Now that sabbatical for Pastor Chris and Ascension has come to an end I feel it’s time to share my gratitude to everyone who helped make this time of growth, discovery, and renewal everything the Holy Spirit gifted it to be.

Thank you to my family for their patience and support leading up to and over the past 3 months; it gave me the courage and strength to trust that God prepared me to be pastor in this moment.

Thank you to Pastor Chris for all the prep work he put in before he left to ensure things would run as smoothly as possible while he was away.

Next I’d like to thank our staff for their openness to a period of new leadership and for their willingness to jump in without hesitation and take on extra tasks to ensure that we continued to offer the very best of Ascension to our members and visitors.

And no Thank You would be complete without thanking you, the members of Ascension. You reached out daily with phone calls, emails, and texts; you volunteered to help bake bread, assist in worship, set up, clean up, and everything in between. And there was no shortage of others who regularly stopped in the office or pulled me aside to ask a powerful question that I’m only starting to fully comprehend or appreciate – “What can I do to help you?”

We, and by we I mean the whole community of Ascension, welcomed and embraced this sabbatical time and we learned, laughed, and played. We struggled, pondered, and dreamed, and we mourned and celebrated. What I rejoice in most is that we did all of it together. I’m honored by God’s call to be your pastor, colleague, and friend and I am so excited for whatever God has planned for us in the days ahead as we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit – together.

Please know how grateful I am to you and for you. As we launch into the next steps of our journey together I pray that the energy and excitement that has been building throughout the summer and as we welcomed Pastor Chris back, will inspire us to confidently continue to be the people of God in this place and beyond. I pray that the Spirit of God will stir, challenge, empower, encourage and send us to be light for the world.

All this brings me to my final but most important thank you of all – God. I thank God for calling and refining me to be who I am today and continuing to love me into all God created me to be. What a gift we have to be the people of God and what an even greater joy we have to be God’s love to the world around us.

~Pastor Tony