The Rev. Adibhananthar John Rector Nicole Hercules Seminarian Cindy Smith Administrative Assistant Sarah Johnson Music Minister Angel Perez Sexton Vestry Christian Haller, Sr. Warden rin ger2@mac.com ​ Dyson Gay, Jr. Warden dysong y@ao l.com ​ Mary Bickel, Treasurer maryk bic@aol.com ​ Kate Stella-Begy, Clerk of Vestry marykate7687@gmail.com ​ Father Abi John, Chair ascpriest@aol.com ​ ​ D ebbie Copenhagen cupidsal@hotmail.com ​ Bob Crystal crys24634@gmail.com ​ Patricia Frasca thepatriciafr asca@gmail.com ​ Kathy Kohler kkohler1026@gmail.com ​ ​ ​ Ryan McDermott ryan.mcdermott1208@gmail.com ​ Kathy O'Leary kathyjoleary@gmail.com Nancy Turchetti nturchetti@rochester.rr.com ​ Jerry Welcher jswelcher@aol.com ​ Bentley Church Dog

Location Church of the Ascension is located at 2 Riverside St., Rochester, NY 14613 in the Maplewood Historic District. It is a short walk from beautiful attractions such as Lower Falls Park, Maplewood Park, and the Maplewood Rose Garden. ​ Driving Ascension is located near the intersection of Lake Avenue and Ridge Road. From downtown Rochester, head north on State Street, continuing to follow it as it becomes Lake Avenue. Turn right into the upper parking lot just past Riverside Street. From the Greece area, follow Ridge Road headed East, turn right at the intersection with Ridge Road and then turn left into the church lot. From Irondequoit, follow Ridge Road headed West, turn left at the intersection with Ridge Road and turn left into the church lot. ​ Bus Ascension is conveniently located along the 22 bus route from downtown, with the most convenient stop being Lake & Riverside. The church is also less than half a mile from the Ridge & Lake stop on the 40 bus. ​ Parking Ascension has two parking lots. The Upper Lot is directly off Lake Avenue, by the ramp/accessible entrance to the Sanctuary and is the most convenient for attending Sunday Services. The Lower Lot is off Riverside St. and is particularly convenient for events in the Great Hall and accessing many of the important ministries in the Church's lower level (church dinners, MEEK, Care Closet, NA/AA etc.).

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Men's Group The men's group heads up parish clean-up days. They also put on the Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner (the night before Ash Wednesday) and help Kevin Gall with the annual Lobster Dinner.

Altar Guild The Altar Guild would love you to join us. We are a dedicated group divided into teams that rotate the duties on a monthly basis. It involves setting up for services, follow-up after the services, and changing the hangings according to the color of the season.

NA/AA tbd

Ascension Choir ​ The Ascension Choir is a dedicated group of volunteers, joined by four Choral Scholars from the Eastman School of Music. Ascension has a long history of excellent choral music; the choir sings on Sundays at the 10:15 am service from the beginning of September until Pentecost, and currently rehearses on Wednesday s from 7:30 to 9:00 pm. Our Choral Scholars this year are: Maeve Berry Madelin Morales Adam Catangui The mission of the choir is to support and adorn the liturgy at Church of the Ascension through hymnody, Anglican chant, plain chant, and weekly anthems. Towards this goal we sing a wide range of repertoire sourced from the Renaissance to today, and often collaborate with the Ascension Youth Choir to encourage the next generation of musicians. We are always happy to welcome new choir members; please be in touch with Minister of Music Mitchell Miller if you are interested in joining or trying out the choir - all are welcome! ​

Support Ascension Church of the Ascension is passionate about the community it serves and the people who make it a beacon of hope and love for those around us. Giving to the Church answers the need that we all have to make a difference in the world through our generosity and makes it possible for the Church to be that beacon, through food, clothing and other ministries. ​ Yearly Pledge Each year in October we prepare our budget for the following year and we ask each parishioner to fill out a pledge card to let us know how much they anticipate giving in the following year. This pledged income is used for the running of the parish--it pays for outreach ministries and our support to the diocese, salaries, programmatic initiatives, insurance, and required property investments and maintenance. Capital Projects As our parish grows and changes, our needs change and our building needs to be upgraded and repaired on a regular basis. In 2016-2017 we completed the lift from the Church to the Great Hall, which makes our facility even more accessible by allowing those who are in wheel chairs or have difficulty navigating the stairs from our worship space down to the Great Hall. ​ The E. M. Skinner Organ Fund The E. M. Skinner Organ Fund is dedicated to the ongoing restoration of Skinner Op. 711. Op. 711 is an amazing instrument that is almost 100 years old, and has been installed at Church of the Ascension since 1967. As with all musical instruments, this pipe organ requires regular maintenance. In the future, we plan to have the entire organ restored which will entail dismantling each of the 3,500+ pipes, cleaning each pipe, cleaning the chambers where the pipes live, rebuilding all the wind chests and mechanisms, and then putting it all back together. The organ will have a much cleaner and more transparent sound after this work is completed. One estimate for this project is $1,550,000. Clergy Discretionary Fund On the first Sunday of each month, all undesignated income from the Offerings is deposited to the Clergy Discretionary Fund. The Priest uses these funds to provide emergency help to those in need, to pay for youth to go to diocesan activities, to support the Care Closet, to help parishioners attend workshops, and to help pay for unfunded neighborhood initiatives that they believe are important to support. Give online through Donorbox

Bible Study Each week you have the opportunity to deepen your relationship with God through our Sabbath-day Bible Study. Bible Study is held in person on Sundays at 9:00 am in our library, accompanied by light refreshments. During this time we explore God's word in fellowship with one another. Through prayer and discussion we nurture our relationships with God and open our hearts to his plan for our lives. ​ For more information call the church office at (585) 458-5423. ​ ​ ​​ ​

MEEK MEEK, the Maplewood Edgerton Emergency Kupboard, serves our regional community at least two days per week, and in keeping with current realities is redefining and restating its mission to meet these changing conditions. ​ Church of the Ascension, in partnership with other faith communities, continues to offer to neighborhood residents food to tide them over as there are, in these days, food emergencies for individuals and families. MEEk has been responsible for distributing more than 800,000 meals to 95,000 people over the last few decades. ​ ​ Additional volunteers are always welcome. Please call (585) 944-3093 for inquiries. ​ ​

Location Church of the Ascension is located at 2 Riverside St., Rochester, NY 14613 in the Maplewood Historic District. It is a short walk from beautiful attractions such as Lower Falls Park, Maplewood Park, and the Maplewood Rose Garden. Please click and follow the "directions" link on the map below for Google Maps directions. ​ Driving Ascension is located near the intersection of Lake Avenue and Ridge Road. From downtown Rochester, head north on State Street, continuing to follow it as it becomes Lake Avenue. Turn right into the upper parking lot just past Riverside Street. From the Greece area, follow Ridge Road headed East, turn right at the intersection with Lake Avenue, drive 2.5 blocks south and then turn left into the church lot. From Irondequoit, follow Route 104 headed West, turn left at the intersection with Lake Avenue, drive 2.5 blocks South and turn left into the church lot. ​ Bus Ascension is conveniently located along the 22 bus route from downtown, with the most convenient stop being Lake & Riverside. The church is also less than half a mile from the Ridge & Lake stop on the 40 bus. ​ Parking Ascension has two parking lots. The Upper Lot is directly off Lake Avenue, by the ramp/accessible entrance to the Sanctuary and is the most convenient for attending Sunday Services. The Lower Lot is off Riverside St. and is particularly convenient for events in the Great Hall and accessing many of the important ministries in the Church's lower level (church dinners, MEEK, Care Closet, NA/AA etc.).