Worship:
Saturday 6:00 PM
Sunday 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM
This Week At Ascension
Called to create opportunities for all people to become devoted followers of Christ
October 5, 2025
Flowers On The Altar
The flowers on the altar are in honor of the lives of
Myrna Beyer Aronson, 1938-2001,
and her son,
Douglas L. Aronson, 1957-2011,
from their family
Grace and peace, my sisters and brothers in Christ,
What a great weekend we have ahead of us! On Saturday at 6:00 PM, our worship service moves outside so as to include all the pets for Blessing of the Animals. We will enjoy music by Nancy Lee, reflect on the legacy of St. Francis of Assissi, and bless all the dogs and cats and whatever other creatures might be present!
Then at our Sunday morning worship services, the communion bread will be fresh baked by the hands of all the children who will be celebrating their First Communion. I will be preaching on 2 Timothy 1:1-14 and pondering the blessings of “choosing the long haul.”
This week marks my one year anniversary as your associate pastor. The number one feeling I have this week is overwhelming gratitude for the beauty of being in community for the long haul.
I hope to see you at worship this weekend!
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Chamie
Baptism This Weekend
Lucas James Allen
Born: 10-25-22
Children, Youth & Family Ministries Corner
by Pastor Chamie
Inspired to Serve
One of our cores of Children, Youth, & Family Ministries is service. This past summer at Family VBS, parents shared with us that they would love more hands-on service opportunities as we nurture compassionate hearts in our young people.
What a great week it has been! Our Sunday school children and the children of our school packed over 400 school kits for Lutheran World Relief. Our confirmation students and high school youth packed 200 personal care kits. Our early childhood center is collecting items for baby kits through this week and will be assembling the kits next week.
It has been an absolute joy to work with our amazing Global Ministries Team – and the leadership of Vicki Weeks and Louise Evenson with the LWR kits – and see our young people excited about this project. As many of us adults were wearing our “Live Generously” t-shirts, I asked the kids what that meant. I loved their responses – like 9-year-olds saying it means “to think of others before ourselves” or “to be kind and share what we have.”
Many thanks to all of those who contributed financially to this project. It really is a One Ascension endeavor.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Chamie
Thanks Be to God
I write this on October 1, 2025, which is the one year anniversary since I started as your associate pastor. I just wanted to say my heart overflows with gratitude. I love being one of your pastors. I love my job description. It is really the perfect pastoral job description for me… getting to be a part of creating meaningful worship services, overseeing children, youth, and family ministries, working with the women’s ministries, teaching and preaching, partnering with the other pastors to provide pastoral care and support. Ascension is such a special place, the kind of Christian community the world needs today.
Pastor Tim and I were reflecting today as well. We never would have considered me in this position if we didn’t think we could work together – ha, ha! But we have enjoyed being in ministry together even more than we ever thought we would. You are our people and we love you.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Chamie
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS: October 4
Our 6 PM worship service will move outside to the big back parking lot. This is a worship service where you can bring your pets!!! Nancy Lee will lead music. We will read scripture, hear a homily reflecting on a myriad of stories from the Bible that pertain to animals, and say a word of blessing over all the pets.
Adult Ed for October 5, 10:30 AM:
Refugee Resettlement Here in 2025
Led by Global Refuge Pastor in Residence, Eric Shafer
In Matthew 25:42-46, Jesus tells us that when we welcome all types of strangers, we are welcoming Christ himself.
For 86 years, Global Refuge (formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service) has been answering Christ’s calling, welcoming immigrants and refugees to the United States. The ministry “is basic to the Christian faith,” says Pastor Eric Shafer, Pastor in Residence at Global Refuge since 2022.
The former Senior Pastor at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Santa Monica has seen seismic changes in policy regarding U.S. immigration this year. He will talk about how Global Refuge is responding to the challenges and continuing to serve.
Contributors Wanted for 2025 Advent Devotional
Writers and anyone with a bent for writing, you’re invited to contribute to this year’s Advent Devotional.
You’ll recall that each year, students from Ascension Lutheran School provide the artwork and members provide devotions for the booklet, edited by Dan Lareva, that has been a special part of the season here for many years.
It’s a welcome way to share Advent together and set our minds each day on the reason for the season. Follow THIS LINK to check out this year’s selections of scripture passages and to sign up.
Full Moon Hike
Sunday, October 5, 6:00 – 7:00 PM, to the CLU Cross
Led by Pastor Chamie & Dr. Charlotte Miranda
Gather at 6:00 PM at the end of Mount Clef Road past the California Lutheran University swimming pools and sports fields. We will hike up the hill to the cross to watch the sun set and the moon rise. We will have a time of worship and prayer at the cross. The hike is short, but steep at the end. Bring a flashlight. Ms. Charlotte & Pastor Chamie have glow sticks for all the children and youth.
The Conejo Jazz Orchestra
The Conejo Jazz Orchestra traces its roots back over 35 years. Starting as a dance band, it was led for a number of years by Ed Lafatta. Scott Yawger, the current music director took over the reins in 2017 adding new charts and new personnel to transform the group from a dance band to a tight performance band. Based in Thousand Oaks, the band features some of the area’s better musicians including retired jazz educators and working professional musicians.
The group plays music from the golden age of big bands (1940s and 50s) up to present day arrangements and original music. The group also has a focus on education bringing in high school and college musicians to pass on the tradition of a very American art form, the big band.
Different Time & Location for Confirmation & High School Youth Group This Sunday!
Confirmation & High School Youth Group will both meet at 5:00 PM this week on the campus of California Lutheran University, at the base of the hill before the Full Moon Hike. They should be dropped off at 5:00 at the end of Mount Clef Road past the CLU swimming pools and sports fields. Pizza will be provided and they will do their Bible study by grade levels on quilts. Then they will join with all of the hikers at 6:00 PM to head to the cross. They will be finished between 7:00 and 7:15 PM. If you have questions, contact Mr. Gottmer at or Pastor Chamie at .
Family Faith-Filled Fall Fun!
(try to say that 10X!)
Saturday, October 18, 4:30 PM
Families with kids are invited to come to church to paint pumpkins, bake mini pies, and play games like “Pumpkin Bowling” with Ms. Jenelle & Pastor Chamie. Pastor Chamie will do a lesson on how to interweave our faith and God’s Word into the fall season. All families will leave with a “Team Family” goodie bag to keep living their faith at home.
Faculty Organ Recital at Samuelson Chapel, CLU
Mark your calendar for Friday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 PM for an evening of music with Adán Fernández, DMA, university organist and piano faculty member at California Lutheran University.
A versatile performer and educator, Fernández is celebrated for his work as an organist, harpsichordist, conductor and composer. His performances span from Baroque masterpieces to contemporary works, and his artistry has been featured with ensembles across California, including the New West Symphony and Symphony of the Verdugos.
This free concert will showcase his breadth of musical expression and highlight the chapel’s magnificent organ. Donations will be accepted at the door.
October is National Fair Trade Month! Hooray!!
October is National Fair Trade Month! We just love that there are 31 days and so many wonderful ways to celebrate Fair Trade! Here’s what we’ve got planned – Join Us!
Fair Trade Lane is fully stocked & ready to welcome you three times in October. We look forward to meeting & greeting you on Fair Trade Lane.
Autumn Leaves on Fair Trade Lane – the chocolate kind! Special Fair Trade chocolate treats from Lake Champlain Chocolates in colorful gift-able packages will be available for purchase on Fair Trade Lane.
We’re sharing the message of Faith & Fair Trade with the Conejo Valley Interfaith group on October 14th, along with some chocolate, of course! We’ll open Fair Trade Lane for our visiting guests too. We’re delighted to be invited to share and promote the vision, values and stories of Fair Trade. We’re at the ready to help and assist other congregations and houses of faith should they decide to start their own Fair Trade ministries (and, we hope they do!).
Hands & Hearts & Fair Trade! With the help of little hands from Ascension’s Church, Early Childhood Center and School, we’re making some special art pieces for Founders Hall. 
Hearts promoting justice for people & planet guide Hands that sew, grow, weave & carve to make delicious and beautiful Fair Trade products for us to eat, drink, wear & share. Painting starts soon. Interested in sharing your “more mature” hands to help with this special project? Send us a note (). There will be opportunities for “more mature” hands to join in this special art project on October 19th & Oct 26th.
PS: As always, if you can’t make it to Fair Trade Lane to pick-up your Fair Trade favorites or to pick up some of the special Lake Champlain chocolate treats, send a note to us at , and we’ll find a way to get your Fair Trade items to you.
Happy Fair Trade Month Everyone!
Help Our Hot Meals Ministry Make a Difference!
Did you know, our Ascension Hot Meals Ministry delivered more than 600 meals to Harbor House for people in need over this past year? Wow!
It’s a terrific ministry led by Tania and Barry Disselhorst. They and their Hot Meals Ministry regulars could really use more volunteers so that the same people are not purchasing, cooking, and packaging every month. Our next date is Tuesday, October 21.
Check out the signup for more information and/or to sign up.
Adult Ed October 19:
Memory Myths and Memory Techniques
Maximilian Fuhrmann, Ph.D.
Interested in improving your memory? How do you know that you are not remembering as you would like? Not recalling names as quickly as you once did? Remember something in the middle of the night you were struggling to recall during the day?
Join Maximilian Fuhrmann, Ph.D., ABPP clinical psychologist and gerontologist for an adult education class on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 10:30 AM to learn about the different types of memory and techniques you can use to better access the information you want. You will also be made aware of how your negative myths about being “older” can impact your beliefs about your memory.
Gifts of Hope 2025
Some of you have been involved with Gifts of Hope here since 2002! For others of you, this will be your first year with Gifts of Hope. Be prepared to have your heart sing for joy as you help those in need with the love of Jesus, both neighbors nearby and neighbors in Africa.
Gifts of Hope is an alternative way of giving before the Christmas season, in preparation for our gifts at Christmas time. Imagine the joy both of your giving and a loved one receiving one of these “gifts”:
Help for those who are homeless in our community through Harbor House;
Providing “laundry love” money for some of our Friends of Fieldworkers in Ventura County;
Giving the gift of a goat or a pig to a rural family around the world, through our ELCA’s God’s Global Barnyard;
Feeding children in South Sudan and giving them the medical help they need after fleeing from war-torn Sudan.
These and a number of other choices will be yours to decide. Talk about them with family and friends, with your classmates at school. Decide on what gift to “buy” as a family. Buy a gift for a grandparent who at this time doesn’t need any material thing. Know that together you are helping the needy and fulfilling the words of Jesus in Matthew 25.
You will learn more about all of these options in the coming weeks. The weekend of Nov. 8-9 we will focus on our local ministries and Nov. 15-16 on our international ministries.
Your Global Ministries Team thanks you for the over $1.6 million you have given since we started Gifts of Hope! Let’s continue to share joy, love, and joy, in Jesus’ name, this year!
Let’s echo the apostle Paul’s words in Galatians 2:10 – “They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which I was actually eager to do.”
Behind the Beauty
– A Talk by the Artist Behind Our Stained Glass
Among the most admired features of our church building is its evocative stained glass windows.
The artist who created them, Mark Eric Gulsrud, will be giving a lecture about his work on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 4 o’clock in Samuelson Chapel at California Lutheran University – another site enhanced by his stained glass – and we’re invited.
It’s part of this year’s CLU Homecoming weekend festivities. Gulsrud is a 1972 graduate of CLU and is being honored with this year’s Christus Award.
He’s also been honored by associations including the Interfaith Forum on the Arts and Architecture, Modern Liturgy Magazine, and the American Crafts Council. His work can be found throughout the U.S. and British Columbia, and in Western Europe.
ICYMI: Peace in the Garden
The three-week Garden Class taught by Pastor Chamie has come to a close. Each class time began outside in the Ascension Garden and then ended inside the Nature Lab. Each week included hands-on plant work, garden knowledge about the plants, and spiritual and biblical connections.
Week 1: Bulbs in jars, reflecting on grief and hope.
Week 2: Transplanting herbs into pots, reflecting on monastery gardens and St. Hildegard.
Week 3: Succulent creations on pumpkins, reflecting on how the grace of God never runs dry.
Interested in doing a therapeutic gardening class? Stay tuned for more short-term series taught by our horticultural therapy pastor!
ICYMI: Thanks, Dave and Cathi!
Thank you, Cathi and Dave Peterson, for hosting a delicious dinner and the beautiful evening, with thirty people, for the Great Music at Ascension fundraiser!
Join us Sunday, October 5, at 4 PM, for our first concert of the year with the Conejo Jazz Orchestra. We were treated to hearing a delightful portion of it at the dinner. Each of our concerts have a free-will offering. All are welcome!
We also had fun watching the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soar away from Vandenberg Space Force Base. (From Pastor Steve)
What a great night in youth ministry!
Confirmands (6th-8th grade) did a get-to-know-you activity, an intro to their Bible study units, and then packed 100 personal care kits for Lutheran World Relief. The high schoolers (9th-12th grade) followed them, packing another 100 kits. Then the high schoolers made dog treats for the upcoming Blessing of the Animals. We had nearly 50 youth participating.
Monday Morning Bible Study
September 29, 2-25
by Susanne Hopkins
CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD
Book Club:
Happy reading!
See you all on our usual 3rd Thursday of the month (October 16) 1:30 PM in the Bethlehem Room.
October: ” Old Jules ” provided by Valerie
November: “When We Had Wings” by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris and Susan Meissner
December: “God Rest Ye Royal Gentlemen” by Rhys Bowen
Annual Report
Be sure to peruse our excellent Annual Report and get interesting inside details about the life of our church prior to Sunday’s Meeting, HERE.
The cupboard is BARE!
Our Food Pantry Needs:
Non-Perishable Items – Small Sizes Preferred – Please check expiration dates – Individual serving items:
Canned fruit; peaches, applesauce, fruit cocktail
Cereal
Cup of Noodles
Ready to eat items e.g., Spaghettios, Chili Beans with meat, Raviolis
Boxed meals: instant potatoes, rice, scalloped potatoes, Rice-a-Roni, Granola Bars
Snack items such as cracker/cheese, nuts, cookies Mac and Cheese
Canned chicken
Canned Spam- oven roasted turkey Spam
Boxed Cereal
Crackers
Dried Beans Rice
Pancake mix and syrup
Beverages: water, juice boxes, shelf stable milk, shelf stable chocolate milk
Top Ramen
Canned Vegetables; peas, carrots
Masa
Ascension CPR Training Offered
Here are the details:
CPR Training includes chest compressions, rescue breathing and applying/running the AED (Automated External Defibrillator).
*Everyone will monitor their own physical limitations during the training as not everyone can do everything. But at the same time-there is a job for everyone during an emergency.
Sunday in October 19th, 2025
12 Noon to 2 PM
Bethlehem Room
Personal Cost: $40.
Includes training/equipment, instructor time, student manual and two year completion certificate through the Emergency Care and Safety Institute.
For questions and to register for the class please email Diane Starzak:
Upcoming Calendar Highlights
(On campus unless otherwise noted. For details see individual items.)
Sunday School 9 and 10:30 AM
CLU Faculty Organ Recital— Friday, Oct.3, 7:30 PM
Blessing of the Animals 6 PM Oct. 4
Silver Strings at Ascension — Oct. 5, 9 AM worship service
First Communion Services – Oct. 5, 9 and 10:30 AM
Adult Ed: Refugee Resettlement — October 5, 10:30 AM
Great Music at Ascension Presents the Conejo Jazz Orchestra — Oct. 5 at 4 PM
Full Moon Hike – Oct. 5, 6-7 PM (meet at end of Mt. Clef Road and hike to CLU Cross)
Fair Trade Lane Open – October 9, 2:30 -4 PM
Fair Trade Lane Open – October 11, 5:45 – 6, 7-7:15 PM
Adult Ed: Conclave, Pope Leo, Bishop Curry — Oct.12, 10:30 AM
Fair Trade Lane Open – October 12, 8:30 -9 AM, 10 – 10:30 AM
Book Club — Oct.16, 1:30 PM
The Artist Behind Ascension’s Stained Glass— Thursday, October 16, 4 PM
Adult Ed: Memory Myths and Techniques— Oct.19, 10:30 AM
CPR Training – Oct. 19, 12-2 PM
Bowls of Hope
Many Mansions’ 21st Annual Bowls of Hope Celebration is on Sunday, October 12. Tickets HERE.
In Need of Prayer
Click here for this week’s Prayer List
Top of Page
Pericopes
This Week
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Luke 17:5-10
Next Week
Psalm 111
2 Tim 2:8-15
Luke 17:11-19
Our Prayer
We pray that you may once again meet the Risen Christ through the Word and Sacrament ministry, and through the fellowship of this family of faith.
If you do not have a church home, we would like to invite you to worship with our Ascension family again.
All people who are baptized and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are welcome to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
May God bless you in your worship!
Pastors Tim Delkeskamp, Chamie Delkeskamp, and Steve Herder