|
|
|
History (continued, page 3) |
|
After Father Harmuth's retirement, the pastoral
needs were served by the Reverend John Kline, Interim Rector, and
the Reverend Dr. Helen Betenbaugh, Assistant.
In July 1999, the
Reverend Kathryn (Kai)
Ryan accepted our call and began her ministry at Ascension on September 13th,
1999. Under the leadership of Reverend Ryan, lay ministry
continues to be empowered. A number of outreach,
educational, and caring ministries have grownup or been
strengthened since Mother Kai's arrival. Ascension is now an active
Stephen Ministry parish. An outreach initiative called
Ascension Outbound is developing as an outgrowth of who we are as
reflected in our vision statement.
In the Spring of 2000, Ascension became a home church for over 40
Sudanese "Lost Boys". The Sudanese community has grown, and
Ascension now has a Dinka language service on Sundays at 12 noon.
In late 2001 Ascension
embarked on a 4 year capital campaign to create a children's
chapel, build a younger child's playground, construct new
classrooms in the upper building, renew our facilities including
the envelope and roof, replace our aging electronic organ with a
pipe organ, and brighten our worship space both visually and acoustically.
Ascension completed the
final stages
of this capital improvements
project in mid 2005.
 Ascension is an outbound
church. As an outbound organization our church
family is building a solid spiritual foundation from which we can
initiate and sustain ministries that make a significant difference
in the lives our community.
The parish family of
Ascension is a caring community and we invite you to be part of
our future together.
|
