Welcome! We know it can be difficult to be new somewhere. No matter who you are and where you find yourself in life, there’s a place for you to connect here at Ascension.

We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, straight, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, or no habla Ingles.  We extend a special welcome to those who are crying newborns, skinny as a rail, or could afford to lose a few pounds.

We welcome you if you can sing like Bocelli or can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re “just browsing”, just woke up, or just got out of jail.  We don’t care if you are more Lutheran than Martin Luther himself or haven’t been to church since little Joey’s baptism or Sally’s wedding.

We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up way too fast.  We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, retired farmers, hedge fund managers, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, computer nerds and junk-food eaters.

We welcome those who are in recovery, or still addicted – some fo us have also been there.  We welcome you if you’re having problems, or you’re down in the dumps, or if you don’t like “organized religion” – we’ve been there too.  We welcome you if you are “spiritual” but not “religious” and if you are curious whether it’s possible to be both at once.

If you blew your offering money in a football pool or online betting, you’re welcome here.  We welcome you work too hard, or don’t work at all.  We welcome you if you have a PhD, but are working at Trader Joe’s, or if you can’t spel reel gud, and the job you have is killing you.  We welcome you if you only came to church because Grandma is in town and wanted to go to church and you didn’t want to disappoint her.

We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both.  We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now.  We welcome those who had religion shoved down their throats as kids, or by someone in the office after they grew up. We welcome you if you wound up here by mistake, thinking this was the Catholic Church (it’s just North on Deer Park Avenue, but since you’re here already, you might as well stay for the service.  We welcome Catholics too!)

We welcome tourists, seekers, doubters and everybody on the edge of faith, which includes, well, pretty much all of us.  Bottom line:  WE WELCOME YOU!  And we welcome you because we know that no matter who you are Jesus welcomes you. Oh, and also because we know that when we receive the welcome that Jesus offers, everything begins to change for the better and keeps changing as long as we do and as long as we welcome others in His name too!

(adapted from one used by Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Daytona Beach, FL)