Outreach Team

The Outreach Team reaches out to our community to invite others to know Christ and to grow in faith by worshiping with our congregation at Ascension Lutheran Church.  Outreach welcomes and responds to visitors and to those who inquire about our church, and we help assimilate new members into the life of our congregation, to include organizing new member receptions and identifying and assigning new member sponsors. Outreach leads members in reaching out to and reactivating inactive members.  The team also extends Christian compassion and helpfulness to our members who are ill or are facing difficult times and to all persons in need of aid in body or soul.  Our Outreach Team strives to keep the congregation informed of people’s needs and encourages members and organizations of the congregation to meet these needs by participating in the many opportunities Ascension offers to serve our members and our community.

Prayer Shawl Ministry - On behalf of the prayer shawl ministry, we would like to thank the dedicated knitters who have faithfully donated their time and talent in adding their special touch to their shawls. Team members work on the shawls at their home, at their leisure. For those of us making these, the rewards are many. The process becomes a way to find quiet time for self-reflection, to engage in a spiritual practice and give a part of ourselves to others. If needed, the cost of your yarn will be reimbursed. Labels and small crosses are provided. 

ALL SHAWLS ARE WELCOME, KNITTED OR CROCHETED.
If you would like to participate, or have any questions, please call the church office. We blessed 69 prayer shawls last month. Most of those
shawls will be donated to Holmes Medical Center.

Servant Ministry Team

Covers a variety of local, national, and international activities serving individuals, families, and communities. Year-round ministries include knitting and quilting groups, food drives for the South Brevard Sharing Center, food rescue drivers, prayer chain, Community of Hope, and serving at the Daily Bread. Seasonal recurring ministries include Lutheran World Relief - Hygiene Kits (January-February), the Superbowl of Caring (February), Care and Share with the South Brevard Sharing Center (March), Blood Mobile (May), School Supply Drive (July - August), Good Samaritan Project Christmas Child (September -October), and the Toy Drive (December).

Operation Christmas Child - Thank you all very much for helping to make this year's Operation Christmas Child a huge success. This year they went to the Republic of Congo, Ukraine and a sensitive county in West Africa.

“When you pack each box —Pray. You never know how God is going to use that box. They go by plane, by riverboat, by motorbikes. These shoeboxes go to children in some of the most isolated areas in the world. —Franklin Graham

Lutheran World Relief Personal Care Kits and Quilts - On behalf of the Servant Ministry Team, thank you for your contribution in supplying items for the Health Care Kits. Because of your generosity and the Thrivent Action Team, we were able to reach our goal of 107 kits.
Thank you also to the Quilters for their time and talent in providing the beautiful quilts, displayed in our church on Sunday. 

It takes many hands to organize, assemble and package all these items, as well as load up the truck. Thank you to ALL who assisted us
This year, Ascension again took on the responsibility of renting a U-Haul truck and collecting the kits and quilts from our neighboring 8 Space Coast Conference Churches. All items were loaded into the truck and Calum and Phil drove the truck to our sister church in Clermont. (THANK YOU Calum & Phil)

• Ascension contributions: 65 boxes, totaling 706 lbs
  
• Total delivered: 184 boxes, totaling 3,107 LBS

We thank GOD for all the busy hands involved in this project. These kits and quilts are extremely important for people receiving them, as we serve our neighbors near and far.

Souper Bowl of Caring - After a low scoring first half of this season's Souper Bowl (tied halftime @76lbs each) the offenses on each side opened up in the second half with the South putting 396 lbs. on the table and the North 304 lbs. resulting in a final score South 472, North 380, totaling 852 lbs. While the North Coaching staff and fans were disappointed in not being able to complete a "threepeat" they expressed congratulations to the South players and coaches and look forward to starting a new streak next season. As Commissioner Little stated, the real winners are those who look to the Sharing Center to put food on their families' plates. Great job Ascension Lutheran! -Scoop

Daily Bread is becoming Providence Connects – Ascension Lutheran has been actively involved since the beginning and has an active food rescue team since 2006. A big thanks to Merle Steward for delivering 168 clothing items and 7 misc. items in February and to our Food Rescue Team. Joe Simonides, Ernst Hofmann, Tom Coolidge, Siggi McGlothlin, and Bob Galloway pick up food from Publix stores in Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour, Indialantic and Melbourne. If you are interested in being part of the team, please contact Siggi in the Church Office.

World Hunger collection box – You will see this box in the fellowship hall at every meal we share. When we share a meal, we should always think about the less fortunate in this world. The collection will be sent monthly to the ELCA World Hunger Fund. Thank you for your compassion for those in need. 

South Brevard Sharing Center – Thanks to all of you that bring in food donations every week. A Big Thank You to Merle and Pam Steward and to Carole Mall for taking the donated food over to the Sharing Center weekly. We delivered over 100 lbs. of food last month.

Community of Hope (COH) needs you! COH provides a wonderful way to serve others by helping end homelessness in our community. Community of Hope is a faith-based, ecumenical 501(c)3 that provides housing for families.  

Ascension Lutheran has been a partner with the Community of Hope since 2015. During those past 10 years their housing inventory increased immensely and has helped many homeless families to get back on their feet. It all started with one home in Downtown
Melbourne and now expanded to 34 housing units and are currently building more in Titusville. They offer:

• A short-term family shelter program
• Permanent supportive housing
• Traditional Transitional Housing (2-year program)
• A program to help families safely reunify after having had dependency court issues
• Offering mentoring and case management
• Held financial assistance classes
• Partnered with other agencies to serve our families and fight family homelessness in Brevard County

The Shepherd's Center provides a variety of classes for adults over the age of 55 from a variety of life experiences and faiths. We are people coming together and putting into action the supportive message of the Twenty-third Psalm to sustain and celebrate life. There are three 8-week terms: Fall, Winter and Spring. Class schedule is available on the Shepherd's Center Website. In addition to attending classes, members are welcome to volunteer to teach and support this program.

Spring Term 2026: Thursday classes at Eastminster Presbyterian Church begin January 8.  Friday classes at Ascension Lutheran Church begins January 9. More information: myshepherdcenter.org

Prayer Chain is a group dedicated to lifting our members, family, friends, and community in prayer and thanksgiving to the Lord. If you have any prayer needs or would like to volunteer for the important ministry, please go to our serving opportunities tab or send an email to ourchurch@cfl.rr.com.

The Military in Our Prayers – We ask members and visitors to remember all who are serving in the military overseas and at home. A list of individuals is available in our weekly bulletin.

Ascension Quilters - The Ascension Quilters will gladly, at any time, appreciate donations of any items listed that you may be looking for a 'new home" to place them: Quilted bedspreads (good condition, no stains), Fabric (cotton, corduroy or flannel), Thread, Embroidery floss, Crochet thread ONLY cotton yarn.

We also would be THRILLED to have more helping hands - please feel free to join us any Tuesday morning at 9:30 am! For more information, please chat with Pam, Sue, Cecelia, Sally or Beatrice.

New Life Ministry - Since 2009, New Life Mission has equipped homeless mothers with the skills and knowledge to transform their families in a Christ-centered environment. New Life Mission works to permanently break the generational cycle of homelessness by providing homeless women with children safe shelter, onsite childcare, in-house mental health counseling, access to health care, transportation, education, nutrition, job training, life skills education and more.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.