"And now, what is my hope?
O Lord, my hope is in you."
                 - Psalm 39:8

Dear People of Ascension,

This verse appeared in the Psalm at Evening Prayer when I was leading it earlier this week. Perhaps because I am pondering questions of hope this Advent, its simplicity arrested me. This is not a particularly optimistic psalm. The writer complains bitterly that wicked people seem to thrive. He keeps silent, but then speaks when his pain becomes unbearable. She notes how brief her days are, "but a puff of wind".

This psalmist wonders if God is the source of their trouble, or their help in it. "I am but a sojourner with you." "Give ear to my cry", but "turn your gaze from me that I may be glad again." There are so many unanswered questions, and the psalmist does not hold back from struggling with them.

But there in the very middle of the Psalm's fifteen verses is this affirmation. "My hope is in you." Where does such hope, such trusting hope despite doubt, even despite so much that is wrong in the world, come from? Is it from remembering God's goodness? From the prayers, stories and witness of the community? From "acting as if"? From finding God present with us, waiting and watching in the dark?

How are you finding hope this Advent? May the psalmist's affirmation encourage your prayers.

Peace,

Liz
Services at Church of the Ascension
Join Us!
A Note About Prayers - For our Zoom participants, in order for us to collect your prayer intentions, please put them in the Zoom chat after the service has started and before the end of the sermon.
Sunday Services
Holy Eucharist - in the Church - 9:00 a.m.

Holy Eucharist with Music - in the Church - 11:00 a.m.
Join us after the service in our new tent for
coffee and tea in the front garden

Meditation & Sacrament - in the Church - 6:00 p.m.
Livestream Service via Zoom at 11:00 a.m.
How to join the livestream service:

From your computer, laptop, pad, smart phone, or other device, click this link:

If you do not have a device with a camera, you can still join with your phone by dialing the following number: 929-205-6099, and enter the meeting ID: 322 793 633.

You can view our services online at anytime by going to our website (ascensionnyc.org), or directly to our Local Live portal (events.locallive.tv/worship/church-ascension).
Weekday Services
Wednesday Night Service - Holy Eucharist
6:00 p.m. in the Church
Evening Prayer Every Weekday Evening via Zoom
Join us each weeknight at 5:30 for Evening Prayer & discussion. Click this link to join: ascensionnyc.org/eveningprayer. To call in (voice, no camera), dial 929-205-6099; the meeting ID is 770 597 201.
Prayer & Meditation - Every Weekday starting at Noon
The Church is open for prayer and meditation every weekday; Monday through Friday, Noon to 3:00 p.m. Open Church will begin with Noonday Prayer, led by Brother Andrew, OSF.
Christmas at Ascension
Christmas Eve*
Family Service, 5:00 p.m.
Prelude Music for Christmas, 9:30 p.m.
& Festival Eucharist, 10:00 p.m.

Christmas Day
Holy Eucharist & Hymns; 11:00 a.m.

1st Sunday after Christmas, Dec. 26
Holy Eucharist, 9:00 a.m.
Lessons and Carols, 11:00 a.m.

* Reservations are required for all Christmas Eve services: Ascensionnyc.org/ChristmasEve.
Our pews seat up to 4 adults, and you can register with other family members or friends.

Anyone entering the church must wear a mask and maintain appropriate physical distance.
Please utilize the hand sanitizer stations.
Announcements
From the Vestry:
Vestry Meeting Agenda - Click here to read the proposed agenda for this month's Vestry meeting.
Vestry Nominations - Four people are to be elected to the Ascension vestry at our annual meeting on Jan. 30, 2022. Serving on the vestry is an opportunity to provide spiritually grounded leadership, with an emphasis on our finances and our three historic properties. Members are to support the church’s mission by their actions and by regular attendance at services, including Zoom of course. If you are interested in running or wish to nominate someone, please obtain forms from the church office or from a member of the nominating committee: Isabel Spencer, Rachel Sedor, Shep Skiff, Steve Hubbard, or Joan Castagnone. Candidates must have been pledging members of the Church of the Ascension for one year prior to the meeting. Vestry members are expected to attend regular meetings, which are on the third Wednesday of every month, except August. The vestry retreat will be held Feb. 4 & 5. The deadline for nominations is December 19. For additional information, please see a committee member.
Advent Poems and Prayers: an Online Time of Reflection, Saturday, December 11; 10 am-noon- Please join us online for a couple of hours to share and pray with favorite poetry about Advent or Advent themes. Click here for the Zoom link. For more information, speak with Mother Liz.
Have you checked out our Advent Calendar on Facebook? Find inspiration from scripture and photos taken by our fellow parishioners at www.facebook.com/ascensionnyc.
pointsettia
Christmas Flower Offering- Help us decorate the church for Christmas with flowers and greenery. Please submit your memorials and thanksgivings to the Parish Office (email or 212-254-8620) by Sunday , December 19. You can also go online to our Abundant Giving page to make your donation and designate your memorial names and thanksgivings.
Crochet Creations by Jeannette! Hello there, Ascensioners! Jeanette Shields is offering crochet hats, scarves, sweaters, dresses, baby's clothing, and other wares. They are colorful, attractive to the eye, warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and some can be quite dramatic! Visit her website.
Monday Evening Lectionary Bible Study -- Join us Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. This is an opportunity to read and discuss the readings for the upcoming Sunday. If you are interested in joining, please contact Sibyl Piccone.
Women's Spirituality Group - Those who identify as women, of all ages and stages of life are invited to participate in this monthly roundtable of topics spiritual and worldly. We will get started this Advent with a conversation about the Magnificat and how we respond to God in our lives today. Each month, a different group member will have the opportunity to lead the discussion based on a prayer, poem, story, or artwork. We will gather on Tuesday, December 14 at 6:30 via zoom. Bring yourself, a cup of tea, and help us strengthen our sisterhood! Interested? Contact Shana Kaplanov to be added to our email list.


Meeting ID: 858 9186 0939
Passcode: 012126

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Meeting ID: 858 9186 0939
Hospitality Warmest Greetings to one and all! We’re so happy to have returned to in-person worship on Sundays. And while we’ve obtained a tent and some heaters, which make our outdoor coffee hour quite cozy, we’re also hoping to return to a regular schedule of hospitality hosts who will help by making coffee and tea available. Maybe even some cookies on occasion! This ministry of gathering and welcoming is essential to our community, so if you are moved to serve in this way, please contact the parish office so we can plan our schedule going forward. Thank you!
Greening the Church! On Sunday December 19th, after the 11am service, we’ll be decorating the interior of the church for Christmas. If you’d like to be part of what’s sure to be a good time making our worship space beautiful for the season, grab a cup of coffee or tea and join us for an hour or so! Thanks so much!
Calvary-St. George Art Benefit to Support Children’s Hospital on the Gaza Strip - After a “life-changing” pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a fine art photographer is donating her work to the benefit. American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Parish of Calvary-St. George’s will hold an art benefit featuring art sales, a silent auction, Middle Eastern hors d'oeuvres and live music to raise funds for the Children’s Trauma Clinic at Ahli Arab Hospital, Gaza City. The event will take place at the Chapel of St. George’s Church, 4 Rutherford Place, New York City on Friday, December 10, 2021, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Art sales will continue on Sunday, December 12 at 12:30 pm in the Chapel.
Next Racial Justice Group meeting, Thursday, December 16 at 6:30 pm. We will finish reading Clint Smith's How the Word is Passed: a Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. In a review of the book earlier this year in the NY Times, Julian Lucas writes, "Gregarious, learned and engagingly open-minded, the book meets America where it is on the subject- which is to say, all over the place. Beginning in his hometown, New Orleans, Smith visits nine places that memorialize or distort their link to the legacy of slavery, from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello to the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan. He skillfully braids interviews with scholarship and personal observation, asking, 'How different might our country look if all of us fully understood what had happened here?'" Please join us for what will surely be a lively conversation! For December 16, please read the remainder of the book (pages 207-290).
Free Community Swap Returns to the West Village! – New Yorkers looking to reduce, reuse, and save money this holiday season are invited to participate in Stop ‘N’ Swap®, a free community reuse event organized by local non-profit GrowNYC. The average NYC household discards about 2,000 pounds of waste a year. By reusing through events like Stop ‘N’ Swap, NYC residents can take part in diverting over 40 million pounds of material a year from the landfill. Give the gift of a cleaner future by joining the ever-growing reuse community!
Sunday, December 12th, 12pm – 3pm
Westbeth Community Room – 155 Bank Street, West Village, NY
Support the Parish! Please check us out at ascensionnyc.org/give to find out how easy and secure it is. Click the envelope on the right to go the Ascension Website for more information and to give, whether a one-time donation, pledge payment, or make a new pledge.

Our parish can only continue its mission and ministry because of the generosity of parishioners, visitors, and friends of the parish and we are working hard to make our online giving as easy and seamless as possible.

(If you experience any issues with Abundant Giving, please email us at websexton@ascensionnyc.org)

A Note about Using Abundant Giving: When you donate and pledge through the Abundant Giving app or go through the website, you need to direct your donation to the correct category. There are multiple categories to choose from:
  • Offering Plate
  • Stewardship Pledge 2021
  • Rector's Fund
  • Memorial Gift
These categories change as we update categories during the year. (An example would be when we delete the Easter flowers category after Easter and add Christmas flowers for the weeks leading up to Christmas.)

To donate through your app or the website, click the link above. The next screen will prompt you: "How Much Do You Want To Give?" Next to that, is a drop-down list of categories. Offering plate is always listed first. Click on the little arrow and the list will appear. Click on which ever category you want your donation to be credited. It is important to identify which category you are donating to so that your year end statement will be correct.
This Week at Ascension
Sunday – December 12 – Third Sunday of Advent
Holy Eucharist (Church) 9:00 a.m.
Holy Eucharist w/ Music (Church) 11:00 a.m.
(Live Stream: AscensionNYC.org)
Coffee & Tea (Front Garden) following the service
Meditation & Sacrament (Church) 6:00 p.m.

Monday – December 13
Church open for prayer & meditation; Noon to 3:00 p.m.
Evening Prayer (Zoom) 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday – December 14
Church open for prayer & meditation; Noon to 3:00 p.m.
Evening Prayer (Zoom) 5:30 p.m.
Women’s Spirituality Group (Zoom) 6:30 p.m.
EfM (Parish Hall/Zoom) 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday – December 15
Church open for prayer & meditation; Noon to 3:00 p.m.
Evening Prayer (Zoom) 5:30 p.m.
Midweek Holy Eucharist (Church) 6:00 p.m.
Vestry Meeting (Hybrid) 6:45 p.m.

Thursday – December 16
Church open for prayer & meditation; Noon to 3:00 p.m.
Evening Prayer (Zoom) 5:30 p.m.
Racial Justice Discussion Group (Zoom) 6:30 p.m.

Friday – December 17
Church open for prayer & meditation; Noon to 3:00 p.m.
Evening Prayer (Zoom) 5:30 p.m.

Saturday – December 18
Food Pantry (12 W 11th St) 8:30 a.m.
If you are in need or would like to volunteer, speak to Fr. Ed.

Sunday – December 19 – Fourth Sunday of Advent
Holy Eucharist (Church) 9:00 a.m.
Holy Eucharist w/ Music (Church) 11:00 a.m.
(Live Stream: AscensionNYC.org)
Coffee & Tea (Front Garden) following the service
Meditation & Sacrament (Church) 6:00 p.m.
Anyone entering the church must wear a mask and maintain appropriate physical distance. Please utilize the hand sanitizer stations.

If you need information to connect to one of our Zoom events please call the church office at 212-254-8620 or email us at info@ascensionnyc.org
Contact us
The Church of the Ascension -- Fifth Avenue and Tenth Street
212-254-8620 | info@ascensionnyc.org | www.ascensionnyc.org