the big move

Beginning this January and for many months after, our big church sign on Fifth Avenue might read like this: "Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Go 'round the block to see all the people! Join us for 11:00 am Sunday Worship at Ascension in our Parish Hall at 12 West 11th Street." Starting on Sunday, January 3, 2010 our congregation will be making the move out of our beloved sanctuary space into our parish "common room" for our weekly gatherings.

What can we expect to happen there on a typical Sunday morning? First of all, the worshippers at the early 9:00 am service will be celebrating the Holy Eucharist in the intimate quarters of the All Saints Chapel, where we have been conducting our daily services for a while. Entering as usual through the garden entrance on Fifth Avenue, they will find a simple liturgy in a lovely, inviting setting. Meanwhile, the choir will be rehearsing in the Parish Hall as they usually do on Sunday mornings and the Altar and Hospitality Guilds will be putting everything in readiness for church.

For members of the 11:00 am congregation, arriving to church on Sundays will mean going to the Parish Hall entrance at 12 West 11th Street where you will be greeted as usual by helpful ushers. We will have coat racks in the entry way and each worshipper will be given a hymnal and a service leaflet that will contain everything needed to participate. Our seating will be on folding chairs in the Hall arranged in a semi-circle pattern facing the longer North wall. As a focal point in the room an attractive dossal curtain will provide a backdrop for the gilded cross from the Side Altar (or the plain wooden cross in Lent). In front of the curtain we will use a small oak free-standing altar and lectern with chairs for the three ministers — a celebrant, a preacher, and a deacon — and an acolyte to act as the server.

When it is time to begin, instead of an organ prelude, the choir (seated near the courtyard door) will sing an introit or a "Call to Worship" during which the clergy will take their places. The service proper will start with an opening hymn and proceed as usual through the Ministry of the Word with lessons, a homily, and prayers led from the lectern. After the exchange of the Peace and a choral Offertory, the table will be set with home-baked Eucharistic bread and wine. Communion will be distributed at a "station" in front of the altar by the celebrant, flanked by two chalices to serve each person who comes forward.

At the conclusion of communion, the closing prayer and blessing, we will sing a final hymn and be bid by the deacon to "abide in peace." The next step will call on the cooperation of everybody as we move the folding chairs to the sides of the Hall and put our hymnals away. Then, it will be time to enjoy the Coffee Hour and extend our weekly time of fellowship.

After the first few weeks of worshipping in this way, we will all become familiar and at ease with the changes. As the months of construction go by, we hope to have "field trips" into the sanctuary from time to time so we can monitor the progress that is being made. Before we know it, we will be moving back home to a beautifully restored space.

I cordially invite you to join us in this year of adventure and anticipation!

— Andrew Foster, Rector

Read more news of Life at Ascension