[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 77 (Thursday, May 30, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E960]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION

                                 ______


                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 30, 1996

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to pay tribute to the Church 
of the Ascension, which is located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I am proud 
to honor the Church of the Ascension here today in celebration of its 
150 continuous years of service to its community.
  The early days of the Church of the Ascension are remarkable. The 
church began in 1846, in the borrowed parlor of a house in Greenpoint, 
Brooklyn. It was officially incorporated as a church in December 1846, 
and the Sunday school was established in the following year. Services 
were held during those first years in the Sunday school room of another 
church, and later in the Odd Fellows Hall, until October 1853, when the 
first service was held in the Church of the Ascension on Kent Street, 
in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Ascension bears the notable distinction of 
being the first church established in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
  Today, I am proud to report that since June 1995, the Church of the 
Ascension has been led by its first female rector, Rev. Mabel Burke 
Lewis. Mother Lewis oversees an active Sunday school with regular 
classes of Bible readings, games, and projects. There are after-school 
programs and a summer day camp, opportunities for adult education, and 
adult and children's craft groups during the year. Ascension continues 
to take a leadership role in the Episcopal charities campaign, and has 
recently begun an adult literacy program and an AIDS ministry in local 
hospitals. Mother Lewis has introduced healing services at the church 
and has brought back 12-step recovery programs, after a long absence. 
Under the able cadence of Mother Lewis, Ascension works with other 
churches to feed the hungry in Greenpoint.
  The Church of the Ascension has become what it is today through a 
long succession of very inspirational, effective, and dedicated 
ministers who led Ascension through good and bad times. Too numerous to 
list here, their contributions to the parish and to the community are 
the reason the Church of the Ascension can today celebrate 150 years. 
From fundraising and eliminating debt, to staging Shakespearian plays, 
to rebuilding after fire, those dedicated and selfless individuals 
enabled the Church of the Ascension to answer the spiritual and 
redemptive needs of its parishioners.
  It is for these reasons, Mr. Speaker, that I rise today to pay 
tribute to the Church of the Ascension for its 150 years of service to 
the parishioners and community of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. I ask my 
colleagues to join with me in this tribute and in wishing Ascension 
another 150 years of continued service.

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