Please check the following websites for regular updates on information related to the COVID 19 pandemic:

• ascensionnl.ca/covid19/
• anglicanenl.net (You will find the most recent weekly letter from our Bishop under our Bishop’s Writings)
• anglicanenl.net/home/covid19/
• mountpearl.ca
• who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/

• Public Worship at the Ascension: Church of the Ascension has commenced public worship. Service will be at 11 a.m. each Sunday. You will need to complete a Covid-19 Screening Questionnaire as part of the registration. You can also forward the completed form via email (office email: [email protected])or you may come in to the office to fill one out Monday to Wednesday each week, between 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
  • Preregistration will be required in order to attend services
  • The questionnaires must be returned to the office no later than Wednesday each week.
  • Masks are required upon entering the building.
  • Everyone must enter and exit through the main doors of the church to attend services.
  • Please have your own hand sanitizer in the event you feel the need to sanitize your hands after you have been seated.
  • If you would like to use a cushion in your seat, please bring along your own as we are not able to supply one at this time.
  • Due to Covid 19 guidelines, doors and windows may be open during service so you are reminded to wear warm clothes.

As we progress further into autumn we will be enabling worship to be live-streamed from the parish. Please check the website weekly for updates. If you have any questions, please contact Peggy at [email protected] or 368 – 5693.

• Guidelines For Singing In Church:
  • Singing is not permitted during the full service with an exception for the final hymn;
  • Congregation members may hum during the hymns;
  • Hymns may be sung by one single singer or a small group of singers physically distanced from the congregation;
  • Singers must wear well-fitting masks while singing indoors and face forward;
  • Physical distancing is maintained;
  • Papers are to be removed by each individual participant;
  • If you feel faint or overcome, please refrain from singing.

• Home Communions in the Parish: With the change that has occurred amid Covid-19 pandemic isolation, there are many who do not feel safe enough to return to church for public worship. In this regard, Reverend Burrows and Reverend Courage will be expanding their home communicant list should any wish to receive the sacrament at their home. This will be according to Provincial and Diocesan guidelines, so as to assure parishioners of safety and care. If you would like to have home communion in your home, please contact the office and speak with Peggy to make arrangements.
• Wednesday Prayers:  If you would like to join us each Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. for prayers, you may do so through our YouTube channel at youtu.be/TAIp9wdvk7o or call the office for a Zoom link.
• Thursdays in Black:  The act of midday prayer with Reverend Burrows and a guest continues this week, with emphasis on advocacy and learning in relation to gender-based violence. Please join via facebook.com/ParishoftheAscension/live. Each week Reverend Burrows observes midday prayers from the Iona Community, with a guest, and together the dialogue emphasizes how we can combat gender-based violence, and care for vulnerable persons in our communities.
• Harvest Thanksgiving: Sunday, October 11 is Thanksgiving Sunday. Our Church will be decorated on Saturday, October 10 to reflect our thankfulness for our many blessings. Donations of vegetables, preserves, berries, cut flowers, and any other such items you deem suitable to display your thankfulness to God may be delivered to the Church by noon on Friday, October 9. Your help is most appreciated.
• Ride for Refuge Update: A little note just to let you know that as of today, our team has raised $2995 for the Ride for Refuge this year. We are doing well, even amid these Covid-19 Pandemic Isolation times. In previous years we have consistently been between $4-5000 in donations, so I believe we are hitting the mark well given economic and societal instability. I thank you all who have donated, either at the parish, or online. I look forward to the annual cycle on Saturday, as well as the support that PWRDF is offering to St. Jude's Family Project in Uganda. Be blessed today in all that you do. David
• Three Key Messages From Vestry: As September has drawn to a close, so many of us are preparing for Thanksgiving, and the fall routine has begun to take shape. The changes and adjustments that are being made for society, work and school during this period of Alert Level Two of the Covid19 pandemic are ongoing. The vestry has faithfully met and prayerfully listened and discussed the challenges and decisions that are ongoing with the administration of the parish.
  At this time, the vestry shares the following updates:
  1. The Parish has begun public worship as per the requirements of the Province and Diocese, through the Parish Reopening Working Group. We give thanks for their dedication and ongoing work. We recognize the ongoing challenges with public worship, and that this is a continued work in progress. We ask for patience and understanding with parishioners. We remind you that the diocese has stipulated (as per provincial requirements) that all attendees of public worship MUST PREREGISTER. This means that we will not be accepting persons dropping in for worship at this time, so as to continue to operate safely. In addition, we recognize that there are more volunteers needed to fulfill roles within the Parish Covid Worship Preparation Teams. If you are under 60 years of age, and have the time to commit Sundays 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. once a month we need you! The vestry is making preparations for the purchase and installation of equipment so that we can live-stream from the church. It is our hope that live-streaming of public worship will commence by Thanksgiving weekend. The Transfiguration Mission online worship continues via YouTube each Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.
  2. We have made available a Home Bible Study Resource that can be shared with parishioners either online via ZOOM, or around the kitchen table. The resource is entitled: Anglican Alliance Bible Studies: Faith in the Time of Coronavirus. Please contact Reverend Lynn Courage if you wish to participate in this Bible Study.
  3. Financial Update – Though it is affirmed that we will continue to receive portions of federal funding for the time being, our overall parish revenue is down by $20,000 from last year. This has affected our cash flow and if this continues, we will have to re-evaluate the delivery of ministry and mission in the parish. To address this, the Vestry has appointed an Ad-Hoc Team from Vestry to look at solutions to address loss of income through fundraisers. This will include focusing on Special Projects, and exploring stewardship methods for funding ministry. If we are unable to continue to fund ministry, then the levels of care and activity at the Ascension will have to adjust accordingly.
     • 2020 Revenue (to the End of August) 200,767
       Expenses (252,350)
       Gain(Loss) (51,583)
     • 2019 Revenue (to the End of August) 220,292
       Expenses (250,460)
       Gain(Loss) (30,168)

• Daily Devotionals Books/Prayer Books: The following publications are available for pick up at the side entrance of the church:  Our Daily Bread; Forward Day by Day; and weekly edition of the Chimes (Chimes available each Friday afternoon). Should you wish to stop by to pick these up, please use the buzzer at the side entrance.  Publications will be left on the bench for your convenience. Also, the following books are available to be signed out:  Book of Alternative Services (BAS); Book of Common Prayer; and Common Praise. If you are interested in signing any of these out, please contact the office by email at [email protected] or call 368-5693 from Monday to Friday between 9 and 12.
• Clergy Contact During the COVID-19 Pandemic:  For the past six months the clergy have aimed to make contact with parishioners by way of e-mail or a phone call. If you would like to receive a physically distanced visit from Reverend David or Reverend Lynn, please call the office or contact the clergy via email.
• Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund World of Gifts:  Are you thinking of gift giving for friends and family? Why not check out World of Gifts!  Go to gift guide online at pwrdf.org/worldofgifts and make your purchases 24/7. These gifts can truly change lives!
• Food First NL: Food First NL works with communities in Newfoundland & Labrador to ensure everyone has access to affordable, healthy, and culturally appropriate food. Please visit their website at foodfirstnl.ca/covid19 to find updates to NL Community Food Programs.

• CLB News:
  • Friday Dinner Take-out/Pick Up: Each Friday, the CLB will be offering dinner take-out (curbside pickup), or delivery on five or more dinners ordered. Curbside pickup from CLB Armoury, 82 Harvey Road available on Friday from 12:00-1:30. To pre-order, you can call 722-1737. Order cutoff is 4:00 p.m. Wednesdays. Gluten-Free option is available. Please advise us of any Allergies or Dietary Restrictions.
  • Halloween Chips: Mount Pearl CLB #4507 will be selling Old Dutch Halloween Chips and Cheesies again this year.  The box contains 24 bags and the cost is $6.50 per box.  Strict COVID-19 protocols will be followed.  If you would like to support our CLB by purchasing a box, please contact Company Commanding Officer Jamie Hill at [email protected] or 699-3388 or Company Adjutant Cindy Onyia at [email protected] or 691-2069.
  • Recruitment: Membership for the Mount Pearl Company #4507 of CLB is now open to all youth. The CLB is divided into five age groups: Grades K and 1; Grades 2 – 4; Grades 5 – 7; Grades 9 – 12; Age 19+. If you know a child or adult that may be interested in joining our company, please contact Company Commander Capt. Jamie Hill at  [email protected]or 699-3388 or Company Adjutant Cindy Onyia at [email protected] or 691-2069.  For more information, please call or refer to the CLB website at theclb.ca.

This week we are launching into October with much gusto. As I move amidst the community, there is much talk of the relative safety and security of the health of individuals related to Covid19, which is in deep contrast to other Canadian Provinces and our neighbours to the south. There is much dialogue also of the injustice in relation to the national memory of Residential Schools, highlighted tragically by the death of Joyce Echaquan in a Quebec hospital.

Into all this, those of us who are members of faith communities have been struggling with the reality of what it is for us to live in and into this pandemic isolation time. The changes and challenges that we have faced may be different or comparable to the challenges that others have in Covid19 affected provinces, or even to the plight of Indigenous persons within the country and our community.

The question that keeps arising for me is how do we continue to live and serve as people of faith? How do we do the things that we promise when we say we believe in the Holy One and that we wish to follow Jesus?

Again and again, I have found myself supported in particular by three genres of Scripture: The Psalms, the Exodus Sojourn, and the life of the Early Church.

The Psalms give me life in this time, for whether the Psalms are lament or praise, challenge or condemnation, it is an ongoing dialogue with the Holy One that the Psalmist is maintaining. In these times, I have found my dialogue with the Holy One to be quite varied. At times I am angry with God, I try to bargain with God, I thank God, and I wish to walk away from God. In this dialogue, I find myself much in the mindset of the ancient Psalmist. I would encourage you to consider reading a psalm or two in silence, and reflect.

The sojourn of the Israelites in the Exodus reminds me of the challenge we have at this time, to try to be a people of faith with little structure, little assurance of safety and security, and a faltering direction. As the many changes are announced by the country, the province, and by our own diocese, we are reminded that the whole community is continuing to adjust based on reaction and result. Our lives seem to be constantly on alert. In this time, the Israelites held on to their faith in the persons of Moses, Miriam and Aaron, as well as in the presence of the Holy One in the pillars of cloud and fire. I believe we need to discern the presence of the Holy One in leaders around us, and uphold and celebrate when we observe and encounter them reflecting the Holy. For me that means when they are imbued with compassion, justice, forgiveness, and understanding.

So much of the life of the early church seems to take place in peoples’ homes. When the women encountered the disciples after Jesus’ resurrection, they were locked up in an upper room, fearful for their lives. The fledgling community of Jesus moved from home to home, encountering families, strangers, neighbours, all finding ways to pray, serve, care, and respond to need in community. For me, this means the specific act of us creating new ways in which to live out our faith lives. Instead of the pattern of worship, service, fellowship and outreach from the parish centre, much of this work and witness now has to shift back to the comfort and safety of our homes. Like the early church, we need to gather in twos and threes, in the safety of our natural family interactions, and find ways to pray, worship, serve and care as the church in the home and the church in the community.

This means the natural act of fellowship and service that we once had with potlucks, card games, Fall Fairs, and special events are no more at the Ascension. But they can be events both online and in the intimacy of your own homes, albeit with smaller numbers. The ways in which we continue to fund ministry will adjust, but they will continue.

This means the natural act of discipleship and learning that we once had with Bible Study, Baptismal and Confirmation Preparation, and other acts of learning and serving will change. We may be able to have home or online Bible Study, and preparation and training through ZOOM and other media. It means that in the intimacy of our homes, with family both near and far, we can continue to learn how to best follow Jesus.

This means the act of caring and compassion in the faith community has shifted as well. No longer are we able to gather in large numbers to raise funds for those passions we have for vulnerable persons. We will find new ways, smaller ways, in our homes and with our close contacts, to continue this vital work. We will do all these things carefully and safely, so that we can provide the best support where it is needed, without lessened fears of transmission of Covid-19 and other illnesses. This means that Christmas Hampers, for example, will most probably be gift cards, and that the transfer of monies will be essential, rather than fundraisers selling wares.

There is so much that has shifted for the entire world, and so in this time, we as people of faith, following Jesus, shift as well. I invite you to shift to the models of the very first churches, led by the example of courageous and committed women and men, such that the presence of the Holy One was encountered, and shared, bringing peace justice and love to a world in great need.

Peace,

• Donations to Ministry: If you are interested in continuing to donate to the parish ministry during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are a variety of ways for you to do so.
  • Church Envelopes: You may still use your envelopes during this time. You may drop them in the mailbox at the main entrance of the church or you can put your givings in the mail.
  • Pre-authorized Givings: You can have your givings automatically deducted on a schedule that works for you. If you are interested in setting up pre-authorized givings, please contact the church office at 368-5693.
  • Canada Helps: You can sign up to make donations to Canada Helps through our parish website.
  • Food Bank Donations: The need for food donations is still great. If you are able to donate to the food bank, we ask that you drop your donation directly to St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank at either St. Peter’s Parish Hall on Ashford Drive or Mary Queen of the World on Topsail Road. All donations are gratefully appreciated.

God is a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger and rich in mercy, generous and forgiving to all who cry for grace. With confidence, let us turn to our God in prayer, saying: Lord, have mercy.

For people who are suffering from drought and famine, from economic distress and social disruption, from violence and war, for the victims of our society including those that have experienced gender-based violence, for those who have experienced trauma abuse and grief through Residential Schools in Canada and for those who may die of neglect and mistreatment. We pray for the process through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the 94 calls to action. We pray for those advocating for Living Wage, for creation care, for refugees, including the St. Jude's Family Project in Uganda that is being supported through Ride for Refuge, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For the church, for Geoffrey our Bishop, for the Episcopal nominees, and  for the Mission of the Transfiguration that we, together with all our brothers and sisters in Christ, may be effective agents of social transformation and reliable messengers of hope, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For our community, especially those among us who are dispirited and broken hearted, who find no hope or meaning or purpose of life, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For ourselves, that we may have the grace to rejoice with those who rejoice, to weep with those who weep, to grieve others losses rather than our own, to be quick to forgive and slow to take offense, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

Lord God, in your presence none of us can boat, and al must ask for mercy; yet your son has embraced us and called us to share in his labors for the salvation of all. Grant us the grace to see what needs to be done and the wisdom and resources to do it, through the same Christ our Lord.

Ascension Prayer Cycle : Andrea, Aubrey, Audrey, Barbara, Baxter, Bill, Brenda, Brian, Brittany, Brandon, Carl, Christina, Cindy, Clarence, Claude, David, Debra, Delilah, Dennis, Don, Donna, Doreen, Dot, Dulcie, Edgar, Edith, Elaine, Erin, Ethel, Finnley, Frederick, Fred, Frank, Flo, George, Gerry,  Gilbert, Gordon, Harry, Herb, Ike, Ina, Ingrid, Jack, Jason, Jenny, Jim, John, Josephine, Judy, Junior, Kent, Kevin, Kim, Laura, Leo, Leonie,  Lindsay, Lori, Madeline, Marina,  Marion,  Maurice, Maxine, Maxwell, Melissa, Melvin, Nancy, Pam, Phyllis, Randell, Rodney, Roland, Ruby, Ruth, Rita, Scott, Sean, Stephen, Susan, Tina, Todd, Tom, Valerie and Wayne.

MORNING HAS BROKEN

Morning has broken like the first morning;
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word.

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dew fall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS JUSTICE AND JOY

The kingdom of God is justice and joy;
for Jesus restores what sin would destroy.
God's power and glory in Jesus we know,
and here and hereafter the kingdom shall grow.

God's kingdom is come, the gift and the goal;
in Jesus begun, in heaven made whole.
The heirs of the kingdom shall answer his call,
and all things cry 'Glory!' to God all in all.

CHRIST IS OUR CORNER-STONE

(Tune: Rejoice the Lord is King)

Christ is our corner-stone, on him alone we build;
With his true saints alone the courts of heaven are filled.
On his great love our hopes we place
of present grace and joys above.

Here may we gain from heaven the grace which we implore;
And may that grace, once given, be with us evermore,
Until that day when all the blest to endless rest

are called away.

LORD CHRIST, WE PRAISE YOUR SACRIFICE

(Tune: Faith of our Fathers)
Lord Christ, we praise your sacrifice,
your life in love so freely given.
For those who took your life away
you prayed: that they might be forgiven;
and there, in helplessness arrayed,
God's power was perfectly displayed.

So, living Lord, prepare us now
your willing helplessness to share;
to give ourselves in sacrifice
to overcome the world's despair;
in love to give our lives away
and claim your victory today.