Ash Wednesday, Lenten worship & Soup Suppers

Ash Wednesday is Wednesday, March 2. The season of Lent begins, and Pastor Chris is so excited! Last year, we were still not meeting in-person when Lent began so no mid-week worship and worse yet, no soup and time for conversation and catching-up. Well, all that is happening this year!

Our Ash Wednesday worship will be at both 12 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (Note the time change!)

Sundays in Lent will be at our regular worship times of 8:30 and 10:45 a.m.

Our mid-week soup suppers begin at 6 p.m. followed by worship from 6:45-7:15 p.m.

We are once again looking for groups or individuals who would like to make soup or donate bread as well as help set-up. The dates for mid-week soup suppers are: Wednesdays, March 9, March 16, March 23, March 30

If your group would like to sign-up for a night, we are looking for about 12 soups and six dozen rolls/loaves of bread. I will be reaching out to ask some of our ministry groups and there will be sign-ups available beginning on Sunday, Feb. 27. Council has given the green light to return to serving food in the church and Pastor Chris could not be more pleased to invite you to return to one of our most well-attended events throughout the year. Please contact Pastor Chris. Want to sign-up early to get your spot? Email PC at pc@ascensionelca.org.

God at Work

Where do you see God at work in this season of Epiphany light?

In the middle of January, our JOLT confirmation students began studying the ten commandments. I confess, that I was hopeful if a few of the students might know more than five out of ten. To my great surprise, more than a third could name all ten – with the occasional challenge with the word “covet.” There were giggles around the word “adultery.” There always are in junior high circles when you begin to explain the definition and then give them a few examples of what adultery could look like in today’s world. We spent the rest of the class asking the students to place the commandments in the order they believed most important for the world today. For three out of the four groups, “Thou shalt not kill” was the first and most important commandment. In the final group, they stuck with the same order God laid out, “You shall have no other gods before me.” And then we asked them to rewrite the 10 commandments in plain, easy-to-understand wording. Again, the students did not disappoint. The word “lie” replaced “false witness” and instead of the word “covet” the students chose the word “jealous.” The best moment in the class was when a student spoke up at the end of the group discussion and said, “You know, these ten commandments still really are important for the world today.” I could not have said it better myself. God is at work.

On Sunday the 23rd of January, I preached about the return of Jesus to his hometown synagogue where he read from the scroll of Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” It is the moment Jesus introduces himself to the world, revealing God’s plan and promise to the world in the person of Jesus. A reminder that Jesus is the Word made flesh – the presence of God in our lives. During the children’s sermon we played the Ascension version of “Let’s Make a Deal” which backfired on me when the kid at the second service took the dollar bill they started with instead of what was in box #2 or behind curtain #1. What we learned was that the promise of Jesus is better than anything we can imagine. I share these memories because they serve as reminders that the young ones among us continue to be the teachers of faith filled moments in our lives. God is at work.

In the season of Epiphany, we hear moments of revelation of God’s presence among us. We are often in need of such reminders. In the month of January, we celebrated the promise of resurrection for no less than five members of our faith community. If ever we needed the promise and presence of God’s resurrection power revealed to us, it is in these days where the power of death is at work and God’s resurrection glory is revealed. God is at work.

What a journey we continue to travel as we begin to say goodbye to yet another surge of the coronavirus. I continue to be grateful for your willingness to strengthen our community of faith by mitigating possible outbreaks within our congregation. The journey continues. God promises to be with us and the presence of God is revealed in scripture, in the gift of family members and friendships, and the beauty of creation when we choose to set aside time to appreciate all that God offers to us in this life. God is at work.

As one pastor offered to their congregation one Sunday: “May you see resurrection ever about you.” Dear friends, we are in desperate need of resurrection moments at every turn. To borrow a phrase from the TSA, “If you see something, say something.” Let me know where you have seen God at work shining light into the shadows and revealing resurrection moments in your lives. To God be the glory!

See you in church!

Pastor Chris

Love Like a Christian

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

It’s hard to believe that it’s February already, but seeing that it is, this means Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Soon, many will be exchanging heart shaped boxes of candy, cards, or cute little valentines. Others will be delivering flowers to workplaces, going out to dinner at a special restaurant, leaving for a romantic getaway or scheming other creative ways to express love to someone special.

For many, February 14 marks a day to celebrate love, while there are others who reject it as a materialistic, commercialized waste of time. Nevertheless, Valentine’s Day is big business, and according to the National Retail Foundation, it typically adds more than $17 billion to the U.S. economy each year – making retail spending for this day the second largest behind Christmas. Thanks to the mass commercialization of Valentine’s Day, love is everywhere. Love is all around us!

Is it really, though? I mean, sure, our culture has become highly skilled in and dedicated to promoting romance. I can’t tell you the number of jewelry commercials I typically see on TV around this time. But while romance is as abundant as ever, it seems that love is a different story. And at least in my opinion, it seems love is much harder to come by in the public eye these days. Violence always leads off the nightly news, and public discourse has become hostile to the extent that political differences have driven wedges between families and friends.

But as people united in Christ, we are called by God to love others even if it’s not the most popular thing to do. And fortunately for us, we’ve been given a great resource to help us do this – The Bible. One of the best descriptions of love comes to us in the Scripture text quoted above, written by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthian church. These words to the Corinthians are some of the most enduring words in the Bible and they are familiar to many people because they are often read at weddings.

Despite that common use, though, the implications of the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13 are wide-ranging. Loving with this sort of patience and gentleness invites others into our lives and provides intimate ground for relationships to grow. Strangers whom we may at first stereotype into a category become individual people we truly see, know, and appreciate. Love like Paul describes can bring down the walls of fear and conflict that seem to be so effectively separating people right now.

This is the kind of love God calls us to offer to the world not only this February or this Valentine’s Day, but every day. So brothers and sisters, I invite all of us to let this love be our Valentine to everyone, but most importantly to God. And let us show this love God has for us in Jesus Christ by offering it to others.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:14)

Peace,

Pastor Tony

Our Gifts to God

The Christmas season feels like it last a little longer in the Latino culture. While we have included the story of the magi every year during our worship, this is the first year that we made it a special day. We included many of the traditions of a typical Tres Reyes Magos celebration you would see in many Spanish speaking countries. The magi arrived during the children’s sermon with their camels. Since we had traditional music from Mexico and Central America provided by the mariachi band for Las Posadas, we wanted to honor some of our other families’ culture for this festival day with special music from Puerto Rico and Columbia from the group Cache MKE for both worship and fellowship. We shared a potluck lunch following worship. At the lunch, we had the traditional rosca de reyes for dessert. A rosca is a sweet bread intended to symbolize the crown of the three kings. Inside the bread is hidden a tiny baby Jesus (or two or three). If your slice of the dessert contains a baby Jesus, the tradition is that you need to provide the tamales for the next big gathering. Since this is often the day gifts are exchanged in Latino families, we adapted that tradition by having a white elephant gift exchange at the end of the meal. It is our way of remembering the gifts that the magi brought to Jesus.

Remembering the gifts that the magi brought to Jesus is a good way to finish the Christmas season. As we go into the next seasons of the liturgical year, we ask ourselves, what is our gift to Jesus that we keep giving all year long? For me, my gifts this year will be to strive to love my neighbor as myself, to seek justice, and to share the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness for us all. What will your gift be this year?

 Edwin Aparicio, Pastoral Intern

A Resounding Success

It is hard to imagine a time at Ascension when we didn’t have handbells. We are about to celebrate the 20th anniversary (or actually 20+1 years thanks to the COVID shutdown last year.) We wanted to take this opportunity to share some information about the humble beginnings of the handbell choir.

Flashback to a time prior to the millennium when it was a dream of long-time member Heidi Bischmann to start a handbell choir. Playing handbells was a passion of hers and an activity she enjoyed with her mother Nanci Scharzenbacher. Thanks to the donation of a 3-octave set of chimes made to the church by the Harper family in the late 1990’s, the dream began to take shape.

Originally, the handbell choir practiced and performed with the chimes. Knowing of Heidi’s dream, her husband Dave searched the nation in search of a set of used handbells. Finally, Dave located a 3-octave Mallmark handbell set at a church in Henderson, Nevada. The bells had been silent for over 10 years. Dave purchased the set on E-Bay and in a surprise presentation to Heidi and the choir, they became a memorial to the church in remembrance of Heidi’s mother.

Over the years through bake sales, fundraisers and generous donations by Ascension members, the handbell set has grown to an impressive 5 octaves of handbells and 7 octaves of chimes.

A common misconception is that handbells are made of brass. In actuality, handbells are crafted from bronze, which is a composition of 80% copper and 20% tin that results in instruments of beauty and unmatched tone.

The handbells are often accompanied by the chimes. A chime is crafted as a square aluminum tube with rounded exterior corners. The specialized shape is necessary to create the purest tone and avoid extraneous “buzzing” vibrations. The marriage of the handbells and chimes creates a layered effect to add punctuation and interest to musical pieces. You may have taken note of the lower 6th and 7th octaves of chimes that have been added to the ensemble in recent years. Those chimes are up to 6 feet long and add dramatic bass notes, like the pedals on the organ.

Handbells are not only an auditory experience, but also a visual experience. You have undoubtedly observed some of the many techniques that are incorporated into the performance such as plucks, malleting, shakes, martellatos, and singing bells, just to name a few. The techniques are performed using the table, mallets, singing sticks and even the ringer’s bodies. Ringers are often required to do a “dance” in order to create the musical experience, which is not only a delight to hear, but fun to watch!

The handbells have really made their way beyond the walls of Ascension over the years. Despite not being overly portable, they have been transported to a variety of venues around the state where the choir has performed in concerts, workshops and at other churches. An ensemble of ringers even performed one Christmas at the entrance to Waukesha State Bank…outside…in the snow!

February 13th has been set aside as a Sunday that we will celebrate the bells. At the 8:30 service, a variety of musical pieces will be offered in worship showcasing the talents and techniques of Ascension’s ringers. We hope you will make a point to attend this very special service of musical celebration.

Steve Spieker, Worship Wing Leader

Humor & Mental Health

Should your mental health be a “laughing matter?”

Mental health is difficult to keep healthy during times of isolation such as a pandemic. Many people are consumed with depression and live in a very stressful or lonely environment. Finding humor in the circumstances of life can lift moods with laughter and help people to better deal with and overcome difficult experiences.

What happens when you laugh?

  • Levels of stress hormones decrease.
  • Your heart, lungs, and muscles are stimulated.
  • There is increased activity in parts of the brain’s reward system.
  • Endorphins, the body’s natural pain blockers, are released.

Incorporating humor into your daily life has many potential benefits:

  • Stronger immune system
  • Improved mood and anxiety relief
  • Better interactions with others
  • Less burnout on the job

Humor and laughter reduce the risk of developing chronic health conditions. Stress and the hormones it produces can do a lot of damage to the mind and body over time. Since humor and laughter reduce the amounts of these hormones, it has also been shown that they can help reduce the risk of blood clots, heart conditions, and other stress-related conditions.

10 Tips for Incorporating Humor in Your life

  • List three funny things that happen to you each day
  • Watch a TV show that makes you laugh
  • Watch stand-up comedy
  • Reach out to someone who gets your sense of humor and share funny things that happened recently
  • Spend 15 minutes online watching YouTube comics or memes
  • Have a charade game night
  • Read a funny book
  • Try laughter yoga
  • Spend time with an animal or child (their antics are always good for a laugh)

If you are taking steps to care for your mind, body, and soul but still feel like you are struggling with your mental health, visit www.mhascreening.org to check your symptoms.

Brenda Lytle, RN, Director of Care Ministries

Mission Outreach 2.022

Mission Outreach continues to work toward our 2022 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.

Winter Farmer’s Market

The last day Ascension met in person for services before the pandemic shut us down was March 8, 2020, which was also the day of our very successful Winter Farmers’ Market in conjunction with the Food, Faith and Farming Network. Even though this was our first attempt at this event, it ended up being the most successful market of the year for the entire network. Now after two years, we are back on the schedule this year for March 13th. Lynn Parkhurst headed the market for us in 2020 and did such a good job that the Food, Faith and Farming Network hired her to be the project overall manager. We will still see her around helping our new Ascension coordinators Steve and Carol Spieker. Steve and Carol have put together a committee to plan another successful market including vendors, a brunch, BLAST activities and some special surprises. Tickets for the brunch will be on sale after services starting February 20. 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.

Hawthorne School Partnership

Thank you to all who donated to our outdoor winter clothing drive for our partnership with Hawthorne School. The response was wonderful and the staff at Hawthorne is so grateful. Reaching out to meet their needs is one of the ways Ascension reaches out into the community.

Food Pantry

Plan to do some shopping at Meijer on March 5 and 26 and purchase a $10 gift card for the local Food Pantry. Meijer will double match your purchase on those days through their Simply Give program. This is a simple way to reach out to support one of our community partners and have your gift multiplied in a big way.

Blessing Box

Please be mindful of the weather forecast as you purchase items for the Blessing Box. Please do not place items that may be harmed by freezing in the box because it is not insulated. If you have something you want to donate, place it in the Donation Center and we will determine if it can go in the Blessing Box or the Food Pantry. The Blessing Box has less use during the very cold weather but increases as soon as we have warmer days. The Blessing Box is a way to reach out to our nearby neighbors.

Healing Hearts & NAMI

Waukesha is still seeing a need for increased mental heath services due to the stress of the ongoing pandemic and the emotional impact of the Waukesha Christmas parade. Two of our Community Partners, Healing Hearts and NAMI, are providing the much needed services. With the increase in demand for their services, there is also an increase in the need for volunteers for their programs and funding for them to be able to provide services at no cost. Please contact Shirley Wehmeier if you have an interest in helping in any way. We are hoping to reach out through volunteering and invite in for activities with these two partners this year.

Cross Church

We are collecting paper products for the Cross Food Pantry. They have asked us not to collect food items at this time. Just a reminder that they are also no longer able to use the empty medicine bottles so we are not able to accept them in the Donation Center. This is a way we walk with our partners at Cross during the pandemic.

Outreach For Hope

Outreach for Hope has several ways we can walk with them in the next few months.

2022 Super Bowl Sunday Food Drive: As we begin to prepare for that time-honored tradition of celebrating the best football teams of the year at the Super Bowl, Outreach for Hope is asking us to join another Super Bowl tradition: sharing the gift of food with people who are hungry. The Outreach for Hope Ministers to congregations where hunger is a great concern and filling that need is one of the goals of the Greater Milwaukee Synod. On any given day throughout our year, over 40,000 people in Milwaukee County alone go hungry. Would you consider sharing food with those who aren’t able to feed their families this winter?

  • Option 1: As you purchase groceries for your Super Bowl celebration, purchase a few HEALTHY food items for others in need. The food can be donated to one of the Outreach for Hope Ministry Partners who help to feed the hungry or bring the donations to church and we will take them to the Waukesha Food Pantry.
  • Option 2: If you’re not able to purchase and deliver food, consider making a monetary donation to OFH 2022 Super Bowl Food Drive. 100% of your donation will be shared with their Ministry Partners, so they can purchase the exact food items that will serve their clients best. $50 would feed a family of four for several days!

Together In Hope: Stories of Partnership is the title of this year’s Lenten devotions beginning Ash Wednesday, March 2. The devotions will be available Mondays through Saturdays through Holy Week. They will be releasing 40 days of video on YouTube, and written devotion transcripts through a variety of mediums. Sign-up on at outreachforhope.org/lenten-devotions/.

AMEN No Regrets Streaming

Ascension’s AMen Ministry is excited to host the streamed event here at Ascension on Saturday, Feb. 5, and extends an invitation to the men of Ascension to join in this unique gathering. The theme for the conference is Press On! The normal $40 ticket fee for this event is waived for Ascension members and guests. AMen Ministry and Thrivent are providing financial support to provide this unique opportunity. Advanced registration is required by Friday, Feb. 4. Register online — password AMEN.

Advent & Christmas Schedule 2021

Join Us!

Ascension has Advent and Christmas worship and activities planned that will be memorable for all of our church community. Please join us for these special events and help the glory of the Lord shine in the dark days of winter.

Deck the Halls of Ascension, Dec. 4

Help us get the sanctuary and other areas ready for Advent and Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 4, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Lunch provided

Journey to Bethlehem, Dec. 5

BLAST families and the congregation are invited between services on Sunday, Dec. 5 for Journey to Bethlehem where we will travel with Mary and Joseph as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Children 3k through 5th grade along with their parents will move through various stations of fun crafts and activities that will help tell this amazing story. People of all ages are invited to come and see all the joy and excitement that surrounds this event.

As part of the Journey to Bethlehem on Dec. 5, we’re collecting new books and clothing for children. Just like the wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus, we’ll be gifting these items to people in need. Look for the bin in the narthex starting this weekend.

Advent Concert Worship, Dec. 11 & 12

Invite your friends and family for this worship experience from all of Ascension’s musicians — the Ascension Choir, Ascension Ringers, the Praise Band, and youth choirs. Saturday, Dec. 11, 6 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 12, 9:30 a.m. (Please note: There will be only one service on Sunday.)

A special brunch will follow the 9:30 service on Sunday. Please watch for more information in e-alerts.

Las Posadas, Dec. 18, 5 p.m.

Weather allowing, this event on Saturday, Dec. 18, will be held outside with live music. People can start arriving at 4:45 to prepare with a candle and Mexican hot chocolate to warm up for the winter’s evening. Following the journey, you are invited to join us in a dinner of holiday favorites.

 

Children’s Christmas Program Dec. 19, 10:45 a.m.

Students participating in the Children’s Christmas program will gather at church on Saturday, Dec. 18, between 9-11a for a final Christmas Program dress rehearsal. 

Join us on Sunday, Dec. 19, at the 10:45a worship service to celebrate the Children’s Christmas program. BLAST children will share the joy of the season through readings, singing, and a special live nativity that you won’t want to miss!

Christmas Eve, Dec. 24

  • 3 & 5 p.m. worship, sanctuary
  • 6:30 p.m. outdoor worship, Memorial Gardens (weather permitting)
  • 6:30 p.m. Spanish worship, East Hall

Christmas Day, Dec. 25

  • 10 a.m., sanctuary

First Sunday of Christmas, Dec. 26

  • 10 a.m. (bilingual), sanctuary

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Care Ministries

Christmas time is a time of hope, peace and joy. It is important to recognize that much of what we love about the Christmas season are the ways we have found to make love manifest. Gifts given, treats baked, visits made, and trips taken not only to show how full of love we feel for our friends and family but also for strangers who will benefit from our gift of time, talents and treasures.

The Christmas season during the pandemic challenges many of us to focus on simplicity. As we remember, millions of people around the world will miss more than simple traditions. They will miss the loved ones they’ve lost, the jobs they no longer hold, the health they can no longer count on. So for many people this may be a sad and lonely holiday. As Christians, Jesus is our hope for peace and joy during this pandemic time. So perhaps let us find new ways to show his love if we have to change our normal ways of tradition. Drop off cookies at doorsteps, use generous takeout orders to support local businesses, shop small businesses who may be struggling, share devotions and call those in our congregation who would love to connect with an Ascension member. We can all make a difference in our Christian lives to make this a holiday full of love.

Brenda Lytle, RN, Director of Care Ministries

Grateful Hearts

Thank you for your generous donations for the Be the Village Ministry’s ToyPalooza Drive for Chosen. Many new toys were collected to distribute to foster children. Thank you for making a difference in our community!

Thank you to CRASH and JOLT for your generous service work for Chosen. Thanks to Be the Village Ministry for setting up all of the materials so that the kids could finish 30 tie blankets for foster teens in Waukesha! Great job!

Thank you to everyone that supported Chosen in Love’s Gala in November. It was a great evening for a great cause!