Christmas Eve and Day           December 24-25, 2009

 Welcome to the Episcopal Church of the Ascension
                             

Ascension Church is a parish in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina, one of 110 dioceses in The Episcopal Church, and part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. As such, we trace our spiritual lineage and our form of worship through the centuries to the early followers of Jesus whose ministry was itself grounded in the mighty acts of God recounted by the Prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Because we are part of the one, universal, Christian Church, we welcome all baptized Christians to our table for fellowship and communion.  Our worship follows an ancient liturgy that involves all present in the actions of giving glory to God.  We stand to praise and often to pray; we sit to hear the scriptures read and explained and to respond with the psalms; and we kneel to express an attitude of penitence or to show reverence or adoration. Many of us make the sign of the cross as a way of asking God’s blessing on ourselves and those we love at appropriate moments in the liturgy.

The principal act of worship in the Episcopal Church is the Holy Eucharist. All baptized Christians are invited to come to the altar to receive the bread and the wine from the ministers. The bread is received in the uplifted hands and is usually consumed immediately. When the chalice is passed, it is helpful to guide the cup and to consume a small amount of the wine. If you prefer, you may also leave the bread in your hand and the minister will take it, dip it in the wine and place it on your tongue. It is also perfectly permissible to consume only the bread if you do not want to receive the wine. If you have not been baptized in a Christian church, you are welcome to come to the altar to receive a blessing; simply cross your arms across the chest as a sign to the minister that you will not receive the sacraments.

In the Anglican tradition, the sacraments are considered “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace.” No one has ever seen God, yet we believe that God is actively present to us in our daily lives; the bread and the wine are visible signs to help us to experience His grace and love.

We also seek to make our worship an experience of beauty and edification. Through music, art, colorful vestments, candles, and flowers we offer thanks and glory to God for the many gifts that we have receive at this hands. At festival seasons, such as Christmas, we take special joy in sharing our traditions with our fellow Christians. We want you to feel welcome to join us on our pilgrimage through the centuries to our Heavenly Father, through our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit.