Monthly Archives: May 2017

Ascension Lutheran Church, in Towson, will celebrate its 75th anniversary Sunday.

A festive worship service dedicated to the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven will commemorate the event, according to a news release from the church.

"The whole reason the church was founded and is called Ascension is because it was founded [on] the 40th day after Easter," or Ascension Day, church volunteer Diane Kohan said.

The Christian holiday commemorates Jesus Christ's ascension to heaven according to ecumenical Christian belief, Kohan said.

The church traces its beginnings to 1941 when a small group of people met in a home on York Road, gathering regularly for worship, according to the church's website.

The Towson church opened on its namesake day on May 14, 1942.

Construction started on the present sanctuary in July 1949 with a formal dedication on June 4, 1950. In June 1959, the church added an education wing and a nursery school to better serve the community.

Bishop William Gohl, of the Maryland-Delaware Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will be the guest preacher for the 10 a.m. celebratory service. Ascension's pastor, the Rev. Dr. Nancy Kraft, will preside over the service.

The church's senior and junior choirs will perform a specially commissioned "Ascension Prayer" anthem from composer Thomas Keesecker for the occasion, according to the news release.

"We're just going to celebrate the time we've had in Towson," Kohan said.

A free, catered lunch of small dinner rolls, tuna, chicken salad, fresh fruit and vegetables, and an anniversary cake will follow the service.

The church is located at 7601 York Road, near Towson University. Parking is available on York Road, across from the church building.

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Ascension Lutheran Church to celebrate 75 years Sunday - Baltimore Sun

Clarity 16E wheelchair lift from Ascension

One challenge for K-12 and university facility managers tasked to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been offering full access to elevated areas on campus. These areas can range from stages and raised platforms to theater, auditorium, library, administrative offices, and student centers with mezzanines or second floors not served by a traditional elevator. In such cases, ramps and one-floor elevators often require too much space to be feasible, particularly in older buildings.

Although wheelchair lifts are available to assist those with mobility issues, most of these are limited to a 60 or less maximum vertical lift, which is sufficient to reach a stage, but not a second floor. For lift platforms that are capable of reaching higher, many are poorly designed and disruptive, too tightly enclosed for those uncomfortable in small spaces, and require demolition of floors or walls to hide internal lift machinery.

Now, however, industry advances promise quieter, ADA compliant wheelchair lifts that offer extended vertical reach as well as dignity to their users with minimal installation requirements.

If there is enough floor space, building a ramp is probably the simplest solution for providing access to those using wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, canes, or other assistive devices. However, ramps typically need to be one foot long for every inch of vertical gain, so a 48 high stage requires a 48 long ramp. This is impractical in space-restricted older buildings, especially for mezzanine and second floor access. Ramps can also be difficult to navigate due to the incline.

Installing a traditional elevator is another option, but can be costly and usually requires both overhead clearance for a machine room and demolition to flooring to put machinery below. For these reasons, a dedicated elevator that only goes up one floor is generally not cost-effective or feasible unless access to multiple floors is required.

Although extended rise wheelchair lifts are a good alternative, traditional devices have a number of drawbacks. Most require up to 6 of machinery underneath so require demolition of the floor to create the space to hide machinery, or placing it in a raised platform above the floor with a flip down ramp, or sometimes both.

Because some lift machine cabinets stand on the side of the unit and may even have sheet metal all the way around, this also limits visibility in and out of the unit, which can be a problem for anyone claustrophobic or educators who must monitor students for safety.

Typical lifts operating with screw or worm gear drives can also be noisy and disruptive. The devices can generate a loud, grinding sound similar to a high-speed drill or trash compactor. This not only puts an unwelcome focus on those using the lift, but also detracts from an educational environment.

One solution facility managers might consider is an extended rise wheelchair lift.

Unlike wheelchair lifts utilizing screw or worm gear drives that can be loud and disruptive in an education setting, some advanced lifts such as the Clarity 16E by Ascension, a wheelchair lift manufacturer based in Tucson, AZ, use an electro hydraulic drivetrain and vibration-isolating supports. When rising, Ascensions Clarity 16E wheelchair lift is about as loud as normal conversation (62dB at three feet), and it is virtually silent when descending (< 2dB at three feet).

Because the Clarity 16E, a fully enclosed vertical wheelchair lift that can reach heights up to 168, mounts directly on the floor this means that no equipment pit under the lift and no floor demolition is required particularly important for historic facilities. Since the lift mounts directly on the floor with a very slim profile platform only 1/2 thick, the person in the wheelchair or using an assistive device also safely and easily enters at floor level without requiring a cumbersome fold-out entry ramp.

For tight renovation spaces, a lift with a narrow footprint can also mean the difference between a simple installation and major wall demolition. In this regard, the 48 wide footprint of the Clarity 16E allows the device to fit into existing structures. This is possible because the machine cabinet mounts up against the wall, not the sides, making it at least 6 to 8 narrower than traditional lifts.

Because no side tower is required, the drive system attaches directly to the landing face, and the enclosure uses transparent panels which leave three sides clear for better sightlines in an out of the lift.

Another safety feature included with Clarity 16E is an ADA-compliant hands-free phone with auto dialer for two-way communication from the platform.

As school facility managers look to maintain ADA compliance and meet needs of all of their students, extended rise wheelchair lifts will help them to safely meet access requirements in a dignified manner.

Read more:

Clarity 16E Wheelchair Lift From Ascension - Facility Executive Magazine

GONZALES Ascension Parish President Kenny Matassa offered encouraging words Thursday to parish government's 472 employees, telling them he will defend and help them through a coming revamp of parish operations that the "public can be proud of."

Matassa sent his message to parish workers one day after a much-anticipated organizational and efficiency review by SSA Consultants gave a tough critique of the way the parish does business.

GONZALES Though another 60,000 residents are projected to live in Ascension Parish by 2030

"Parish government is full of great public servants who wake up each morning to improve the quality of life for our residents. I want to thank my employees for their hard work," Matassa read to the Parish Council from a written statement. "I want them to know that I will defend them and encourage them every step of the way in this process. A better organization means a happier workforce, and a happier workforce is more productive and creative."

Christel Slaughter, a partner in Baton Rouge-based organizational firm SSA Consultants, said her company's review of parish operations found a government that still works in ways like a police jury, has out-of-date technology and needs a greater emphasis on customer service and employee training for both rank-and-file and management employees.

In a later interview, Matassa explained the reason for his statement about the SSA report, which he said was tough but which he accepted as constructive criticism.

He said some employees called him after the report was delivered Wednesday night about their concerns the report was directed at them.

"I assured them it wasn't directed at them," Matassa said.

Matassa said he explained the report is a review of a parish organizational setup that goes back to several past administrations. He compared the efficiency report and an earlier salary survey that SSA released in April to a "road map" to help improve parish government.

"I think it's a lot of positive in there, and it's going to show that we do have good departments and good employees, but we want to give them the tools they need and the training," Matassa said.

He said he had planned to offer more training when he took office in January 2016, but the floods in March and August delayed those efforts from getting off the ground.

In addition to softening the blow of the SSA report's conclusions, Matassa reiterated his pledge Thursday night to work with the Parish Council to see through major organizational changes but also asked that the council "empower me to get these things done, including ratifying my employees and returning contract authority to the administration."

Matassa's brief statement on the SSA report did not elicit a response from the council members, who had welcomed the report's conclusions Wednesday night.

In November, after months of pressure to bring his top administrative staff up for council ratification, as the home rule charter calls for, the council delayed the vote until the first quarter of 2017, after SSA was then expected to finish its work.

That vote to delay also came as grand jury proceedings were then pending over allegations Matassa and a Gonzales businessman tried to bribe someone to drop out of the Gonzales City Council race last year. Matassa and the businessman, Olin Berthelot, were later indicted in March on single counts of attempted election bribery. They have maintained their innocence and Matassa has said he will remain in office.

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GONZALES Ascension Parish President Kenny Matassa and a Gonzales businessman accused in an

SSA's work didn't end up coming to the council until the second quarter of the year, in April and May.

Council Chairman Bill Dawson said later Thursday night that Matassa is welcome to bring his staff forward for a ratification vote.

"Certainly, any time he puts the names up, we'll vote on them," Dawson said in an interview.

The ratification provision applies to Chief Administrative Officer Ken Dawson, Chief Financial Officer Gwen LeBlanc, Public Works Director Bill Roux, Planning Director Jerome Fournier and a human resources director. Matassa is currently looking for a new director.

Dawson didn't have a response, however, on whether to restore Matassa's authority to issue contracts without council approval.

"That's the first time I've heard it. We still have to think about that," Dawson said.

Follow David J. Mitchell on Twitter, @NewsieDave.

Read more:

Ascension Parish President Kenny Matassa reassures staff after consultant's critical report - The Advocate

Photo courtesy Ascension Island Government

Of course, this being Pristine Seas, these mountains are in the deep seabut mountains they are.

We are headed to Ascension Island, a tiny volcanic island in the South Atlantic, midway between Brazil and Africa. Its a powerful place where the deep sea and remote mountains collide, leaving the island as the small visible tip of a massive 10,500-foot (3,200-meter) mountain. The underwater mountain range Ascension Island sits on is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, itself part of the longest mountain range in the world!

To study this challenging region the Pristine Seas team have joined forces with the British Antarctic Survey and the Ascension Island Government aboard the Antarctic science support vessel the RRS James Clark Ross. The team will sail 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) from Recife, Brazil to Ascension Island where they will complete a comprehensive science survey of the deep ocean surrounding the island including itsisolated biodiversity hotspots, the seamounts.

The water is too deep for diving, even for the Pristine Seas divers! So the team will be using their drop-cameras and pelagic cameras (whichhover in the water column)along with a full range of remote-sensing equipment including scientific trawls, plankton nets, acoustic arrays, CTD devices (to measureconductivity, temperature, and depth), lander cameras, and Swath bathymetry to accurately map the seabed and seamounts.

Well be posting our progress and discoveries here throughout the expeditionso please check in regularly and join us at sea!

Read all Ascension Island 2017 posts.

This expedition is a collaboration among the Ascension Island Government, National Geographic Pristine Seas, the British Antarctic Survey, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

See original here:

Ascension Island: Pristine Seas Heads to the Mountains! - National Geographic

First comes the festival (feast) day commemorating Jesus Resurrection (Easter) and our Creator Gods essential nature to rescue, deliver, and save.

Then 40 days later, we commemorate the Ascension to heavenly realms of highest esteem of the resurrected Christ and of all that Jesus stood and stands for.

Meanwhile, in preparation for the latter, many in Christendom historically have observed days of intense prayer and fasting that are called rogation (asking or pleading) and that are summed up more commonly nowadays in the observance of Rogation Sunday immediately preceding the Feast of the Ascension.

For many, this timing is especially appropriate, since by now, in Eastertide, our knowledge and understanding of, our faith in, and perhaps our personal experience of the Resurrection has been tested, tried, and solidified.

In Rogation and in the Ascension in this week ahead of us, we hasten to commend to God the Creator all that has been given to us. We give thanksgiving; we ask for protection now and in the future, and we ask for Divine blessing of all our godly endeavor.

In this way, Rogation Sunday and the traditional Rogation Days of the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday immediately preceding Ascension Day are not to be confused with the manifold, essentially retrospective Harvest celebrations toward the end of the summer and on into the fall.

As early as the Middle Ages, a Rogation practice called beating the bounds was revived from some Roman, or even earlier, pre-Christian antecedents, wherein church processions were launched, walking around a given congregations territory and affording all who have settled within a sense of place, a sense of profound thanksgiving and commitment and therewith a sense of Christian obligation (to love and to serve).

However, on the negative side, a churchs beating of its bounds or territorial boundary markers was sometimes also used to draw lines establishing a public understanding of the territory upon which other faith communities should not encroach.

Nowadays, the reach of such Rogation processions tends to be less territorial, and instead tends to be accomplished more through the breadth of the remembrances and other references in our prayers, including our prayers sung as hymns.

Our Rogation Day prayers in common use for protection and continual blessing, and prayers of commitment are found in the Rogation Day Collects (see Book of Common Prayer 258-59) for fruitful seasons, for commerce and industry, and for stewardship of creation.

Much the same can be found in Joseph Addisons 18th century hymn, drawing on the opening verses of Psalm 19, and hence beginning, The spacious firmament on high familiar especially when set to the central theme of Franz Joseph Haydns 18th century oratorio, The Creation.

For my 21st-century taste, however, I find even grander expression of the territorial sweep of our Rogation prayers in Herbert Brokerings 20th-century hymn set to David Johnsons 20th-century music as Earth and All Stars.

Appropriately lengthy, to accompany procession outdoors and/or indoors without tedious repetition, the references in this last reach, to name but a few, loud rushing planets O victory, loud shouting army flowers and trees, loud rustling dry leaves trumpet and pipes, loud clashing cymbals engines and steel, loud pounding hammers limestone and beams, loud building workers classrooms and labs, loud boiling test-tubes knowledge and truth, loud sounding wisdom (and finally) loud praying members true, earnest, comprehensive rogation. All sing to the Lord a new song, (for) He has done marvelous things. I (or we) too will praise him with a new song!

All of this adoration appropriately proclaims our appreciation and thanksgiving for what is and our faith-filled hope for what is to come.

However, as we find boldly prophesied in the biblical description of the Ascension (Acts 1:8-11), with the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost 50 days after Jesus glorious Resurrection, we will have received power to be Jesus witnesses throughout the world.

And indeed, men dressed in white note importantly that these are men, not necessarily angels, as our focus is directed from the skies to the earth these men in purifying white, these witnessing human interpreters chide us, in Acts 1:11, in a manner that I would paraphrase as follows: Why do you just stand there, albeit with wondrous adoration, gazing up toward heaven?

This same Jesus, who has now ascended with his glorious message, spoken and lived out, will come again in the same way all at once and hold us to account for what he asked: that empowered with the gift of the Holy Spirit, we be his convincing witnesses, everywhere we go, not just worshiping, but also doing the work of the Gospel. More simply: Enough gazing albeit in adoration Now get down to work!

As Jeffery Rowthorn in the middle of the 20th century summed up, aggregating the accounts of Jesus Ascension on and hence from: Lord, you give the Great Commission: Heal the sick and preach the Word. Lest the Church neglect its mission and the Gospel go unheard, help us witness to your purpose with renewed integrity; with the Spirits gifts empower us (all) for the work of ministry.

The Rev. Dr. Wesley S. Williams Jr., K.St.J. is Bishops sub-dean for St. Thomas and St. John and vicar of Nazareth by the Sea Episcopal Church in the Diocese of the Virgin Islands (U.S. and U.K.) and chairman of SRMC All Faiths Hospital Chaplaincy

The rest is here:

Rogation and Ascension - Virgin Islands Daily News