Church of the Ascension * 2 Riverside Street, Rochester, New York – 14613
History at a glimpse. Church of the Ascension has been a strong and vibrant parish in Rochester for over 130 years. As a faith community, with the grace of God, we welcome our neighbors to worship, witness, study, and reflect and imagine our journey with praxis in realizing a beloved community of God. We are a multi-racial congregation with 109 baptized members; the average Sunday communicants constitute fifty-six members.
Worship, Study, and witness. We engage passionately in many ministries to practice our faith in Jesus and His mission. We worship genuinely, enhanced by profound organ music with its 3,500 pipes that have sounded each Sunday joyfully, bringing beauty to worship and joy to many. We have an adult and children’s Choir. We also train interested children in systematic traditional music. We have students from Eastman School of Music to help the children learn. We have committed acolytes who help the worshipers to connect to the traditions and rituals every Sunday. Every Sunday, we study Scripture to balance our commitment to the three pillars, Scripture, practice, and reason. The recent Sunday School ministries have paved the way for all children to connect with our faith and help them imagine their life fully while engaging in creative learning through music and art. We hold online prayer services during the week.
Faith and Action. Along with the food ministries, MEEK and Care Closet ministries, we cater to people experiencing poverty in the city. We have started a new church for refugees called ‘New American Ministries.’ Since Rochester has become the hub of several refugee communities, it helps us genuinely imagine God’s love for all and inspires us to serve our best to those in need.
As a team, we envisioned a project called ‘Holistic Development Project for Children,’ which envisages helping refugee children to cater to their basic needs. We also have a powerful women’s group that reflects on the community prayerfully and recently organized an international women’s gathering to celebrate women and their identities, especially women of Color and immigrants. We also engage in prison ministry to cater to the traumatized section of society to heal the brokenness. We invite people through our bells, a radical invitation to connect to worship beyond identities. We also partner with the city's AA, NA, GRCC, and RRRS ministries.
People of God at Ascension, the Vestry, the wardens, the rector, and the staff are committed to the movement of Jesus to make sure we witness Christ in all domains to serve and heal the broken and partner with all who celebrate life in fullness. We continue to practice radical hospitality and passionate spirituality with meaningful faith engagement.
