This Week at Ascension + May 19, 2021

"Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." - Psalm 96
Your attention, please!
Our pandemic-related safety measures and protocols, including those for in-person worship, are easing and continuing to change.
Please read the feature and follow the link below.
Wednesday, May 12
Commemoration of
Saint Dunstan

6:30 p.m. Live-streamed Mass
Sunday, May 23
The Day of Pentecost

9:30 a.m. - Morning Prayer via ZOOM
10:00 a.m. Live-streamed Mass

Following the mass (about 11:15 a.m.) Virtual Coffee Hour via ZOOM



Image: detail from Ascension's Pentecost window

... And Don't Forget ...
Wear Red for Pentecost!
could be a necktie or scarf
pants or a shirt or blouse
a belt (if you have a red belt)
or even your pointy gnome hat!

Note: After clicking on the link, you will be able to see how many spots, if any, are still available for a particular mass.

When you register online, you will be sent an email confirming your online registration. This same link will also have a
blue CANCEL THIS RESERVATION tab.

News of Change from Father Arceneaux

Dear Ascension friends, 

     Far sooner than I’d hoped and with many feelings I must share my plans for leaving you. My wife Fiona, a French horn player, recently learned of her acceptance into the doctoral program in the School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We will be moving in July and I anticipate my last Sunday with you will be June 27. 

    As for what’s ahead for me and my ministry, I’m fortunate that our former bishop, the Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Lee, is presently serving as provisional (interim) bishop in the Diocese of Milwaukee. I’ve already learned of some promising possibilities there.

     Yet as we are excited, I find myself grieving, in part because Church of the Ascension has given me more than I imagined when I first sat down with Fr. Patrick and the Wardens to wonder about a first ordained ministry here. I have been blessed foremost with relationships across the congregation—friendships that have communicated God’s grace in abundance. I have also learned so much about the liturgy, been guided in my new life as an ordained priest, and shared in discussions seeking to connect our faith to matters of race, gender, and sexuality. I’ve relished getting to know many young adults and have been humbled by their depth.

    Please continue to hold Fiona and me in prayer and be in touch if you have questions or wish to talk. I’ll enjoy visiting, worship and fellowship with you while I’m able! 

   Yours in Christ,
   Fr. George Arceneaux IV
   g.arceneauxiv@gmail.com 
   337-288-2277
From the Rector
Hoosier Confirmations!
(a bad news/good news story)
Our seminarian, Bonnie Scott, recently recognized that, though a lifelong Episcopalian and well-prepared for it, she was never, in fact, confirmed. We've arranged for Bonnie and her husband, Joey Keegin, to be confirmed on Pentecost at Gethsemane Episcopal Church, Marion, Indiana, by Bishop Douglas Sparks of the Diocese of Northern Indiana. Fr. Arceneaux will accompany Bonnie and Joey as pponsor and presenter. Please all three them in prayers.

Defend, O Lord, your servants Bonnie and Joseph 
with your heavenly grace, that they may continue yours forever,
and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more,
until they come to your everlasting kingdom. Amen.
- BCP p. 309

Your attention, please!
Our pandemic-related safety measures and protocols, including those for in-person worship, are easing and will continue to change.
(No more priest with face shield at Communion!)
This feature will be updated weekly as conditions and restrictions continued to change. Please keep up to date as we continue to seek to keep you and all safe.
  Requiescat in pace
The Rev. Dr. Wilton H. Bunch, MD, PhD, MDiv
January 12, 1935 - May 16, 2021
We learned today of the death on Sunday, May 16, of Wilton Bunch, a soul with a remarkable array of vocations and careers and with a longstanding affectionate attachment to Church of the Ascension. An obituary is not yet available, but a 2012 article published by Samford University partly chronicle's his breathtaking careers that included orthopedic surgery, Dean of Medicine at the University of Chicago, professor in the Department of Philosophy at Samford ... and Episcopal priest. As Father Bunch, he celebrated mass here during a 2018 visit to Chicago. Our Service Record Book indicates that it was a Noon mass commemorating the Queenship of the BVM, August 22, 2018. This morning I was told by his wife Victoria that it was the last time, due to declining health, that he'd been able to offer the mass. The date and time for a requiem mass here and committal in the Ascension columbarium are pending. Pray for his soul, and for his wife Vicki and son Brent (with two children, here in Chicago).

I am Resurrection and I am Life, says the Lord.
Whoever has faith in me shall have life, even though he die.
And everyone who has life, and has committed himself to me in faith,
shall not die for ever.
Next week, we may hear from Bonnie Scott about her Hoosier Confirmation and the conclusion (in June) of her ministry as seminarian. For now, she writes to us with the invitation below.
Hello, all at Ascension! 
Please consider joining me for a homeless outreach initiative in the next couple of weeks. It will involve preparing sandwiches at Ascension and then delivering them to homeless camps in the area. If interested in participating in this or in similar initiatives in the future, please fill out the simple form that you can view by clicking here.

Thank you. Bonnie Scott, Ascension Seminarian
Organ Repertoire for May 23, 2021
The Day of Pentecost
ORGAN
Choral varié sur le thème du Veni Creator op. 4 [1930]
Maurice Duruflé 1902-1986)
 
At the Entrance Procession
Hymn 504 VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS
 
At the Gospel
Sequence VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS
 
At the Offertory
Hymn 516 DOWN AMPNEY
(desc. David White)
 
ORGAN
Komm heiliger Geist, Herr Gott
BWV 651
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
About our 2021 Repertoire
As I develop a long-range plan for repertoire each year, I choose a theme or area of emphasis, often complete works or a complete large-scale work by one composer. During 2021, organ music by women composers and African-American composers is being and will be featured in voluntaries and recitals throughout the year. There are some little-known gems waiting to be discovered, as well as music by major composers, with whom works for the organ are not generally associated. Enjoy!
From Benjamin Rivera

Greetings!

In keeping with Diocesan guidelines, we have had a live vocal presence since Holy Week. Recent updates to this guidance will allow us to celebrate Pentecost, Holy Trinity, and Corpus Christi with an in-person quartet, supplementing our (now usual) recorded music. I am grateful that we are able to move forward safely, if slowly, and I pray that choral and congregational singing aren’t too far off.

Between Masses, please don’t forget that our choir has recorded upwards of 60 tracks that you can listen to anywhere you have an internet connection. They can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/choir-of-the-ascension

Peace and good health,
Benjamin

Forward Day by Day

Copies of the May-June-July 2021 Forward Day by Day: Daily Devotions for Disciples are now available by emailing the parish office. We have both regular and large print editions while supplies last.

You may also find them on the Forward Movement website.
Due to COVID-19, Church of the Ascension’s Treasurer and Bookkeeper are limiting the amount of time they spend working in the parish offices. All checks received at Ascension via the United States Postal Service, not always a reliable service in our area, will be bank deposited approximately every 4-6 weeks. You may contact the Treasurer by email anytime at Finance@AscensionChicago.org. 
Ascension Connections
(with your click and God's help)
Participate in Ascension masses at our YouTube Channel. (Look for other connections options soon.)
Meeting ID:
792 031 7452
Password: 1133
Join-by-Phone Option: (312) 626-6799
Weekly Ascension Schedule

For connections:
via Zoom (click here)
except for Morning Prayer,
via Facebook (click here).

SUNDAYS
9:30 a.m. Virtual Morning Prayer
10:00 a.m. Live-Streamed Mass
11:00 a.m. Virtual Coffee Hour

MONDAY-FRIDAY
6:00 p.m. Evening Prayer via Zoom

WEDNESDAYS
6:30 p.m. Low Mass
Yes, but I still haven't Zoomed ...
For the Novice, Newbie, or tech-challenged: It may be easier than you know. We've simplified instructions on the sheet that you can view by clicking here. Please know that you can block your camera (and don't need one to start with), and you could join our Scripture study or Virtual Coffee Hour, for instance, without having to say a word. Give it a try.
Please give generously as you are able.
Treasurer Susan Schlough has asked me to remind you of Ascension's ongoing expenses at this time. To the extent that you are able, payment on your pledges or the offering of Holy Day or other special gifts will be greatly appreciated. You may still write a check and mail it to the church, or online payment is possible through the buttons at various places on our website. Thank you!
THE PARISH PRAYER LIST
For our prayers: August 'Augie' Alonzo, Jim Berger, David Byerly, Steven Wallis, Sarah Ponder, Taffy Wehe, Carnola Malone, Marvin Files, Amy Peterson, Stephanie, Gwen Clark-Mason, Barbara Wischmeier, Bishop-elect Paula Clark, Lee Gould
 
Birthdays: Bob Sheridan, 5/16; Michael P. Clark, Sr. 5/18; Carter & Dana Luery, 5/19
Anniversaries: Duncan & Katie DuClos, marriage, 5/16/2009

Requiescat in pace:
Fr. Wilton Bunch
Lucille Berger, 5/17; Katherine Louise Barr, 5/21/2016; Ella Rollé, 5/21/2016

Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them;
May their souls and the souls of all the departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.

The Rev. Patrick Raymond, Rector

Susan Schlough, Treasurer

Br. Nathanael Deward Rahm BSG, Parish Office
Vestry of Church of the Ascension
Cheryl Peterson, Sr. Warden; Kenneth Kelling, Jr. Warden; Kelly Colomberti, Marilyn Evans, Lynette Hector, Jim Lo Bello, George Pineda, David Reeves, Samuel Sommers, Enrique Vilaseco, Amber Zelazny

Approved minutes of Vestry meetings are always available online to parishioners who request the link. If you would like Internet access to these Vestry Minutes, please email the Parish Office and request the link. Once you access the web page, you can read all recent Vestry meeting minutes.
The link remains live indefinitely. Any parishioner who has the link will not need to request a new link from month to month.