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Welcome to Autumn!


Dear Family of God,


It’s hard to believe Autumn has ARRIVED! With it comes the program year filled with opportunities to grow in our faith. We are making some adjustments to our formation classes to accommodate all the many things we have happening this year, so I want you to be ‘in the know’ so you can participate where you feel called.


Keep your eye out for special topics of study and formation that will come about this year for your growth and edification. If you’d like to learn about how you might develop yourself as a leader of formation classes at CCA, please speak with me! To get connected with any of these groups, check our website or email me at Rector@ccaaz.org.



SUNDAYS*


Sunday School – Grades K-5: begins September 11 and runs weekly from 10:20am through mid-service in Ascension Chapel. Kids enjoy activities, prayers, and stories based in the faith! Nursery Care is available for children from age 0-4 in the Toddler's Place room across from the church office.


S.W.A.G. (Servants with Amazing Grace) Youth Group: grades 6-12 meet monthly in Parish Hall after 10:30am worship service. This group focuses on serving others, developing life-long friendships, and praying together. Sign up to attend S.W.A.G. events HERE!


The Catechumenate: begins October 16 for 6 weeks at 9am on the East side of Parish Hall. This is a class for those new to the Episcopal Church, those about to experience baptism, or those seeking to be confirmed or received by the Bishop when she visits in January.


Youth Confirmation class: This is a preparation class for young people (4th Grade and older) who choose to be confirmed by the Bishop at her visit in January. Participants meet in the Teen Center on the first Sunday evening of the month at 5pm and worship together at the 6pm service after class!



MONDAYS


EFM (Education for Ministry): meets 6pm weekly in the Teen Center beginning October 2. This class has an Episcopal curriculum that dives into church history, scripture, and theology.



TUESDAYS


Men’s Prayer/Share: meets on ZOOM on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7pm; men gather to share their faith and be in prayer together.



WEDNESDAYS**


Healing Eucharist Service at 10am in the East church chapel – learn about the saint of the day and how to participate in healing prayers for self and others.


Discipleship Group begins September 14 and meets Wednesdays at 11 am – join a study of a faith-based book in fellowship with others.


Choir Practice at 7pm in the choir room – learn to make a joyful noise unto the Lord!



THURSDAYS


Women’s Bible Study begins September 15 and meets Thursdays at 10am. This study follows the Sunday readings and delves into where God is speaking in each of our lives.


*Our Sunday afternoon class (formerly held at 1pm on Zoom) is currently on hold, though it may pop into the 9am slot after the Catechumenate class completes in November.

**And our Wednesday evening book study group (formerly held at 6pm on Zoom) will return when we get to Lent next spring.


Peace,

Mother Erika

Merry Christmas!

By The Rev. Fr. Rod Hurst+ • January 4, 2024
Merry Christmas! Today, this Eleventh Day of Christmas (for us who begin counting on December 25th), I’d like to share some wisdom from the pen of Michael Ramsey, the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury. As Bishop of Durham, he was part of the episcopal entourage and inner circle of bishops surrounding Queen Elizabeth II at her Westminster Abbey Coronation in 1953 and, later, Archbishop of York before his elevation to Canterbury in 1961. In the 1980’s, after his retirement from Canterbury, Ramsey was a regular presence at my seminary in Wisconsin where I first learned about him years later. The following is an excerpt from one of Bishop Ramsey’s annual letters to his diocesan clergy on New Year’s Day. This is also good advice for all the people of God and us at Christ Church of the Ascension as we go into 2024 expectant of what lies ahead and grateful for all our many blessings, past, present and future. Here are The Baron Arthur Michael Ramsey’s five tips for the new year. 1. Thank God. Often and always. Thank him carefully and wonderingly for your continuing privileges and for every experience of his goodness. Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow. 2. Take care about confession of your sins. As time passes the habit of being critical about people and things grows more than each of us realize. [He then gently commends the practice of sacramental confession.] 3. Be ready to accept humiliations. They can hurt terribly but they can help to keep you humble. [Whether trivial or big, accept them he says.] All these can be so many chances to be a little nearer to our Lord. There is nothing to fear, if you are near to the Lord and in his hands. 4. Do not worry about status. There is only one status that Our Lord bids us be concerned with, and that is our proximity to Him. “If a man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am there also shall my servant be” (John 12:26). That is our status; to be near our Lord wherever He may ask us to go with him. 5. Use your sense of humor. Laugh at things, laugh at the absurdities of life, laugh at yourself. Through the year people will thank God for you. And let the reason for their thankfulness be not just that you were a person whom they liked or loved but because you made God real to them. *** Amen! and Happy New Year !!  Grace & peace, Fr. Rod+

Rector's Note for 12/21/23

By The Rev. Fr. Rod Hurst • December 21, 2023
Rector's Note for 12/21/23 As we enter this season of giving in celebration of the Incarnation of our Lord, I want to thank you for your generosity to Christ Church of the Ascension during 2023 in your gifts of time, talent and treasure. I want to say a special thank you also to those who have pledged for 2024! As our 2024 Stewardship Campaign continues, if you haven’t yet completed your pledge card or pledged online, I encourage you to do so as an act of spiritual worship and tangible prayer for the future of the Church in thanksgiving for all of God’s many blessings these past 60 years. Please join me in giving from the heart for the building up of this community of faith to inspire hope and love through worship and service in the Church and in the world. Make Christ Church of the Ascension part of your daily spiritual practice as you prayerfully discern what God is calling you to give in 2024 starting now. PLEDGE HERE Grace and peace, Father Rod+

A Note for Thanksgiving

By The Rev. Fr. Rod Hurst • November 16, 2023
A Note for Thanksgiving My series on the Collects of Thomas Cranmer will continue at a later date; but today I’d like to share with you one of my favorite stories by pastoral care pioneer Howard Clinebell. It speaks to us about the fact that the Church, our church, is not only a house of worship and prayer but a hospital for the broken, where Christ welcomes each person, where they are and for who they are. As Christ's hands and voice we then bring the healing arts of spiritual friendship and Christ-like love to all Christ brings our way. If we were all Christ-like all the time we would have no need for Christ and his Church; but everyday experiences tell us all that we have need of Christ each and every day of our lives—the healed and the healers alike. This charming and cautionary tale tells us what we are meant to be, and what we could become if we lose sight of our mission; but it is a reminder of our potential when we retain and, as necessary, reclaim our Christ-centered focus. Thus we give thanks! Please touch or click the link below to read the story. Lifesaving Station Grace and peace, Fr. Rod+
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