprinted from the October 2020 newsletter.

Looking Forward

Welcome September! Whatever that means this year?!

It is a new world we are living in. A new world of living put upon us. Facemasks, something I used to see only on pedestrians and bicyclists in China, are now mostly the norm in the city in which I live – at least in stores and schools and churches – if they are open at all. And when I happen to recognize someone behind their mask, while shopping at Target or Menard’s, there is usually a question as to what is next at home, for school, at church – and so often over these weeks my answer has been, “I don’t know.”

Of course, I know what I hope will happen. I know what I am planning, dreaming, scheming, designing, detailing, and discerning. Yet, I do not know what is actually in store for the days ahead. I believe we will keep worshiping outside until it is too cold to do so. I know that we will continue to offer recorded worship every Sunday until the pandemic is over…meaning a widely available vaccine has been provided to the world. I know that school, in Waukesha, will begin face to face for many families though I am hesitant to believe it will last very long. I also know there is plenty of pastoral care being done by myself and now Pastor Tony and Edwin, Vicki, Amy, Brenda and Tamie. Members of our community are struggling with anxiety, fear, isolation, anger, despair. Pastoral care in a pandemic looks like phone calls, text messages, video calls on laptops, hand-written letters, emails, and dropped-off notes in mailboxes. Individual prayers are being tended on Thursday afternoons and by phone appointments in the evening or on the spur of the moment when someone reaches out.

Yes, September will look different this year.

We are walking the road of the pandemic knowing there are hidden turns and roundabouts we have yet to experience. The community of Ascension Lutheran Church also walks this pandemic road. What that means to me is that we are preparing and planning and wondering and waiting and honestly, a fair amount of wandering. The ministries and moments we have taken for granted year after year in the life of Ascension are reshaped, re-imagined, and redirected. One of the questions the staff keeps asking is this: “If we plan it, will they come?”

Since we cannot know the answer to that question, we plan and we pray and hold on to the promise that God is at work especially in these difficult days we walk together. BLAST will happen in homes – Stepping Stones will happen as best as they can in September and early October and if families are not ready to enter into public gatherings, Pastor Tony and I will come to front porches to honor first communion celebrations and bible presentations. We are hopeful to celebrate confirmation in early October outside. We will see what happens. JOLT will happen on two nights with smaller gatherings every other week and CRASH will find new ways to walk together. Adult Education will be offered in some new formats – a zoom video option early in the week and an in-person option later in the week. “Finding Purpose in the Pandemic” will be a new offering this fall inviting members to come together around a one week or two-week topic discussion relating to life, faith, and the journey of the pandemic. Worship will continue to be recorded each week to be presented on Sunday and we will continue to offer outside worship until it is too cold to do so. We are also offering an in-person Wednesday night worship on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of September to highlight the instrumentation in the sanctuary. The one caveat for Wednesday night will be a 50-person cap to maintain a significant physical distance. If people come – great. If not, we will not continue with Wednesday night worship after September. Everything is experimental this fall.

What is not experimental is our continued focus on the good news of Jesus Christ. We will keep preaching hope, love, forgiveness, eternal life – these are the promises our God lifts up for each of us and for all the world. We are tending members and friends of Ascension through all the tech possibilities and sometimes in the old-fashioned ways of pen and paper and stamp. I am grateful for the commitment of the Ascension staff to dream and design their days in order to reach out and engage our community and especially those who are struggling greatly through this pandemic.

We celebrated an amazing ordination for our new Associate Pastor Tony Acompanado. It was an incredible day for our faith community centered on worship and praise to our God. So much excitement for the days ahead. Thank you for joining us and for joining us in our prayer if you could not be there in person. A new parking lot is now a reality and one more piece of our deferred maintenance campus puzzle is completed. I am grateful to the church council for their work, for Daren Maas, our facilities leg leader, and to Mark Pichler, member of Ascension and liaison with the company doing the work in the parking lot. The work on our campus continues. So, too, does the work of ministry. Funerals, premarital counseling, baptisms, counseling, prayer all continue. And our mission to reach out into our community and into our world continues. The Blessing Box continues to see heavy use among our neighbors – a beautiful example of tending the needs of those who literally live across the street from the church campus. Tanzania, el Salvador, and Cross in Milwaukee have all seen the needs of their members, and the needs of the communities in which they serve, rise with the continued days of the pandemic. Your generosity has offered assistance more than once for each community of faith. You also gave enough money to feed 900 students lunch each day for an entire school year in Tanzania – IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC. Thanks be to God for your faithfulness and your generosity.

And, because some of you are wondering, the budget! We continue to see a solid foundation of giving to support our ministries based at Ascension and ministries beyond our walls. Of course, if you are able to give an additional gift in these days – please consider such a gift – a tremendous treasure received by Ascension. I am humbled by your generosity to praise God by sharing of the gifts you have been given. There is so much for which I give thanks to God as we move into a new season of ministry without knowing exactly what the new days of fall will bring. What I do know is what I shared during my sermon at Pastor Tony’s ordination. The words have continued to guide my prayer life and my response to the needs that present themselves as invitations each day.

“Being loved without request and promised eternal life without restraint. This, for me, is grace.”

And this is what Ascension Lutheran Church continues preaching, teaching, and reaching those outside our faith community to the great glory of God. Dear friends – be at peace – even as the world changes and adjusts to these new days – our God is present in every breath, every step, every new day – sharing with all of us the reminder that we are not alone just as Jesus promised us at the end of the book of Matthew: “I am with you always to the end of the age.” Thanks be to God!

Until I see you in church.

Pastor Chris

Latino Ministry Back to School

September means back to school. For me, it means back to seminary. As is the case for so many students these days, seminary this year will not be the same as last year. To begin with, my friend and mentor Tony will no longer be a student with me. I’m happy that he is still at Ascension to give me advice about professors and assignments. Classes are one hundred percent distance learning this year, so there will be no beginning of the semester trips to Wartburg. The seminary has also promised to adjust instruction knowing that many of the seminarians will likely be the parent that is helping their children with virtual schooling at some point in the year.

We don’t know what back to school is going to mean for the children in Waukesha, including the families that are part of our Latino ministry. Some families have already decided to keep their children home for the beginning of the year. Others are sending their children to school knowing that there is a chance that all children may be doing virtual school for at least part of the year. As challenging as virtual schooling was for all families in the spring, our Latino families have some additional challenges. Due to violence, war, and poverty in their home countries, some of the parents did not have access to an education. They feel unqualified to teach their children anything academic. That is in addition to the language and technology barriers that have led immigrant parents to feel overwhelmed by the idea of supporting their children in virtual school. In crowded apartments, it can be hard for all of the kids to find quiet corners for their class meetings and homework, not to mention enough Wi-Fi.

In these times of uncertainty, I will be waiting to see how things unfold with the school year. At the same time, we will be working with parents on strategies they can use at home and explore creating learning pods with the families so we can all work together to support students and their parents with these new ways of schooling. When I attended university in El Salvador to get my teaching license, I never thought I would be using it to support students in the USA during a global pandemic! I am grateful for my time as a substitute teacher last school year to help me learn more about the American education system. I am always surprised by God’s path for my life.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. – Proverbs 22:6

I pray that God is with all families, teachers, school employees, and our entire community as we begin a new school year.

 

Thank You From Pastor Tony

Dear People of Ascension,

Our journey together began six and a half years ago when you, the faithful people of Ascension called me to serve among you as your Director of Faith Formation. In that time, we have shared many incredible moments of laughter and great joy while also our experiencing our share of painful tears and unimaginable heartache. Yet, through everything that we have encountered, we have continued to walk in faith, together.

And then four years ago when the Holy Spirit was no longer interested in entertaining my excuses for running away from God’s call, this community of faith once again excitedly committed to stand beside me on another venture – this time through seminary. Every step of the way you encouraged, supported, celebrated, and helped me to develop and share my pastoral identity. It would be an understatement to say that I am humbled by your confidence in me, and for the countless ways you have pushed me to endure this journey, all the while affording me opportunity after opportunity to learn and challenge myself in order to be a more faithful servant.

And now, my sisters and brothers in Christ, my heart is filled with unspeakable joy because God has graciously set a new course before us to continue serving God together, grow in our relationship, and further challenge what we have known as we follow the Holy Spirit into new territory. This new adventure is a celebration of our relentless God, the Body of Christ, and all that is possible when faithful people take risks, dare to dream, step up, and face challenges with faith, hope and courage.

So, I wish to take a moment as we begin this new endeavor and say thank you – for your trust, your confidence, your partnership, and for your love; both for myself and my entire family. Please know how grateful I am for every moment of our journey together and for all that is yet to come. I am honored to receive this call and serve alongside you as your new Associate Pastor, and so it is with deep gratitude that I wish to leave you with this prayer from the apostle Paul:

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason. I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. (Ephesians 1:15-19 NRSV)

May this day and every day to come be to the great glory of God…

Pastor Tony

Mission: God’s Work. Our Hands.

Sunday, Sept. 13, ELCA congregations will observe the ELCA’s annual day of service, God’s Work. Our Hands. Sunday. This year our church — and our world — are living through the covid-19 pandemic. Physical distancing has forced congregations to cancel in-person worship and move to virtual services and/or outdoor worship. We miss gathering with family and friends to share God’s love in person. But amid this difficult situation, we continue to be church together. Throughout the ELCA, we are witnessing the love and concern God’s people have for one another.

From the ELCA: “During this time, our congregations continue to support ministries that assist vulnerable people in their communities. These acts of service allow us to explore one of our most basic Lutheran convictions: All of life in Jesus Christ — every act of service, in every daily calling, in every corner of life — flows freely from a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. On God’s Work. Our Hands. Sunday we come together to restore and reconcile our communities. You do this kind of work every day —loving your neighbors and making your community a better place.”

Here at Ascension, while we have had to change how we serve others, we still have places to make an impact and be the hands of God, doing God’s work. Watch the announcements and Mission Outreach Facebook page for ways to serve in the community. There are options for service and ways to donate to help others. As the needs emerge, we will update the list.

  • Volunteer at the Food Pantry in a covid-safe environment
  • Provide food and household needs to the Food Pantry
  • Fill the Blessing Box
  • Participate in Outreach for Hope Bike/Ride/Walk or donate for a participant
  • Provide financial support to our partners at Cross, Tanzania or El Salvador
  • Support Latino Ministry Outreach
  • Participate in fund raisers for our Community Partners

Together in Jesus Christ we are freed by grace to live faithfully, witness boldly and serve joyfully.

Shirley Wehmeier
Mission Outreach Wing Leader