With this glorious (and long awaited) sun, it feels like Spring is in the air, and with it a fresh wave of updates for you, as we ready ourselves for Easter here at Ascension.
100 year Anniversary
It was wonderful to celebrate 100 years of our amazing church building last month. Thank you to all those who came along to our various events and to all those who shared their memories of the last 100 years here at Ascension. We have our Centenary memory book which we will continue to fill over the year before sending it to the City Archives- if you would like to add any prayers, memories or pictures to this book please do contact the office.
Easter at Ascension
Easter is the most important part of our church calendar each year. We have lots on over Holy Week that we would love to invite you. More details of all our services and events are available on our website.
Palm Sunday (29th March)
We will be starting Holy Week off with a traditional Palm Sunday service with holy communion at 9am and an informal all-age Palm Sunday service at 10:45. There will be no separate kids and youth groups on this Sunday as we would love all our kids and youth to join us for the whole service. Then at 7pm we will be having a joint evening service of prayer and worship with City Life Church.
Holy Week Morning and Evening Prayer
During Monday – Wednesday of Holy Week (30th Mar – 1st Apr) we will be holding short times of Morning and Evening Prayer in our worship space. We would love to invite you to take time out of your week to join us each morning and evening as we reflect on the cross together. Timings below:
Monday: 9am and 7pm
Tuesday: 9am and 7pm
Wednesday 6:30am and 7pm
Maundy Thursday Service and Meal
On Maundy Thursday (2nd April) we will be holding a special service to remember and reflect upon the night before Jesus died. Doors will open at 6:45pm with the service starting promptly at 7pm, we will eat together, worship together and share communion. Tickets for this are £5 per person to cover the cost of the meal and are available on our website until 29th March. If you would be able to provide a pudding to share to help us keep our costs down for this meal, then please do get in touch with lizi@ascensionsouthampton.co.uk, thank you.
Please note, the service will not be aimed at children, but older children may want to come and are welcome.
Good Friday
The worship space will be open for a time of quiet contemplation on Good Friday (3rd April) from 9-11am. Please do join us for as much or as little of this time as you can.
Easter Sunday
On Easter Sunday we have three services to invite you to:
6:33am – Outside Sunrise Communion Service (meeting at Riverside Park Pontoon) followed by bacon rolls back at Ascension.
9am – Traditional Easter Sunday Service with Holy Communion
10:45am – All-Age Celebration Service with Holy Communion.
3pm – EGDE Crew Easter Celebration (at Townhill Park Community Centre)
Welcome Meal
After Easter, we would love to extend an invitation to all those who have joined Ascension over the last six months or so to come and share a meal with us after the 10.45 am service on Sunday 26th April. The meal will be an opportunity to get to know each other and find out more about what goes on here at Ascension. There is no cost involved, but please do sign up using this link so we know how many to cater for. We would love to see you there.
APCM & Electoral Roll
On Sunday May 17th we have our APCM (Annual Parochial Church Meeting) where we will be electing church officers, reviewing finances, and approving reports on church activities. The meeting is open to all, but you need to be on the Electoral Roll in order to vote. To join the electoral roll, please contact the office for an application form or use online version here.
Market Place Volunteers
We still need volunteers on a Thursday morning from 9:30am to 12pm to help at Marketplace. Please contact the office if you are interested, or would like more details.
Prayer and Pastoral Support
Did you know we have a Prayer Ministry Team and a Pastoral Team here at Ascension? If you have any prayer requests of are in need of support, please do get in touch:
prayer@ascensionsouthampton.co.uk
pastoral@ascensionsouthampton.co.uk
Upcoming Events
More information about all our events is available on website www.ascensionsouthampton.co.uk/whats-on/
Sunday Evening Services 2nd Sundays 7pm
The evening services are a mix of worship and prayer.
Sunday Evening Prayer Walk 4th Sundays 7pm
A time to prayer together as we walk around the community.
Footsteps Toddler Group Mondays 9.15am till 11.15am
Group for pre-schoolers and their carers during term-time
Tuesday Prayers Every Tuesday 12:30-1:00pm
We meet in the Ascension worship space during the term-time to pray for our church and community.
Morning Prayer Every Wednesday 6:30-7:30am
A time of morning prayer and worship for our city. Hosted by Ascension but open to all.
Youth Worship Evening 23rd March 6:30pm
An evening for youth of all ages to join in worshipping God. Our youth band will lead us in sung worship and there will be space for other forms of creative worship too.
Dad’s Lego Breakfast Sat 7th March 10am-12pm
For dads to connect and spend quality time with their kids with lots of Lego. £1 entry per person.
Half Hour of Prayer for Townhill Park 4th March 10:30-11am
Time of prayer for Townhill Park
Ascension Ladies Group 6th & 20th March : 2-3:30pm
A social group for ladies in our community.
Finally, As we look forward to Easter we leave you with this verse from Mark 16:6:
‘Don’t be alarmed’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him’.
God Bless,
Ascension Staff Team