November 2021

Ascension Stewardship Update

Beloved Parishioners of the Ascension of our Lord,

Please see the attached charts as we are literally $3,000 off of our budgeted number for 2021!  With God’s blessings we have an opportunity to come together and finish a COVID year wherein we generated zero income from our festival or rental of our facilities.  Please take the time to ensure your recurring payments are being deducted, and consider making generous Thanksgiving and Christmas gifts.  Let us cry out to the Theotokos, “Hail, fulfillment of the Creator’s dispensation,” as we celebrate The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple where she was consecrated to God.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!

I also wanted to thank the Ascension Prayer Team who continue to pray on a daily basis for living individuals with special needs and for those who have departed this life.  We will recognize this team in church very soon and reload by bolstering the team to begin worship services for intercessory prayers and needs of the community in 2022.  This is a great opportunity for parishioners to pray for our hierarchs, clergy, church ministries and those with special needs. Please consider introducing this weekly commitment to your child, Grandchild or Godchild.  While we have all of the days of the week covered, the power of communal prayer helps us continue to spread the Gospel by increasing our prayer life at Ascension.

Yours In Christ,

JD, Efthalia and Michael (Parish Council Stewardship Team)

March 2021 Meal Ministry

“…the Greatest of these is Love.”

1 Corinthians 13:13

Beloved Fellow Ascension Parishioners,

The love that Saint Paul describes in his letter to the Christians at Corinth is an expression of stewardship. Love and stewardship are inseparable when we consider God’s blessings in our life and the way we use these gifts with love and compassion for others and to honor, worship and give thanks to God.

We are continuing our homeless outreach with Vincent Pannizzo of Mission for the Homeless where a number of families are helping to prepare food to be distributed to the homeless on the streets of Oakland. Our collaborative efforts in working with "Vinnie" and the folks he's helping on the streets have, by the grace of God, brought them to Orthodoxy and were baptized at Ascension. We are looking to expand our outreach in providing meals for the homeless. Please reply to his email if you are interested in helping steward this ministry. Additionally, On Sunday, March 7th our meal ministry lovingly fed single mothers and their children at the Love a Child Mission, a faith-based shelter and recovery center in Bay Point.

Additionally, we have begun the prayer team ministry, which is off to a great start with a lot of involvement. Please email ascensionprayers4700@gmail.com if you'd like to be a part of the prayer team, which requires a commitment of praying for those in our community on selected days as part of the team. Please also email the team if you would like to submit names of those living and departed for whom you would like prayers for.

Continued area of focus is to target young adults returning from college and welcome them as leaders of the church community by capitalizing on their expertise and training.

Please also consider donating appreciated securities that have been held for longer than one year as a way to support the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension in Oakland. Donating securities, mutual funds, and other assets offers you the chance to support our work while realizing important benefits for yourself as you can reduce or even eliminate federal capital gains taxes on the transfer. You may also be entitled to a federal income tax charitable deduction based on the fair market value of the securities at the time of transfer.

In the coming months we expect to launch the following ministry initiatives of being involved with Project Mexico. Please stay tuned for more details.

We ask you to support these worthy ministries. Giving to His Church is a way to thank God for His grace and generosity. The question is not, “What are the dues?” but “How can I thank God for my many blessings?”

Please give prayerful consideration to the commitment you are making to being a steward of our church. A check mailed to the church is most meaningful when accompanied by your presence, by your willingness to serve, by your prayers, and by your commitment. Giving is not a substitute for commitment – it is an expression of your commitment and an expression of thanks for the many blessings in your life.

Finally, be sure to watch Dr. Eugene Bobroff’s Stewardship testimonial following the live stream this coming Sunday!

Yours in Christ,

Michael Evans, Stewardship