Message from the Council President...

As we begin this New Year together, we need to commit all of our goals and plans to God. We ask for his direction and guidance not only for our plans, but for the CHALLENGES we will face, and for the HOPES and DREAMS we have for this house of worship, this church — our church.

How do we start over and clean out those old outdated thoughts we may have going into a New Year? We can start by being positive thinkers because God puts into our hearts positive thoughts and promises. There is no limit to what we can do together as a family of believers here at Ascension. I believe God has abundant life in store for us or we would not be here today. We have cleaned out the past and we are moving forward on God’s charted course.

We had a very exciting year and I hope you have all had an opportunity to read about your accomplishments in the Annual Report. Time and time again, I look at his congregation and what you have accomplished and how you have gone about keeping this church vibrant, together and always moving forward. Thank you to this congregation for a job well done!

Your Council is so appreciate of your help with our programs and projects. We have never been stronger together than we are today! You have stepped up to the plate by your generous donations to our Christmas family; by increased attendance at programs sponsored by the Activities Committee and WELCA and by just getting involved. It is amazing to me that seven outside activities, in addition to our 1st Community Dinner, saw close to 275 individuals in attendance. In addition, our Pearl Harbor Day Memorial program drew over 150 people and all our recent Breakfasts on the Beach have been 30++ in attendance. It has been a long time since we have had this wonderful support from the congregation and the outside community. Thank you, one and all.

What a joy it has been and continues to be for us to share our pulpit with Pastor Meador, Pastor Gonzalez-Gertz, Pastor Lengert, intern Greg Worch and Pastor Dingle. God continues to smile on this congregation with the presence of these wonderful individuals.

Many forward thinkers do not want to sit around and wait until the church becomes self-sufficient again financially. Most of us remember when the local church was the hub of everything in our community or the city we lived in. We continue to look and partner with community groups that also call our space home. Ascension has done this successfully for many years. We have five separate AA groups meeting in our Fellowship Hall; the Community Caring Center has a caregivers training session several times a year and a new educational and culture center has begun bi/monthly meetings in our facility. We are also blessed with Christ Our Victory Church holding regular Sunday Services in a part of our facility. We are looking
at a possible partnership with the Red Cross to use our hall in case of disasters (not as a shelter) but rather as a staging area.

All these groups fulfill a strong mission purpose for this church. We are simply multiplying ministry in this area and doing what is necessary to move this church forward. We do all this with church visibility in mind.

There have been so many new faces in our Sanctuary during the past months. We have even seen faces that we have not seen in long time. How thankful we are for their presence, as they enrich our spiritual journey greatly. Please take the time to share the peace with these new individuals and invite them to Fellowship Hall with you. Please make this your goal and help everyone feel welcome. Go outside your comfort zone and share your faith with them.

On March 1st we will begin our new three-year capital fund drive, “Helping Hands, Helping Hearts.” This is an aging church and we must make necessary preparations when an emergency happens. We thank all the generous individuals who have given monies to cover repairs, purchase equipment and do whatever is necessary financially to move forward.

This year we will look at moving this church in some ways toward becoming a “Green Church” as we move to be environmental stewards. We can do this by the installation of solar panels (on our wish list for the capital campaign) on the office area; sponsoring a community shredding day and recycling cell phones/batteries and plastic bags. Stewardship of the earth as well as our financial resources is something God has called us to do.

In the very near future, all committee chairpersons will be invited to a Council meeting to help us all continue to work together and share our visions for our programs and projects in 2012.

This year we will celebrate our 54th anniversary as a church family. As a family of believers here at Ascension, we have great empathy toward one another. We are sensitive to too other people’s needs and we listen to each other.

I ask your continued prayers for the Search Committee, as they have an awesome responsibility; for the Church Council, as they are charged with the daily responsibility of running this church; and the Financial Management Committee to continue overseeing our Financial structure.

God has given this congregation a special blessing already this year, in the form of a small condo as part of the estate of Erna Weaver. Miracles continue to surround this church and we are thankful every day for these blessings.

There is a new energy here at Ascension. We move forward with much excitement into 2012 and ask that you bottle that excitement and share it with others. Let us make the most of every opportunity that Ascension has to offer. Let us all trust God with our dreams and goals.

I’m so proud of this church family. God has put us all together for a reason — let's not disappoint him, but rather accept his direction and guidance and do the best we can with what he has so generously given us.

Blessings,

Carole Greenich
Council President