Readings for Ascension Day, BCP

There are several choices for readings for Ascension Day. Bishop Persell will even have 2 choices for Collects:

Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

or this

Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that as we believe your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into heaven, so we may also in heart and mind there ascend, and with him continually dwell; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Whichever he chooses, it will be a memorable service. Don’t forget to bring desserts to share.

Seen in the comments section of “Father Jake Stops The World:”

It is a truism that 20% of the membership does 80% of the work of a parish. If this is so, even roughly speaking, then it stands to reason that the key statistic is not how many show up on Sunday, but how many are active. “The ministers of the church,” the Catechism says, “are laypeople, bishops, priests and deacons” (ECUSA BCP [1979], p. 855). This simple statement makes it clear that the work of the church belongs to the laity. The clergy are there to help the laity do that work.

What this means is that the primary function of a parish is to be a community of ministering people. It starts with offering worship on Sunday, “the work of the people,” which is what “liturgy” means. The ability to offer regular Sunday worship is the sine qua non of every church. This is so fundamental that we often overlook it. New missions, and the tiny churches that dot the nation, however, understand it well.

But the work of the people is much more than that. Each one of us has a speaking part in God’s drama of salvation. The meaning of a Christian’s life is to discover that role, accept it, and learn to employ the specific gifts of the Holy Spirit in accomplishing that work. This means of course being part of the ministry of the local congregation.

Each congregation is therefore a seedbed?a “seminary”?for the individual ministries of each member. Those congregations that claim this as their primary role will succeed in helping birth the vocations of their members. The consequences of this will be enormous. First of all, the negativity of being a static or declining church will disappear, as well as the “category envy” (“we wanna be a corporate parish!”) that all too often infest the thinking of parochial leadership. The higher the percentage of members who have claimed their ministry, the more joy a congregation will experience being who they are, rather than wishing they were another bigger, richer parish (Eph. 4:16). – Anglicans Online Essays | The True Measure of a Successful Parish, by Pierre W. Whalon

This enlarges on themes and topics that are being kicked around in our diocese, and adds new food for thought as well.

Pentecost, Sunday May 15th, will be a special day – but we need your help!

We need people to read the Gospel for that day in as many languages as possible. We’ve had a few volunteer that they have a working knowledge of Spanish, German, Italian, French, and even Greek and Latin. We could use some more readers, especially native speakers. This would be a great opportunity to invite someone to come with you that day, so if you know someone who speaks a language other than English, please offer them the opportunity.

This is the Gospel that Father Ted will read:

John 14:8-17

Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

There are a lot of language resources online, but this website yielded th biggest variety of languages, in a highly readable format.

So far, I’ve gathered readings in Spanish, German, French, Italian, Latin, Greek, Norwegian, Swedish, Tagalog, Modern Hebrew, and Thai. There are several African languages available, along with Maori, Chinese, and even Esperanto.

Please email me, Ginny Gibbs, if you’re interested in being a reader.