Volume 10, Issue #44
November 5, 2020
In the name of Christ, we embrace all people to be nourished and empowered by the Holy Spirit to love and serve the world.
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FROM PETER'S PEN
All Saints' Day worship at Ascension was a beautiful and blessed time. Both in-person worship services were well-attended with appropriate COVID precautions. They went extremely well, and it was wonderful to worship with some of you. Recording it to broadcast later did not work so well...we will keep working on this.
Since COVID makes in-person worship much more complicated, it took a number of folks working together to make this happen. My deep thanks to everyone who was involved in this process: you did wonderful work!
Our plan (God willing), is to conduct virtual worship for the rest of November and to have our next in-person worship on Sunday, December 6.
As I write, we are still awaiting the results of Tuesday's elections. I encourage you to keep praying for this process, for yourself, and for our nation. What you and I say and do going forward reveals a great deal about our heart and our character. This past Sunday, we renewed our baptismal vows, including recommitting ourselves to: "...seek and serve Christ in all persons; loving our neighbors as ourselves." No matter the results of this election, are you (and am I?) truly committed to this? How deeply do our Christian vows influence us?
Finally: this coming Sunday, November 8, begins Stewardship Season. December 6 will be Commitment Sunday, when we ask for your pledges for 2021. Watch your USPS mail for details, coming soon.
In the Episcopal Church, this is the time where we reflect on God's many blessings to us individually, and ask the question: "What is God calling me to do with these many blessings?" Please take the next few weeks to reflect on God's good gifts of time, talent, and treasure in your life, and discern where God is calling you to invest them. Should you adjust your giving (up or down)? Is God calling you to embark on something new or to remain faithful to your current commitments?
Please take time, as well, to consider your giving to Ascension (time, talent, and treasure) and prayerfully discern how you are called to support our ministry here. We are doing the same at our home. 🙂
With joy,
Peter+
Cell: 502-661-2742
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P.S. It is that time of year when the Ascension Vestry forms a Nominating Committee to seek out candidates for several positions starting in January next year. The Committee is being led by Senior Warden Julia Tyson and is made up of current Vestry members whose terms are expiring at the January 2021 Annual Parish Meeting; they are Laura Buffenmyer, Ginni Fox, Ron Gruzesky, Rick Kurtz, and Shannon Lancaster.
Positions to be filled by election at the upcoming Annual Parish Meeting are (4) Vestry members with 3-year terms. Positions to be filled by appointment are (1) Vestry member with a 1-year term (filling out a term from a resignation), plus members for the Endowment Committee and the Preservation Trust Board (one each).
No one person may serve at the same time on more than one of these three boards/committees. If you are an Ascension member and interested in any of these positions, please contact one of the Nominating Committee members (above), or Julia Tyson, or the parish office, before November 18. All of these roles are important to the church; serving is a fun way to learn more about church operations, to share your time and talent, and to interact with others! (All of these groups currently operate via online ZOOM meetings.)
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REMINDER: All Ascension videos - and several organ and piano performances by John Martin - are now available on our FREE "YouTube Channel." You may subscribe, get notifications, view playlists... click here for more information... or go directly to the Ascension YouTube Channel Page. This means you can conveniently find all Ascension videos all in one place, without having to scroll and sift through all of our other Facebook group postings, events, announcements, photos, etc. Kudos to Taylor Lunsford for creating and managing our videos!
FACEBOOK - for general info, photos, announcements and events, plus Evening Prayer, Compline and other live sessions and their later playback, plus LINKS to recorded services stored on YouTube:
search Facebook for "Ascension Frankfort group" or go to
YOUTUBE - video storage - browse all recorded services and music: search YouTube for "Ascension Frankfort" or go to
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Sunday, November 8
9:30 a.m.
Morning Prayer
https://www.facebook.com/
groups/ascensionfrankfort
Twenty-Third Sunday
after Pentecost
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for exciting details and bidding links!
Join us in supporting
The Simon House
Simon House welcomes you to
A Night in Margaritaville:
The Stay-at-Home Version
The online silent auction began on
Tuesday, November 3,
and will conclude on Friday, November 13.
Check the auction often to see more than 100 exciting items. Bid often to get the ones you want.
Join us on Friday, November 13, at 7:00 p.m., for a one-hour program that will entertain and inform you. You will learn about some very exciting new ventures for Simon House!
Thank you for supporting Simon House through your donations and your auction purchases.
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This November, Ascension member Scott Mello is offering free Medicare counseling to the parish. He is a SHIP volunteer and has been doing this each fall for about eight years. Primarily it means helping people re-shop their Part D drug plans and answering other Medicare questions.
There is no charge for this service; Scott is unpaid and not otherwise compensated for doing it. Due to the pandemic, all sessions will be handled by telephone, and by appointment. Each discussion is tailored to your individual situation and needs.
Sessions are available through the parish on Mondays, starting on November 9 through December 7, the last day of open enrollment. To make an appointment, please call Mona Proctor in the parish office at 502-223-0557 to schedule the time most convenient for you.
"Re-shopping for Part D" is necessary because if you don’t do it every year, and instead just let your drug plan roll over into the next year, there is a real possibility that your year-long, out-of-pocket cost will unnecessarily increase substantially. Scott has seen people realize savings of over $25,000 by changing plans - that’s not a typo! In the last few years, he has helped Karen Hoover’s husband Jack; Karen has offered to talk to anybody who wants to confirm this.
(This counseling/selection process is NOT necessary if you are a Kentucky State Government Retiree, because your Medicare Advantage Plan is already better than what is offered in the private market.)
Scott also offers the same service through the Senior Activity Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the open enrollment period, October 15 through December 7.
Don’t delay, because sometimes this process becomes more complicated then you expect, and this enrollment period only happens once a year.
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"Bells of Peace" transforming into an annual tradition.
In 2018, the "Bells of Peace" initiative was launched to create a national bell tolling at 11am local time on 11/11 as a WWI Armistice Centennial remembrance. Tens of thousands of individuals, communities, and organizations participated, including a proclamation from every state in the U.S., every branch of the military service, hundreds of churches, posts, chapters, cities and communities [including Ascension].
While transitioning out of the centennial period, and based on responses and requests, "Bells of Peace" is being promoted as an annual moment of remembrance - to stop and take a few minutes on Veterans Day to reflect, remember, and honor those who served and sacrificed in what was supposed to be "The War to end all Wars" - but instead became "The War that Changed the World."
In this pandemic year, getting a group together for a commemoration may be challenging. This makes the Bells of Peace Participation App even more useful. Available for Apple and Android, the app provides a "virtual bell" and reminds you when to ring it on your device - and also provides more history and details about the project. So you may participate from anywhere!
Ascension's bell is already ringing daily at 10:00 a.m. in memory of COVID victims. For Bells of Peace, the bell is to be tolled slowly, 21 times, with a five-second interval between tolls. If anyone wants to toll Ascension's bell for Bells of Peace on Wednesday, November 11, at 11:00 a.m., please contact Father Peter as soon as possible (fatherpeter@ascensionfrankfort.org or 502-661-2742).
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COVID-19 PANDEMIC
UPDATE 10/29/20
Live Sunday services and meetings in the church are gradually returning as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Watch this newsletter, our web site and Facebook pages for continuing updates about schedules. Our beginning goal is to increase in-person services gradually, once or twice monthly to start.
NEW! Access to the building by small groups (maximum of 10 people) is now available - ALL requiring pre-approval (usually granted on request), signing a space use agreement, and scheduling time and space with the parish office. "Healthy at Work" guidelines apply to everyone who enters the building.
If you want to schedule your small group to meet at Ascension (including "internal" committees and groups for prayer, etc. - all meetings outside of times appointed for worship services) - contact Mona Proctor in the parish office for scheduling. This is required for ALL groups so that we know everyone who has been in the building, in case contact tracing is needed, and to ensure that everyone understands the same rules and expectations during the pandemic and beyond.
Regular office hours remain suspended until further notice; clergy and staff continue to work (mostly) from home. If you have questions, concerns, ideas or suggestions to share, or if you have needs that your church family might help to meet, please contact Father Peter to discuss (email fatherpeter@ascensionfrankfort.org, or call 502-661-2742). You may also email Deacon Rebecca Saager (curate@ascensionfrankfort.org) or Deacon Sue Kurtz (deacon@ascensionfrankfort.org).
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includes our church building!
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MONTHLY RECEIPTS
10/2/2020: $3,152
10/7/2020: $20,420
10/9/2020: $2,425
10/15/2020: $3,097
10/16/2020: $4,104
10/23/2020: $2,120
10/25/2020: $562
10/30:2020: $1,985
Total for October: $37,457

Many thanks to an anonymous donor this month
for a large gift to the Operating Fund!
Thank you for your continuing support. We are working to minimize expenses but still need to pay for upkeep, maintenance, insurance, payroll, etc. Click here to see a letter from our Treasurer regarding the pandemic:

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This web site has an abundance of information and resources - check it out!
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Intercessions for the Church: The Diocesan Staff at Mission House; St. Laurence Chapel, Mission House.
Recently in need of prayers: Adrianna; Barbara; Bill; Bob; Bobbie Lee; Candy; Correll; Daneen; Debbie; Don; Donnie; Faye & Steve; Fran & Doug; Ginni; Heidi & Ian; Greg; Joe; Jon; Josh; Julia; Kay; LeeAnn & Elizabeth; Linda; Linda; Lynda; Madonna; Marilyn; Sandy; Scott & Kathy; Sidney, Suzanne, Tod, Blair & Grant.
Continuing concern: Betty; Carrie & Shawn; Collin; Dan; Darlene; David; Debbie; Dillard; Doris; the Duncan Family; Edith & Marion; Erika; Gillian; Holly; Isaiah; James & Stella; Janet; Janice; Jean; Jinks; John & Willie; June; Linda; Mac; Mae & Frank; Mary; Melissa; Mike & Susie; Polly; Sherri; and Tom. We also pray for those on active duty in the military: Daniel, Houston, Mary Jo, Nick, Seth, Tanner, and Walter.
Thanksgivings: for beautiful in-person worship on All Saints; for the saints in each of our lives; for beautiful fall weather; for birthdays and anniversaries; for the many who contribute time and talent to our re-opening process.
NOTICE:
Part of the strength of this congregation is our care and concern for each other. Please help us to do this by letting the church office know when you are ill, hospitalized, or otherwise in need of prayer and/or visitation. We especially want to serve you during these times. Also, if we don’t have your birthday or anniversary on file, or if it appears incorrectly, please let us know! Call the office at 502-223-0557 (messages are checked periodically), or email curate@ascensionfrankfort.org
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Pre-Planning for End of Life
Rite I or Rite II? Eucharist or no? Burial service in the church, or only a graveside committal? Special music, songs, readings, people? Please consider writing your preferences on a “Funeral Information and Burial Instructions” form, for secure long-term storage in the parish office. This confidential information will serve as a guide to the church and your family after your death. A 'Kentucky Living Will Directive and Health Care Surrogate Designation' Form is also available. Return the completed form(s) to Deacon Rebecca, Deacon Sue, or to the parish office.
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Clergy and Staff
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The Rev. Peter Doddema, Priest
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The Rev. Dr. William G. Brown, Associate Priest Emeritus
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The Rev. Deacon Rebecca A. Saager, Curate
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The Rev. Deacon Susan E. Kurtz, Deacon
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Mr. John B. Martin, Director of Music & Organist
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Ms. Mona Landrum Proctor, Parish & Financial Administrator
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Mr. David Gierlach, Sexton
Copyright © 2020 Church of the Ascension. All Rights Reserved.
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