2021 VBS Registration Forms 

PASTORS POST

What is Prayer?

The student asked the teacher; “What is prayer?” The teacher replied, “Prayer is many things: it is asking, listening, and having a conversation with God.  Prayer is a practice, and prayer is an activity.” The student thought for a moment and then asked; “How do I know if an activity I am doing is prayer?” The teacher replied that the student should think of something she really enjoys and that is healthy for her, healthy for her relationships with others, and healthy for creation. She can dedicate her time in this activity to God; then it is a form of prayer.”

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https://www.ascensioncheyenne.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/PASTOR.docx

Click below for June’s Member Spotlight

Member Spotlight

Morning devotionals

Morning devotionals via Zoom are held five days a week: Monday through Friday. It opens at 7 a.m. Devotion conversation is from 7:20–7:34 a.m.

Transition Team seeks clarification during open houses

The Transition Team at Ascension Lutheran Church will hold open houses at the church on Wednesday and Thursday, June 2 and 3, for congregation members to ask questions about and provide further input into the recently released Holy Cow! Consulting report called Vital Signs.

These casual drop-in sessions from 5 to 7 p.m. are designed to give the congregation the opportunity to visit privately one-on-one or in groups with team members. Signup sheets are in the narthex or you may contact the church office.

The Vital Signs report was the consulting firm’s interpretation of the Congregational Assessment Tool (CAT) taken by Ascension members from March 26 to April 19 as part of the process to call a new pastor. A shorter version of that report was presented by Zoom to the congregation on May 19, and a PDF of that PowerPoint may be obtained by emailing the church office.

In 2015, small cottage meetings with the congregation were held at members’ homes. Because of COVID-19 precautions, the open houses in 2021 are another attempt to reach out to the congregation before the Transition Team writes its report and delivers it to the Church Council. In addition, the congregation may email or call any Transition Team member.

According to Holy Cow!, the Vital Signs report showed “a high level of conflict is eating into everything” Ascension is doing and affects the “low satisfaction” rate members have in the church. However, in that area, 73 percent of the respondents are “on the fence.” Holy Cow! said it is “highly unusual to see this many ‘on the fence,’ which indicates the congregation is truly waiting to see what will happen.”

Similarly, the church’s No. 1 “critical success factor” to improve satisfaction is to “resolve problems,” or simply conflict management. So the team is interested in what areas members think “are broken.”

When Holy Cow! benchmarked Ascension against 2,800 other churches, it described Ascension as “low energy-low satisfaction.” Churches in that category “require major changes in order to regain significant level of vitality and health.” Consequently, the Transition Team is interested in learning what specific changes the congregation believes are critical.

Another way Holy Cow! categorized the congregation was “pretty settled,” not a place Ascension wants to be in order to survive. “Churches in conflict over time become more settled to lessen their anxiety,” Holy Cow! explained. “The concern is the congregation must be able to change and must practice change.”

While Ascension has the same No. 1 and No. 2 priorities compared to 2015—growth in incorporating both new people into the church and families with youth and young children—this year’s No. 3 priority related to relationships, i.e., creating more opportunities to form meaningful relationships. The consulting firm called this new one unusual, and it means this internal priority shows a longing to be with one another and a desire to get past conflict, both hopeful indications members still want to be a part of the congregation.

So the Transition Team wants congregational thoughts on how to create a “spirit of involvement,” Ascension’s No. 2 “critical success factor” to improve satisfaction.

Transition Team members and their contact information: Pastor Michael,  Doug Cook,  Jim Geringer, Teisha Hohn,  Karen Kelley,  Roz Schliske.