Ascension Newsletter 06
A Place to Belong
We're a church trying to be inclusive, relevant, compassionate, creative, and sometimes, even a little bit daring. We fail quite a lot. We need your help to get it right.
You can find out more about us by visiting our website
All our upcoming events are here
To delight your ears we also have a regular podcast
Also, if you know anyone who might enjoy this newsletter, they can sign up on any of our website's pages.
So, what are we up to at the moment?
Revd Bec's Priesting
In the first week of July we had the great privilege of seeing our curate, Reverend Bec, ordained priest and then preside at Communion for the first time. She told Jolene all about her hopes and the journey so far on our podcast, you can listen to it here.
On the Sunday Reverend Bec was able to share Communion with us for the first time. It was a big celebration with people from our community involved with the service – everyone from Father Azariah’s children - involved with serving and reading, to the Lugandan fellowship who provided an emotive beginning to our service with the call to prayer on drums, and of course ‘Bishop’ Barney was also in attendance. Lots of Reverend Bec’s family and friends also made the journey to be with us. And it was great to be able to host everyone afterwards with a delicious Caribbean lunch. We are grateful to everyone who was able to join us and those who prayed for Reverend Bec and our community in the run up to her priesting.
52x52:01 Kirsty Latham
Kirsty, our Resident Artist, has the dubious honour of being our first 52x52 offering. She is currently working on large piece which seeks to interpret the issues faced by local mums. You can hear her talking about it as part of The Ascension Podcast: here
Welcome to our new Administrator
A massive welcome to our brand new Administrator, Marie Chan, who joined us this month. We look forward to getting to know her better and to working alongside her.
Fr. Azariah says...
At our Table gathering we thought about the theme of apocalypse, which often triggers the idea of the end of the world. At our forthcoming Parable we are thinking about ghosts. We are so often haunted by the past and the present. That’s why opportunities like Fire and Gold to stop and be still are so essential for us to reset. Rev Bec is now ordained as a priest and at our Sanctuary service you can see her in action, leading us through the liturgy to feed both body and soul.
It can feel like the end of the world at times and the rhythms and rituals of our gatherings can reground us and bring life in the midst of death, and the pain we are exposed to in our media. Paying attention to the raging war in Ukraine can feel hard to maintain, an instinct in the back our minds can seek to numb us out, and sedate our focus way from the theatre of war the casualties, and the the carnage.
In the U.K the cost of living crisis is an ever encroaching body of water from which some of us will find ourselves in over our heads. The waterline is getting higher and so is our anxiety as our savings get lower.
The raft of resignations in government including our Prime Minister can be very disorienting. We want our government to lift up the vulnerable but it feels as if they are caught up in their own crisis and less able to support others going through their own.
It can feel like you are an extra in a disaster movie. The part of the film where the experts the prophets have been ignored and whatever the looming predicted threat is, is about to explode out of the lab, emerge from the sewers, or be released from canisters into a crowded piazza.
The camera pans to collections of people from around the worlds sitting glued to television sets in showrooms, or in darkened bars with overhead screens, or in small homes with more people than is comfortable squat whilst watching the end of the world as they know it.
Peter quoting the prophet Joel said:
17
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19
I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
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And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’[c]
This powerful prose speaks of a collective cry which is intergenerational, arising from across the genders, a message in the sky and on the earth, a cry of lament, or desolation, creation groaning waiting for the children of God to be revealed.
Our ability to see clearly, the sun the source of illumination is shrouded in darkness, the ways we used to use, to understand our worlds are no longer effective. What we have are our voices we can cry out and await the great and the awesome day of the Lord, which maybe the same as the sons (and daughters) of God being revealed.
Often in disaster movies the worst thing possible happens and a child gets lost in the crowd separated from there parental figures and they are left clutching a well loved teddy bear as they run to find a hiding place, or worse get knocked unconscious by an frenzied stream of people.
In parts of the two thirds world there is a practice of if a child becomes lost in the bush all the villagers will hold hands and walk as one through the scrub until the lost injured, sometimes unconscious child is found.
We cannot bear the weight of the world alone, the wars, the state of politics, the cost of living crisis cannot be borne by a group of individuals, no animated by the spirit of God we need to hold hands across genders, class groups, ethnicities, those differently abled whether neurologically or physically or both, and create our own light, when the ways of seeing are no longer there, when our moons are bleeding, we lift our voices in a concerted pleading.
17
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
At Ascension Church Hulme we seek to be a gathering of gatherings, way not make your way to our website, pick a group to visit, we need each other, your church and world needs you.
Table
How do we reach out to those who have been hurt by the Church? How do we welcome those who have been made to feel unwelcome? How do we give a voice to those who have been ignored? These are just a few of the questions the Ascension Team has been wrestling with as we look to build and host a diverse community looking for a place to be themselves.
Table (that's what we're calling it) will be a safe place to explore the questions of life, love and faith. We don't promise to know all the answers (or any of the answers) but we would like to explore with you. The emphasis will be on creativity, so there will be live music, poetry, food and opportunities to get to know each other. If you feel able to offer something, we'd be up for that too.
If that sounds like something you've been hungry for (see what I did their), and you feel able, we'd love to meet you.
Our next meeting will be on Thursday 21 July, 7.30pm - 9.30pm, at Ascension Church Hulme. You can find out more here
Ascension Podcast: Episode 08
Jolene talks to Revd Bec about being a priest, and then Revd Bec talks to Kirsty, our current resident artist, about her artwork. There also some wonderful content from Parable
Art & Wellbeing Workshops
Steve, our Enterprise & Engagement Lead, is running a series of Art & Wellbeing Workshops in September with Oldham based Artist, Audra Walsh. The five sessions will look at different aspects of creativity and how Art can be good for you. If you've ever said, "I can't draw", then these workshops are for you.
You can find out more here
Upcycled Chair Project - Get Involved
We have now gathered the 18 chairs we need for our upcycling project and would like to invite groups & individuals to claim their chair. The theme is Peace, Reconciliation & Justice, and whilst we have some guidelines around content, we largely leave the interpretation, design & colour palette to you.
The finished chairs will be arranged around our banquet table and we will be having a small launch event later in the year.
If you are interested you can contact Steve here
4 to explore
Ascension aims to be a place where people can explore faith in a safe environment so we offer several different ways to gently engage with the ideas of love, hope, peace, creativity and the nature of God.
Parable: Our collaboration with Jolene Sheehan from Joy Ethic is a real life storytelling event that explore the things that make us human and includes stories from people from all faiths and none.
Fire & Gold: A weekly opportunity for people to spend time in silence and meditation before entering into another week of busyness. This hour of stillness and contemplation allows people to focus on God and leave their worries, at least for a while, at the door.
Table: An open and inclusive group for those who may have been hurt or ignored or marginalised by their experience of Church. If you're still looking for an expression of faith that is gentle, compassionate, loving and creative, maybe we're it.
The Enneagram: The Enneagram is a powerful tool for understanding ourselves and others. At its core, the Enneagram helps us to see ourselves at a deeper, more objective level and can be of invaluable assistance on our path to self-knowledge. We will be continuing our program of workshops later in the year.
You can find out more about times and dates here
If you'd like to find out more about any of these opportunities you can find the team's contact details here
Ascension Arts Venue
As well as hosting community groups, entrepreneurs and family events we have been able to provide great spaces for theatre companies, musicians and artists.
We welcomed back Curious Ear with their brilliant experimental approach to music; we have hosted several Royal Northern College of Music students; and had a great gig with the the amazing Caulbearers.
If you would like to hire one of our creative spaces, or know someone who does, please go to our webpage and fill out the contact form. You can do that here
Ascension Church Hulme is part of the Church of England's Diocese of Manchester and is part of the Heartedge Network.