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.

• Morning Prayer:  We will be praying Morning Prayer from the Chapel at 9:00 a.m. daily, incorporating daily prayer for members of our parish.
• 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/MJzNydDzh2I or call the office for a Zoom link.
• Thursdays in Black:  The act of midday prayer with Reverend Burrows and a guest continues. Please join us on Facebook live at facebook.com/ParishoftheAscension/live.
• All Souls’ Service, November 2, 2020: Anyone wishing to remember a loved one at the All Souls’ Service on November 2, please e-mail the names to the office at [email protected] or call the office and leave a message. The names will be read out at the service. Pre-registration is required to attend this service. Deadline for registration is Wednesday, October 28.
• 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.
• Ride for Refuge Update: We have raised $5,000 to-date. If you would like to make a contribution, donations will be gratefully accepted up to October 31. Please make cheques payable to Parish of the Ascension PWRDF – Ride for Refuge.
• Help Needed:  Are you technically savvy? If so, we would love your help in assisting with the operation of the audio visual equipment used during Sunday service. If you are able to help, please contact the office at 368-5693.
• 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 the 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.
• Outreach: This is a time for our faith community to come together to uplift each other. Please don’t forget to regularly check on your family, friends, and neighbors. If you are in need of pastoral contact, or if you know of anyone who is struggling at this stressful time, please let one of the clergy know.
• Clergy Contact During the COVID-19 Pandemic: As you are well aware, the church building has been closed for several months due to COVID-19. We have now opened the office on an as-need basis, for parishioners to drop off or receive items such as prayer books, hymnbooks, chimes or parish envelopes. If you need to come to the parish office, please call ahead. Bring your mask with you, and ring the buzzer at the side entrance. The office will be open between the hours of 9:00 a.m. to noon Monday to Friday. For the past six months the clergy has aimed to make contact with parishioners by way of e-mail or a phone call. Now, 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. Could you please ask them to call the church office to give their contact information as well.
• 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.

Sing to God with Joy and gladness,
Hymns and psalms of gratitude;
With the voice of praise discover
That to worship God is good.

These words resound as the antiphon of Psalm 147, which is the psalm appointed for the feast of St. Luke the Physician and Evangelist, that the church observes this Sunday. This version, offered as a joyful expression of the hope and trust we have in the Holy One, is from the Wild Goose Worship Group of the Iona Community ©1993. As these words resound in me, perhaps like many of you, I feel less than joyful. Our bishop has died, and there have been so so many challenges in processing grief, listening to individuals, and to coming to grips with the sudden death of one who is deeply loved, and has been such a part of the fabric of the Ascension over the years.

This Sunday we observe the feast of a saint of the church that is known as a physician, as a healer. The readings from Scripture that are associated with this feast encourage us with hope. We are called to be people who journey with the Holy One to offer release to those that are captive, recovery for those that need healing, and freedom for those that have been oppressed. We are offered the hope that broken-hearted ones will be healed, and that those whose lives have been injured will have their wounds bound up. In essence we are offered the hope to be whole once again, even in a time or place where we have been ripped apart to the core of our being.

So we hear these words:

Sing to God with Joy and gladness,
Hymns and psalms of gratitude;
With the voice of praise discover
That to worship God is good.

How is there goodness in God when we feel so much pain?

Listen further:

God unites his scatter’d people,
Gathers those who wander’d far,
Heals the hurt and broken spirits,
Tending every wound and scar.

Such is God’s great pow’r and wisdom
Non can calculate or tell;
Keen is God to ground the wicked
And with humble folk to dwell.

Sing to God with Joy and gladness,
Hymns and psalms of gratitude;
With the voice of praise discover
That to worship God is good.

We come to God in humility and pain at this time. We come grieving our loss, and grieving all the other pieces of brokenness that occur in our lives daily: pandemic isolation, broken relationships, struggling resources, sin, loss, anger, pain.

We come believing the Holy One will enter into this mess, and redeem us. The Holy One dwells in us in the Eucharist, and in the community of faith. The Holy One dwells in the beauty of creation and in the interaction of friend and neighbour, enemy and stranger.

God, with clouds, the sky has curtain’d,
Thus ensuring rain shall fall;
Earth, responding, grows to order
Food for creatures great and small.

God’s discernment never favours
Strength or speed to lift or move;
God delights in those who fear him,
Trusting in his steadfast love.

Sing to God with Joy and gladness,
Hymns and psalms of gratitude;
With the voice of praise discover
That to worship God is good.

Steadfast love. Hėsed, in the ancient Hebrew. We cannot overcome the bounds and barriers of challenge, grief, pain and death on our own. We overcome through the redemptive presence as the Holy One as we encounter in Jesus – for us who live lives as followers of Jesus.

The Holy One offers us creation, community, and the courage to live honouring creation and community.

We do not live our lives in fear of grief and pain; we move through our lives, even in grief and pain to be the ones that can receive the steadfast love. We get to places of joy, even amid the pain and horror that sometimes shackles our lives.

This is the truth we hold. This is the life we share. A life entwined in who we believe walks with us; one who lived, died and was resurrected by the Holy One to offer life and hope and joy to all.

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.

Lord God, friend of those in need, your Son Jesus has untied our burdens and healed our spirits. We lift up the prayers of our hearts for those still burdened, those seeking healing, those in need within the church and the world, saying Lord in your mercy:
Hear our prayer

For all who minister in this and every Christian community, for Sam our Diocesan Administer, for our diocese, for the clergy of our diocese, for the church throughout the world and for our ministerial in Mt. Pearl; may they find strength for their tasks, Lord in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.

For all children, that they may be fed and housed and may grow with self-confidence and joy, Lord in your mercy.
Hear our prayer.

For all in any need, the sick, the suffering, the oppressed; for those who serve against their own will, for those incarcerated, the homeless,  the mentally ill, and for all who have asked for our prayers, especially those on the Ascension Prayer Cycle. Lord in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.

For all who have died, especially Florence Gillingham and Ethel Bruns, that they may continue to support us with their love; we especially remember Luke the Evangelist, and all the communion of saints, Lord in your mercy:
Hear our prayer.

Pray together
Hear our prayers O Lord that we may love you with our whole being, and willingly share the concerns of our neighbours. Amen.

Ascension Prayer Cycle: Andrea, Aubrey, Audrey, Barbara, Baxter, Bill, Brenda, Brian, Brittany, Brandon, Carl, Christina, Cindy, Clarence, 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, Larry, Laura, Leo, Leonie,  Lindsay, Lori, Madeline, Marie, Marsha, Mark, Marina,  Marion,  Maurice, Maxine, Maxwell, Melissa, Melvin, Nancy, Pam, Phyllis, Randell, Rodney, Roland, Ruby, Ruth, Rita, Scott, Sean, Stephen, Susan, Tina, Todd, Tom, Valerie, Vera and Wayne.

FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH

For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
over and around us lies,

Christ our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For each perfect gift of thine
to our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of heaven.

Christ our God, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

YOUR HANDS, O LORD, IN DAYS OF OLD

Your hands, O Lord, in days of old
Were strong to heal and save;
They triumphed over pain and death,
O'er darkness and the grave.
To you they went, the blind, the mute,
The palsied, and the lame,
The leper set apart and shunned,
The sick and those in shame.

O be our mighty healer still,
O Lord of life and death;
Restore and strengthen, soothe and bless,
with your almighty breath.
On hands that work and eyes that see,
Your healing wisdom pour,
that whole and sick and weak and strong
may praise you evermore.

THE VOICE OF GOD GOES OUT TO ALL THE WORLD

The voice of God goes out to all the world,
and glory speaks across the universe.
The great King's herald cries from star to star:
With power, with justice, Christ will walk his way.

Anointed with the Spirit and with power,
He comes to crown with comfort all the weak,
to show the face of justice to the poor:
With power, with justice, Christ will walk his way.

His touch will bless the eyes that darkness held;
the lame shall run, the halting tongue shall sing,

And prisoners laugh in light and liberty:
With power, with justice, Christ will walk his way.

THE LOVE OF JESUS CALLS US

The love of Jesus calls us
Our joyous praise to sing;
Our deeply felt thanksgivings
We now together bring,
For all God’s many blessings,
Unasked yet still received,
And for the generations,
Who faithfully believed.

The love of Jesus calls us,
That we may always be
Companions on a journey,
Where all the world may see
That serving Christ is freedom
which time does not destroy;
where Christ’s command is duty,
And every duty joy.