Ascension Update

Dear Friends, May 30, 2011

Yesterday, Rev. Pat preached on themes of Memorial Day, a Holy Day for America. She declared that that God takes us from fear and sorrow to thanksgiving and joy. We know that God is with each of us as a person, and also as a nation - and that He will always guide us. Please say a prayer for Pat this week as she drives her rental truck north from PA to complete the move to Rochester and Ascension!

We are off to a fine start with Rev. Pat.
But you are needed to help write our next chapter!
Please make your personal commitment to be present in person on Sunday mornings to greet Pat, to give her your personal Welcome and to share in the promise and fulfillment of her new ministry and ours.

Rev. Pat wants to be accessible to us - Her phone number is 732-428-2000 ;
e-mail is patcashman2010@gmail.com ;
mailing address is The Rev. Patricia Cashman 185 Bennington Hills Court, West Henrietta, NY 14586

Kindly keep in your daily prayers all those in need of healing, and those who serve in our military forces. To assist in our spiritual life, Forward Day by Day booklets are $.85 each in the Tower Room.

If we want to grow and share God's prosperity of faith, we must love God, love our friends and then speak openly to them. A congregation grows starting with each faithful person. God will help us share the Bread of Life.....God will help us live into our Baptismal Covenant of sharing His word and our lives and resources. We never know how ready a friend may be to hear a word of encouragement in faith. We never know when God will bring someone to speak to us, and enrich our own life.

DON'T FORGET - Our Ascension Piecemakers Quilt Group is offering a stunning queen-size quilt. This quilt would be a handsome addition to any decor! Coupons are $2 or 3 for $5. All proceeds will go to the Bell Tower Restoration Project. You can see the quilt and get more details each Sunday at Coffee Hour. The drawing and award will be to a lucky coupon holder in mid June.

SPECIAL REQUEST: Please remember those in need of our help. Due to the heavy winter and food price inflation, the MEEK food cupboard needs your extra financial contributions [envelopes in church] and food donations [place items in back of church/Tower Room], and also seeks volunteers to assist in this ministry. Please call Jan Wills 621-3900 if you can assist as a volunteer. Checks, made out to MEEK, may be handed to Jan Wills or sent to the Church Office.

LAST CALL! This Friday.....
the Annual LOBSTER DINNER, June 3rd, 5:30-7:00 PM,$18.00.
PLEASE DON'T MISS!!! Call 458-5423 Tues or Wed at latest for reservations.
Call Mike if you can help with clean up. 645-3601

LAST CALL - The annual Women's Club steak roast is this Thursday,

June 2nd at noon at the home of Jan Wills, 509 Britton Road. All women in the Church

are invited to attend; and spouses and guests are welcomed. If you plan to attend, please

call Jan ASAP at 621-3900. Steaks and beverages will be provided.

$5.00 will be collected to offset the cost of the steaks. Please plan to bring a dish to pass.

This coming Saturday- June 4th at 11AM - Barbara Robson Memorial Service
Please accept this invitation to honor Barb in a celebration of her life and ministries. She and her sister Sally

were parishioners whom we greatly miss. Barb died in Florida late in 2010. It will be a time to lift up her

many accomplishments among us, as friend and dedicated leader for so many years. The Rev. Miriam Owens

will co-celebrate with The Rev. Pat Cashman. Reception in Library following.

There will be two events on Sunday, June 12 featuring the new Eucharistic setting by Karen Noble

Hanson, Canon and CIO of the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester.

*The Eucharist at Christ Church Rochester, at 141 East Avenue at Gibbs will start at 10:45

a.m. All are welcome. The Jazz Group includes Trombonist Greg Lecewicz and his Metro Connection Jazz

Group from Sarasota, Florida (by way of Poland), Rochesterians Geoff Smith (Bass), Mike

Van Allen, (keyboard), Jennifer Tierre (vocalist) and Sarasota residents, Chuck

Par, (percussion), Jim Earp (Trumpet) and Tom Ellison (sax, reeds), formerly

from Rochester. Presented in Sarasota, Florida in February, the setting includes

the "Creed", Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Lord's Prayer, Gloria and several other pieces.

The Creed has been sung throughout the Unitred States, including Trinity Wall Street in the Easter

season of 2010.

*Later that day, the music of the setting will be the basis of a Jazz Concert at St. Paul's Church, 25 Westminster Road at East Avenue at 3:45 PM. This concert will also include traditional Jazz.

Coffee Hour after the 10 AM Sunday service is a wonderful opportunity to greet friends, old and new, and catch up on news. There are opportunities to host Coffee Hour in the weeks ahead. Won't you help this ministry? If not sure how to host, you may call Nancy Lennox at 663-5805 or Stu or Gene Denison at 663-0988. To sign up - see list in the back of the church or call 458-5423. Thanks!

As we happily share the good news of Rev. Pat, please phone or visit a friend whom you've been meaning to contact. There are many who would love a call and an invitation to church or an inquiry as to when you might pay a visit. We can invite friends to accompany us to church - and take them out for brunch afterward!

To beautify our worship, in upcoming weeks there are opportunities for altar flowers. Will you take up this ministry to the glory of God and to our spirits? To donate, please contact Laurie Phillips, 865-2802 or email LBP@rochester.rr.com

If we wish to learn the true Meaning of Life, grow as Christians and share our love of God, we need to know the stories of the Bible. Thursday Bible Study is in the Library at 9 AM. Please 'Come and See'. This is a time for careful reflection on Jesus’ teachings and how we model our faith to family, friends and all whom we meet. God’s Word guides such a process. Much food for thought and often refreshments to share. The study is of the Gospel Lesson for next Sunday, found below.

The Rochester Interfaith Jail Ministry asks your ongoing help - by donating through United Way or directly by check to R.I.J.M., 2 Riverside St., Rochester, NY 14613. This will bring books of healing and group sessions to those needing to start lives anew. Remember the Good Samaritan... Please answer this call. To volunteer, call 254-6790. The invitation to help is ongoing, so you are not late to the party! We recently began doing visits to the young men ages 16-19 in the Downtown Jail. Many Thanks! Please include this ministry in your daily devotions:

Jesus, our Brother and Savior, you explained that the Father did works through

You. Give us the grace to be instruments of Your peace, bringing solace and

wisdom to those we visit in jail and prison. We pray this week for the ministry

of Step by Step of Rochester, bringing Your love to women in jail in Monroe

County and the Southern Tier.

There is God's work for each of us when we see new people on Sunday or at an
event. Let's introduce ourselves and make them welcome. An invitation to chat at Coffee Hour is a great ice-breaker. So is sitting with a new person and guiding her/him in the service, if this is a first or second time with us.

Do you have a pocket card to hand to a friend who asks about Ascension?

Cards are on the table in the back of the church. Please take a few, and be

ready to share. We have pocket crosses in the table drawer to hand to those

who answer the call to "Come and See".

This is all part of "The Growing Season at Ascension"

The Season of Easter offers beautiful music to lift our hearts. Here is a video of

a favorite piece, offered in honor of Barb Robson - Cantique de Jean Racine, by Gabriel Faure',

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKwHiGg21KA

In the next day or two, Paul Schwartz will post this e-letter on our blogspot.

http://ascensionroch.blogspot.com/

If you have a new or better email address for yourself, or know someone

who might like to receive this weekly e-letter, please send in that

information.

Here, below, is a recipe for a treat for yourself, friends and loved ones,

[We can also make extra for someone in need of our kindness.]

Blessings and all good wishes,

Dyson
D. Dyson Gay
585-671-0364
dysongy@aol.com

***************

Bowmiller Rd BBQ Ribs

Ingredients
2-3 racks of baby ribs with ~12 ribs/rack [BJ's are good - look for lean - and usually 3-to-a-pak]
Around 4-6 oz cider vinegar
Pork Rub [or use = a shake of garlic powder, onion powder, ground black pepper and paprika]
Fistful brown sugar for each rib rack
18 oz jar BBQ sauce - your choice; smoky works well. Some of this will be for the ribs when served.
Plenty of heavy duty aluminum foil

Directions
Remove silver skin membrane from back of ribs, if present [work loose with a spoon, put fingers under and lift/peel off]
Line 12" x 18" baking pan/cookie baking tray with long/wide HD foil so you can wrap ribs
Put ribs meat meat side up into baking pan
Sprinkle liberally with vinegar, but no need to drown...
Sprinkle both sides with pork rub and pat into meat
Add fistful brown sugar on top each rack
Cover/wrap tightly, meat side up, with foil
Bake at 300F for 4-5 hours. 4 hours usually enough.
Open foil wrap carefully to avoid steam
Drain and discard liquid/juice from pan
Smear ribs with BBQ sauce of your choice, including back of ribs, and reclose foil loosely
Bake for additional 15 minutes @ 300F
Open foil and bake for 15 minutes more, but don't let ribs dry out
Remove from oven
Cut into 3-4 rib segments to serve.
Serve with additional BBQ sauce and ENJOY!

Option - you may place ribs onto hot charcoal/gas grill for 4-6 min/side after smearing BBQ sauce onto
ribs, but they may break and stick to grill.

******************************

GOSPEL FOR NEXT SUNDAY

John 17:1-11

Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

"I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. "

The Prodigal Son

Welcome Friends,
Thanks to all who worked on and attended the Spaghetti Dinner. It was great !! This week at Ascension: E. Swarts reported on a record number of Blanket for the Church World Service Drive. Ascension again rises to the occasion and over 275 blankets were donated/sponsored. Also the Peace-maker quilting group provided a quilt for Rev. Page and Rev. Harter both of whom were supply priests in the recent past and are recouperating. Also this week was the first Planning meeting for CROP walk, Lenten discussion group, Bible Study, think Spring ! Upcoming is a spring Fix-up Day. The wardens and vestry have been working on the long-range plan to submit to the Diocese. It will contain the elements of mission and partnership with the neighborhood, building use and church programs to help Ascension grow. Palm Sunday and Easter are soon upon us. In these remaining weeks of Lent, consider who you'd like to invite to church this spring. Easter service promises to have a great music from the organ and choir.
This week at the Lenten discussion, we discussed the many ways we are stewards of God's creation on Earth. Recently that has taken the popular form of being a 'green consumer'. What do you think about how we as a church could contribute to the preservation of the environment? Are there things around here that we can tend to? A special prayer for this week

Dear Lord, as we look at each other in the pews, in the neighborhoods and in
our families, in our day-to-day lives, we fall into old habits. We look on each
other from a human point of view. We judge, we envy, we fear, we despair.
Make us new through our faith, so that we can accept each other, rejoice in
others’ joys and face our fears to overcome them. Help us to Hope, Lord.
We pray this week for the volunteers who go into the jails and prisons from
Rochester Interfaith Jail Ministry, Cephas, AA, NA, Adult Children of Addiction,
and the many religious Bible Study groups.  

Here is this week's Gospel:

Luke 15:11-32

Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."' So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe--the best one--and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.

"Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"

Blessings and Peace, See you on Sunday !

As usual, if you have ideas, special prayer requests or interest in contributing to upcoming Ascension Happenings, please let us know, and we'll work them in.

Church of the Ascension
2 Riverside St.
Rochester, NY 14613
585-458-5423